Hollywood Domination Chapter 32: New York New York

Although Jenny, a native of Alabama, has never been to the 'Big Apple', Chen Zhen is no stranger to New York. As a wealthy young lady, she often travels to Paris, Milan, Rome, New York and London Sometimes it’s for buying property, sometimes it’s a business trip with my husband, and sometimes it’s just for tourism. Especially in New York, where she lived for a long time, because of the arrangement of her husband's family, her son was born in New York.

Of course, the last time she came here, she lived in the big apartment of her ex-husband’s family on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, but now she can only live in Brooklyn. Fortunately, all the transportation and accommodation for the interview this time Out of the office, Jenny is only responsible for her own three meals. Otherwise, if she is asked to pay for it herself, Jenny doesn’t know if she will live in the Bronx to save money. It is her poorest day now. After buying her own car, her expenses have increased a bit , and he is no longer walking the dog, but the payment from "Chicago" has not yet been credited to the account.

Of course Cesare did not accompany her to the audition. As for Jim, he also has his own affairs, and he is not Cesare's follower. Jenny has to contact the audition party on Broadway, that is, Schubert. The staff of the theater, as well as continuing training—"Chicago" will last three rounds of interviews, each with an interval of about ten to fifteen working days. Cesare didn't waste any time, and has already arranged several interviews for her As for how to get to the class, it is Jenny's own business.

This is also the first time Jenny came into contact with New York's public transportation system. When she took the subway for the first time, she deeply felt the benefits of socialism-the dirty and messy New York subway stations are almost the same as Shanghai and Beijing subway stations. In sharp contrast, the worst thing is that there is no signal on the subway line, which is of course very inconvenient for Jenny who may receive interview calls anytime and anywhere.

But she has no money to take a taxi, let alone rent a car. Because she is not sure whether she will pass the audition, Jenny is very economical now. After arriving in New York, her only "luxury" consumption is to go to Broadway to see a show. The ticket price is more than 30 yuan, and nothing else.

It's not "Chicago", but "The Phantom of the Opera" - the crew of "Chicago" is on tour and has not returned to New York. The reason why the audition selection was held at this time was because Roxie's actors had physical problems, and they might have to undergo surgery after returning from the tour. However, due to some reasons that Jenny didn't know, this time the troupe decided to recruit Roxie's actors. .

This is a rare situation. Generally speaking, musicals as famous as "Chicago" rarely openly recruit specific actors. If you want to play "Chicago" as an alternate, there is no problem. Go off-off-broadway first, or off-broadway. There's a lot of repertoire out there, and you'll have roles.

Yes, ordinary newcomers seldom start from inner Broadway. They mostly perform some unprofitable experimental plays on outer Broadway and outer Broadway. Or it is the approval of the members of the troupe, and then the next time the troupe recruits new people, you can join the troupe. After many rehearsals, you can start from a supporting role. You can be Roxy's alternate. You must know that a well-known musical like "Chicago" performs an average of 8 times a week-this is the average. There are always a few actors who can't be there for one reason or another, then you can be on top.

If the performance is very good and the effect is outstanding, congratulations, you may be able to become a regular in the next performance season, and the three years of hard work will not be in vain. In fact, the calculation of three years is already very loose. Generally speaking, it takes an actor more than five years to become a leading actress in a Broadway ace play. The casting mechanism of classic musicals such as "Cats", "Phantom of the Opera", "Beauty and the Beast" and so on are all like this.

Of course, there are advantages and disadvantages to doing this. The advantage is that the selected actors have been in battle for a long time and their performance is stable. Even being a little singer is more profitable than performing in a musical, and it's even faster to get ahead. So on Broadway, the leading actors of many shows often don’t win by their looks, and their acting skills are not particularly good. The troupe landed a starring role.

The selection that Jenny is going to participate in this year is on the surface only the recruitment of the "Chicago" troupe. It seems that it has nothing to do with Roxy. She doesn't know how the whole thing works, so she can only participate in the selection in a daze. .

The initial test was completed by sending resumes and videos, and a group of people should have been screened, but even so, there were still hundreds of men and women participating in the first interview, with people of all ages and skin colors. It's not clear which character they all came for. But what she can be sure of is that her appearance should be considered outstanding among these people.

The first interview was mainly to examine basic skills. She sang a song and did some dance moves. Jenny has also summed up her experience now. It doesn't mean that if she has a golden finger, she will become an audition killer. Maybe many auditioners follow the process and don't reserve a chance for you to perform. You say, this is not even a chance to perform. No, what's the use of having golden fingers?

Of course, many people may have thought very well beforehand, and there was no chance to show it, so I can fight for it myself.

Hehe, this is the same as a general job interview. You go to apply for a programmer, and when you see that the interview situation seems to be not good, you immediately find a computer and start typing code, and let the interviewer look. ——The problem is that people have already seen everything they should read. Maybe the people who enter the interview with you have similar programming skills. If your professional advantages are not very obvious, the most likely result of this kind of personal show is to let The interviewer thinks you have mental problems.

Actually, the entertainment industry is sometimes no different from other companies. In addition to your professional level, there are many other factors that determine whether you will be hired in the end. It doesn't mean that a good performance in the audition will convince the interviewer to get the role, the world is not that simple.

For Jenny, at least for this role, the difficulty of the world is still very beneficial to her. She successfully passed the first round of auditions, and began to wait and prepare for the second round of auditions. During the period, she went to Chesa Lei helped her sign up, and it was also a short-term course recommended by Rob—it’s a short-term course, but it’s more like a one-to-two special training for her, because it’s just her and another male student in the whole course. During class time, the teacher Just take turns directing both of them.

At this time, it reflects the benefits of being favored and recommended by Rob. Ms. Agata Repnina, who trained her, is a double bachelor in dance and drama from the Juilliard School of Music. Needless to say how important she is on Broadway, and of course she is also Rob's friend. Jenny didn't even dare to ask how expensive such a special instruction course was. She could only be sure that Cesare had indeed tilted his resources towards her a lot.

Although Ms. Agata is of Russian descent, she is also a second-generation immigrant. Jenny has no problem communicating with her. But she's in her late 40s, early menopause, and that statement is enough to illustrate how stressful the whole course is. Although Jenny's dancing is good and she was appreciated by her teacher in Los Angeles, she is useless in the eyes of her Julia class. Although Agata did not say it clearly, she showed doubts more than once, obviously questioning Rob vision.

As for the boy who was trained with her, I don't know whether to say it is a pity or a blessing. This handsome and extraordinary young man has inherited the consistent tradition of Broadway and is more interested in cucumber + eggs. He seems to be a Broadway The little fresh meat next to a certain boss was also sent to Agata's class because of his background. Jenny didn't have many chances to chat with him, so she didn't know much about him.

After more than ten days of basic skills learning and error correction, Agata finally talked about Jenny's audition three days before the start of the second round of auditions.

"I really don't know what James is thinking. This year is indeed a difficult year, but he doesn't have to be so eager for quick success." Agata was late when the class started that day, She walked into the rehearsal room while talking on the phone. "Y-yeah, I know it's a good stunt and a good transition, but can the girl do it? When did Broadway get reduced to playing idols? Oh, Comeon, the hype is so low-level. "

As she spoke, she looked Jenny up and down, so that people would never misunderstand that the girl she was referring to was Jenny, and Jenny was hairy from her look, "Okay, I know, dear, OK, OK, But the premise is that she has to impress me first—"

She turned away and finished the call in a low voice. Jenny had a strong feeling that Rob should be on the other end of the line.

"Okay, girl." Agata has been calling her girl for more than ten days, as if Jenny has no name. She hung up the phone and turned around, "Cheer up, we will enter the stage performance mode tonight, I will let you sing a piece of Roxy first, you choose the track yourself, you have fifteen minutes to prepare. The soundtrack is here, you You can put it yourself."

Jenny knew that if she didn't show some real skills tonight, she wouldn't be able to impress Agata. ——Of course, the real skill she is talking about can only refer to her golden finger at present.

She took a deep breath, closed her eyes and breathed evenly, walked to the computer to choose the aria, selected the film and clip in the performing arts space, counted down five seconds in her heart, and then at the moment the music started, chose to share Affection.

The life that belonged to Roxie Hart suddenly surged. At this moment, Jenny almost felt that she was Roxie Hart—her girlhood was mediocre and boring. As a result, she can only marry the boring Mr. Hart sadly. Who knew that in a turn of events, a murder case would give her a taste of fame? In this aria, Roxie just felt the benefits of being famous. Fame made her ecstatic and carried her away. This song "Roxie" is Roxie's confession, as well as her longing and ambition for the future.

Among the low and rapid rhythm, Roxy stepped out of the stage, holding a freshly lit cigarette in her hand. Finally, with a hint of infection.

Roxy spoke very fast, almost eloquently, she seemed unable to stop proudly saying, "You know, I've always wanted to have my own show, but——No, no, No! NO! NO!! They always say no to me, the world is full of NO. Then Amos shows up, safe, sweet Amos, who never says no."

"I've never done this before, let me tell you a little bit of truth, but tonight is so special—" Her tone intensifies, a little hysterical, "And you are such a good audience !”

Roxy happily announced, "In the bedroom, Amos can only play -Zero."

She made a gesture, smiled vulgarly and obscenely, and lowered her voice to make fun of her husband's behavior in bed, "Oh, I love you, my dear, I love you—"

With a series of confessions, Roxie completely exposed her true nature. Under the beautiful appearance, her vanity, selfishness and narcissism are even more ugly, which almost makes people laugh and laugh, but also because she is So beautiful, so this ugly character seems to have a different kind of beauty, which makes people reluctant to look away. Afterwards, her rambling, almost delirious aria was naturally guided by this monologue.

"The name on every lips will be—" she sang wistfully, "Roxy!"

"The head on every coin will be—" she sings whimsically, "Roxy!"

"They will wait in line outside the door, just to see—" She hooked her fingers, "Roxy!"

"I'm full of jewels," Roxy's delusion enters the pod, she sings obsessively, "but of course it's still tasteful, I'm a star, the audience loves me I love the audience the audience loves me I love the audience—"

In her fantasy, she is a superstar, Roxy's chorus came to an end, "Sophie Tucker is not as good as me, I am a superstar - Roxy Hart."

The male voice in the accompaniment hummed softly "Roxy, Roxy", and Roxy winked at the imaginary audience, and her performance temporarily came to an end. And Jenny gradually returned to reality from Roxy's empathy.

Generally speaking, a song in a musical is about five minutes long, which is the longest time limit for her empathy.

The glorious stage was turned into a rehearsal room again. Facing the only two audiences, Jenny suddenly felt a little indescribably embarrassed. She was used to the situation with a large audience, but she performed for them very forgetfully. See, it can still arouse her self-defense and make her a little shy.

But she tried her best to endure this unprofessional reaction, and just said to Agata lightly, "Well——"

Agata and William, her male classmates, were still staring at her. William even opened his mouth slightly, looking fascinated. Hearing Jenny's question, He recovered and applauded desperately, "Bravo! Bravo! My dear, you are really outstanding!"

Even Agata found it difficult to maintain her proud posture. She obviously swallowed her saliva before nodding reservedly, "Although your basic skills still have many flaws, Rob is right. , your performance is very contagious, you have a strange power, you can dominate the audience...you performed very well, Jenny."

"Thank you." Jenny relaxed, showing a smile, and bowed to Agata, "Thank you for your compliment, William."

At the same time, she suddenly realized slowly—indeed, musical theater is the most suitable art form for her to develop her acting skills at this stage.

If the experiential school or the method school of the movie needs self-control in the performance in order to adapt to the transition from three-dimensional to two-dimensional, from first-hand to second-hand visual experience, then dramas like musicals are fresh at home First-hand experience, she can empathize as much as she likes, because the audience in the musical is the audience, the more involved the better, the more you treat yourself as a character, the more the audience will be convinced of your performance, the stage The effect is of course better.

——Moreover, five minutes of a song is also very suitable for her empathy time. In stage plays and musicals, musicals are more suitable for Jenny to play.

So, sometimes people are very dull. After preparing for the "Chicago" audition for so long, Jenny actually discovered this point until now. She can only admit that she is stupid on this point.

Since it is comparative, it of course means that there is one person who is smarter. Amid Agata's reluctant approval, Jeanne couldn't help thinking of Cesare.

He arranged for her to appear in the musical, was it because he saw through her strengths? unit?

If this is the case, then... Cesare has indeed proved one point again: he really has a unique vision and is extremely good.

But his goal is to make her a Hollywood legend, not a Broadway queen. Arranging her to perform in a musical in New York should not be just because her current acting skills are the most suitable for a musical, there must be more deep purpose.

So, what is his purpose?

Jenny is already looking forward to the answer.

The author has something to say: Note: The Juilliard School is super, invincible, awesome, and the assessment is also very strict. Agata is a double bachelor, and she is definitely a master of the academy. Of course, this person is also my fiction of.

The Bronx district is the district with the highest crime rate in New York, and it is relatively turbulent. Most of the residents are people of color, and tourists are not likely to live there.

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