All That We Held Dear - YiZhan (COMPLETED)

Arc VI - The World In Between - Part 4

Shanghai's Le Grand Théâtre had been founded in 1919 on the ruins of what had once been the lavish residence of Étienne Auguste de Lavallière, a textile industrialist who'd made his fortune in Chinese silk. The rumour had it that the luxurious property, which had long been the talk and envy of the whole French concession, had been set ablaze by Madame de Lavallière herself following one too many of her husband's indiscretions. Some said she'd perished in the fire, others that she couldn't possibly have been responsible as she hadn't even been in Shanghai at the time of the fire. Whatever version of the story one chose to believe, the truth was that De Lavallière, already in financial difficulties and unable to restore the property to its former glory, had eventually sold it to Walter F. Duhring, an American tycoon who'd made his money off the sale of weapons during WWI.

Duhring, a true businessman at heart, had taken advantage of the prestigious location of his new acquisition at the heart of The Bund and, hoping to rehabilitate his unsavoury image, had torn down the residence and built a theatre in its place. When asked why he'd given it a French name, he would say that it was an hommage to US and French relations, but in fact, this was nothing more than one more way to dissociate the playhouse from its nouveau riche American owner who'd not only profited from but also contributed to the death of an entire generation of young men.

For the most part, his plan succeeded, and whatever people's reservations might have had at first, they were quickly forgotten when the building, a marvel of Art Deco at the vanguard of the trends of the time, opened its doors and put on many plays that appealed to the expatriate community's upper crust. As the roaring twenties took off, it quickly became the place to see and to be seen and was especially popular with the French and White Russians. However, aside from the carefully vetted staff, at the time, few were the locals who had been able to afford even a glimpse of the rarified world that lay beyond Le Grand Théâtre's gorgeous stone façade and adorned brass doors.

Following the Japanese occupation of Shanghai and subsequent evacuation of the French concession in 1943, the building had served various administrative purposes only to be abandoned by the end of WWII. After many years left untouched, the theatre had been saved from destruction and summarily turned into a cinema where propaganda films and domestic productions were projected for all to see. At least, that had been what the now renamed "People's Theatre" had been intended for; however, the local higher-ups of the party, deeming the building too luxurious and a potential source of Western corruption, had been quick to reappropriate it for their own use. It had served as a government office and event hall until it had eventually been gifted to the city. After extensive renovations, it had been classified under Shanghai's Heritage Architecture, thus ensuring its survival.

And so, through a series of fortuitous events, the theatre had reached present times relatively unchanged, if only for minor alterations. Under its original name, it now operated mainly as a theatre but also as a reception hall on its upper floor. However, it was also a popular location for movie launches, and the select few productions that could secure its premises were usually well-connected.

Xiao Zhan had never been to Le Grand Théâtre before, but like everyone in the industry, he'd once dreamed of one day having the bragging rights to say one of his productions had been launched on its famous stage. However, now that he was given a chance to walk its planks, he couldn't fully enjoy it. As this was a long-awaited movie, marketing had decided to hold three opening nights, each to be attended by a different lead. Similarly, three closing nights would be held in Beijing at the end of the roadshow in two weeks. At first, Xiao Zhan, who had been slotted in the very first and very last showings to accommodate his filming schedule, hadn't been convinced that people would be willing to buy tickets to see the same movie three times just to meet a different actor each time. However, when all the tickets for both locations had sold within five minutes of going on sale, he'd had to admit that he'd been wrong.