Chapter 48 The Rise of a White Lotus

 "It's a shame. Lillian complained on the phone, "If it weren't for the inconvenience of that month's shift, I could have come to your premiere." But now it's hard to find a chance to go back to New York. "

 Lilian is still on the rotation, so sometimes she is more idle, sometimes she rotates to the busy department and even the time to drink water is squeezed out, and she has been in the emergency room for the past few months, basically overloaded, even if she wants to go back to New York to see a show, she has to wait until she leaves the emergency room.

 "It's okay, I'll be playing until July," Jenny said, "and you still have five months, just call me a few days in advance, otherwise the tickets won't be arranged." "

 "I've heard the Chesa say it. Lillian's laughter came through the microphone, "You're so popular at the box office that he has to get tickets in advance, and it's only limited to two tickets per game." "

 "This is already the result of him asking Jaime to get a vote. Jenny said helplessly, "Now there are only two last-minute hospitality tickets left in the audience, and even if I want to book tickets, I can only say hello more than half a month in advance." Otherwise, you can only get a standing ticket. "

 "Chicago" has been running for more than a month, and Jenny has gradually become accustomed to the rhythm of one performance a day, "Chicago" is performed six days a week, including two afternoon performances, but Jenny does not appear, and is rotated by Group B. She is only responsible for performances from the evening show.

 If you want to get a ticket for the afternoon show, it doesn't matter, how much you want, Jenny and Cesare can easily get a dozen, but now the evening show is really hard to find, and it even sells thousands of dollars on Yahoo - the first-class ticket price of the theater is 700 dollars, which is actually not low, and it is often sold out in the off-season, and discounts will be released on the day, but now? The theater sells tickets half a month in advance, and now the audience calls to reserve the first-class seats as soon as midnight every day, and it will not exceed half an hour, the first-class seats will be sold out, and even some crazy fans, this one will go directly to the ticket office at the door to line up, and wait for an hour or two to buy tickets directly after half a month.

 Such a hot box office, in Broadway, which is still deeply affected by 911, can be said to be an outlier, "Chicago" has always been a famous drama, but the box office appeal, and the four major musicals "Cats", "Phantom of the Opera" and so on are even worse, and the current situation is that if you are lucky, you can still buy the remaining tickets of "Cats" at TKTS, but "Chicago" is impossible to buy discount tickets anyway, usually in the afternoon of the ticket opening, even the standing tickets will be sold out.

 "That's a good thing. Audible, Lillian was happy for Jenny, "I heard Chesa talk about the pomp and circumstance in the back alley, honey, you're becoming a big shot." "

 "I don't know how to get out now. Jenny covered her face and fell on the couch, "I mean, I can handle fifty people, but a hundred, two hundred? I don't have that much time, but it's not fair to the rest if I only sign a few people." "

 Maybe it's because of her amiable style, maybe it's because of her outstanding performance, but her style is low-key, and the audience has no way to get to know her except for the musical, so the number of fans waiting in the back alley after the performance is increasing, and Jenny can only stay backstage after the show to rest, and wait until after 12 o'clock, after the ticket office has issued a ticket, and then take the plane to leave. - Now she fully understood why Cesare said she needed an assistant, and that it would be difficult for her to get out of the theater safely without her new assistant, Mary, to drive her to the parking lot.

 "Don't tell me you're complaining about your popularity. Lilian laughed and said, "Honey, I have to say, it's a bit pretentious. "

 Jenny laughed too, "Well, then I'll be honest with you, I'm enjoying my tired fame in poverty and happiness, at least I'm lucky enough that there are thousands of girls in Los Angeles and New York who are as tired and poor as I am, but not as famous." "

 "yes, Baby, that's the right tone. Lillian jokingly said, "If you bitch a little more, you'll be a good troupe leader." "

 "Oh, you've heard the Chesa say that?" Jenny reluctantly stood up and began to pick out her outfit for the day, "yes, I guess she won't last long, and if all goes well, maybe in a few days, the tabloids will run some gossip like 'Top Names?' "

 "Then I want them to at least pick a nice picture for you to illustrate. Lillian chuckled and ended the call, "My tea time is coming to an end, we'll talk next time, bye." "

 After receiving the line, Jenny began to quickly change her clothes and did simple makeup, now she rarely goes out without makeup, and occasionally wears hats and sunglasses professionally without makeup - she is now really more and more aware of why most stars in the entertainment industry cover their faces with sunglasses at airports and other places, and it is actually a dedicated attitude to not let photos flow out without makeup.

 When she was ready, her assistant Mary also went downstairs and drove Jenny's rental Audi A6 from the building's own parking lot for her, and called Jenny, who said hello to the building when she went downstairs - this is also a position that only high-end apartments have. After getting into the car, Mary handed Jenny a box of packaged salad, "Here, it's still Mario's salad, and there is no vinaigrette." "

 "Thank you. Jenny opened the box and ate it in the passenger seat. Mary, who was slightly chubby, looked at her a few times, shook her head, and said with emotion, "I don't understand why you can eat this kind of thing for three meals a day—I think that's why I'm driving you now, dear Jenny." "

 She is actually very beautiful, but she is relatively stocky, and after graduating from high school, she hit a wall in Hollywood and New York, but she is reluctant to go back to college, relying on her family's support to perform experimental dramas on Broadway that don't cost money, and sometimes even this kind of job is lost. In order to supplement her living expenses, she works part-time in the morning and works as a short-term assistant in the evening, so that she can earn more money for the next time she goes back to perform experimental dramas.

 Jenny just smiled, unwilling to stimulate Mary anymore, in fact, if it wasn't for Dave's opportunity last year, she would probably be living the same life as Mary now, balancing back and forth between part-time work and drama, waiting hard for a slim opportunity.

 Not far from Broadway from her rented building on Manhattan's Upper West Side, Jenny got out of the car in front of the theater while Mary drove her to the parking lot. Before she walked into the theater, a motorcycle drove by the staff passage, and a reporter got out of the car and greeted her with a familiar smile. "Hey, Jenny, can you give me a smile?"

 Lockhee's success has changed almost every aspect of Jenny's life, and almost all of these drastic changes have occurred in a month, and she doesn't even know how to summarize them or why these phenomena have happened. The fans waiting for autographs in the back alleys, the change in the attitude of the troupe members, the snowflakes of interview invitations, and the constant appearance of drama critics — these were all changes she expected, but even Judy was completely unexpected, in her words, "Your popularity is gathering much faster than we thought." "

 Of course, there aren't many paparazzi who come over to shoot her now, and they don't wait all day, just the two of them, intermittently showing up to take a picture or two when she arrives at the theater in the afternoon, and Jenny suspects that they must have bribed the security guards to know her daily rehearsal time, so they can show up so accurately.

 "Good afternoon, Tom. She also gave a work smile. - Cesare's classes are now showing their effect, Jenny has found her most beautiful photo angle and smile arc in the expression class, and she can now easily show a photographic business smile to anyone after being guided by the teacher's guidance in the expression class, and repeat the practice at the teacher's request.

 "Ah, you remember my name. Tom exclaimed happily, "Have you had a good day?" I heard that there is going to be a change in personnel in the troupe. "

 Self-acquaintance is a must-have skill for the paparazzi, and when Judy knew that a paparazzi would come to shoot her, she took out the precious fifteen minutes to teach her the key to dealing with the paparazzi: be friendly, but don't talk too much.

 Friendly, because after all, the paparazzi have the power of life and death to choose street photography, and if a group of paparazzi deliberately choose ugly photos for a long time to publish, it will be a big blow to personal image. ——In many cases, in order to create the image of fashion I, PR will take the initiative to contact magazines and release a batch of street photos with an effect comparable to blockbusters, which is the power of the media in this era.

 As for not talking too much, that's of course because here in the paparazzi, a word may become news. Jenny made a questioning look at Tom as if she hadn't heard him, and quickly entered the staff aisle.

 "Hi Jennifer. Countless greetings immediately overwhelmed her, and Jenny responded with a working smile.

 Her work schedule is actually very fixed, every day at 3 o'clock in the afternoon to do a simple rehearsal and warm-up, adjust the state, review the position, accept the teacher's guidance, and then wait for the performance to start at 8 o'clock in the evening. For a performance in a fixed theater, the whole team will run in soon after the premiere, and there is no need to rehearse with makeup every day, so it is actually a little easier than the preparation period. However, because of the afternoon session today, the rehearsal room will not be vacated until four o'clock, and Jenny has been notified to come early, so she will eat in the car

 "The afternoon show went well. Encouraging Amos, who was about to take the stage, she turned to the manager's office and knocked lightly on the door.

 "James, are you looking for me?"

 "Hi. James smiled back with an exaggerated smile as he pulled her into the room, "Come, meet Ann Benson." "

 "Hi Ann. Jenny was enthusiastic about the Latina beauty in front of her... Work smile. "I've been looking forward to it for a long time, and I've finally met you. "

 It wasn't a polite remark, she had heard of Ann Benson for a long time.

 If you want to say which of the professional level is stronger in London's West End or Broadway, this question is not clear in one sentence or two, but there is a big difference between the British entertainment industry and the United States, first of all- Great Britain is much poorer, there is almost no film industry in the UK, and the most important TV station BBC is state-run and not profitable, it is conceivable that its remuneration level and Hollywood TV series are certainly not comparable, so the attraction of musicals in the UK is much stronger than in the United States, the most intuitive manifestation is that on Broadway, it is almost difficult to see handsome guys and beauties, really outstanding appearance, Girls with good singing and dancing postures either want to mix Hollywood or want to mix in the music world, and few people are willing to sing on Broadway, but in London's West End, it is not uncommon for musicals and stage actors with excellent appearances, such as Catherine Zeta-Jones, who was born in musicals.

 Jaime stayed in London for two weeks, and soon after he returned to New York, Jenny heard about Ann Benson, who was said to be Velma of the Cambridge Theatre, and James lured her to audition with a weekly salary of 10,000 yuan and a cameo in Hollywood.

 "Hi. Ann also greeted her kindly, "I'm also looking forward to working with you, Jennifer, I've seen your show, and I have to say, you're a big reason why I signed the contract." "

 She is younger and more beautiful than Dietrich, and she can become the new Group A Verma through the committee, and her professional strength should be at least stronger than Dietrich, and judging from her words, Ann is very confident in her professional qualities and is not afraid to 'fight' with her.

 Jenny is even more afraid to take on the challenge, and she welcomes Ann's arrival, as it means that Dietrich will be fired. "Then I'm going to work harder, if I'm not careful, the critic's sweetheart will soon be replaced. "

 Ann and she looked at each other and smiled, and James hurriedly reminded, "We advocate healthy competition, girls, remember that." "

 Although Group B was using the large rehearsal room, James was clearly prepared, and they were taken to the small rehearsal hall that Jenny had used before, where Jenny and Ann faced off for a few scenes. She quickly affirmed that Ann's self-confidence was by no means unfounded, maybe it was because the competition was more fierce in the UK, maybe it was because Ann was indeed talented, her talent in 'drama' was much higher than Dietrich', at least she could keep up with Jenny's performance, not out of touch, as for the singing and dancing part, although her voice was not as thick and high-pitched as Dietrich, the skill part was also remarkable.

 "After tonight's show, I'm going to fire Dietrich. As rehearsal time for Group A was approaching, Jenny left Ann to practice and left with Jaime to go to the big rehearsal room, during which Jaime asked, "Are you going to stay and watch?"

 "Are you trying to please me?" asked Jenny.

 Jaime shrugged, "You do seem to want to point at her and laugh when she's unlucky - I guess it's a way to get angry for you, too." "

 Jenny was tempted to tell Jaime that it wasn't going to make her feel much better about him. - If Jaime had called Dietrich to fire her on the day she found out the truth, she would have been willing to sit on the sidelines, but now Dietrich feels more like a victim of the flesh and blood exploitation of the capitalists than 'punished for doing something wrong' (which is a bit outrageous, but she does), and watching all this and laughing at it only makes Jenny feel that she is an accomplice of Jaime as a utilitarian, and stupid - It's stupid to not understand that he will be kicked out so mercilessly after losing his use value, and even the miserable situation of being kicked out will be used as the last bit of resource to please the new powerhouse.

 "Thank you for having such a low opinion of my personality. She couldn't hold back after all, and replied with a gun and a stick, but soon regretted it.

 According to Jenny's own temper, she is not afraid to speak coldly to Jaime now, because Jaime has hired Ann with a high salary, and given the cost he paid for the play, he will definitely sell them hard to the Tony Awards, and strive to use the Tony Awards to drive the box office in the six months next year. So no matter how sarcastic she is, she shouldn't change his approach. But Cesare's admonition was like a nasty ghost, always ringing in her ears at the wrong time: the circle relied on connections, and although she seemed less and less needed, Jaime's favorability might play an unexpected role at certain times.

 "But, even if you think so poorly of my personality, you are still willing to take care of my vulgar desire for revenge," she said sharply, reversing the sarcasm of what she had just said, with a perfect working smile and a warm and warm thanks. "Thank you for taking care of me, Jaime. "

 Her efforts were not in vain, and after a month of absence, Jaime's cuteness came out again.

 "Just remember this: I could have made her a Verma in Group B. He winked at Jenny exaggeratedly, "But because of you, she's only going to get fired, and I'll tell some curious little ears that she's fired because of Cocaine's addiction." "

 There are very few actors who have never touched contraband, but there are very few actors who like to use contraband, and the reason does not need to be explained, everyone can naturally understand. Drug addiction is a huge penalty point, and Dietrich's journey on Broadway is destined to be difficult.

 "Shall I say thank you?" asked Jenny, not very sincerely.

 "I think a kiss would be a decent return gift. Jaime gave her a 'Mua' punch.

 Jenny felt slightly disgusted, she was sure that her arrow to Jaime had been almost ruined by his performance, not that she looked down on James's character, but Jenny definitely didn't have any 'heart-to-heart' skills in this kind of relationship, she was very standard self-centered, no matter how many reasons he had, Jaime's statement in the Cocaine and Peanut Oil incident had already made her classify him as a group that could not be friends.

 "What about your 'don't date actors' principle?" she coped absent-mindedly.

 "I think our agreement was 'I'll date you when this play is successful,'" Jaime shrugged, "and it seems to me that we're making it." "

 Jenny could feel his nervousness beneath his hippie smile, and she knew that Jaime was testing her attitude towards him again.

 She is still reluctant, however, the tone of their relationship has changed dramatically compared to the last time they were tempted. This time, Jenny was completely free from his reaction to rejection.

 "You call this success?" she didn't say directly, but ended his unspoken inquiry with a question. "Honey, we haven't even won a Tony Award yet. "

 Pushing open the door, she smiled at Jaime and entered the rehearsal room.

 #

 This time the routine rehearsal was very loose, and many of the actors were stretching and whispering, and their eyes were all looking at Dietrich, and Jenny was not surprised by this: in the troupe, gossip always spreads quickly, and Ann should have been seen walking out of the manager's office with her.

 However, under the teacher's watchful eye, there was no drama. After the rehearsal was over, everyone dispersed for dinner, but Jenny didn't move—since she had hired an assistant, she had to make the most of it, and Mary would drive her to the nearby health food store to buy organic chicken salad.

 Dietrich also stayed, and she seemed to have difficulty packing her bag, and squatted on the ground for a long time, and when everyone was gone, she straightened up and walked over to Jenny, and asked casually. "So, you met the new Velma at James?"

 The two of them have maintained a friendly relationship on the surface, and have not talked about the 'pressure on the scene' that the drama critics pointed out, but they did talk less and less after the show started, and this was the first time Dietrich had spoken to her in a few days.

 Jenny looked at her a few times and felt that Dietrich knew her fate very well - perhaps she had expected this day after the premiere, so she was acting quite dignified, or at least calm.

 It was time for her to choose, and Jenny realized that she could tell Dietrich directly: 'You don't act like you're acting like you're acting like you're good enough to trick me into taking drugs or framing me for allergies.' And yes, I met the new Velma, who is a hundred times better than you, and you will be fired, and you will never find a new job on the grounds that you are addicted to drugs. It's all because you dare to plot against me, so savor my revenge, Bitch. '

 She can also choose the second option - act unaware, avoid the real reason why she was fired (her disgust), ignore the real reason that Dietrich thought (being suppressed), and deal with it all with the 'Cesare's method'.

 The first slap in the face is direct and cool, and the second is a bit of a brocade nocturnal walk, but it's good for PR, and Jenny doesn't need a former colleague who will make a big fuss about the paparazzi at this stage.

 "Be proud of yourself, Cesare. Jenny thought, and secretly decided that she would never admit it to Cesare, "that you have succeeded in my tutelage." "

 "Oh, I don't know...," she said 'flustered', avoiding Dietrich's eyes, "Jaime didn't say anything, just introduced me to Ann ..."

 Dietrich nodded and said calmly, "I see." "

 She flung her backpack over her shoulder, gave Jenny a complicated look, and turned to walk out. Jenny chased after her and walked out of the rehearsal room with her, her tone very sincere, "Dietrich, all I can say is that I'm sorry - I want you to stay if I can, really- it's just that there are some things that I can't decide, I didn't expect them to say that-"

 Several colleagues passed by them and looked at them with interest.

 Dietrich finally interrupted Jenny at the dressing room door, her tone a little impatient, "I know—I know—"

 Although she didn't say it explicitly, the phrase 'Why are you stupid girl so lucky' written on her face, Jenny could also imagine Dietrich's current mood, after all she had done to keep her job, and now she was going to lose her job, which of course made her very disappointed, but on the other hand, she was cheated twice (although both out of ' Coincidence' was unsuccessful), but Jenny still didn't find anything, and regarded her as a good friend, which undoubtedly gave her a sense of superiority mixed with a weak heart, and she felt that Jenny was really stupid on the one hand, and on the other hand, she would be unbalanced by the fact that 'stupid girls are always lucky', and mixed with the fear and irritability of imminent unemployment, formed her peculiar impatience now.

 Either way, it's hard to really hate or hate a stupid person, especially when she's not doing anything wrong (too stupid to make a mistake) and is just doing her job. It should not be very likely that Dietrich will talk nonsense with reporters.

 The 'stupid girl' sniffed and stopped talking—she looked at Dietrich for a few seconds, and finally couldn't help it, and stepped forward to hug her, and said with her true feelings, "I'm going to miss you, dear, really, I'm going to miss you." "

 Even though she couldn't see Dietrich's face at all, Jenny could sense that she was definitely rolling her eyes now, and she tightened her arms as she jotted down a few notes in her mind:

 1 It was to be ascertained with Jaime that when she was fired, it was only the committee's decision, and that no mention of cocaine should be mentioned, lest Dietrich be suspicious.

 2 ... Well, in fact, sometimes, it's cool to be a White Lotus-type Bitch...

 The author has something to say: Note: Ann Benson is my fictional character. However, it is true that the BBC is a state-run television station.