Hollywood Domination Chapter 43: “Chicago” Premiere

Every afternoon, Times Square is extremely lively, because the Broadway TKTS ticket booth next to Times Square is overcrowded. Tourists from all over the world line up in long queues, waiting for an hour or two, in order to buy tickets for the performance of the day. For the remaining tickets that are sold out, the ticket price can be as low as half of the original price at the ticket booth. Many New Yorkers who want to save money or suddenly rise up will also come here to try their luck. Of course, there are also some trendsetters who are proficient in using the Internet. They can find discount codes early on the ticket buying website, and comfortably buy tickets at a good location in advance, just waiting for the audio-visual enjoyment at night.

In order to encourage the audience to buy their remaining tickets, the major theaters on Broadway will hire some temporary workers to try their best to attract attention near the ticket booth and lure those wandering audiences who have not yet made up their minds. However, "Chicago" is not included in today's promotional play. Although many tourists and even locals have inquired about the remaining tickets for "Chicago", the reply they get is always: it has been sold out, and the system shows that there are no remaining tickets.

In fact, as early as a week ago, the evening box office of the Schubert Theater was already full, and the audience who came to watch with various purposes packed the theater to the brim, and the prime seats were all from the mainstream media. For theater critics, the quality of new plays on Broadway and reruns of old plays are closely related to the national theater market, and of course they are also the objects of attention of theater critics.

Of course, Jennifer Jefferson's reputation is not enough to attract drama critics who live outside of New York. Except for the columnists of "The New Yorker" and "New York Post" who will come to watch the drama tonight , and the bloggers of some well-known drama review blogs. ——To be able to invite them to watch, the theater, including the PR that Cesare just found for Jenny, has put in a lot of effort.

"Mom." Although Jon lives in New York, as a normal high school girl, her life has little to do with musicals. Most of her usual entertainment activities are watching TV shows, shopping, and of course hanging out with her boyfriend. Going around and making out, if it wasn't for her mother's interest in Jennifer Jefferson, she probably wouldn't have enough mobility and financial resources to watch "Chicago". Now her excitement is only because she is about to see the mysterious Jennifer Jefferson (nickname*), and I was also curious about the premiere of the drama I participated in for the first time, "What do you think * will look like on stage? Will it be more beautiful than on TV?"

"I don't know either." It was also the first time for Jon's mother to watch a musical, and the mother and daughter bought the tickets for the premiere completely by mistake, "This venue is much bigger than I thought Much, dear, I was wondering, can we see her face clearly?"

The uninitiated were talking about naïvetés, while the critics were saying hello to each other and discussing the marketing strategy of "Chicago," "Yes, that girl was beautiful, but that's not good for a musical." Not too important..."

The Schubert Theater has three floors of seats, which can accommodate thousands of spectators. If the audience in the back row does not use binoculars, it is difficult to see the actor's face clearly. Therefore, musical theater is indeed not an industry that can earn a living by relying on faces. , mainly singing and dancing, followed by acting skills, and the importance of appearance is ranked last. So don't look at today's box office seems to be very lively, but some old drama fans can't help but shake their heads slightly when they hear the chatter around them: As audiences, they prefer to enjoy the show with their peers. Many of their conversations were attracted by Roxy's face and figure. When they found that musicals did not have close-ups and slow motion like movies, most of the time they couldn't see the girl's face clearly. If you listen to her singing and dancing, it is very likely that you will lose interest in half of it. At that time, whether it is getting up and leaving or chatting with each other, it will be a disturbance to the audience who want to enjoy the show seriously.

Including many drama critics who are not optimistic about the selection of personnel for this season of "Chicago". There will be intersections with them, which means they grew up watching them, and now such a girl is suddenly airborne, You Qi is very beautiful, everyone will naturally think that she is relying on her face, or this season "Chicago" Decided to use her face as the focus of publicity to 'cheat' the box office.

"Of course, this year's box office will be very good, but I don't know what they plan to do next year, continue to deceive tourists, and then ruin the old Schubert's reputation?" Well-known drama critic Ben Brantley commented Well, he is also the critic who is the least optimistic about the new season of "Chicago".

"I heard that the theater is already developing a new play," his colleague spread the gossip in a low voice, "the profit fell at the end of last year, and the entire development process was terminated—"

So, the theater's strategy is to squeeze the residual value of "Chicago", give up the fame, and then get the cash flow to develop new shows? Brantley's brows stretched instead, "This is the James I am familiar with, otherwise I really can't understand why he would make such an unprofessional decision."

Passers-by, tourists, fans of musicals, fans of Jennifer Jefferson, theater critics who were attracted by the posters...Amidst the buzzing sound, the theater began to broadcast audience instructions. After a series of explanations, the lights dimmed. The place fell silent in an instant.

"Oh." Mother Jon murmured, "So I can still see clearly."

Although her seat is good, but before the lights were bright, there were many people, and everyone was talking, the noisy environment distracted her attention. Of course, she felt that the stage was very far away, but now the audience has quieted down, everyone's attention If all the power is gathered on the stage, then the vision becomes very clear.

"Hush." ​​Jon quickly told his mother to shut up, and she whispered, "The show is about to start, be quiet."

No matter what purpose you come for, everyone is here to watch the show. At least in the first ten minutes, everyone's attention will be on the stage. This is also the golden time for musicals.

In the darkness, the curtain slowly opened, and the audience could vaguely see a pianist sitting on the left side of the stage, and he said in a deep and mellow voice, "Ladies and gentlemen, you will see a story about Tales of murder, violence, greed, vanity..."

As he spoke, the stage set was presented—this is a small but exquisite stage, the luthier played music leisurely, the live band was sitting in the corner to accompany him, and there were several dancers on the stage The center is dancing loosely, but they are not the focus of the audience's eyes at present, because the light hits the set, showing the shadows of people walking back and forth in the 'backstage of the show', a shadow in a suit asked loudly, "she Why haven't you come yet? The show is about to start."

Soon, another deliberately elongated shadow appeared behind the set, and the shadow in a suit asked loudly, "Where's your sister?"

Answered in a low voice, "She won't come tonight. Don't worry, I can handle it by myself."

As the accompaniment changed, the announcer began to announce the scene, and the shadow was still changing clothes quickly behind the set—because it was just a shadow, and it was obviously wearing a corset. It looked very beautiful, but Wilma was obviously a bit too late. With the urging of the manager, the announcer had already begun to introduce, "Ladies and gentlemen, Onyx Nightclub is honored to introduce you to the most famous sister group in Chicago... "

This is a new adaptation that completely captures the audience's attention, and since it's a well-known story, most people know that Velma has already killed her sister by this time, and their attention is divided in two , the first one is when Wilma will be arrested, and the second one is whether Wilma can perform in time.

When the announcer finished introducing the Chicago Sisters, the lights flicked on, the back of the set was completely dark, and everyone's attention was focused on the center of the stage. A black woman with a good figure slowly rose up. Get up and start the first dance of "Chicago", Velma's signature track "AllThatJazz".

"Good start." Brantley nodded with satisfaction, "It's more compact than before. Dietrich's performance is still consistent. Of course, her shortcomings and limitations are obvious, but In singing and dancing, she does have a great advantage."

The voices of black people are very cheap. Verma's singing voice is rich and powerful, and her dancing moves are also full of temptation. They quickly caught the audience's attention and made them feel wonderful. After all, musicals, for most audiences, music comes before the show. And the songs of "Chicago" are indeed more moving and pleasant to listen to, especially dance music, which is one of its major advantages.

Different from the treatment of future movies, the musical version has reserved enough time for the song. This song was sung solidly for five minutes. Of course, fans and critics enjoyed Dietrich's singing and dancing comfortably, but for passers-by, tourists, and amateurs such as fans, their eyes have long been distracted by better sound and light effects, bigger screens, and better viewing. The clearer and tighter-paced movies and TV series are spoiled. Although Dietrich's performance is above the standard, most people are a little distracted by the end of the performance. Many people are thinking in their hearts: "When will it end? What? Maybe I shouldn't come, so don't try next time..."

At the end of the song, a few policemen hurriedly appeared from among the audience, which aroused a small wave of exclamations. They wore old-fashioned suits from the last century and walked onto the stage to murder their husbands. Velma was arrested on the charge of and sister. It aroused discussions among the luthiers, musicians, and backup dancers. In their astonishment, the lights were cleverly switched and guided, making the audience ignore the action of changing scenes. The lights turned on again, and a young woman appeared in the audience's field of vision, holding her lover's arm.

It's beautiful!

This is the first reaction of most of the audience—except for those who are in such a bad position that they cannot see their faces or even their figures clearly because they are shrouded in lights, most of them can still see Roxy clearly. In appearance, however, since she is literally shining, at least she is shrouded in strong light, so her appearance also has a certain sense of distortion. It takes a little getting used to before the recognition mode can be converted.

However, even so, she is still very beautiful. This kind of beauty is a unified impression, which is composed of Roxy's figure, facial features and temperament. It is difficult for you to think carefully about her beauty, but probably your When the attention shifted to her, the first feeling was 'she is so beautiful'!

The second feeling is: she acted really well!

Most audiences who have experience watching stage plays know that audiences basically don’t always pay attention to the subtle changes in facial expressions-movies can use close-ups or close-ups of characters to arouse the audience’s attention, but in the case of drama, the audience’s face-to-face That's right, it's a huge 'screen'. If you use a computer as an analogy, the actor's face is like an icon on the computer desktop. Take IE's E logo as an example. Of course, you can clearly see that the icon is an E. But if you want to pay attention to the brightness and color changes of the letter E, it will be more painful, and it is absolutely impossible for the audience to do so.

So, most dramas have to use exaggerated body language to express emotions, telling you whether the character is angry or sad now, and actors who are used to acting in stage dramas will have problems with facial expressions that are not vivid in film and television dramas , which is the result of the difference between the two art forms.

While this kind of acting is effective, it also has a disadvantage. In the past, when there was no TV or film, everyone acted like this, and the audience naturally accepted it. But after the impact of film and television, most audiences are more accustomed to watching film and television dramas with more natural acting skills. Watching dramas is in danger of being out of the play. Seeing the exaggerated movements of actors, they will not follow them. A sense of embarrassment and embarrassment for the actor. It is absolutely impossible to follow the actor's transfer to dance. At most, it is to save face. When the actor is sad, he will laugh and sigh, and when he sees the actor's intention to be funny, he will follow. Especially in musicals, there are very few actors who make people feel that she is acting. Most of the dialogue scenes feel like they are going through the process. In many cases, it is even obvious that the actor is acting, no matter what she is thinking, anyway. She is absolutely not invested in the character.

Verma's acting skills have such a problem. Her singing and dancing are very good and very eye-catching, but the dialogue when she was arrested is far inferior to her singing performance. The lines are ups and downs , the emotions are too full, including the body language is too exaggerated. You may have just been conquered by her dance and plunged into the world of "Chicago". The fat man on the left has been squeezing his space, and the woman's perfume on the right is a bit too strong.

But Luxie is not, just like her beauty, most of the audience are completely unaware of how good she is in acting——her performance is a whole, giving the audience an intuitive impression as soon as she comes out. Impression: She acted really well!

This episode is a scene in which Roxie watched Wilma's performance, was fascinated by it, and wanted to finish it, but was called home by her lover to make out. The dialogue between the two is related to this incident related. For the audience, it is very bizarre. Roxy's tone is also high and low, which is much more exaggerated than the average person's tone of voice, including her body language is also exaggerated. This is still a musical performance, and it is not the same as the previous Velma. , The lovers around her showed differences in performance styles. But—but they were brought into the play, they felt Roxy's current emotions, she was being deceived now, convinced that she was about to become famous, and had infinite longing for the future...

This information is not learned by the audience through many other channels (introduction before the play, homework done by themselves), and then confirmed from the reluctant performance: Oh, now the plot has progressed to this paragraph-that is not the case, But through Roxy's chattering, timid lines in front of her lover, and her fluttering body language: she is now going to coax her lover to introduce herself to the troupe, so she is obedient to him Shun, I don't want to spoil his interest, but Roxie really couldn't wait any longer.

Although there are no singing and dancing for the time being, the audience's attention has been fully devoted to her, and they have an emotional connection with Roxy. She is no longer a tool for singing and dancing, but an identifying feature that makes They thought of the similar existence around them: How pitiful, she has no education, and even such a clumsy lie can deceive her, alas, although she is beautiful, she is still a bit stupid.

Even Jon, who was not interested in the subject matter of "Chicago" just to see J.J, is now reluctantly drawn into the play, and now she feels a bit overwhelmed. She is beautiful, but on the other hand, her attention is always unable to focus on *'s face, and she is always distracted by the plot, so that she cannot fully appreciate *'s appearance and figure.

"It's kind of interesting." Brantley was also startled, "Her acting is different from the episode of "CSI". This girl doesn't only know how to act coquettishly. Now the focus of the performance is not her own style and beauty, but Roxy's gullibility and stupidity. Of course, she handles this shortcoming very well-her innate condition is good, her voice is sweet, and her chattering lines are read very well. Rhythmic, with a sense of joy, and will not make the audience too irritable."

Out of curiosity, after learning about the changes in the Schubert Theater, he also found Jennifer Jefferson's only work that has been released so far to watch, and also admitted that she has some acting skills. And it looks beautiful. It's just that I don't think these acting skills are enough for her to overcome many shortcomings and play Roxy.

"But acting skills and looks are secondary. Whether this is a successful musical depends on her singing and dancing skills." Unknowingly, Brantley has reversed his prejudiced Pre-judgment, adjusted the basic score, "How about her first solo? Don't fail at the beginning."

Most musicals around the world are broadcast live, and only a few cases will show tapes. Orchestra accompaniment, it is absolutely impossible to lip-sync, so J.J can only perform live through Broadway's well-hidden audio equipment.

Soon, the scene was changed to Roxie's home. After a spring breeze, Roxie in a nightgown asked her lover when to introduce her to the owner of the club. Go down, tell her the truth, tell her that he is just a furniture salesman, and everything he says is a lie to deceive Roxy. Roxie was even more irritating and angry, and asked her with a smile how she could treat herself.

The angry Roxy took the pistol from the cabinet, and with a few gunshots, her lover fell to the ground, but no one paid attention to him-although he was good-looking, in Roxy Around him, his acting skills seem insignificant. When it was his turn to speak, most people waited for the time to pass quickly with a tolerant attitude—everyone was watching Roxie, and they were eager to know how Roxie would act. What a reaction.

Luo Xi fell into a short period of stillness after the gun was fired, and then her hand began to tremble, the gun vibrated from weakly to quickly shaking in her hand, and finally fell to the ground, making a small sound At the same time, husband Amos opened the set door with a bang, and the audience and Roxy shook at the same time.

"What happened, Roxy?" Amos asked.

The light then dimmed, and when it came back on again, several policemen appeared at Roxie’s house, taking pictures, Roxie snuggled up against a set wall, and Amos was dealing with the police—Balabala, unfortunately, Although his performance is indeed much better than that of Velma and Lover, but now the audience is impatient with non-Roxy scenes. They want to see Roxy's beauty and be impressed by her acting skills. In the play, I can't tell why, but Roxy's performance is to give people a real feeling. Even though her movements are still exaggerated, the audience just feels that they can empathize.

Finally, amidst Amos' chattering dialogue, the music started, the set wall fell to the ground, and the lights gathered on Roxie, and she walked towards the piano that appeared in the darkness again at some point.

"Here we come." Brantley could feel that the spirits of his peers in the row were lifted. "The show has begun, Roxy's first song "FunnyHoney"."

The author has something to say: Note: Ben Brantley is a real person, and he is a drama critic for The New York Times

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Second update.

Well, the archives are almost used up...

When will the next time I feel better...