Chapter 945

The curtain fell on the night of the premiere of "les miserables". After the performance, the thunderous applause of the whole audience lasted for 15 minutes. The members of the crew came to the stage five times before and after the curtain call, but they still failed to meet the expectations and excitement of the audience. After the five curtain calls, the applause still reverberated for nearly two minutes before the curtain call came to an end.

It's a real interpretation of long standing. This is a glorious sight that the west end has not seen in many years.

After entering the 21st century, the western district has been deeply mired in the mire. In the past 12 years, only two plays have achieved real success. The musical "jump out of my world" in 2008 and the musical "Matilda" in 2010 are both children oriented works.

But even the success of these two works is far behind that of 15 or 20 years ago - they can't match the top plays like "Miss Saigon" and "phantom of the opera" at all. They can only barely reach the average level of the industry at that time.

Tonight, the "miserable world" of Almeida theatre reappeared its glory again, even compared with the "miserable world" of Queen's Theatre at its peak. What's more, it's a six hour play. Such a long experimental work is daunting, but it has achieved the most successful audience response since the 21st century.

Five curtain calls! 15 minutes applause! It's thunderous! At the peak of the 1970s and 1980s, this was also enough to stir everyone's first performance feedback.

Of course, it's just the premiere, it's just the audience. The Queen's Theatre version of the "miserable world" is known as brilliant“ The reason why "jump out of my world" and "Matilda" are regarded as failing to reach the peak is that the difference naturally lies not in the brilliance of the premiere night, but in the follow-up performance and the persistence of the box office.

Take "jump out of my world" as an example.

This play officially appeared on the stage in 2008, and has been put on the stage till now. It has never been released. After the first version of Tom Holland, the young cast has changed several batches, and there is no crisis of withdrawal in the short term. Their attendance rate is very stable, not hot, but always able to maintain profitability, and attract more new audience.

Such achievements, and the peak period of popular drama, there is indeed a gap.

The premiere night of the Almeida theatre is the first step to reproduce the grand occasion of 25 years ago; Next, the real test is how the show's overall release momentum, overall word-of-mouth and box office are, and how attractive it is to the audience after replacing the cast.

Before the coming test of the future, sharp critics, this is the first hurdle that the new version of "les miserables" must cross.

In the film industry, the opinion of film critics is one of the important reference standards, but it is not the key to determine the box office trend.

For example, the popcorn movie critics often face more challenges. The more the critics scold and the better the box office performance, "Twilight" series and "Transformers" series are typical representatives; For example, some films that critics don't like very much may hit the preferences of specific groups, such as romantic movies, movies that spread religious beliefs, and certain black films. They can still earn a good box office.

At the end of the day, film is a commodity. This commodity, as long as it caters to the preferences of its audience, can achieve good results. Critics are just a part of the audience.

But drama is different. The viewpoint of drama critic is the key factor to decide the outcome.

Although the west end and Broadway have a lot of amateur audiences, they may be tourists or onlookers, but for them, how to choose a play is a difficult problem, so they often choose the most popular play, or the promotion of close friends, or the recommendation of authoritative people.

In other words, the orientation of drama to the masses is very narrow, that is, those specific groups who have a deep interest in and Research on art, literature and performance. This kind of art form, originally relatively small and special, can be compared with literary films and independent films.

Therefore, professional audience or senior fans are actually the same audience group as drama critics. The only difference is that drama critics make a living out of it. They are more professional, authoritative and profound. Their opinions can often provide the audience with first-hand reference materials, and the audience will buy it.

Because of this, the works highly praised by drama critics can often achieve corresponding excellent market response. Even those high-ranking experimental works, as long as they have real materials, can occupy a place in the west end of London.

On the contrary, the bad comments of drama critics will quickly turn into a flood of negative feedback. Some audiences may enter the theater to watch with curiosity or research, but the performance time is often unsustainable.

Industry insiders always say that the pen of a drama critic is enough to destroy a play.

In the creation of films and plays, there are even similar plots. The theater manager begged the critics to be lenient, even if they delayed the release of negative comments for a few days, they were willing to pay a high price; Or, a drama critic has a personal grudge with an actor, for example, because of love and hatred, and then deliberately writes bad reviews to completely destroy the actor's future.

It sounds magical, but it's real in theater. In 2012, it still exists. However, thanks to the existence of the Internet, the comments of drama critics are no longer the only criteria. People can also communicate and understand through the Internet, which alleviates the situation that drama critics only cover the sky.

Now, the Almeida theater version of "les miserables" is facing such a test. How will critics evaluate it?

After the performance, Alistair Smith didn't rush home and immediately began to write drama reviews; Instead, he walked all the way away from the Almeida theatre, walking on the cold and busy streets of London at night, with no purpose, just exploring in the night with his own feet.

When the crowd left, the clock of midnight had already rung, but all the faces of the audience were filled with excitement and excitement, which could not be dispersed for a long time; The reporters at the gate of the theater can't wait to interview the audience's ideas, trying to piece together the complete outline of today's play.

Alistair said goodbye to his colleagues and walked alone in London at midnight. He needs to calm down and clear his mind. The six hour play is full of innumerable contents and huge information. He needs to digest and understand it well, find a clear clue in the confused thoughts, and connect everything together.

Just because I like this work, I need to be more careful.

After walking for more than an hour, he waved to stop a taxi and returned home. However, after returning home, Alistair was still in no hurry to write. He opened a bottle of red wine, sat on the sofa, indulged in the sound from the TV, tasted the red wine carefully, and enjoyed such a beautiful day.

Such a day, it is really a long time to see; Once again enjoy the beauty of drama, but also once again see the details of drama, this is the era of fast food network culture can not be replaced and eroded, but also the core of art can be inherited for a long time. He admired John cod's courage, and even more admired Langley Hall's firmness.

Until more than three o'clock in the morning, the surging Alistair still couldn't help himself, so he began to write at this time.

"I have been trying to find the right language to express the play, but I failed.

Because this is not only a work of art, but also a picture of the times. It gives a magnificent picture of the era when people were in dire need of living, life was ruined, and morality was destroyed. Then it gives a vivid picture of the people who lived at that time. Such a work is too grand, too wonderful, and too moving to make the language lose its color.

There is no doubt that it is a masterpiece. Is it perfect? I have reservations; But I would like to pay high respect for this work. So, maybe, perfection is the right word.

John Codd really started his hand in the play, and the script and stage reached a magnificent peak, starting from a little guy and ending with a little guy. The beginning of the small people, carrying the weight of the times, difficult; At the end of the little man, break free from the shackles of the times, reborn.

As Charles Dickens wrote: This is the best era, this is the worst era; This is the age of wisdom, this is the age of stupidity; This is the time of faith, this is the time of doubt.

Dickens once sketched the scene of London and Paris in the industrial period with rich and profound brushwork. In the same way, Victor Hugo depicts the Paris era with his compassionate and exquisite brushwork.

Now, John cod re presents this era and interprets the core of Dickens and Hugo. There is no doubt that this artistic exploration and adventure has won a great victory.

This is perhaps the most worth watching play in the west end in 26 years since the Queen's Theatre version of les miserables appeared.

If the audience still have doubts about the length of six hours, then I can't give you a reason to refuse: Langley hall.

The 22-year-old actor presents the greatest and most moving part of the performance. He perfectly combines emotion and role, role and story, story and times. With flexible and delicate, vast and magnificent performance, he injects the soul into the whole play. It really belongs to Victor Hugo's soul!

It's a real enjoyment to watch Hall's performance. It's like a symphony. It's soft and majestic, harmonious and exciting. The dazzling light has become the eternal light on the stage of Almeida theater. To be sure, my vocabulary is so poor and difficult that I can't describe the wonderful scene, even one tenth, because drama always belongs to the theater.

Everyone is welcome to the Almeida theatre to watch the play and enjoy the wonderful six hours. Jesus Christ, I found for the first time that six hours is too short. "