The Rise of the Writers of the Republic of China

During the "Crazy Twenties," Broadway in Manhattan was in its prime. In 1925, there were more than 80 theaters densely distributed on this street, and by 1929 there were nearly 100 theaters.

Everything came to an end in the stock market crash.

In just a few months, the number of theaters on Broadway fell back to five years ago, and the poor business caused those theaters with insufficient competitiveness to close their doors.

The long street is still flashing with neon lights, but the bustling prosperity is no longer there, giving people a sense of depression and desertedness.

The Durants drove slowly into Broadway in a car. They used to have full-time drivers, but now in order to save money, Durant fired the driver and drove himself every time he went out.

The car stopped at the entrance of the Holland Theatre, and there was a large poster on the outer wall of the theater, with the pattern of a big ship printed on it, as well as "Titanic", "Shocking Love", "Works of Oriental Wizards", "Written by Eugene O'Neill", etc. typeface.

"Darling, it's here!" Mrs. Durant excitedly said. She used to come to enjoy the stage play every week, but now she can only come once a month. The ticket price here is too expensive, far less cost-effective than watching a movie.

Durant and his wife bought a ticket to enter and found a seat near the back to sit down.

Before the performance started, Durant looked at the tickets boredly, and suddenly exclaimed and cursed: "Damn, it's actually a drama!"

"Isn't it a musical?" Mrs. Durant said in surprise.

"We were fooled!" Durant said angrily.

Broadway is most famous for its musicals, which combine drama, song and dance, and other forms, and are deeply loved by the middle class in the United States. People come here to watch the singing and dancing, and they don't even pay much attention to the plot. Early musicals didn't even have a fixed script, and it was only in recent years that they began to focus on screenwriting, but the main content was still singing and dancing.

Of course, off-Broadway also has some theaters starring plays, but they are not very popular with the American people.

The Durants complained endlessly about this, and finally paid for the performance, which turned out to be a boring drama.

The time for the show was approaching, but the auditorium was only half-occupied. Compared with the previous full-stacked venues, the business was really difficult.

Theater owner Gerald Hans shook his head helplessly. He could only hope that the performance of "Titanic" would be successful. Just like the performance of "Waterloo Bridge" (the original stage version of "Blue Bridge") in the theater next door, after achieving great success, it actually maintained an average attendance rate of 90%.

"Wizard of the Far East, please create another miracle." Boss Hans drew a cross on his chest.

The male and female leading actors in the backstage were all nervous. Although the leading actor Andrew Polk has been on stage for several years, he has been unknown. The leading actress Linda Moorman even became a monk halfway through.

Inviting two young actors to star in "Titanic" is a request made by the director of the drama, saying that he wants to bring a new feeling to the audience.

The reason why the theater owner Hans agreed was also because hiring young actors could save money, and the cost of dramas was far lower than that of musicals. Business is not easy these days, so save as much as you can, even if the performance is not good, you can't lose that much.

"Jack is ready to go!" the director yelled.

Andrew took a deep breath. This was an opportunity he had finally won, and he must not make any mistakes.

There are double curtains on the stage, and the front curtain is slowly opened to reveal a large ship model.

There are many extras standing on the "boat", these are the cameos of the back dancers of the musical, as are the see-offs in "on the shore". Just as they waved goodbye, the voice-over sounded: "The Olympic-class luxury cruise ship Titanic is the most advanced and largest giant ship in the world, and it is about to usher in its maiden voyage today."

The heroine and the male number two enter the stage.

The second male looked up at the ship: "It's spectacular, isn't it? Rose."

The heroine said disdainfully: "It's no big deal, it's not much bigger than the Olympic. Karl."

The second male said: "Don't underestimate it, Rose. The Titanic is different from other passenger ships. It is a hundred feet longer than the Mary Danne, and the speed is extremely fast, and the interior is very luxurious."

"Hmph!" the heroine snorted coldly and boarded the boat, and the male number two hurried to catch up.

The backstage slowly opened, and several people were sitting at a gambling table.

The male protagonist faces the audience, wearing worn-out clothes, sitting on a bench idly...

The plot advances scene by scene, even audiences who have read the original novel are gradually immersed in the story.

When the hero Jack stood on the bow and shouted "I am the king of the world" with open arms, Mrs. Durant couldn't help covering her mouth and saying to herself: "Oh, what a handsome guy."

The nouveau riche fat woman appeared on the stage. Her rude and straightforward words and deeds aroused bursts of laughter from the audience, and every time she appeared thereafter there was laughter.

By the sixth act, the Titanic hit the iceberg, and the audience couldn't help but hold their breath and looked at the stage without blinking.

Dramas are different from novels and movies, and a lot of deletions must be made. For example, characters such as the gentleman waiting to die while maintaining his demeanor and the old couple hugging and sleeping together do not appear at all. But the role of the steamboat band was still there. They stood on the stage as a background of human flesh, and performed a full three-act play.

After the protagonist at the front desk left the stage, musician A put down the violin: "Okay, it's over. Goodbye Harry, and good luck."

"Goodbye, Werner."

"goodbye."

The musicians bid each other farewell, as if in a concert hall, surrounded by passengers fleeing for their lives.

After everyone turned to leave, musician A picked up the violin again, and the melodious sound of the violin spread throughout the theater hall. The other musicians turned their heads and joined the performance again.

Mrs. Durant was already wiping away tears, and until the hero and heroine said the line "You_jump, I_jump" again, her tears flowed down.

"Honey, don't be sad, this is just a play." Durant handed over the handkerchief.

"I know, but I can't help it, it's so touching." Mrs. Durant kept sobbing, wiping away her tears.

"Oh no, go back and save them!"

"Damn it, that bastard got into a lifeboat with women and children."

"God, I don't want to watch it anymore, it's so painful."

"..."

Eugene O'Neill's script was well written, without any delay, and the climaxes came one after another, and the audience couldn't help but burst into exclamation and curses.

The male protagonist lay on the plank and spoke with the last of his strength: "Listen, Rose. You will be saved... survive. You will have many children... full of children and grandchildren, and you will live a long life. You will die on a warm bed. Not here, not tonight, not... so dead, do you understand?"

"I won the boat ticket, which is the happiest thing in my life. I am lucky to know you, Rose... I am satisfied. I have another wish, you must promise me, to live, not to despair... ...No matter what happens, no matter how difficult it is, just promise me that you will do it..."

"I promise you."

"It must be done..."

"I'll do it, Jack... I'll do it..."

The heroine is humming in a daze: "Fly, Josephine, get on my spaceship... She flies and flies... She flies into the sky... Fly, Josephine, get on my spaceship... ..."

In the auditorium, Mrs. Durant was already in tears, and the handkerchief used to wipe her tears was completely soaked.

The backup dancers used blue satin to imitate the waves of the sea. The nouveau riche fat woman knocked the crew unconscious, and drove the boat back with other female passengers to rescue the heroine who was on the verge of death.

The heroine murmured: "Jack, I will live, no matter what happens, no matter how hard it is."

The curtain falls and the show ends.

"Crack clap clap!!!"

There was warm applause for five minutes, and it didn't stop until the actors had finished their curtain call.

The owner of the theater, Hans, let out a long sigh of relief, with a smile on his face: "It seems...the performance was very successful."