Blue Rite is back in London again.

This is the second time in just four months, and more precisely, it was only five weeks before the end of Edge of Tomorrow left, but this time, there was no movement from the Hall.

After the last-for-tat, leaving a mess, for a long time after, the Hall family has become a topic of conversation after dinner; after the vigorous "hype gate", the Hall family completely closed all speeches, pretending that "Lan Li-Hall" never existed, and clearly expressed their position; and after the unexpected ending of the Oscars, Lan Li became a British actor who won the Little Golden Man for the second year in a row, and the Hall family went silent in the midst of the turmoil.

Strong winds and waves, ups and downs, and limelight. This was a nightmare for the aristocratic class, and "only the vulgar nouveau riche would enjoy the effect of this spotlight". Naturally, when Ranley returned to London, George and Elizabeth both pretended not to have happened, living in the same city, as if they had never existed for each other.

Arthur Hall naturally knew. Arthur, who lives on connections and news, didn't need to inquire deliberately to find out about Lan Li's situation, but this time he also honestly kept his mouth shut. In Bayswater's villa, "blue rites" is a completely taboo word.

What's more, after entering the West End of London, Lan Li also kept a low profile and devoted himself to the rehearsal of the work, without any news.

Until today.

With a flash of inspiration and a thought, Philip pulled out the pamphlet and flipped through the list of actors. Sure enough, I saw the familiar name in the first most conspicuous position, "Lan Li-Hall".

A light smile appeared on the corner of his mouth, and Philip looked at the name seriously and carefully, and a trace of relief and happiness flashed in his eyes. Lan Li finally succeeded, according to his own ideas, realized his dream, and returned to the stage of London's West End as an actor again.

Involuntarily, his fingertips rubbed the name carefully, but the ordinary lead words seemed to have magical power, and Philip, who was moody, brightened his eyes slightly, and at this moment, an off-white card fell from the manual and landed on the table.

Philip picked up the card, and the vigorous, chic and casual handwriting came into view, and at a glance he knew that it was Lan Li's handwriting.

"Dear Mr. Philip Demba,

On May 18, Les Misérables will have its premiere at the Almeida Theatre and you are cordially invited to attend.

Yours, Lance Sebastian Hall. ”

This is an invitation letter written specifically to Philip. Unlike the printed invitation to George and Elizabeth, this invitation is handwritten, and it is an invitation issued in Lan Li's personal capacity, and the signature also indicates the full name and the name of the religion, and the treatment and friendship are completely different.

However, this friendship meant nothing to George and Elizabeth, who simply thought it was a waste of time, and even if they knew the difference, they would not mind. Therefore, Lan Li generously placed the invitation in the same envelope, and regarded Philip as a member of the Hall family.

Lan Li knew this, and Philip also knew it. However, Philip could still feel the careful thinking of Lan Li's prank, and he was a little juvenile.

After confirming the source of the invitation, Philip carefully read the entire letter again. A small detail was noticed, the "premiere" was not a "rehearsal", nor an "audition", but a real debut.

The West End has changed dramatically over the centuries, and the region has made many changes to keep up with the times, but at its very essence it is still a theatre scene that retains a myriad of traditions, following the glorious traditions of the golden age of theatre in the twenties and thirties.

In fact, auditions and rehearsals are not the most traditional part, but the premiere is.

The so-called premiere is the first performance of the play officially on the stage of London's West End or Broadway, which is open to ticket sales and is subject to public review and judgment, similar to the premiere of a movie, but more of a star-studded occasion for high society, top people, and senior artists.

It was not so much a premiere as an Oscars, and it was similar to the opening ceremony of Eaton Dormer's personal brand.

The premiere is a celebrity party, and at the same time, it is a watershed moment between victory and defeat.

However, with the progress of the times, people's pastimes have become more and more, and the status of drama has been declining. So, from the 60s, there were auditions, and from the 70s, there were rehearsals.

The so-called audition is a literal meaning, before the official performance, a tentative and experimental performance, the audience is basically all senior theater enthusiasts, professional drama critics, producers, etc.

At the end of the audition, everyone, including the director, screenwriter and cast members, will be open to comments and will stay up all night making changes to the work, and the actors will rehearse as quickly as possible and adapt to the content.

Most commonly, after the audition, the whole night is followed by a revision and the next morning, a new content is rehearsed, and the afternoon matinee performance is still the same, but the night performance of the same night must be performed according to the new content.

The so-called rehearsal is a little different. The cost of a play in a theatre in London or New York is too high for every crew to afford, so before the "premiere" in London or New York, the crew first prehearses in other cities for four to six weeks, hoping to get more positive feedback and then boost the box office for the official premiere.

But the biggest problem with the rehearsal is that a new production still has to be staged in London and New York, and it will be subjected to the almost brutal test, and many important musicals will be ruined by the verbal criticism of the rehearsal, and after arriving in London and New York, it will usher in a rout that will fall apart.

Especially with the advent of the Internet era, theater fans can share the smallest details and smallest mistakes in each rehearsal on the Internet, and truly bring the spirit of picking bones in eggs to the extreme.

Audition is a process of self-improvement and self-accountability, while rehearsal is more of a link of marketing and commercial promotion. But whether it's an audition or a rehearsal, in 2012, when theater was generally sluggish, it was crucial. It's the same thing about gathering feedback through internal preview screenings before a brand new movie is released.

However, Philip carefully recalls that for the past two or three weeks, he has not heard of any auditions or rehearsals for "Les Miserables". At least, he didn't read the comments in The Times, The Guardian, the Financial Times or The Independent.

Before his thoughts could swell, there was a sound in the direction of the restaurant, and Philip immediately received the signal: George had arrived at the restaurant.

George works at Barclays, where he manages the trust, and every morning his schedule starts with reading the Financial Times, has breakfast and heads to the office. The same itinerary, the same habits, persisted for more than 20 years, and has never changed.

Philip quickly packed up the letters, repacked the invitations, and then put the newspapers and letters in the trays, and entered the dining room unhurriedly, where he saw George sitting at the table, the coffee on his right hand exuding a curling aroma.

Swift but silent, Philip approached George, handed the Financial Times, then fanned out the other newspapers, and finally placed the letters in front of him that needed to be dealt with as soon as possible. After all the movements, Philip took a half-step back and quietly turned away.

Turning around, Philip saw Elizabeth walking towards him, "Ma'am." Philip greeted politely.

Elizabeth nodded gracefully and sat down at the other end of the table, "Philip, help me arrange a car, I'll need to make a trip to Windsor in a moment, huh...... Departure in forty-five minutes. ”

Philip nodded and walked out of the dining room quickly, but before he could take a step, he saw Elph coming downstairs, "Miss Elph." Is it morning today?"

"Yes, I drank a little brandy last night and now my throat is a little uncomfortable. Coffee for breakfast, I need to add some hot milk. Elf nodded gracefully, and after finishing her explanation, she took a step in the direction of the restaurant.

Philip got out of the way, watched Elf leave, and then walked in the direction of the kitchen. This morning, it was really lively.

As was customary, George had breakfast in the dining room and Elizabeth in her room—aristocratic couples slept in separate rooms, Ellef often had to work late and had a delay of one or two hours, and Arthur, who spent most of his time in London and never returned.

But today, George, Elizabeth, and Elf all came together and showed up at the same time. Thinking back to the invitation in front of George, Philip realized that breakfast time should be bustling. However, the most important thing for Philip now is to instruct the kitchen to make adjustments according to today's unexpected circumstances.

In the dining room, after the brief greeting, the three people sat in their own places, and the distance between each person was at least six to eight meters, and if they talked, they would have to speak loudly, which would be detrimental to etiquette, so they simply remained silent, without any conversation or eye contact.

After briefly flipping through the "Financial Times" and understanding the news, the specific in-depth reading still needs to be carried out after going to the office, George put the newspaper aside for the time being, picked up the letter in front of him, first went through all the letters in general terms, and then noticed the blue envelope, paused for a moment, and in hesitation, his fingers pulled out the contents.