Chapter 21

Act IV: Billy Elliot (2)

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Xiang Cai became excited but his enthusiasm quickly faded after a few seconds.

He said tiredly, "What's choosing a male lead for Out of My World got to do with us? The male lead should only be 11 years old. Even if they choose an actor from our school, they'll have to choose one from the freshmen classes."

He had watched this Out of My World many times, and not only could he recite the plot, but he could also sing a few of their classic songs.

The young Billy in the play, first time rebelled against his father, first time put on ballet shoes and first time, held the bar to do the battlement ... His vision, longing, anxiety, and pursuit of ballet and mental journey were all as intense and as passionate as Xiang Cai’s.

Xiang Cai also imagined that he could play the leading role, combining what he loved with what he was learning now — but he was 17 years old, a full six years older than the character in the play, there was no possibility at all.

However, he thought, if time went back to five or six years ago, and someone put this great opportunity in front of the 11/12-year-old him, he would certainly dismiss it, thinking that participating in a musical was a waste of his ballet practice time.

As soon as Chen Ziran, who was sitting behind them, heard what Xiang Cai said, he immediately rushed forward.

He grabbed Xiang Cai’s shoulder from the back and eagerly said: "No, no, no, no! This time, it's not the original drama remake, but they’re giving it major ‘surgery’! The director wants to move the whole story background to China!! The changes are very big, from the great miners’ strike in the United Kingdom in the 1980s to the layoffs in China in the 1990s; in the play, the older brother becomes an older sister; the age of the actor is also adjusted—" Chen Ziran's voice was getting louder and louder, and the speed of his speech was getting faster "—The actor is changed to 15 years old!!! Xiang Cai, you have hope!!!"

When foreign musicals and dramas are introduced into the country, it was not uncommon for them to undergo ‘major surgery’. In order to better fit the appreciation of domestic audiences, some changes were thus unavoidable.

In addition, the domestic musicals lacked the European and American countries' ‘training from childhood’ musical theatre cultivation. There were those children who could act, there are those children who could sing, and those children who could dance, but to find those children who could do the combination of the three - that was very difficult . 

In the end, the director and chief producer decided to modify the age of the male lead, changing him from an 11-year-old boy to a 15-year-old boy.

15 years old was the age when children were most rebellious. High school students of this age were facing severe academic challenges, and words like ‘life’ and ‘future’ were gradually appearing in their thinking. At this age, they were also the most likely to conflict with their parents.

The producer had a wide network in the musical theatre industry. While adapting the script, he contacted the principals of many dance schools in Huacheng, Shanghai, and Liaocheng, and brought other main actors to cast roles.

Chen Ziran was well-informed and had friends all over the world. He heard from friends who he studied Latin dance together with the main creators of Out of My World, they had gone to several schools. The other seven or eight characters had been selected, but there was not yet an end result for the protagonist.

Huawu High School was their last stop.

“Xiang Cai, this role is just for you!" Qi Ji was excited, her cheeks flushed, "You have to sing, perform, and dance ballet ... If you don’t get chosen for this role, then other people can’t be selected!"

Both Chen Ziran and Qi Ji encouraged Xiang Cai with the same perspective of ‘taking things out of the bag’, but Xiang Cai’s heart was heavy. He was not as optimistic as they thought.

… If the director and producer really planned to choose candidates from the Huawu Academy of the Arts, then why did they not come to their class and went directly to the Ballet Department?

※

"Mr. Song, I think we have to discuss this matter again." Outside the glass door of the dance classroom, the director of Out of My World, Tang Fengyu, looked at the producer beside him.

The producer Song Lin stood with his hands behind his back, and his eyes fell on the group of energetic ballerinos in the dance classroom.

Tang Fengyu said: "This is a musical, and the focus should be on singing and acting. The quality of dancing is not the only criterion for judgment. Why do you have to choose someone from the Ballet Department?"

Take the original West End of London, for example. Out of My World was performed for eleven years. There were seven or eight different male lead versions, and everyone's focus was on the singing. Although it was ‘ballet dancing’, the ballet posture of the actors’ was not of refined standard.

Song Lin shook his head: "It’s not the same. The original male lead was 11 years old and he had just started practicing ballet, so even if he didn’t do it well, as long as he had potential, his family was willing to train him."

Song Lin added, "But our actor is 15 years old. At this age, if he can't show his strong ballet ability, he can't fight his father. If I choose an actor that stumbles on the stage, and can’t even hold a single-foot rotation, and in the eyes of the audience, he gave up normal school to practice ballet, this story is not convincing."

Regarding the age of the male lead, it was not that he decided to modify it at first glance. The main creative team had met together countless times and done a large number of audience surveys.

This was also related to national conditions — for most domestic parents, they had no way of understanding why an 11 and 12-year-olds were rebellious. Because in their eyes, 11-year-old still belonged to ‘children’, how could children have rebellious thoughts? They didn’t even have this idea of rebelling!

Therefore, if the crew were to copy the original setting and write the story ‘an 11-year-old boy escaped from extra-curricular cram school to learn ballet when his father was laid off’, it would not resonate with the audience.

However, if the age was extended to 15 years old, it would be extended to the freshman of high school, and the protagonist and his family would be placed in the college entrance examination environment under increasing pressure. The whole story would become more relatable with national conditions.

But in contrast, the male lead must have strong ballet skills, otherwise, it would lack persuasion.

Because of this, the producer Song Lin insisted on choosing a talented ballet student.

When they entered the dance classroom, the boys in the Ballet Department were having a lesson. Because of the different ballet movements and the physical fitness required, the professional courses for boys and girls were taken separately.

In the room, a dozen young boys stood in two rows, standing upright and light, dancing to the music. Every move was very pleasing to the eye.

Even Tang Fengyu must admit that they did indeed perform perfectly, much better than the seedlings he had seen in Shanghai and Liaocheng.

They would stay at Huawu Academy of the Arts for half a month, carefully examining the ballet students between 14 and 18 years of age, and then select those with good voice conditions after they underwent their changing voices phase. Then, they would proceed to the next sight-singing assessment.

"Right." Song Lin suddenly remembered and turned to look at the head of the Ballet Department. "I heard before that you have a ‘little prince’ in the Ballet Department, who on behalf of the school, went to the Vaganova Ballet School in Russia to communicate. Has he graduated? If not, let him come over and try the mirror."

Speaking of her former most favored student, the head of the department paused, and said with a low tone: "You mean Xiang Cai? He should have graduated at this time, but there was an accident and he was suspended for one year. He is now transferred to the Musical Theatre Department."

"Musical Theatre Department?" There was a flash in the director Tang Fengyu’s eyes and he said quickly, "Isn't that just right? For this musical, we need a male lead who is good at singing, acting, and ballet!"

If they could find this student, then they wouldn't have to be in this predicament!

Song Lin was also very interested and said, "Oh? Then call Xiang Cai, let's take a look. Let me talk first — although we are old friends, I choose actors very strictly. Yes! If he can't perform ballet well, I won't open the back door for him! "

"... I'm afraid he can't meet your requirements." The head of the department was a spirited old lady, with her silver hair pulled into a tight bun. She said with a wry smile, "He had a traffic accident last summer, and he almost couldn't stand up afterward. In the year he was absent from school, he had done four sessions before and after the operation. If it wasn't for this, how would I be willing to give up this good seedling to another department?."

Hearing this answer, Song Lin raised his eyebrows in surprise and regretted: "This ... this is too bad. Was the driver drunk?"

The head of the department shook her head heavily.

"Not an accident — it was deliberate revenge." The head of the department lowered her eyes and covered the anger in her gaze. "His parents owed a lot of gambling debts, and they hadn’t got any money. Those in the underworld ... can do anything."

For that young man with a bright future, his youth was suddenly settled that evening.

The perpetrator was extraordinarily rampant, relying on the darkness and the unmonitored rural town, the driver not only knocked him down, but even deliberately crushed his feet with the wheels, and then drove away.

Xiang Cai passed out from pain, and when he was awake—his feet didn’t hold any strength, and he clung to the ground with both hands, climbing to the side of the road with difficulty, one arm after the other. It wasn’t until after dawn that he was rescued.

The scene was bloody. Two long bloodstains dragged on the gravel road, extending to the bones of his rotten feet.

He could have danced out of his future with his feet — but that night, he lost his ballet future.

His parents had long disappeared, hiding from their debtors. After the accident, the school leaders came forward to help him arrange things, and the teachers also paid for the surgery.

His class teacher then knelt directly in front of the attending doctor, begging him to cure Xiang Cai.

The middle-aged man in his forties shed tears: "Doctor, he is only 16 years old. He is supposed to be a dancer in the future!"

The doctor said, "I understand your mood, but his current situation is very serious. Both feet have comminuted fractures. We will certainly try our best to treat him, but we can't guarantee anything now. If his recovery is not good, he might only be in a wheelchair for the rest of his life."

He had many sessions before and after the operation, and Xiang Cai even cried from pain in his sleep.

But even more painful was the rehabilitation — the boy was already thin, and during this great disaster, he lost another 20 pounds of weight. Every day, he kept holding his pole and insisted on walking. Even if he started sweating and trembling all over, he never gave up.

The teachers took turns to visit the hospital and he greeted them with a smile. When he smiled, his jaw looked sharper, but his eyes were bright, as if washed by a spring rain.

He would tirelessly ask every teacher if he could still dance ballet in the future.

The teachers touched his head and coaxed him, lying — but how long could the lie hold up?

After Xiang Cai completed his rehabilitation, he returned to school, but his feet could no longer support him to complete high-intensity ballet training. The principal could only sadly transfer him to the Musical Theatre Department.

The department transfer was decided by the head of the Ballet Department after she discussed it with Xiang Cai

When Xiang Cai saw the paper transfer notice, he was silent for a long time, then suddenly got up and bowed to her.

"Thank you."

Then the boy straightened his back, picked up his bag, and walked out of the Ballet Department, going in another direction.

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The author has something to say: I want to say a lot, but I won't say it.

Hugging my Cai Cai.

(In fact, the copywriting also wrote that the parents were addicted to gambling, but it seems that everyone did not notice the keyword orz ...)

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