Chương 43: Chapter 43: Chicago Premiere
Times Square is particularly lively every afternoon, because the Broadway TKTS ticket booth on the edge of Times Square is overcrowded, and tourists from all over the world wait in long lines for an hour or two to buy the remaining tickets for the day's performances. Of course, there are also some trendy people who use the Internet handyly, and they can find a discount code early on the ticketing website, and comfortably buy a ticket with a good location in advance, just waiting for the audio-visual enjoyment in the evening.
In order to encourage audiences to buy their spare tickets, Broadway's theaters hire temporary workers to attract attention near the box booths and lure away audiences who have not yet made up their minds. However, "Chicago" is not included in today's promotion, and although many tourists and even locals have asked about the availability of tickets for "Chicago", the response is always that it is sold out and the system shows that there are no tickets left.
In fact, as early as a week ago, the evening box office of the Schubert Theater was full, and the theater was packed with audiences for all kinds of purposes, and the prime seats were filled with critics from the mainstream media, and the quality of new plays on Broadway and the re-screenings of old plays was closely related to the national theater market, and of course, the objects of attention of theater critics.
Of course, Jennifer Jefferson isn't famous enough to attract critics who live outside of New York, and in addition to columnists from The New Yorker and the New York Post, there are also some well-known theater review bloggers. - To be able to invite them to watch, the theater, including the PR that Cesare just found for Jenny, has put a lot of effort into it.
"Mom. Although Jon lives in New York, as a normal high school girl, her life has little to do with musicals, and most of her usual entertainment activities are watching TV series, going to shopping malls, and of course, wandering around with her boyfriend Now she is excited not only because she is about to see the mysterious Jennifer Jefferson (nicknamed J.J.), but also because she is also curious about the premiere of a play she is participating in for the first time, "What do you think J.J will look like on stage? Will he be more beautiful than on TV?"
"I don't know. Mother Jon was also seeing a musical for the first time, and the mother and daughter bought the tickets for the premiere by accident, "This venue is much bigger than I thought, honey, I thought, can we see her face?"
The layman was talking about naïve rawness, while the critics greeted each other and talked about Chicago's promotional strategy, "Yes, that girl is beautiful, but that's not too important for musicals..."
The Schubert Theater has three floors of seats and can accommodate thousands of spectators, and it is difficult for the audience in the back row to see the faces of the actors without binoculars, so musicals are indeed not an industry that can be eaten by faces, mainly to win with singing and dancing, acting skills second, and the importance of appearance last. So don't look at today's box office, it seems to be very lively, but some old drama fans can't help but shake their heads slightly when they listen to the gossip around them: as audiences, they prefer to enjoy the repertoire with their peers, and now these companions, listening to their conversations, many of them are attracted by Lockhee's face and figure, and when they find that the musical is not like a movie, there are close-ups, slow motion, most of the time they can't see the girl's face clearly, and they can only listen to her singing and dancing, and it is very likely that they will lose interest halfway through it. When the time comes, whether you get up and walk away or chat with each other, it will be a distraction for the audience who wants to enjoy the show seriously.
Including many drama critics are not optimistic about the personnel selection of this season of "Chicago", they are all old drama critics, they watch dramas in the Broadway area all the year round, and most of the actors who can blend into Broadway to play the leading role will intersect with them before, which is equivalent to them watching them grow up, and now suddenly such a girl is parachuted, especially very beautiful, everyone will naturally easily think that she is relying on her face, or this season of "Chicago" decided to use her face as the focus of publicity and 'cheat' the box office.
"Of course, this year's box office will be great, but I don't know what they're going to do next year, continue to deceive tourists, and then ruin the old Schubert's reputation?" commented Ben Brantley, a well-known drama critic who is also the least optimistic about the new season of "Chicago", and came to watch it in order to criticize and stifle this evil trend in his column.
"I heard that the theater is already developing new plays," his colleague whispered through the grapevine, "and at the end of last year, profits fell, and the whole development process was terminated—"
So, the theater's strategy is to squeeze the surplus value of Chicago, give up its reputation, and then get cash flow to develop a new production? Brantley's brow widened, "That's what I know James, otherwise I really can't understand why he made such an unprofessional decision." "
Passers-by, tourists, musical theater fans, Jennifer Jefferson fans, drama critics, attracted by the posters... Amid a buzz, the theater began to announce the audience's instructions, and after a series of explanations, the lights dimmed and the venue fell silent.
"Oh. Mother Jon murmured, "I can still see clearly." "
Although her seat was good, but before the lights were on, there were many people, and everyone was talking, and the noisy environment made her distracted, of course, she felt that the stage was very far away, but now that the audience is quiet, everyone's attention is focused on the stage, so the vision is very clear.
"Shhhh Jon quickly told his mother to shut up, and she whispered, "It's time to start, be quiet." "
No matter what the purpose is, everyone comes to watch the play, and at least in the first ten minutes, everyone's attention will be focused on the stage, which is also the most prime time for musicals.
In the darkness, the curtain slowly pulls back, and the audience can dimly see a pianist sitting on the left side of the stage, and he says in a deep and mellow voice, "Ladies and gentlemen, you will see a story of murder, violence, greed, vanity...
As he spoke, the stage set unfolded – a small but delicate stage, with the luthier playing music leisurely, the live band sitting in the corner to accompany him, and a few dancers dancing in the center of the stage, but they were not the focus of the audience's eyes at the moment, because the lights were on the set, reflecting the wistful figures walking back and forth in the 'backstage', and a figure in a suit asked aloud, "Why hasn't she come yet?" "
Soon, another deliberately elongated shadow appeared behind the set, and the shadow in the suit asked loudly, "Where's your sister?"
A deep voice replied, "She's not coming tonight." Don't worry, I can do it all by myself. "
As the accompaniment turned, the announcer began to announce the curtain, and the shadow was still changing clothes quickly behind the set - because it was just a shadow, and it was obviously wearing a corset, this scene was not erotic, but because of the fast action, it looked very beautiful, but Velma was obviously a little too late, and with the urging of the manager, the announcer had already begun to introduce, "Ladies and gentlemen, Onyx Nightclub is honored to introduce you to Chicago's most famous sister flower group..."
This is a new adaptation that completely grabs the audience's attention, and since this is a well-known story, most people know that Velma had already killed her sister at this time, and their attention is divided into two parts, the first is when Velma was caught, and the second is whether Velma will be able to perform in time.
When the announcer finished introducing the Chicago Sisters, the lights came on and the back of the set went black, and everyone's attention was focused on the center of the stage, and a slender black woman slowly rose up and began the first dance of "Chicago", Velma's signature track "All That Jazz".
"Nice start. Brantley nodded in satisfaction, "It's more compact than before." Dietrich's performance is still consistently stable, of course, her shortcomings and limitations are obvious, but when it comes to singing and dancing, she does have a big advantage. "
The black voice was very advantageous, and Velma's singing voice and dancing were seductive, which quickly grabbed the attention of the audience and made them quite wonderful. After all, musicals, for most audiences, music is still before the show. And the songs of "Chicago" are indeed more moving and good-sounding, especially the dance music, which is one of its major advantages.
Unlike the treatment of future films, the musical version is reserved for the song, which is sung solidly for five minutes. Of course, fans and critics enjoy Dietrich's singing and dancing, but for passers-by, tourists and laymen like J.J fans, their eyes have long been spoiled by movies and TV series with better sound and light effects, larger screens, clearer vision, and tighter rhythms...
At the end of the song, several police officers rushed out of the audience, but provoked a small exclamation, dressed in old-fashioned suits from the last century, took the stage and arrested Velma on charges of murdering her husband and sister. In their astonishment, the lights cleverly switched and guided, making the audience ignore the action of changing the scene, and when the lights shone on the piano master and others went out, the lights in the other corner of the stage came on again, and a young woman holding her lover appeared in the audience's field of vision.
It's beautiful!
This is the first reaction of most of the audience - except for those who are too poor, can't see their faces clearly, and even their bodies can't be seen clearly because they are shrouded in lights, most of the audience can still see Lockhee's appearance clearly, however, because she is literally glowing, at least shrouded in strong light, so her appearance also has a certain sense of distortion, and she has to get used to it a little before she can convert the recognition mode.
But, even so, she is still very beautiful, this beauty is a unified impression, composed of the unity of Lockhee's figure, facial features and temperament, it is difficult for you to think carefully about where she is beautiful, but probably when your attention shifts to her, the first feeling is 'she is so beautiful'!
The second feeling is: she acted so well!
Most viewers who have experience in watching stage plays know that the audience basically does not pay attention to the subtle expression changes of the face all the time - movies can use close-ups, or close-ups of characters to mobilize the audience's attention, but in the case of dramas, the audience is facing a huge 'screen', using a computer as a metaphor, the actor's face is like an icon on the computer desktop, take IE's E word LOGO as an example, of course, you can see that the icon is an E word, but if you want to pay attention to the brightness of this E word, The color change, it is more painful, and it is absolutely impossible for the audience to do it.
Therefore, most dramas use exaggerated body language to express emotions and tell you whether the character is angry or sad now, while actors who are used to acting in stage plays will have the problem of unvivid facial expressions in film and television dramas, which is the result of the difference between the two art forms.
So this kind of acting also has a drawback when it works, in the past, when there was no TV or movie, 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, and there is a danger of drama when watching dramas. It is absolutely impossible to dance with the transfer of the actors, at most it is to give some face, when you see the actors showing sadness, you laugh and sigh, and when you see the actors' intentions to be funny, you will follow the hehe. 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, and even many times it is obvious that the actors themselves are playing, no matter what she is thinking, she is absolutely not engaged in the role anyway.
Velma's acting skills have such a problem, her singing and dancing are very good, very eye-catching, but the dialogue when she was arrested is far less than her performance when singing, the lines are up and down, the emotions are too full, including the body language is too exaggerated, everyone may have just been conquered by her dance and put into "Chicago" But the temperature that had just been ignited in the next second completely dropped again, realizing that he was just watching a play, and the fat man on the left had been squeezing his activity space, and the woman on the right smelled a little too strong.
But Lockhee won't, just like her beauty, most of the audience is completely unaware of how good she is at all - her performance is a whole, and as soon as she appears, she gives the audience an intuitive impression: she is really good!
This part is a scene in which Lockhee watched Velma's performance and was fascinated by it and wanted to watch it, but was called home by her lover to make love, and the dialogue between the two was related to this incident. For the audience, it is very bizarre, Lockey's tone is also high and low, much more exaggerated than the tone of ordinary people's speech, including her body language is also exaggerated, this is still the way of acting in musicals, and there is no difference in performance style with the previous Velma and the lover around her. But—but they were brought into the play, they felt the mood of Lockhee, she was now deceived, convinced that she was about to become famous, and had infinite hopes for the future...
This information is not learned by the audience through many other means (pre-play introductions, homework done by themselves), and then confirmed by the reluctant performance: Oh, now the plot has progressed to this part - not really, but through Lockhee's chatter, timid lines in front of her lover, and her fluttering body language: she is now going to coax her lover into the troupe, so she is obedient to him, and does not want to spoil his interest, but Lockhee is indeed a little unable to wait.
Although there is no singing and dancing yet, the audience's attention has been completely devoted to her, and they have developed an emotional connection with Lockhee, she is no longer a tool for presenting singing and dancing, but a recognizable character that reminds them of a similar being 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 little stupid.
Even Jon, who was originally meant to watch J.J. and was not interested in the theme of "Chicago", is now reluctantly attracted to the play, and now she feels that she is a little too busy, on the one hand, J.J is really beautiful, but on the other hand, her attention is always unable to focus on J.J's face, and she is always distracted by the plot, so that she can't fully appreciate J.J's appearance and figure.
"It's kind of interesting. Brantley was also stunned, "Her acting is not the same as the episode of "CSI", this girl is not only a coquettish type of acting, her current performance is not focused on her own style and beauty, but on Lockhee's credulity and stupidity, of course, she handles this shortcoming very well - her congenital conditions are good, her voice is sweet, and her chattering lines are read very rhythmically, with some joy, and will not make the audience too irritated. "
Out of curiosity, after learning about the changes in the Schubert Theater, he also asked Jennifer Jefferson to watch the only work that has been released so far, and also admitted that she has some acting skills and is very beautiful. I just don't think that these acting skills are enough for her to cross many shortcomings and play Lockhee.
But acting skills and looks are secondary, whether this is a successful musical or not, it depends on her singing and dancing skills. Before she knew it, Brantley had reversed her biased preconceptions and adjusted her base score, "What about her first solo song? "
Most musicals around the world are broadcast live, and only a few cases will be recorded, but this situation is a sign smashing practice on Broadway, and it will never be allowed, "Chicago" uses a small chamber orchestra accompaniment, and it is impossible to lip-sync, so J.J. can only perform live through Broadway's very well hidden sound equipment.
Soon, the set was changed to Lockhee's home, and after the spring breeze, Lockhee, dressed in a dressing gown, asked her lover when she would be introduced to the club owner, and after eating and wiping, her lover couldn't hide it anymore, so he told her the truth, telling her that he was just a furniture salesman, and that everything he said was a lie to deceive Lockhee. It irritates the angry Lockhee and asks her with a smile what she can do with herself.
An angry Lockhee takes the pistol from the cabinet, and with a few gunshots, her lover falls to the ground, but it doesn't attract anyone's attention - despite his good looks, his acting skills are insignificant next to Lockhee, and when it's his turn to speak, most people are looking at Lockhee with tolerance, hoping that time will pass quickly - everyone is looking at Lockhee, who is desperate to know how Lockhee will react.
Lockhee fell into a brief stillness after the gunshot, and then, her hands began to tremble, and the gun vibrated faintly, to quickly shake in her hands, and finally fell to the ground, making a small noise, and at the same time, her husband Amos opened the set door with a bang, and the audience and Lockhee shook at the same time.
"What's going on, Lockhee?" Amos asked.
The lights then dimmed, and when they came back on, several policemen appeared at Lockhee's house to take pictures, Lockey snuggled up to a set wall, and Amos was dealing with the policeman - Balabala, unfortunately, although his performance was much more superb than Velma and Lover, but now the audience is impatient with non-Lockey scenes, they want to see Lockhee's beauty, and want to be brought into the play by her acting skills, I can't say why, but Lockhee's performance is to give people a real feeling. Even if her movements are still exaggerated, the audience just feels empathetic.
Finally, in the midst of Amos's chattering dialogue, the music began, the set wall fell to the ground, the lights converged on Lockhee, and she walked to the piano that had appeared in the darkness at some point.
"It's coming. Brantley could feel that his peers in the row were in good spirits. The show began, with Lockhee's first song, "Funny Honey." "
The author has something to say: Note: Ben Brantley is a real person, and he is a play critic for The New York Times
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