novelraw Chapter 798: Brother Feng’s First Male Lead Drama! (1)
Chapter 798: Brother Feng’s First Male Lead Drama! (1)
Chapter 798: Brother Feng’s First Male Lead Drama! (1)
At around 1:15 PM, the studio was officially open.
Audiences streamed in through the various entrances of the studio hall.
This was also Pu Sangzhi and a few of her roommates’ first time entering Meng Building’s studio since they had started university.
It was a large hall with a stage, and the audience seating area could accommodate a thousand people at a glance.
In Pu Sangzhi’s impression, the studio of the Wenzhou Opera House was probably about this size.
This place truly qualified as a grand stage!
No wonder the students from the Musical Club rehearsed so intensively and cared so much about their performance to be able to perform on such a large stage.
Pu Sangzhi now could understand why the female lead named You Xinran was so strict with Huo Feng at first...
Because with such a big stage, facing so many audiences, the performance had to be heartfelt!
After Pu Sangzhi and her roommates took their seats, they realized that a few boys from Huo Feng’s dorm were sitting next to them.
Unsurprisingly, Mu Mu and Yong Mu were seated next to each other.
Next to Yong Mu were the twins, and next to Mu Mu sat Minal, Wei Zixuan, and Pu Sangzhi.
Their seats were probably the best in the entire studio. From this vantage point, the view of the stage was entirely unobstructed, and it was the prime central position!
"There are so many people..."
Minal and Wei Zixuan observed the ever-increasing number of seated students and tour groups around them, fully acknowledging the significance of the event.
"This is a genuine performance, and Feng is actually playing the lead male role. It feels so high-class..." said Wei Zixuan.
"Yes, it makes me want to join the Musical Club too. Standing on such a grand stage, it would be so glorious~" Minal nodded in agreement.
Pu Sangzhi, sitting beside them, listened to their conversation with a small smile, not joining in on the topic.
Yet her heart was filled with anticipation for Huo Feng, truly immense anticipation...
Pu Sangzhi loved seeing Huo Feng on stage, exuding charisma...
Just like in high school when he led his brothers to dance to "Sheng Pi Zi" on the Red May stage and won the championship!
His performance skills were strong, and he had a great rapport with the audience...
Therefore, even before the show had started, Pu Sangzhi was full of expectation for him!
On the other side, the twins were looking at the price on their ticket stubs.
The stub showed that the best seats for such a performance were 480 yuan, though there were cheaper tickets available too. The price varied with the location, the more to the side, the cheaper...
The free tickets that the Musical Club gave away to the entire student body were generally for seats off to the side; after all, with free tickets, the viewing experience was bound to be compromised.
However, this time, the tickets for the twins were free, and they were in the best spots.
That they were gifts from Huo Feng made the twins feel very touched...
At this moment, they were silently singing Huo Feng’s praises.
"Although Feng sometimes dupes us out of our money, he thinks of us when something good comes along. He really is a good guy..." Gu Erhao exclaimed with emotion.
Gu Yihao nodded in agreement beside him, fully supportive of Gu Erhao’s words, "Exactly. Our seats are so good, obviously, they’re insider tickets. Feng really came through for us!"
Gu Erhao suggested, "Why not invite him for dinner later tonight?"
Gu Yihao also agreed, "Sounds good."
The twins had probably grown accustomed to being exploited by Huo Feng. So, whenever they received some kindness from him, they would always be deeply moved and cherish it.
Right now, that was exactly how they felt.
Beside them, Yong Mu had brought in a lot of snacks and was offering them to Mu Mu in an attempt to please her, asking, "Do you want some candied fruit?"
Mu Mu shook her head, "No, thanks."
Yong Mu then asked, "How about pork jerky?"
Mu Mu shook her head, "No need."
Yong Mu offered again, "Potato chips?"
Mu Mu shook her head, "Really, no thanks."
After rummaging through his snack bag and seeing she didn’t like anything, Yong Mu sighed with disappointment, "I don’t know what you like, so I grabbed a bit of everything. And you don’t want any of it..."
Yong Mu wasn’t good at pursuing girls; he had never bought snacks for Mu Mu since they had known each other since childhood.
This tactic was actually Huo Feng’s idea.
Yong Mu had been quite hopeful...
Yet she didn’t want anything.
"Why did you buy so many snacks?"
Mu Mu didn’t understand his approach and asked him that question.
"I was afraid you’d get bored, so I bought them. It was Feng’s idea..." Yong Mu answered honestly.
With that explanation, Mu Mu recalled how earlier in the day, Pu Sangzhi had gone downstairs to receive a big bag of snacks from Huo Feng.
Apparently, Huo Feng couldn’t sit with her in the audience because he was performing on stage, so he had prepared snacks for her in advance!
Minal and Wei Zixuan, knowing the snacks were prepared by Huo Feng for Pu Sangzhi’s viewing pleasure, were incredibly envious!
In an instant...
Mu Mu’s thoughts started to wander a bit.
She wondered if Yong Mu’s Dong Shi imitation had any other implications.
"Then..."
Regardless of whether it was what she imagined or not, Mu Mu was still happy, "Then give me a bottle of milk..."
"Milk... We don’t have any. Just water..."
This was awkward...
Yong Mu felt a twinge of regret in his heart!
He had taken a bit of every snack, yet he didn’t take any beverage, only water!
He really couldn’t do anything right...
"Then water it is."
Mu Mu said, "Well, let me choose some other things too. Can I share them with others?"
"Yes..."
Yong Mu quickly offered, "Of course, you can. Go ahead and choose..."
After that, Mu Mu started picking out snacks from Yong Mu’s snack bag.
Meanwhile, Yong Mu silently took note that she liked to drink milk, ensuring he wouldn’t make the same mistake next time!
Thus...
The surrounding audience had all taken their seats, and such a large recording studio was quite full in the end, with hardly any empty seats!
This demonstrated that the audience was quite looking forward to today’s performance.
At 1:30 p.m., the whole recording studio dimmed...
Lights came up on the stage, and the musical officially began...
On the edge of the stage, there were two large subtitles displays. The story introduction played on the subtitles with versions in Chinese, English, Japanese, and Korean, making it very considerate and international in scope.
The first act of "Butterfly Lovers" began with the "Qingming Sacrifice," and the story unfolded in reverse chronological order...
At the time of Qingming, on the silver screen, two butterflies fluttered about...
The background music playing was "Qingming Sacrifice," sung by an actor dressed in ancient costume with a long beard. Of course, it was probably a student made up to look like an old man...
"The rains fall heavy during Qingming time, and that year the lover’s sorrow shatters the soul; today, this tale is told for a good cause, for butterflies flutter about as the lovers..."
The introduction was sung in a fluctuating high pitch throughout.
It gave the audience the impression as if the story was being narrated by the old man...
The musical was grand in scale, and while performances took place on stage, in one corner of the stage, a small orchestra was specially invited to perform live music.
Indeed, it was a high-caliber performance...
At this moment, Huo Feng and other actors were still backstage changing costumes, waiting, and reviewing their lines...
During rehearsals, the background music had always been played through a cassette, but this time it was being performed live, which slightly startled everyone...
After asking around in detail, Huo Feng and the other students learned that the orchestra had been sponsored for free by You Xinran’s family.
And at this moment, several of You Xinran’s relatives were also sitting in the audience, thoroughly enjoying the grand performance...
It wasn’t until then that Huo Feng realized why You Xinran had been so strict with him recently!
It turned out her family was coming to watch!
However, from a certain perspective, You Xinran’s superior family background was evident.
As a result, her prestige in the Musical Club grew even greater!
Both new and old members admired her, as well as her family background, even more...
Zu Yingtai’s part was in the second scene. The first scene and solo was Ma Wencai’s monologue "Never Understood You," which narrated Ma Wencai’s inner thoughts after Zu Yingtai and Liang Shanbo turned into butterflies...
This whole musical was rehearsed according to a performance that had toured domestically years ago at Dafeng Theater; it was a rerun, with the story rhythm following that of "Butterfly Lovers" from back then...
While it was simple, they absolutely had to ensure there were no mistakes in this performance!
You Xinran was very nervous today.
Perhaps it was because several of her family elders were sitting below the stage; she had to be perfect in this performance!
"Where’s Huo Feng?" You Xinran, who was already fully prepared, began searching for Huo Feng backstage.
She wasn’t worried about the other actors, only that Huo Feng might drop the ball during the performance.
Therefore, she was planning to warn Huo Feng once more before the show!
At that time, backstage, Huo Feng was also brushing up on the script, memorizing lines and songs...
"Huo Feng!"
You Xinran hurried over to Huo Feng with a stern face and told him, "Make sure you’re ready! Don’t make a single mistake!"
"Oh," Huo Feng replied.
Seeing her nervously fussing, Huo Feng was quite indifferent because he didn’t think he would make a mistake...
Backstage, the other students were infected by You Xinran’s high level of anxiety!
Especially Liu Jia, the first-year female student playing Yingtai’s maidservant, Yin Xin, who was so nervous that she frequently flubbed her lines right before going on stage...