Hollywood Domination Chapter 34: Zero sum game

It is not the first time that Dietrich Goodwin, the black female prisoner in the movie version of "Chicago" and Velma in the Broadway version of the musical, has met Jennifer Jefferson. At Universal Studios in Hollywood, she had a few words with Jefferson at lunch a few times, but there was nothing more in-depth communication, even if Dietrich had a deep friendship, it was objectively not allowed. The atmosphere on the set of "Chicago" was oppressive, and the director was like an untimely dynamite, which could explode at any time. It was also Dietrich's first electric shock. Every time the two met, one of them was always busy with the film, and no one could procrastinate.

For Jefferson, the lucky one, it would be a lie to say that Dietrich was not envious. She is beautiful, young - the most important thing is young, Dietrich is 32 years old this year, just got the role of Velma, and got the opportunity to appear on the big screen through the recommendation of the Broadway troupe, she started as a backup dancer , danced on Broadway for six years before it is today, and Jennifer Jefferson is only 20 this year.

Of course, when she was in Hollywood, Dietrich didn't have much jealousy towards her. Hollywood has never been short of lucky people. Compared with talented child actors like Tully Portman and Scarlett Johansson, she is also lagging behind by a large margin. At that time, she just wanted to make more friends and a good relationship. Maybe one day after Jennifer took off, she could bring her an audition or two.

——However, at that time, Dietrich didn't know that she would suddenly go to Broadway to sing in a musical, and the target was Roxy, the heroine of "Chicago". Judging from James' attitude towards her , Jennifer is not challenging Roxy in group B, but group A, that is to say, if she passes the audition, then in the next few seasons of the show, it will be Jennifer who will partner with Dietrich, not the unlucky Old Tina, or Amanda who had long been looking forward to transferring from Group B to Group A.

Dietrich didn't know exactly how many commercial considerations there were after this audition. Of course, she heard some gossip, but how to operate the publicity is ultimately the theater's business, and there is only one thing she cares about: the limelight.

As long as there are opposite plays, there will definitely be a battle for the limelight, especially in a play like "Chicago" where two heroines co-star, as long as they are co-starring, there will definitely be a comparison of who is more eye-catching. Of course, this is difficult to quantify The struggle, even the outcome, varies from person to person, and each audience may have a different answer. But Dietrich knew that her disadvantage was very obvious in front of Jennifer-she was not as beautiful as Jennifer. Compared with her original partner Tina, Jennifer's advantages are obvious at a glance. She is really young and beautiful, and she is also very thin. Skilled in singing and dancing, as long as the two stand there, Jennifer can naturally steal 70% of her attention.

Another more unfavorable factor is that she can act. The reason why Dietrich did not participate in the troupe's tour is because she had to serve as the human flesh set for many scenes on the set of "Chicago", and she appeared in several scenes of Kitty. , Jennifer's freely retractable acting skills gave her a deep impression. At this point, Dietrich, who previously specialized in musical theater, can readily admit that she feels ashamed.

But she is not without advantages. Dietrich did not participate in the singing and dancing training organized by the film crew, and her professionalism made it unnecessary for her to practice suddenly. The experience of co-starring with leading actors such as Renee and Catherine several times also made her feel the weakness of movie stars with non-study backgrounds on stage. It is one thing to be beautiful, but another to dominate the stage. Dietrich is definitely not as beautiful as Catherine, but she is confident that she can attract more attention on the same stage. Now that it seems that Jennifer's selection is a certainty, the song and dance aria selected by James is a good opportunity for her. She believes that she can confirm the power relationship between the two in the first joint performance. ——Dietrich didn't want to bully Jennifer, she just hoped that she would be honest on stage and not come to steal her limelight.

Jennifer has never had systematic rehearsals, and has only received short-term training for a few months. From the feedback of several colleagues, apart from her looks, her singing is the same. Although she dances well, Dietrich Her dance is her strong point, and she has absolute confidence in it. Dietrich didn't want to ravage her too much, or even lose the role, but she needs to completely overwhelm Jennifer in this song, let her know who is the boss, who is the right person, and the lines. People who are familiar with the chest, to put it bluntly: Whoever wants to follow the pace of others.

But as soon as Jennifer spoke, she knew it was over.

For the audience, the narration and vocals of the musical have little to do with the background music, especially the aria of "Chicago" is jazz-style, the rhythm is relatively monotonous, and it sounds like it can be matched with any beginning. But for an actor, the timing of speaking and the rhythm of speaking are both particular. When the two speak in the same paragraph, there is still the problem of the speed of speech driving each other. What Dietrich wants to fight for is to be the foreman. She wants to let James know that even though the promotional focus of the next season may be Jennifer, Velma will still be the one who leads the singing on stage.

But she couldn't do it, she knew she couldn't do it as soon as Jennifer opened her mouth, she couldn't see her expression and dancing posture, she could only hear her humming "Nowadays" in her feigned, complacent and soft voice ", every sentence is in tune, every sentence is on the drumbeat, and even every sentence is in the emotion. She fits perfectly with the background music, not missing a single beat - it's almost like singing KTV, every line of Jennifer's singing is a replay of the original sound, and Dietrich can't improvise at all Coloratura, or lowering and raising the pitch according to her own voice, she is the same as all the people who sing K with the original voice, the only thing she can do is to keep up with her rhythm and integrate into her performance Here, follow her position to adjust the distance between the two.

In other words, although she tried her best to adjust and cover up, the person who was flustered and had small flaws was the veteran Dietrich, not the rookie Jennifer. It has been half a year since Dietrich played Velma, and this time the final song and dance show is the worst performance she has ever performed, maybe because of a lot of distracting thoughts, until the last part she didn’t even know how to deal with the situation where there were no props—God knows How many times have they used cardboard instead of machine guns in rehearsals, and how many times they have simulated directly by hand without cardboard. This time, she didn't wake up until she caught sight of Jennifer blowing her fingers out of the corner of her eye, and quickly made a similar gesture to cooperate with Jennifer.

Is her singing voice good? Out of tune? Is it loud? Is your breath stable? Dietrich didn't even notice that Jennifer's performance gave her the feeling that it was a whole that was difficult to analyze. She was Roxie, and now Roxie Hart was singing and dancing. How do you judge her singing and acting skills? It's like you can't say that a baby's smile is not natural. Maybe his smile is not so beautiful, but it is definitely original and unpretentious.

In a word, Jennifer is not only fully involved in the play, but also brings the audience into the play, making them lose their superior judge attitude, that is to say, they are completely conquered by her charm.

James didn't get too excited after the performance, but Dietrich was already familiar with him, and she easily passed through his little movements (tight lips, sparkling eyes, and constant tapping). fingers on the desktop) found his excitement. James was just pretending. Dietrich was sure that he was so excited that he could almost fly into the sky. He had been waiting for an opportunity to revitalize the Shubert Theater. Now who can say that Jennifer Jefferson is not his ideal. The savior of ?

As for the crowd standing behind the audition table, Agata Repnina, Rob Marshall, these big men didn't hold back their smiles and nods, they kept whispering, no doubt they were talking about Dietrich— Jennifer Jefferson. Their eyes slid past Dietrich, but they turned a blind eye to her, as if she was just a set, a dead thing, and once it fell on Jefferson, it was as if they had encountered a black hole, and it was difficult to leave.

Dietrich's mood is very bad, not only because she failed to act just now, but also because she has already realized her own fate, Hell, of course she knows this well, if it were them, she would also Make the exact same choice. If she was not an actress on the same stage, but just an audience, she would not pay attention to the pitiful, completely overshadowed, and dull supporting role, but would only appreciate this amazingly beautiful and talented future star star.

If she is not the same actress...

She bit her cheek and reminded herself with a slight pain: now is not the time to think about these things.

Then turned around with a smiling face and congratulated Jennifer Jefferson.

Just like what she noticed, all the dominance, domineering, or eye-catching temperament on Jefferson disappeared after one play. Of course she is still very beautiful, but she is no longer so eye-catching and arrogant. , while wiping her sweat, she also showed a kind smile to Dietrich. It was as if she had been coordinating with her for the entire show, instead of just showing for five minutes on her own.

Of course, Dietrich also admitted that she didn't plan to communicate and move while jumping at the beginning, but because she originally planned to do so, but Jefferson took a step ahead, her current displeasure is more deeply rooted.

She stepped forward to shake Jefferson's hand, turned and returned to the crowd, choosing not to respond to the hypocritical smiles from her colleagues, she knew what they were thinking, Broadway's competition would not be much more peaceful than Hollywood, she was Velma, this character in the "Chicago" troupe represents intrigue and turmoil.

And Dietrich couldn't accept the trend of the situation. She was 32 years old, and she didn't have much room for failure. This audition evokes the fear of unemployment in her heart. "Chicago" is a two-star musical. Velma cannot be suppressed by Roxie. what will be.

It's not the first time she's dealt with the dark side of the business, anyone who knows the business knows that no one will clear your barrier, or you'll be strong enough to step over it, or, you'll just bend over, get rid of it.

With a polite smile, she watched Jefferson carefully from the crowd.

Watch very carefully.

#

Jenny didn't particularly feel Dietrich's malice. It wasn't because she was insensitive. Half of the people in the previous room were so vigilant and fearful, and it was no exaggeration to say that they even looked at her with disgust, and it became impossible to find out the source of these gazes one by one. Besides, she has a more important task, which is to go up and formally greet Agata and Rob.

Although it is said that after she finishes her performance, James Schubert can comment on her and she can go out, but now the rhythm of the entire audition has been interrupted. There is a small meeting on the audition table, and there are discussions in the room. The vegetable market, so Jenny didn't care, went up and hugged Agata first, Agata patted her on the shoulder hard, pushed her to Rob without saying anything.

"Did you really come back to New York just to see me?" Jenny yelled amidst the discussions, and rushed forward to give Rob a hug and kiss on the face. With help, and the slightly crazy atmosphere in the room now, it became natural to do so.

Rob hugged her back, just like a maniac smile showing two rows of teeth, "I really want to say yes, but the truth is that the studio closed early for Christmas—"

He probably wanted to comment on her performance, but by then Schubert had turned his back, so Rob just said hastily at Jenny, "Listen, I've got a party for Christmas and you gotta Come, let's have dinner together tonight if you can."

He then pushed her back to Schubert.

Schubert pushed away the chair, stood up and shook hands with her, his attitude was more formal than before, and he cleared his throat before speaking, "Very well, Miss Jefferson, your performance makes me feel better. We are very satisfied."

Beside him, an audition officer shook his head and smiled and said, "I'm more than satisfied? Jennifer, you totally **** rock the whole place. (Rock the* out of the whole place) We can't wait to see yours The official performance."

Schubert smiled helplessly at him, but still managed to maintain a professional attitude towards Jenny, "In any case, we will tell you the result within two days."

"Okay, no problem." Jenny also wanted to hold back her laughter, but she was really excited and happy now, she didn't know what to say, but the singing and dancing just now seemed to make her fight back against Schubert The eyes that harassed her an hour ago, so she finally couldn't help but show her white teeth, "I will - I will wait for your call very anxiously."

All the executives on the audition table laughed, and they stretched out their hands to Jenny, and Jenny shook them one by one, feeling like she was a leader in the political arena, but it was really hard for her to suppress this high-spirited feeling, He couldn't stop laughing all the way to the door.

However, when she opened the door and all the candidates looked over, this inexplicable sense of success melted away very quickly, and Jenny suddenly realized that she had only successfully completed a rehearsal performance, absolutely Instead of becoming the king of the world, there is a large group of people around her who are likely to plan to step on her at any time in order to expand her chances of success.

She immediately restrained her smile and passed the crowd as seriously as possible, but even so, Jenny still felt many malicious eyes gathered on her. If the eyes could materialize, she believed that her face must have been cut with blood .

Although she is not a pretentious and aggressive character, and she tries to keep a low profile, Jenny knows that these candidates will not hate her any less because of her low profile. They don't like her, or even hate her. The reasons for hating her were all very simple: Jenny stood in their way, she took away the opportunity they all coveted.

So she is Bitch.

This is not a political and economic game, there is a win-win solution, this is the entertainment industry.

There can only be one winner in the entertainment industry.

The author has something to say: Note: 1 The A and B groups that Dietrich mentioned are very common practices in theater troupes that perform all year round. Because actors cannot guarantee attendance all year round, they will be divided into two groups and take turns Act in a play. But the higher status in the A-group of the Chicago Theater Company is a figment of my imagination.

2 Dietrich is a real person, and she is indeed Velma in Chicago on Broadway in 2002. But everything else is fiction... You know, don't take it seriously!

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Where is the comment? ! I want to read the message! Jenny wants to read the message (inexplicably screaming and screaming)