Hollywood Domination Chapter 41: Slap in the face

'I found out about Jennifer Jefferson. ’

After a few months, the IMDB page belonging to Jenny has been deserted a lot. After all, even if the vast majority of viewers had a good impression of Jenny in the episode of "CSI", it is impossible to rely on such two After more than ten minutes of playing time, she became a die-hard fan of her, checking the page with no new news every day. Jennifer Jefferson is like a mystery, and now it is preliminarily confirmed that this is her first time acting in a film and TV series. Fans can only pray that she will develop smoothly in the showbiz and have the opportunity to be seen by them.

In mid-January 2002, a post suddenly appeared in the discussion area, and a photo was placed in it. It was an advertisement in a New York subway station. On a pure white background, the word Chicago was inlaid with color The neon lights of diamonds are decorated with golden lights, and a blond beauty is wearing a one-piece skirt inlaid with fine rhinestones, revealing a perfect figure that is not real, it should be a beautiful figure that has been obviously modified, she stepped on the capital C On the letters, he raised his head to look at the camera, his red lips raised, revealing a faint smile of unknown meaning. Behind her are two rows of cast members lined up with the word 'people', black dancers, young and handsome lawyers...arranged in order of importance of the roles.

For those who are familiar with the plot, many people can recognize the characters from the appearance. For passers-by who are not familiar with the plot, the slogan on the poster is also eye-catching enough.

—'Our Roxie is better'.

It is at the top of the poster, and the font is also the largest. Below it, there are some information words such as the opening date and the name of the theater. Judging from the poster, the weekend of February 14 was the beginning of the Broadway New Year's season of "Chicago" - after the Christmas-New Year's performance month, there was no "Chicago" in the second half of January, which was regarded as a vacation after the end of the performance year. , the show month that started in February is seen as the beginning of the 2002 show year. Generally speaking, many plays will adjust their staffing at this time and launch new promotional strategies. This poster tells everyone that the "Chicago" musical has changed Roxy's actor and made her the focus of publicity.

This is a normal choice. Most passers-by think this way when they scan this poster, because this new Roxy is really very beautiful, so this also makes the poster of "Chicago" better than that of ordinary musicals. The poster is much more eye-catching. In any case, passers-by are absolutely snobbish, and their vision and comments are very tricky. They don't care who has a good singing voice and good acting skills. From a poster, what they can see is that this Roxy is better than others. The characters on the posters of musicals are several times more beautiful. The characters of other companies have obviously undergone beauty makeup and PS. I guess they are a little unrecognizable as real people. It’s just beautiful, and this Roxie is not only beautiful, but also has posture and demeanor... anyway, she is beautiful, attractive, and has an indescribable charm. Even if it’s just a musical poster, it’s as beautiful as a blockbuster commercial , Seductive.

'Our Roxy is better', this slogan is also curious, and it arouses different reactions among musical theater fans and passers-by. For musical theater fans, they have long known that "Chicago "The movie version is being filmed. The direction of this slogan is very obvious. Although it is not stated explicitly, it is clear that it is to challenge the heroine of the movie version, the well-known actress Renee Zellweger. Of course, they also felt this—what was it called? Jennifer Jefferson is prettier than Renee, but Renee is an actress. Where do they have confidence?

Although passers-by live in New York, they don't care too much about art. They only roughly know that "Chicago" is a musical, so they are interested in this comparison. Since this Roxy is better, then Which is the worse one?

People are competitive and like to watch the excitement. The confrontation between beauties and beauties will always arouse gossip. For example, Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera, both of them used to be members of Disney's Mickey Mouse Club, but Britney became famous earlier, and now the two have similar positions in the music world, and the situation of competing with each other is very obvious, so the relationship between the two has always been The focus of public attention, there are tabloids hinting at every turn that Christina can't stand Britney's duplicity, and this kind of magazine always sells well.

Among these passers-by, there are of course no lack of troublemakers. When they returned home, they began to search for "Chicago", and soon they found that "Chicago" was being filmed, and the other Roxie was the more famous Renee Qiwei Grid...

If Jenny is a girl with an average appearance and an average body, no matter how good she is in singing and dancing, most people will first laugh when they learn about this battle, 'You can't do what you can! ’, and then found evidence of Jenny’s arrogance from various angles, and had a bad feeling for her first. Of course, it is impossible to go to the show out of curiosity, but now, she obviously surpasses Renee in appearance, so many people will think: "Well, she is indeed prettier than Renee, but she is not as good at singing and dancing. It's great, will it be better than Renee in the future? Maybe it's not possible?"

Broadway ticket prices are not very expensive. For most New Yorkers, it is not the kind of expense that needs to be carefully considered. , students and groups also have discounts. For fans of musicals, once they see the posters and are attracted by Jenny's beauty and slogans, there is a 60% chance that they will spend money to buy tickets. Everyone has personally verified the troupe. Do you have the mentality of talking big, and then the remaining four achievements are waiting for drama reviews and feedback, and then see if you will pay. Among passers-by who have no habit of watching dramas, a certain proportion of those who are not short of money are driven by curiosity to buy tickets. Of course, they buy cheaper seats. Most of them have never seen a musical. Still more cautious.

Publicity and marketing is actually spending money to buy attention. This time the Schubert Theater’s publicity is very strong, and Jenny’s appearance is indeed eye-catching, so the publicity effect is very good. The box office in the next few weeks also had a good start. Of course, some sporadic votes were also from former "CSI" viewers. If they happen to live in New York and have the financial means, they are still willing to see this mysterious "Juanita" real person.

'Wow, man, she's a musical actress, so is this her first show? No one had found evidence of her acting on Broadway before, and the girl was a mystery. ’

'Maybe it's just that we didn't find out before, does this girl have an agency? Why her PR didn't update her detailed profile? ’

'I'm so envious of New Yorkers who can see *show, will anyone go to her show? ’

'I've bought a ticket, if you're interested, but I don't know if I'll be able to talk to her in real life, I'm not usually the type to go after stars. ’

'My mum bought tickets with me and we'll go to the premiere and my mum really wants to know if *is* really that pretty in real life too. ’

'I envy you so much! If you get an autograph or a group photo, be sure to post it! ’

At that time, the 20 million viewers of "CSI" left for Jenny dozens of fans who would actively reply and discuss on the IMDB discussion board. The bulletin board, and then thought of "CSI", so I bought the ticket silently, and didn't go online to discuss with others.

In addition, there are also some people in the industry, including drama critics, who asked someone to ask for tickets after seeing such an arrogant slogan. They are full of interest in this attempt by the "Chicago" troupe.

In any case, this wave of promotion has achieved good results, and everyone is very satisfied - the troupe and the theater are satisfied with the box office, and Jenny is also satisfied with the feedback on the poster from her few dozens of fans on IMDB, and even the film party is satisfied. I am very satisfied with the current publicity effect, the filming has ended, and Rob, who is busy with post-production, called and said that Cesare showed them a report, which included several keywords of the movie version of "Chicago" in these few days. Weekly search volume trends, the weekend when the promotion started from the theater, the search volume increased sharply, including keywords such as '"Chicago" release time" and ""Chicago" actors" all showed an obvious upward trend.

Who doesn't love free publicity? No one knows the follow-up trend of this matter, but so far, it is a win-win situation for theaters and filmmakers. It is estimated that there will be a few more reporters on Renee's side to ask questions, but so far, Renee has remained silent, with no comment or response at all.

"This is normal." Cesare handed her a pen and commented casually, "Renee's best thing to do now is not to respond. Any response from her will help you."

Across from Cesare, a middle-aged Jewish woman said with a smile, "Yes, of course you should refuse any interviews now, and let the works and drama reviews speak for you. Hunger Marketing is a very Good new concept, now all we need is to keep the public and critics hungry for you - hunger beautifies everything."

Yes, on the eve of the show’s performance, there was another person in Jenny’s team. Cesare found a public relations expert (PR) for her: Judy Ackerman, and she flew to Come to New York to sign a contract with Jenny.

The money Jenny has to pay her is not too much now, and it can even be said to be a surprisingly low price-a few hundred dollars a month will allow her to enjoy Ackerman's public relations services.

It's not because Judy's reputation is not well-known, but because Jenny's reputation is not enough now, so there is almost nothing to do in PR. There will be some interviews and drama reviews that will appear. If Jenny becomes popular and the workload of PR increases, she will naturally change the contract and increase the service fee. Of course, if Jenny becomes popular, Judy herself may not Will be willing to serve her, and she will take over Jenny now, obviously because she is optimistic about her potential.

For these considerations, there is no need for Cesare Ming to say that Jenny can make up her own brain after some thinking. She read the simple contract, signed her name, and shook hands with Judy, "Will you stay to watch my performance?"

"That's why we flew here the day before the show." Judy smiled at her kindly, "If you're free, can you have dinner with me tonight? I think we should get to know each other. "

But she was obviously very busy. As soon as she finished speaking, her cell phone rang. Judy gestured apologetically, and went outside to answer the call.

The room fell into a brief silence—this was the first communication between Jenny and Cesare after she hung up the phone. Before Cesare came to take Judy to sign a contract, they just called briefly to inform them, and the two didn't say much.

He still looks the same, handsome, neat, indifferent, full of oppressive force of Alphamale (see note), but he doesn't seem to exude any special displeasure towards Jenny. Just now when Judy was here, his attitude was still Kindly, now that Judy is gone, he didn't immediately sullenly pursue the old account of Jenny hanging up his phone. On the other hand, Jenny, although she knew that her behavior was childish, she still rolled her eyes and looked around, but she didn't want to meet Cesare's eyes.

"So." It was Cesare who broke the silence first, his tone sounded tolerant, completely the kind of 'You are acting childish now, I know, and I know you know it too, but I don't agree with it. You care about' tone, "Is the person you said you want to punish before, okay now?"

Jenny snorted, but quickly restrained her temper—of course, Cesare did not support her in this matter, which made her very annoyed, but after all, they didn't meet too much, Cesare Lei Yuan was in Los Angeles and had never met Dietrich. If even James couldn't trust her, then it was understandable for Cesare not to support her. Cesare is a very professional agent, and he treats her kindly. She should at least return him with a professional attitude instead of letting herself quarrel with him.

"I have rehearsals in the afternoon. If you don't have to go out for dinner tonight, you are welcome to visit the troupe." Jenny invited him.

Cesare raised his eyebrows, but didn't ask further, just nodded. "There should be great hopes. Judy's expression suggests that she may have to return to Los Angeles early."

Cesare was right. Judy came in to apologize after hanging up the phone. One of her clients was in trouble. She had to fly back to Los Angeles immediately to have a meeting with his team. Had to put it aside, but Judy left her assistant on to watch the show in her place so she wouldn't miss the debut entirely.

Jenny came over to sign the contract during lunch time. Of course, I have to go back to continue rehearsing in the afternoon. Tomorrow is the premiere of the new show season. Now the stage has basically been set up. This afternoon is a rehearsal with makeup, and the band is also here, not to play accompaniment Band, everything is exactly the same as the official performance. Cesare stayed offstage most of the time, sitting with James to watch the show.

After more than a month of hell-like training, Jenny is already familiar with this play, and even for Roxy's psychology, after many times of empathy, she doesn't need to cheat, it seems that emotions have a pattern There, you can release it by pressing the switch. The whole rehearsal was completed in one go, and none of the stage manager, music manager, and choreographer had any objection to her performance.

After two rehearsals, the work in the afternoon was declared over, but work continued in the evening, because the theater troupe had a large number of people, not to mention that they were divided into groups A and B, and there were also substitute actors who had to come up to rehearse. For a while, people on and off the stage came and went, some people went out for dinner, some stayed to prepare for their own rehearsal, and the order was a bit chaotic.

"How am I doing?" Jenny walked into the auditorium. Cesare and James were talking (it can be seen that they are very familiar with each other), and when they saw her coming, they both stood up in a gentlemanly manner. James laughed and clapped, even called 'Bravo', and Cesare nodded his head in approval.

Jenny did not expect that Cesare would suddenly praise her greatly. She came here not to ask for compliments, but to create opportunities.

Generally speaking, after the rehearsal, the choreographer and director will call her over, point out some of her flaws in emotional and technical details, and give another guidance. Of course today was no exception. Seeing her waving to her, Jenny seized the opportunity to walk over with the two men.

"This is my manager, Cesare Vijari." She introduced Cesare, the director, and Dietrich who stood by. As the second starring role, Dietrich is also the key target of the director's concern. The two receive guidance together almost every day.

Everyone exchanged pleasantries, and Jenny said to Cesare, "Look, my dear, I may not be able to have dinner with you, and I can only read the script you mentioned at night. Now if you don't If you mind, can you go out and buy me a salad? Please, please, if I don’t eat dinner, I will hardly have the energy to read the script after rehearsal.”

Cesare glanced at her, then smiled amusedly, and said to everyone, "You see, this is the privilege of a beautiful woman. Miss Jefferson has been helping me with errands, but for some reason, I just Can't be angry with her."

Everyone laughed, and Jenny also showed a smug and coquettish smile at Cesare (she is an actress, this is not a problem for her), "If you don't want to wait for my rehearsal, just buy it and put it in the refrigerator Let's go first, if you are willing to wait for me, come to the big rehearsal room to find us after you put it in the lounge."

James tutted his finger at Jenny, and said aside, "Chesa, ask the assistant to buy it. You and I will go to Jim's kitchen for dinner. Regarding the follow-up publicity, I have an idea..."

They walked away, and Jenny and Dietrich moved to the rehearsal room. After practicing for half an hour, Jenny's legs had a little cramp, and it was time for dinner. Dietrich sympathetically helped Jenny, "I need you Can you pour me some water?"

"Thank you." Jenny smiled gratefully at Dietrich, "Actually, I'm not very thirsty, but if it doesn't trouble you, can you bring my dinner along, you know, I'm walking now Inconvenient—"

"Of course no problem." Dietrich promised.

As soon as she left the office, Jenny called Cesare, "Now bring James to the rehearsal room."

Although there was no communication, she believed that Cesare's IQ could not be too low, and he would not really go to Jim's kitchen to eat with James, and would definitely find an excuse to try to drag the two of them into the theater.

About two minutes later, Cesare and James walked into the rehearsal room, talking and laughing. Seeing her sitting on the ground, James laughed at her, "I heard you have cramp, girl? You should be glad you didn't In the official performance, in the official performance, even if you have cramps, you can only do it hard."

Jenny stood up and said, "Of course, I have hard willpower, but there is no need to be too **** yourself now, is there?"

While they were talking, Dietrich came in with a lunch box in her hand. When she saw Cesare and the others, she was obviously taken aback for a moment, then handed the lunch box to Jenny, "Here."

"Thank you." Jenny rubbed her injured leg and smiled at Dietrich. She opened the lunch box, forked a piece of salad, brought it to her mouth, smelled it indiscriminately, then put the vegetable leaves back, and turned her head Said to Cesare, "By the way, I also have an idea about the follow-up promotion of the musical...but let's stop talking here, and don't disturb other people's rehearsals."

"Of course." Cesare said, "James, back to your office?"

"No problem." Speaking of the follow-up publicity, James focused his whole body. He gestured to help Jenny walk, but Jenny shook her head and declined, and just followed the two to the manager's office with a limp.

After they entered the manager's office, Jenny gave up pretending to have cramps. She put the lunch box on the small conference table, sat down first, and asked James, "James, haven't you had dinner yet?"

James shook his head, he began to realize something was wrong, so he was very cautious, "Is there anything I should know?"

"Here is a box of salad. Cesare bought it for me. After he bought it, he put it in the refrigerator directly. I think you should be there all the time." Jenny said, "Then it stayed in the refrigerator until Dietrich brought it back to me, and I opened it in front of you, and it hasn't been touched, it's completely clean."

She lifted the lid of the lunch box, raised an eyebrow at James, and said in a slightly provocative tone, "Would you like to share it with me?"

No matter how stupid James is now, he knows what Jenny means. The changes in his face are wonderful, unhappy-doubt-resolute-hesitant... These emotions obviously change in sequence. At one point, he stretched out his hand. It was near the lunch box, but it was finally put down in a slump.

Jennie turned her head and asked Cesare, "Lilian told me that you also have a slight nut allergy—Cesare, dear, tell me, would you like to?"

Cesare shook his head, "Thank you, but it still doesn't work."

Jenny spread her hands and said slowly, "Ha, gentlemen, ha. Now, tell me, is my opinion right or wrong?"

The author has something to say: Note: Alphamale is a name for a man who is born to be a leader. This kind of person is recognized as domineering and aggressive.

--------------

Updated, today is just an update

Hmm...Maybe I'll feel better again in a day or two, OTL

Recently, my best friend has a happy event. I am one of the sisters, but I am actually a little busy...