Chapter 161: Chapter 161: Everyone in Position
The stage play will be performed in a royal mansion within the city.
This mansion is a remnant from the previous dynasty, with a spacious courtyard inside, enough to accommodate many people.
It is said that during its confiscation, the gold, silver, and jewels taken from it kept the Imperial Army busy for several hours, showcasing its corruption.
Later, this mansion became an entertainment venue.
It’s a form of humiliation, regardless of how high and mighty you were, your place has now become an entertainment site, and any major events are held here.
There are also some classic operas often held inside, as long as you pay the fee, you can go in and listen to the play.
But if you want to host events inside, you still need to follow procedures, honoring first-come, first-served.
Qu Fulan booked in advance a month ago for the fourteenth day of August.
Early in the morning, before dawn, she was out and busy.
She checked the venue, the stage, the actors’ makeup, investigated security issues, ensuring every aspect was well understood.
In ancient times, without electricity, events couldn’t be held at night like in the twenty-first century, they had to be daytime, ending before dark.
Preparation also took a long time, so it started in the afternoon.
Besides actors needing rehearsals, any opening music had to be rehearsed too.
This era didn’t have speakers, but with the right use of erhu, pipa, chime bells, xiao, flutes, se, qin, xun, sheng, and drums, the effect was equally great.
Of course, all preparations were for the final stage performance effect.
Therefore, actors were key.
At this time, actors were called ’players,’ just a matter of title, nothing serious.
And the Tang Seng and disciples were quite wonderful.
The actor for Sha Wujing was the soldier who initially seemed clumsy but later turned the tide when Heir Pei told Mrs. Pei the story about the training field.
Being taciturn, he was perfect for playing the reticent Sha Wujing, and with the right makeup, he closely matched the image from the TV.
Tang Seng was directly found from a temple, his background was similar to the book’s Tang Seng, abandoned as a child, then picked up and raised by people in the temple, round head and face, with the standard monk charisma.
Zhu Bajie needed someone lazy, a gluttonous person to play, fitting the basic demeanor, given this character’s image relied on makeup with a pig nose, looking personally wasn’t important.
In truth, the Zhu Bajie actor was a scholarly type.
The key was Sun Wukong, the Great Sage Equalling Heaven, this core character not only needed to fit the image, but also possess excellent skills, adept with the Jingu Bang, flips, and somersaults.
For this character, Qu Fulan sorted through many people before making a final decision, upon makeup, was very similar.
Sun Wukong didn’t necessarily need makeup, wearing the set of clothes similar to ones obtained from the Dragon King underwater, with two whiskers on the head, skillfully performing would please the audience.
However, being his first appearance, aligning with TV makeup was crucial.
After a set of rehearsals, verifying the process again, it was close to noon, everyone hurriedly ate before taking their positions.
At this moment, tickets began selling outside.
Tickets varied from one to two and three dozen silver, divided into front, middle, and back positions, the better positions, the more expensive, only the wealthy can afford them, while regular people were able to accept one or two silvers just to get in.
On regular days they might not accept, but during holidays, people usually allow themselves some indulgence, willing to spend on happiness.
Maybe the promotions were impactful enough, coupled with the month-long oral dissemination, Journey to the West spread across the Capital City, gaining high fame.
Qu Fulan noticed long queues while riding out, all from various places in the city.
Ticket sales were divided among groups, one or two silver in one region, ten, twenty, thirty silver in another.
Now it seemed, one or two silver was the majority.
Everyone knew tickets were limited, first come, first serve, otherwise, unable to get cheap tickets, they’d have to buy the ten silver, two or three dozen ones, naturally better positions than one or two silver, just too expensive for some, unaffordable.
Next was the ten to twenty silver, half as many people as the one or two silver, but this just started, more people gradually arrived later.
As for the three dozen silver and above, those were special places, no need for queues, only needing a greeting to purchase a ticket.
Organizing such an event meant gathering many people, involving security issues, requiring many guards to maintain order.
Based on signage from opera performances, it was possible to apply to the government for guard protection, usually agreed upon, why wouldn’t they agree to something profitable for free?
Moreover, hosting such an event also required taxation, needing government employees to supervise anyway.
Qu Fulan followed this procedure, or else having Heir Pei deploy his Hidden Guard wouldn’t be realistic.
She reserved seats for the Pei Family, certainly including Heir Pei’s, whether he appeared was uncertain, having served as his maid for so long, Qu Fulan witnessed how busy those favored by the Emperor were, basically vanishing daily.
Whether he would come was unsure, ultimately depending on whether the Emperor gave orders, if there were suddenly orders that day, it’d be unpredictable.
Besides the performance, Qu Fulan also arranged for the "Burning Immortal Grass Milk Tea" and "Flower Garden Ode" delicacies to be sold.
Anyway, let individual consumption dictate, what one could afford, one consumed, offering choices.
Such high traffic shouldn’t be wasted.
By 1:45 PM, ticket sales concluded, people gradually entered and took seats.
Prince An and Mr. Chu, Mr. Wei, and Mr. Ge arrived early and sat down, all full of youthful energy, who wouldn’t love Journey to the West?
Besides this, surprisingly the Xiao Family also attended.
After all, the event didn’t explicitly state it was hosted by the Pei Family, nor prevented anyone from coming, merely announced as Journey to the West stage play, naturally attracting many admirers.
Ji Nishang, upon seeing the promotional leaflet, felt once again her understanding was challenged.
Previously, she was quite confident, believing her lowly birth was preventing the exhibition of her talents, thereby delaying her.
Arriving in the Capital City, managing business for her aunt, she not only failed but suffered a big loss.
The last opening of the milk tea shop, she had seen the promotional leaflet from the opposing shop, stunned, yet since business was good, she didn’t take it seriously.
Upon the opposing milk tea shop’s business reversal, she realized the importance of the flyer.
Upon preparing to imitate, here came the stage play flyer, this time illustrated with lifelike characters.
Ji Nishang sensed this event would be a great success.
As a businesswoman, she acknowledged the importance of learning, wouldn’t miss watching such an event.