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Like many foreigners, Zhou Buqi has to read the subtitles to understand, but that doesn't matter anymore... What can subtitles do in front of a real artistic performance?

This is not a mass product.

The United States has strong consumption power but generally little culture. Therefore, movies released in American theaters often do not have subtitles, because for the vast majority of viewers, they do not have the ability to read subtitles to understand the film.

Therefore, those foreign movies that can sell big box office in the United States are without exception classics among classics.

For example, the domestic martial arts film "Hero".

"Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" is a big hit in the United States because this movie has an English version. The actors used are basically from Hong Kong and Taiwan. They all know English and there is an original English version.

"Hero" is different, it is only available in Mandarin.

Americans had to watch the subtitles to enjoy the movie, but it still sold more than $50 million at the box office. With such data, it ranks second on the box office list of foreign language films in the United States. The first place is the Italian classic "Life is Beautiful" and the third place is the Korean masterpiece "Parasite".

Subtitles are a huge challenge for the masses.

But this is Broadway.

This in itself is a huge threshold.

The audiences who come here to watch theater in the evening are all groups who have a certain pursuit of life and a certain level of understanding of art. There is no obstacle for them.

Throughout the whole process of watching the show, Zhou Buqi could even feel the feeling of looking up that filled the audience.

Just like Ning Yameng said.

Excellent people like Zhou Buqi always have some pursuits, and they can't really lie down and live their lives in an ordinary way.

Kun Opera showed him the next direction.

Not to mention anything else, the fact that Kun Opera is an orthodox language that was widely spoken by our ancestors but that modern people simply cannot understand and considers it to be a minority dialect is worthy of attention.

Once he reaches the level of culture, no matter how rich he is, Zhou Buqi will still feel humble.

Under the heavy curtain of history.

What does this short 100 years of life mean?

Zhou Buqi originally liked history, and this time he reached a certain agreement.

The three-hour performance was finally over.

The creative team took the stage for the curtain call, including actors, musicians, makeup artists, and instructors... At this time, the big lights in the theater were already on, and now the expressions of the foreigners could be seen clearly.

The scene is shocking!

The entire audience stood up and applauded like thunder!

Zhou Buqi looked back and saw that many foreigners were very old and had tears falling down. He didn't bother to wipe them away, but just clapped hard and applauded hard for this tradition that has been passed down for hundreds of years. Art applause.

So much so that Zhou Buqi almost shed tears.

He was not affected by the powerful artistic appeal of Kun Opera, but was moved by the current scene, which made him suddenly feel that art has the power to penetrate everything!

It spans ethnic groups, countries, languages, and forms... Even Zhou Buqi was confused and couldn't understand the meaning of every move and smile of the Kunqu opera actors on stage, but that didn't matter.

Art is inherently abstract.

What you see is a feeling.

Just like the historical value of "Along the River During the Qingming Festival" is far greater than its artistic value, this is a meticulous painting, a painting by an ancient craftsman, not a painter or artist.

What great artists use are abstract paintings and freehand paintings.

At this level, Eastern and Western art seem to have reached some kind of unity. The oil paintings of the French Salon School are as lifelike as photographs, but the ones who are really admired are Van Gogh, Monet, and Picasso in his later years.

From this perspective, whether you can understand Kun Opera or not seems not that important.

Art is inherently more form than content.

To be abstract rather than concrete is a metaphysical feeling.

Just like "Heroes".

At this time, Li Xinwan came over and happily pointed at the team of "The Peony Pavilion for Youth" who were taking the curtain call on the stage, and said with a smile: "That's Du Liniang, that's Sister Shen."

By this time, the actors had already taken off their makeup.

The heroine changed into a white casual dress, which is indeed quite charming and full of charm.

Zhou Buqi said angrily: "Don't make blind guesses, I'm not interested in married women. I just think we should do something for cultural revitalization, charity in the cultural field... This is a new angle."

There is no need to tell her the deeper reason.

Li Xinwan smiled, then pointed at the team taking the curtain call on the stage and introduced them one by one.

That is "Liu Mengmei" after taking off her makeup.

That person is Mr. Wang, a Kun Opera performing artist and a disciple of the "Chuan" generation. He is currently the number one "niche" person in the Kun Opera circle in China.

That old Mr. Zhang Jiqing, this is a female gentleman, of the "step" generation, and can be regarded as the number one "girlfriend" in the country.

In order to make "The Peony Pavilion for Youth" a success, Bai Xianyong invited two of the best performing artists in the domestic industry to teach young actors.

In addition, there is Professor Zhou, who is regarded as the only remaining Qing opera master in China. The industry considers him to be a "legacy" and has a lot of understanding and understanding of traditional ancient Kun Opera.

Kun Opera is different from Peking Opera. Performance alone is not enough. The actors must express the lyrics emotionally.

This is a huge difficulty.

Those lyrics are so elegant that ordinary actors can't understand them at all, so it's up to literati like Bai Xianyong and Professor Zhou to impart their understanding and experience to them.

Zhou Buqi felt very excited, so he got up and followed her to the backstage.

Then it gets a little awkward.

Because those foreigners stood still and applauded with bright eyes.

When Zhou Buqi arrived backstage, he couldn't just have a few girls following him, so he called Don Mattrick and one of his male assistants to accompany him, as well as two male bodyguards. In this way, there were seven or eight people in the group, which looked more attractive. Normal.

After passing by, the curtain call is not over yet.

After waiting for a while, they returned to the backstage one after another.

After seeing Zhou Buqi, some people didn't know him yet, but after hearing the introduction from the theater leader, everyone became awe-struck, surprised and a little timid at the same time.

Zhou Buqi stepped forward with a smile and shook hands with them one by one.

I haven't seen their performances in China, but I saw them in New York. It's a kind of fate.

…

The soul of "Youth Version of The Peony Pavilion" is of course Bai Xianyong.

The entire Kun Opera industry believes that the emergence of Bai Xianyong is a blessing for Kun Opera. Under the rapid changes in the new era, Kun Opera is about to fail and is about to enter a serious period of decline... Bai Xianyong came out, and his "Youth Version of the Peony Pavilion" brought new vitality to Kun Opera.

Just like when cross talk failed, Guo Degang appeared.

The two appeared at almost the same time.

It's just that the artistic content of cross talk is low, and one actor is enough to save the situation. Kun Opera is no good. No one actor or even a group of actors is qualified to save the scene.

Bai Xianyong is from Baodao, and later immigrated to the United States. He is now a Chinese-American, and his home is here.

Zhou Buqi was not polite to him. He went to his house that night and said with a smile: "I'm from the Northeast. My dad has a good friend, also named Bai."

Bai Xianyong smiled, "Really?"

Zhou Buqi said: "Well, I called him Uncle Bai. Unfortunately, he passed away due to illness during the Spring Festival. When I was a child, I always went to Uncle Bai's house to play. Uncle Bai's father was there at the time, so I called him Grandpa Bai. Grandpa Bai always Tell me a story, saying that his father’s name is Bai Chongli, and he has an elder brother named Bai Chongxi, who is a big shot.”

"ah?"

Bai Xianyong was a little surprised.

Zhou Buqi said: "I don't know if it's true. I asked my dad and my grandfather, and they said it was true. My grandfather also went to the government to check the details of his family. His ancestral home is indeed from western Guangdong. I moved here, but later stayed here because of the Northeastern War. Because the Bai family was from a famous family and was a famous anti-Japanese general, my grandfather agreed to our family’s interactions with the Bai family, and also helped the Bai family do a small business. , I have a family fortune of tens of millions, and my life is pretty good."

Bai Xianyong is over 70 years old this year, and he has looked down upon many things in the past. "Then it must be unmistakable. They must be relatives of ours. My family is originally from a scholarly family in western Guangdong. It’s a big family, and my father has dozens of cousins. Especially after my father took charge of the army, he supported many relatives in the family.”

Zhou Buqi then sent out an invitation, "Go to Northeast China when you have time?"

Bai Xianyong sighed.

Nothing more was said.

Apparently not very interested.

How do you say this?

Bai Chongxi supported many relatives in his family back then, but these people all lived miserably because of his support.

The Bai family in the Northeast is not bad. They have established a good relationship with the Zhou family and have started a certain scale of business. Bai Xianyong didn't even want to think about more relatives.

His father's generation lived in a chaotic era, and many things were hidden in the dust of history.

Bai Xianyong is getting older. He is just a book writer. In order to promote Kunqu Opera, he has almost spent all his wealth, and he really has no greater ability.

Zhou Buqi also saw his dilemma.

The other party is a scholar.

So Zhou Buqi was very knowledgeable and took the initiative to talk about money, "Mr. Bai, you spent a lot of money to promote "The Peony Pavilion", right?"

Bai Xianyong nodded and said with a wry smile: "Well, "The Peony Pavilion for Youth" has been in operation since 2003, and it was first performed in 2004. It has been nine years now, and a total of NT$200 million has been spent."

200 million Taiwan dollars is 40 million Chinese dollars.

In fact, not much.

But Bai Xianyong is a writer. The sales of his works in mainland China are not high, so he cannot make much money. It is not easy to raise this money.

Zhou Buqi said empathetically: "Well, that's quite a lot."

Bai Xianyong sighed: "Funding is my biggest headache. In order to do this, I have almost searched all the rich friends around me... I am at a loss as to what to do in the future. Some people in our team have even said that they want to give up." A global tour is planned.”

Don't look at "The Peony Pavilion for Youth" which was so popular in the theater and made foreigners fascinated.

But the earning power is really poor!

There are only 2,000 seats in a theater, and the total box office in one night is less than 200,000 US dollars.

40% of the money was given to the Kunqu Opera Troupe, which is a mere US$80,000.

This small amount of money is not enough to cover the accommodation, catering, transportation, daily services, etc. of the nearly 100-member theater troupe. It is not even enough for air tickets.

This kind of foreign tour requires a large amount of subsidy money.

The money provided by the national finance is not enough, and the Kunqu Opera Theater is also very poor, so all the funds have to be raised by Bai Xianyong. It is really difficult for him to rely on a scholar to handle such a big thing.

But it is precisely because of this that such literary ambitions are more respected.