制霸好莱坞

Dietrich Goodwin, who played the black female prisoner in the movie version of Chicago and Velma in the Broadway musical, was not meeting Jennifer Jefferson for the first time. She had spoken to Jefferson several times during lunch at Universal Studios in Hollywood before, but there was no further communication. Even if Dietrich wanted to make close friends, it was not allowed objectively. The atmosphere on the set of Chicago was depressing. The director was like a time bomb that could explode at any time. It was also Dietrich's first time to be in a movie. The two met several times, but one of them was always busy with a play, and no one could delay any more.

It would be a lie to say that Dietrich was not envious of Jefferson, the lucky one. She was beautiful, young, and, most importantly, youthful. Dietrich was 32 years old this year and had just landed the role of Velma. She was recommended by the Broadway troupe and got the opportunity to appear on the big screen. She started as a dancer and performed on Broadway for six years before getting to where she was, while Jennifer Jefferson was only 20.

Of course, when she was in Hollywood, Dietrich didn't have much jealousy towards her. Hollywood has never lacked lucky people. In other words, even though Jennifer had already appeared on the big screen, she was still playing supporting roles at the age of 20. Compared with super-talented child stars like Natalie Portman and Scarlett Johansson, she was still far behind. At that time, Dietrich just wanted to make more friends and build good relationships. Maybe one day when Jennifer took off, she could get one or two audition opportunities.

However, at that time, Dietrich didn't know that she would suddenly run to Broadway to sing a musical, and her target was the heroine Roxy in Chicago. Judging from James' attitude towards her, Jennifer was not challenging Roxy in Group B, but Group A. In other words, if she passed the audition, then in the next few seasons, Dietrich's partner would be Jennifer, not the unlucky old Tina or Amanda, who had been looking forward to switching from Group B to Group A.

Dietrich was not fully aware of how much commercial considerations were involved in this audition. Of course, she had heard some rumors, but how to operate publicity was ultimately the theater's business, and she only cared about one thing: the limelight. As long as there was a play, there would be a struggle for the limelight, especially in a play like Chicago where two female protagonists co-starred. As long as they performed together, there would be a comparison of who was more eye-catching. Of course, this was a struggle that was difficult to quantify, and even the victory or defeat varied from person to person. Each audience member might have a different answer. But Dietrich knew that her disadvantage was very obvious in front of Jennifer – she was not as pretty as Jennifer. Compared with her original partner Tina, Jennifer's advantage was obvious at a glance. She was truly young, beautiful, and very thin, with no loss of shape (Tina was a little too strong, and Amanda had the same problem). Even without talking about singing and dancing skills, as long as the two of them stood there, Jennifer would naturally grab 70% of the attention.

Another more unfavorable factor was that Jennifer could act. The reason why Dietrich did not participate in the troupe's tour was because she had to act as a human set for many scenes on the set of Chicago. She appeared in several scenes of Kitty. Jennifer's free and easy acting impressed her deeply. In this regard, Dietrich, who had previously specialized in musicals, could frankly admit that she was inferior to them.

But she was not without advantages. Dietrich did not participate in the singing and dancing training organized by the film company. Her professionalism made it unnecessary for her to practice intensively. The experience of acting with leading actors such as Renee and Catherine several times also made her feel the weakness of non-professional movie stars on the stage. Beauty is one thing, and stage dominance is another. Dietrich was definitely not as beautiful as Catherine, but she was confident that she could attract more attention on the same stage. Since it seemed that Jennifer's selection was a foregone conclusion, the song and dance segment selected by James was a good opportunity for her. She believed that she could confirm the power relationship between the two in the first co-performance. Dietrich didn't want to bully Jennifer; she just wanted her to be honest on the stage and not steal her limelight.

Jennifer had never had a systematic rehearsal and only received a few months of short training. According to feedback from several colleagues, apart from her looks, her singing voice was just so-so. Although she danced well, Dietrich's dancing was her strong point, and she was absolutely confident in this. Dietrich didn't want to abuse her too much, or even lose the role, but she needed to completely overwhelm Jennifer in this song so that she knew who was the boss, who knew the positions and lines by heart, and, to put it bluntly: who should follow whose pace.

But as soon as Jennifer opened her mouth, Dietrich knew she was done.

For the audience, the recitation and singing of musicals are not closely related to the background music, especially this part of Chicago, which is jazz-style with a relatively monotonous rhythm. It sounds like it can be matched with any beginning. But for actors, the opening time and the rhythm of the recitation are both particular. When two people recite the same paragraph, there is also the problem of driving each other's speech speed. What Dietrich wanted was to be the leader. She wanted James to know that even though the focus of the promotion for the next season might be Jennifer, Velma would still be the one leading the singing on stage.

But she couldn't do it. She knew she couldn't do it as soon as Jennifer started to sing. She couldn't see her expression and dancing posture. She could only hear her humming "Nowadays" in a fake, complacent, and charming voice. Every word was in tune, every word was on the drumbeat, and even every word was in the emotion. She matched the background music perfectly. Not even a beat was wrong – it was just like singing in KTV. Every word of Jennifer's singing was a legitimate playback of the original sound, while Dietrich couldn't improvise a coloratura or lower or raise the pitch according to her voice. She was just like everyone else who sang in the original sound. The only thing she could do was follow her rhythm, blend into her performance, and adjust the distance between them according to her movements.

In other words, although Dietrich did her best to adjust and cover up, the one who was flustered and had small flaws was the veteran Dietrich, not the rookie Jennifer. Dietrich had played Velma for half a year, and this finale was the worst performance she had ever given. Perhaps it was because she had too many distracting thoughts. In the last part, she didn't even know how to deal with the situation where there were no props. God knows how many times they used cardboard to replace machine guns in rehearsal and how many times they used their hands to simulate without cardboard. This time, she didn't realize it until she saw Jennifer blowing her fingers out of the corner of her eye, and then she quickly made a similar gesture to cooperate with Jennifer.

Is her singing good? Is it out of tune? Is it loud? Is her breath stable? Dietrich didn't notice it at all. Jennifer's performance gave her the feeling that it was a whole that was difficult to analyze. She was Roxy, and now it was Roxy Hart who was singing and dancing. How could 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 absolutely original and without any pretense.

In the final analysis, Jennifer not only completely immersed herself in the play, but also brought the audience into the play, making them lose their high-handed judging attitude. That is, they were completely conquered by her charm.

After the performance, James did not show too much excitement, but Dietrich was already very familiar with him. She easily discovered his excitement through his small movements (tight lips, shining eyes, and fingers constantly tapping the table). James was just pretending. Dietrich was sure that he was so excited that he could almost fly to the sky. He had been waiting for an opportunity to make the Shubert Theater shine again. Now who could say that Jennifer Jefferson was not his ideal savior?

As for the people standing behind the audition table, Agatha Repninna, Robert Marshall, and other big figures did not skimp on their smiles and nods. They kept whispering to each other, and they were undoubtedly talking about Dietrich – Jennifer Jefferson next to them. Their eyes passed over Dietrich, but they ignored her, as if she were just a backdrop, a dead object. But once they fell on Jefferson, it was as if they had encountered a black hole and could never leave.

Dietrich was in a bad mood, not only because she had just messed up her performance, but also because she had already sensed her fate. Hell, she knew it very well. If she were them, she would make the same choice. If she were not a co-star, but just an audience member, she would not pay attention to the pitiful, completely overshadowed, and dull supporting role. She would only appreciate this stunningly beautiful and talented future star.

If she were not a co-star...

She bit her cheek, using the slight pain to remind herself: Now is not the time to think about these things.

Then she turned around and smiled, congratulating Jennifer Jefferson.

As she noticed, after the performance, Jefferson's dominance, her eye-catching temperament disappeared. She was still beautiful, but she was no longer so eye-catching and arrogant. While wiping her sweat, she smiled kindly at Dietrich. It was as if she had been coordinating with her throughout the performance, instead of just showing off for five minutes.

Of course, Dietrich also admitted that she did not intend to communicate and move while dancing at the beginning, but it was precisely because she originally intended to do so, but Jefferson got there first, that her dissatisfaction was more deeply rooted.

She stepped forward to shake hands with Jefferson, turned back to the crowd, and chose not to respond to the hypocritical smiles from her colleagues. She knew what they were thinking. The competition on Broadway would not be much calmer than that in Hollywood. She was Velma, and this role represented intrigue and the cusp of the storm in the Chicago troupe.

And Dietrich could not accept the trend of development. She was 32 years old and had little room for failure. This audition aroused the fear of unemployment in her heart. Chicago was a musical with two protagonists. Velma could not be suppressed by Roxy and had no brilliance. If she could not compete with Jefferson, Dietrich knew what was waiting for her.

This was not the first time she had dealt with the dark side of this industry. People who are familiar with this industry know that no one will remove your obstacles. Either you are strong enough to cross it, or you bend down and get rid of it.

With a polite smile, she observed Jefferson carefully in the crowd. Very carefully.