Chapter 61 Heading South to the Magic City
Huang Weiruo has been in a very good mood these two days.

The drama produced by his beloved disciple is currently being shown at the Capital Theatre in Beijing, which is undoubtedly a great honor for him.

Now that he goes to other art schools, everyone would congratulate him for teaching such outstanding students.

Judging from Liu Zhou's current performance, someone like Meng Jinghui is just the foundation.

In addition, some of the students from Class 1993 that he taught have also made their mark in the industry, so it can be said to be a double blessing.

But God obviously wanted to give him a good start in 1999, and good things happened to him one after another.

As soon as he arrived at school that day, Huang Weiruo received a notice from President Xu, saying that such an excellent drama should not be limited to the capital, but should also be shown to audiences in the south.

What is a surprise?

This is the surprise!
After learning the details from President Xu, Huang Weiruo immediately called Liu Zhou over.

"Teacher, what good thing happened today that makes you feel so good?"

"It's a good thing indeed, but it's about you."

"About me?"

"Yes, are you interested in taking your team to perform in the Magic City?"

"Magic City? Of course I am willing. Teacher, have you contacted the theater in Magic City for me?" Liu Zhou asked a little excitedly.

In mainland China, the centers of the drama market are in Beijing and Shanghai, while other big cities are not as good.

Moreover, Shanghai is a more active and unrestrained city, and new-style dramas are more popular in Shanghai.

Liu Zhou also considered performing in Shanghai, but there were no channels.

He also wanted to ask "Mengya" magazine to help him make some connections next year to see if he could reach a cooperation with a theater in Shanghai.

I didn’t expect that when I felt sleepy, Lao Huang would come and give me a pillow.

"I would like to, but I don't have any connections in the Magic City. Dean Xu contacted you personally."

"President Xu? He's so busy, would he still pay attention to my affairs?"

“You may not know Dean Xu. He is not as high and mighty as you think.

He has been the dean of the Central Academy of Drama for more than ten years. He has deep feelings for the academy and cares about every student there.

As long as you have talent, he will not hesitate to give you a push and give you a stage to show it.

Now you little guys have put on such an excellent drama as "The Donkey Gets Water", which has brought honor to our school.

As for you, President Xu will certainly help you get on the horse and then send you off."

"Teacher, should I go and thank Dean Xu in person?"

"No need. This may be a convenient thing for Dean Xu. He won't take it too seriously."

"Okay, which theater in the Magic City did Dean Xu contact us for?"

"Oriental Theater!"

"Oriental Theater? The Oriental Theater that was just built not long ago?" Liu Zhou asked with a little surprise.

"That's right. You can go to Shanghai in the next two days and discuss the contract with the manager of the Oriental Theater. You need to negotiate it yourself."

"I understand. I can't let the school chew up the food and feed it to me."

"Okay, then when are you going to go? I'll approve your leave now."

"Let's do it tomorrow. The sooner the better."

Liu Zhou left Lao Huang's office and clenched his fists involuntarily.

The drama being able to be performed in Shanghai will not only make the drama famous in the industry, but will also greatly enhance Liu Zhou's status in the industry.

More importantly, you can make a lot of money.

The economy in Shanghai is very good now. Take the housing prices for example. The average price in Beijing is only over 2000, but in Shanghai it is almost 5000.

In addition, the Oriental Theater is the newest theater, and it caused quite a stir in the drama circle when it was completed last year.

The theater has 120 seats. Considering the relatively good price level in Shanghai and the fact that it is a new theater, the average ticket price of should not be expensive.

Liu Zhou immediately told Qin Hao and others the news, which caused them to cheer.

After making sure they were all fine before New Year's Eve, Liu Zhou went to Shanghai the next day and found the office of Manager Zhang of the Oriental Theater based on the address.

"You must be Manager Zhang, I'm Liu Zhou from the Central Academy of Drama."

"So it's you. I didn't expect you to come to the Magic City so soon."

"I heard from Dean Xu that there was an opportunity to perform a play in Shanghai, so I came here right away."

Manager Zhang was obviously very satisfied with Liu Zhou's approach and said with a smile:

"You young people are more decisive. In fact, you should call me senior brother."

"Senior brother, are you also a graduate of the Central Academy of Drama?" Liu Zhou immediately took advantage of the situation and called him "senior brother" without any delay.

"Yes, I am from the Art Management Department of the Central Academy of Drama, Class of 1983. When I enrolled, Dean Xu happened to be transferred to the Central Academy of Drama as the dean, and I was considered his first student."

"So we have such a connection. Thank you very much for taking care of me," Liu Zhou said sincerely.

This also made Liu Zhou sigh, this is the advantage of having the support of the Central Academy of Drama.

In the drama industry, not only do you have a strong backer, but you also have connections everywhere.

"Haha, you're welcome. I'm also happy that the Central Academy of Drama has another outstanding student. But after all, I've taken this position, so some things still have to be handled impartially." "I understand. It's a great help that you can bring our play to Shanghai. I dare not make it difficult for you. Just do it as it should be."

Afterwards, the two stopped chatting and began to discuss the contract.

Because of the friendship between fellow students, Manager Zhang said that it was just official business, but he still gave Liu Zhou considerable care within his ability.

The Oriental Theater only charges 10,000 yuan for each show, and the commission is also 10%. Three shows are scheduled first, and if the attendance rate exceeds seven levels, it can be extended to ten shows. The first performance is scheduled for January 18th.

Liu Zhou signed his name immediately after reading the contract without any hesitation.

After signing the contract, Liu Zhou and Manager Zhang went to the Peace Hotel for a meal to deepen their relationship.

Liu Zhou originally wanted to go to "Mengya" magazine to meet Qu He, but when he thought about how he had urged him several times to publish a new book but he still refused, he gave up the idea and went straight back to Beijing.

After returning to the capital, Liu Zhou also told the crew about the trip to the Magic City.

After hearing this, everyone decided to take another day off and then start rehearsing again.

Today is January 9th, and we still have eight or nine days to prepare, so it's totally in time.

In the following time, Qin Hao and others were rehearsing, while Liu Zhou started to get busy again.

He first checked in some costumes and props to Shanghai with the staff behind the scenes, and then began to contact the media there to promote the news that the drama would be performed at the Oriental Theater.

Now, Liu Zhou had to ask Qu He for help.

"Mengya" is a large magazine rooted in Shanghai and has a great influence in the media industry in Shanghai.

Although Qu He felt a little resentful that Liu Zhou had not published a new book for a long time, he was the boss after all.

When Liu Zhou came to him for help, Qu He began to mobilize his connections to advertise Liu Zhou's drama, and even helped promote it for free in the latest issue of "Mengya" magazine.

As for advertising in other media, Liu Zhou will have to pay for it.

But Liu Zhoufu was willing to do it, because it was easier to get things done if you had acquaintances.

With the same advertising fee of 100,000 yuan, more media outlets were contacted and the advertising time was longer, a full seven days.

So starting from January 12th, "Duds" began to become more and more popular in the big city of Shanghai.

"The new drama is coming from Beijing to Shanghai. Lock in at 7pm on January 18th at the Oriental Theater."

"The popular Beijing drama "Mr. Donkey" is coming to Shanghai. It will premiere at the Oriental Theater at 7pm on January 18th."

"The popular young writer Liu Zhou came to Shanghai with his new play "The Donkey Gets Water"."

……

With the continuous publicity from the media, people gradually learned that a new-style drama, written and directed by the popular young writer Liu Zhou, will premiere at the Oriental Theater at 7 pm on January 18th.

Colleagues in the industry and some drama lovers in Shanghai also learned the news.

They had heard of "Duds Get Water" and knew that it was performed very popularly in Beijing some time ago, but they didn't expect it to come to Shanghai now.

Since it was being performed in Shanghai, they certainly wanted to see what the quality of the drama was like.

On January 16, Liu Zhou brought the crew to Shanghai.

After two days of rehearsal at the Oriental Theater to familiarize themselves with the venue, "Duds Get Water" was officially staged in Shanghai on the evening of the 18th.

Seeing that the 2,000 seats were full, Liu Zhou felt relieved.

Because he knew that the audience in Shanghai were quite picky, he didn't dare to let go completely.

However, as the plot of the drama unfolded and the audience laughed one after another, Liu Zhou could finally put his mind at ease.

"This Zhang Yiman is so beautiful!"

"Zhang Yiman is so miserable!"

"She actually killed herself, why didn't she just shoot everyone?"

Liu Zhou suddenly discovered that although the audience in Shanghai were also moved by the film, they seemed to pay more attention to the character of Zhang Yiman.

It’s true that Zeng Li’s costume in the drama is indeed more in line with the tastes of Shanghai people.

The performance that night was undoubtedly a success, and after the curtain fell, warm applause broke out in the theater.

The next day, news media began to update the report, which made the popularity of "Duds" reach a new level.

Especially on the fifth day of the performance, a reporter actually photographed Mr. Jiao Huang, the treasure of the Shanghai Repertory Theatre, coming to watch the play.

When a reporter approached him for an interview, he only said that he came here to learn how young people perform drama.

The news was reported the next day, causing quite a stir in the circle, especially in the Shanghai drama circle.

There are many veteran drama artists in Beijing, but in Shanghai, the only one who can be compared with them is Jiao Huang. It is not an exaggeration to say that he is a leading figure in Shanghai's drama.

Liu Zhou also publicly expressed his gratitude to Mr. Jiao Huang for coming to watch the play in the media.

From the 18th to the 27th, the drama "Duds" has been the headline news in the Shanghai's literary and art circles.

The day after the performance was over, Liu Zhou returned to the capital with his group.

It’s not that they don’t want to visit this metropolis known as the Paris of the East, but they are very popular in the Magic City at this time.

Zeng Li in particular had fans even come to her specifically to ask for her autograph.

Since I can’t have fun, I might as well go back first, and the final exams are about to begin.

(End of this chapter)