The Greatest Showman

Chapter 9: Firefighter

Renly's hands were still covered in water droplets, his clothes were slightly disheveled from the hustle and bustle of the dinner rush, and his whole body was in a bit of a mess, and Neil was dragging him with such haste and force that he stumbled a bit, "Slow down, slow down, Neil! What's going on? At least you could have briefed me on the details first!"

But Neil's steps continued without pause, pulling Renly to the side of the stage in stride and shoving in his arms the guitar that was leaning against the wall, "Time to save the day!"

Renly's eyes rounded, "Again?" Although his expression showed surprise, but the action in his hand did not pause, and then he carried the guitar to his shoulder.

Neil helplessly spread his hands, "Traffic jam. Jason is still there on 23rd Street, stuck in a line of cars." This is Seventh Street, that is a long distance, it is not likely he is going to make it in time for the start of the show, "Now we have to rely on you to save the day. Stanley said the payoff remains the same."

New York, a city that always reminds everyone living here every now and then in an unexpected way that this is the world's #1 city and also the busiest city in the world - the bad traffic jams are always so frustrating. Tonight, Jason became yet another "victim of the New York traffic".

This is not the first time something like this happened.

Since Pioneer Village always insists on live performances and insists that the guests for each day's show must be carefully selected, rather than a fixed set of performers year-round, this means that all sorts of unforeseen circumstances are inevitable. So, from time to time, there is always a need for temporary fire-fighters. Before that, comedians were the preferred choice because they could go on stage and perform stand-up comedy, which was great for livening up the atmosphere and interacting with the audience up close and stalling for time.

But there was an accident last month, and there were no comedians to save the day, so Renly volunteered to perform on stage to avoid the crisis of an empty slot that night.

For aristocrats like the Hall family - even the fallen aristocrats - they had to learn an artistic skill from an early age, painting, piano, violin, poetry, wine tasting, etc. The point was not to be good at it, but to cultivate temperament and elegance. Especially in the formal social occasions of high society, vision, speech, mannerisms, demeanor, these at the first impression determines your status and image in the circle. This is also the fundamental reason why those burgeoning families and post-advancing aristocrats have never been able to truly integrate into the upper class circle - the heritage and background.

Renly studied piano and later tried different instruments at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, mainly to understand the changes and progress of pop culture, which has an important role in understanding culture, history, and performance; besides that, it was also to make up for the regrets of the last life, trying different and fresh things always opens up the eyes. The guitar is one of them.

Originally it was just a cameo to save the day, but unexpectedly it received a lot of praise. Since the last month Renly has been on stage five times.

Neil pushed Renly to the front of the stage, then raised his hands to show his innocence, revealing a relieved smile, "It is all up to you now!"

Looking at Neil, who was ready to leave, Renly hastily pulled him back, "How long? For how long do I need to delay?"

"Fifteen minutes." Neil said loudly, "When Jason arrives, we'll give you the signal from the bottom of the stage." He said, without stopping, and then ran back to the bar in a flash, throwing the hot potato directly into the hands of Renly.

Looking at Neil's back as he fled, Renly didn't panic too much, looking up at the clock, he began to estimate in his heart, deducting the time of conversation and the break in the middle of the replacement. It was almost a ten-minute gap, he only needed to perform three songs and that would be enough. This task is not too burdensome.

At this time, standing on the stage Stanley Charlson saw in the afterglow of his vision that Renly was already ready, he had no means to continue to fool around, as the owner of the bar, he came on stage just to crosstalk, two minutes of nonsense is already his limit. So, without waiting for Renly to catch his breath, he simply raised his right hand high, "Ladies and gentlemen, Renly Hall!"

"Oooh oooh, Renly! Renly!" In the direction of the bar came the sound of slapping the table, without turning his head he knew it was definitely that fellow Neil, along with the sound of slapping, many audience members also followed, and the sounds of whistling and laughter made them look so enthusiastic.

Steven wiped the last bit of soup off his plate with his bread and put it in his mouth - the food tonight was truly delicious, and when he heard Stanley's introduction on the speakers, he almost choked, and his first reaction was to cast a questioning look toward Tom, "What's going on?" " But Tom also spread his hands, with a confused expression, not understanding what was going on.

As he turned his head towards the stage, Renly, who was carrying a guitar, appeared in front of the crowd with a smile on his face, and the scene became increasingly livelier, Steven couldn't help but turn his head and survey the surroundings, and found that the guests who were making a commotion were chanting the words out of their mouths, and it was obvious that they were already very familiar with Renly, and the kind of banter and joking around between friends was clear to see.

Renly took the microphone from Stanley and said with a smile, "Good evening, I'm Jason Mraz." That eye-opening lightheartedness made everyone at the bar roar with laughter. "Sorry, Jason was temporarily left fifteen blocks away by Michael Bloomberg's lousy management." Michael, New York's current mayor.

This banter won the hearts of all, and the sound of banging on the table erupted again, accompanied by exuberant whistles.

"Before Jason arrives on the scene, you'll just have to put up with me as an impostor." With two simple words, Renly managed to make the atmosphere of the scene once again lively, not only did they not complain because of Jason's late arrival, but on the contrary, they became more and more enthusiastic.

Renly casually pulled a wooden chair, then graciously settled down, after fixing the microphone, the stage lights dimmed. The entire bar in addition to the stage lights have been darkened, leaving only a creamy yellow beam of light spilled down, enveloping the body of Renly, the dust in the air was flying up and down, falling lightly on his shoulders, the halo of light penetrated the messy and unruly golden brown curls that were falling sparsely on his face, thick eyelashes casting a shadow to hide the look under his eyes, indescribable silence has slowly spread.

Time, seemingly all of a sudden, has stopped in its tracks.

"Before Jason shows up," Renly's voice came from the speakers.

Like blue velvet spread out in a creamy world, the beauty of the night bloomed proudly for a moment, "I've decided to sing his masterpiece first, and when he shows up, maybe you can feel the great discrepancy." That self-deprecating joking made every listener smile, even Steven.

The long and straight fingers, with clear bones as well as strong and powerful, gently drew down, and the tinkling strings danced amidst the spotlight, and the song "I'm yours" easily immersed everyone in the bar, swaying gently to the rhythm. This was a moment of relaxation, with music, wine, friends, and the fragments of life began to become clear.

Steven couldn't stop looking at the beam of light, unlike the afternoon audition on stage when he was free and unrestrained, at this moment, Renly looks elegant and calm, he didnt't know if it's because the contrast between the spotlight and the darkness was too strong. There was only one lone figure on the big stage, Renly is like a bard, singing and whispering, relaxed and elegant, making people jealous.

It seems that there was no technique of singing, yet it easily seized the ears, even the mind was absorbed in that lazy and husky voice, the nose under the fragrance of coffee mixed in the sunlight diffused.

When the song finished, Steven realized that the corners of his mouth raised, he could not help but to quickly collect himself, his eyes glanced at Tom, fortunately, Tom at this time was raising his hands high, applauding Renly in respect, without noticing he did something unusual for him. Not only Tom, the other audience was also the same, no one would notice the difference of the people next to them, everyone simply enjoyed the show.

Even if Steven did not want to, he had to admit that, leaving aside the professional point of view, Renly's performance does make people feel very comfortable, only those who have experienced the changes, and have gone through the storms of the stalwart singing have this power, but Renly is only twenty years old this year, which is really incredible.

This made Steven recall the afternoon audition again. In fact, actors are the same, young actors because of the lack of experience and exposure, they tend to rely on talent and instinct to perform; while mature actors gradually lost the spirituality, they rely more on skills and experience to control the performance. But Renly's body has an aura of mixed vicissitudes and spirituality that makes him shine. That's why Tom stepped up to the plate.

"Renly, perform 'Charlie Boy'", " perform David-Bowie's 'Heroes (Heroes) "...... under the stage, many audience members actually began to order songs together, it was a lively scene.

Steven's thoughts were interrupted, nevertheless he was having a lot of fun. Although this is only his first visit to the Pioneer Village, but he is certain that the audience would not have shown such enthusiasm simply because they were familiar with each other but because Renly was talented.

Tom also finally couldn't help himself and raised his voice to say, "Looks like this little guy is quite popular!"

Steven, however, remained stubborn, "As an amateur singer?" Actors always had an indefinable sense of superiority for singers, and Steven's words are clearly an expression of contempt. Tom couldn't help but roll his eyes.

On the stage, Renly's eyes fell on the fourteenth table, the corners of his mouth smile with a touch of playfulness, causing Tom and Steven to look sideways, "I just experienced a not so successful audition this afternoon, but this audition has given me some inspiration, and I would like to share it with you here."

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