The Greatest Showman - Chapter 4: First audition

Chapter 4: First audition

The stirrings of eagerness made Renly a bit exhilarated, and he couldn’t help but clench his fists to avoid his heart surging too much and deviating from the norm.

Although this is only his first Hollywood audition, but the feel of the wood from the bottom of his feet is not unfamiliar, this Broadway stage slowly awakened the memories of the past few years in London’s West End performance experience, the brain is active to the extreme, but is calm, every pore of the body opened, greedily breathe the surrounding air, allow themselves to become one with the stage.

“From left to right, each person in turn comes out.” A voice came from the bottom of the stage and briefly explained, “After stating your name and age, wait for the next instruction, got it?” The almost substantial eyes and unemotional tone of voice made the atmosphere of the stage become more and more tense, the other party seemed very satisfied with the effect, and then directly announced the beginning of the audition, “The first on the left, please come out.”

The first actor introduced himself with a trembling voice, the tension of the audition was amplified to the extreme in the open space of the Broadway theater, the ubiquitous amplification and echo effect created an illusion of tinnitus, the mental pressure and atmosphere of dullness like a boulder in the chest, you can obviously feel the tightness of his vocal cords.

Renly, however, did not pay attention to other people’s auditions, but concentrated on his own thoughts, emptying his mind, even the role, audition, performance and these things are all cleared out, trying to achieve a state of calm, full concentration, and then maintain it.

“Next.”

Renly took a step forward, but didn’t stop right away, but walked straight to the “T-spot” position in front of the stage, which is the center of the stage and the focus of the spotlight. Standing firm, Renly began to introduce himself, “Good afternoon, I’m Renly Hall, twenty years old.” Confident but not overbearing, concise but not cumbersome.

“You’re British?” A questioning voice came from the audience, the source indistinguishable due to the uncertain lighting, “And how’s your American accent?”

“Which area?” Renly’s subdued answer caused a small commotion to come from the audience.

Accents are part of acting, but they are not easy to learn. Anne Hathaway’s British accent in “Becoming Jane” received a lot of bad reviews from critics. Not everyone, even academy-born actors, can capture the nuances of different regional accents, for example, the difference between a Boston accent and a New York accent is very slight. Renly’s answer seemed professional and confident, but inevitably a bit arrogant.

After a moment’s pause, the voice from earlier spoke again, “Texas, I think.” This is not a difficult task, after all, the southern accent is very noticeable.

“So, I’m auditioning for a Texan who volunteered for the military?” Renly’s thick Southern accent immediately caught everyone’s attention – not only because of the accuracy of the accent, but also because the standard London accent was so drastically different that it was hard to believe that it was the same person’s voice, “I wonder if he was a soldier or an officer? My guess is that he is not your typical cowboy.”

What’s more, Renly’s words weren’t exactly spontaneous. He noticed that each actor auditioned for a different role and substance. The first actor was asked to perform crying, while the second actor was asked to perform the emotion of fear. So, he guessed that the casting director should be looking for a role that matches each actor’s appearance and age, and then start auditioning.

Just from the keyword “Texas”, Renly vaguely outlined the character image.

“Oh? Why do you say that?” A curious voice came from the other side, the words were mixed with a light chuckle, Renly turned his head to look over, and it was Tom.

This is the first time since this group auditioned that Tom spoke, and Renly could even feel the envious and jealous eyes of the other competitors around him falling on his shoulders, burning and stinging a little.

“Because I’m not a typical cowboy.” Renly’s dignified answer brought a low chuckle from the audience as he rolled his slipped shirt sleeves up again and added, “At least it doesn’t look like it.”

“Haha.” Tom also could not help but laugh, Renly and cowboys really can not be tied together, slender body, curly short hair, light smile …… elegant and unrestrained, indulgent and introspective, such contradictory temperament but a natural blend, as he even on the streets will not be the least bit awkward, “There is no way to really refute this.” After a short pause, “You also don’t look like a soldier, at least not on the Pacific battlefield.”

This is a slur on Renly’s British identity – “The Pacific” focuses on American soldiers.

The teasing mockery was not sharp and it was even humorous, causing low laughter from everyone around, but it broke the rhythm of Renly’s audition, which was not good news for him. However, Renly did not look flustered and said calmly, “I only know that Hollywood does not allow gays to play gays and blacks to play blacks, but I never knew that it was actually forbidden for the British to play Americans.” After that, the corners of Renly’s mouth also rose slightly, meaningfully saying, “Interesting.”

Hollywood has a dark history, and what Renly said is true, it has happened, or maybe it is happening. The laughter at the scene became thin, everyone’s expression one way or another looked a little embarrassed while they were facing each other.

Tom could not help but rub his nose to cover his own embarrassment, sitting next to him, Steven immediately came over to join the fun, ” Ouch “, he screamed in pain, causing others to lower their heads – holding back laughter is really hard.

Tom speechlessly made an eye-dagger, Steven hurriedly looked to the stage, avoiding eye contact, “So, you do not look like a cowboy, nor an American, not even like a soldier, why did you come to this audition?”

Between jokes, Steven dug a hole for Renly, and the other candidates behind him all showed a sympathetic look, it seems that Renly’s audition today is going to be ruined.

In no mood to continue to joke, Renly spread his hands and shrugged innocently, “Because I’m an actor?” The slightly upward trailing voice seemed to be seeking affirmation, and expressing his confusion and helplessness. Poof, Tom slapped his thighs and laughed directly out loud, sitting next to Steven who was choking somewhat speechless.

Tom then also realized his outburst, considering that the others around him were holding their laughter too hard, he hurriedly straightened his lapel and said in a serious manner, “Why don’t you perform a piece of Shakespeare?”

Tom’s words made everyone’s laughter finally spill out, because the “The Pacific” and Shakespeare have nothing in common; by making such a request, Tom was obviously making fun of Renly.

The Hollywood stereotype of the British actors is always associated with theater and Shakespeare.

Things seemed to be going a bit off track, and all the indications were moving in an unfavorable direction for Renly, as the audition had become a talk show.

But Renly didn’t mind at all. Instead, he decided to seize the opportunity to show his ability. Now is the time to see if he has any acting talent at all!

He lowered his eyes, adjusted his breathing, and almost in the blink of an eye he had chosen the play, the role, the scene, and then reawakened the memory of those lines deep in his mind.

Tom’s smile slowly tightened up, he turned his head to look at the casting director, indicating that the other party can continue with the audition, generally speaking, the audition is developed by the casting director of the show, Tom and Steven sitting here is more to provide reference advice.

Just now Renly’s remarkable accent change attracted a little bit of Tom’s attention, and became a small spice between him and Steven, but this is only a small ripple, in the world of Hollywood, countless actors can be called talented or even genius, one more or less won’t make a difference, such a ripple quickly subsided.

Tom opened his mouth, but before the sound came out, he saw Steven’s body slightly leaned forward, the pair of eyes hidden behind the lenses became more focused than ever, and one could even faintly see the burst of interest, which made Tom reflexively turned his head and looked at the stage again.

It is not that he changed his costume or changed his movements dramatically, but rather it was a change of temperament that cannot be described verbally.

At this time, Renly still stood upright in place, due to the height difference between the stage and the audience, setting off the momentum of the entire body, yet the slightly tense shoulder line is in the light between the interplay of shadow that outlines a touch of sadness, as if you can feel the raging emotions suppressed in the depths of his heart. With a few alterations it made the whole aura of the stage settle down quietly.

Tom couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow, lowered his legs, and looked at the stage with rapt attention. Then, Renly raised his head.

Renly’s stiff feet stumbled two steps to the side, and the sorrow that raged between his brows was then replaced by a surge of anger, as calm as the sea beneath an approaching storm, throbbing, “Ah, great Caesar! Why do you lie so low?” The emotion of grief was so fragile that it seemed to break at the touch of a button, and the magnificence of the mountain rain burst forth in the long, drawn shadow, “All your greatness, all your glorious triumphs, have they all come to naught?”

The tall body was almost unable to support itself and collapsed, his knees went weak and he fell to the ground on one knee, relying only on his hands to stubbornly support himself, “Farewell! Gentlemen of great strength, I do not know what you mean, there are still some people who seem to be poisonous in your eyes and should be bled for him.” The desperate and mournful words with a hint of indignation, you can even faintly hear the gnashing of teeth in a delicate voice, “If it were me, then I could die at the same hour as Caesar, so that the sword in your hands that is stained with the noblest blood in the world to end my life, there is really no better thing!”

He raised his head and looked at the audience with sharp eyes, the burning gaze was like a substance that stung the eyes of every spectator in the audience, the righteous determination and firmness was projected with great determination, so that everyone was ashamed of themselves and did not dare to look straight.

Three lines, just three lines, the emotions of everyone in the room were twisted into a bundle, firmly in the hands of one person: the unique figure at the center of the stage.

In an instant, there was no sound.

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Translator Question of the day – Do you think Renly is going to get the role?