chapter 146
146 – Musical Casting (10)
After accidentally meeting a new musical actor—Eunjin Lim—in front of the audition building,
Secretary Jeong Song-i muttered softly.
“Maybe he’s not that bad of a kid.”
I also nodded and agreed with Secretary Jeong Song-i’s opinion.
Afternoon Sweets member — When Goo Ga-eun approached Lim Eun-jin, she was a little nervous, fearing that she might start a fight or swear openly.
I don’t know if it was because Gu Ga-eun was so bright, but fortunately, Lim Eun-jin greeted her.
… Although he had a shocked expression.
Even if she criticizes me for trying to bring idols into the musical scene, she may not see the idols themselves as at fault.
“Now let’s go in.”
“Yes.” “Yes… !”
I followed the same path that Lim Eun-jin entered.
Actually, even though it was an audition room, it was just a regular practice room.
Considering the facilities and size, it is worse than the training room at Lucky Seven Entertainment’s headquarters….
In the audition room, two men and two women were sitting on chairs.
One of them was the CEO of Studio Nekmu.
I found out later that it wasn’t true, but it seemed like he was also a producer.
The remaining people were music director, director, and choreography director, respectively.
First of all, in line with the purpose of today’s audition, the CEO of Studio Neckmu decided not to participate in the evaluation.
That is, the music director, director, and choreography director were the judges.
“Who do you want to go first?”
An audition that only Gu Ga-eun and Lim Eun-jin can attend.
The director looked at the two people in turn and asked.
Then Lim Eun-jin raised her hand.
“I will go first.”
“Yes, then please start as soon as you are ready. Number 1 first.”
“I’ll start right away.”
Hearing Eunjin Lim’s words, one of the staff members stood in front of the computer holding a piece of paper.
Perhaps that piece of paper was a cue sheet.
The goal today was to see her and Koo Ga-eun’s skills, so it seemed like only recorded accompaniment was played, excluding sound effects.
Lim Eun-jin immediately started acting from the very beginning of number 1.
Oh, you sure are good at it.
As expected, her entire career was outstanding as she was a musical actress from the beginning.
Do you feel like words are falling into your ears?
“I had many dreams when I was young, but now I can’t remember which rented room I left them in~♪”
The song wasn’t bad either.
At least it was as good as her lyrics calendar.
However, whether she had good singing ability was ambiguous.
In my experience, if you have this level of singing ability, the vocal ability score is approximately between 50 and 60 in the status window.
As for Lim Eun-jin, she is not an aspiring idol, so the status window does not appear, so it is not accurate, but….
But as far as I know, there is nothing wrong with musicals, of course, because the singing talent is good.
The ability to convey lyrics is important because it conveys the emotions of a story or character.
In that respect, Lim Eun-jin should be seen as having honed her entire career, which is her strength.
The song was somewhat ambiguous, but the dance was okay.
She was born with a flexible body, so she actively used her joints.
It was a fairly cheerful and rhythmic dance.
“What does this mean?”
Daily acting part after the song ends.
… There is a great sense of realism in the hand gestures and body movements.
Do you have any experience at a gosiwon?
Lim Eun-jin’s number 1 has ended.
The director, music director, and choreography director whispered stories.
Don’t let it sound our way.
After a while, the director said, “Do it, Gu Ga-eun.”
Gu Ga-eun said, “Yes… !” And took turns with Eunjin Lim.
For today, the vocal trainer, dance trainer, and acting trainer met again and again.
In a short period of two weeks, it is a tight time that must be done in the spare time after completing the idol schedule.
Although the conditions were truly unfavorable for practice, Gu Ga-eun worked hard and actually grew.
Will those three judges accept the results of their efforts?
It was a tense moment for me too.
***
After watching Lim Eun-jin’s number 1, the director, music director, and choreography director bowed.
First, the music director started speaking.
“The song is standard. “It’s neither particularly good nor bad.”
The director nodded and agreed, “I felt that way too.”
“But he was good at acting. “I put a lot of emotion into it when I sang.”
“That’s right. Do you feel like you trained just for musicals?”
I can’t say that I sing well, but my pronunciation is good.
And above all, the understanding of the character is quite high.
At least in terms of acting, there was no one who could undervalue Lim Eun-jin.
The choreography director mentioned the dance, saying, “The dance wasn’t bad either.”
The director nodded.
“He seems like a friend who is good at acting, dancing, and expressing himself with his body.”
It seemed good to be cast as the lead in this musical.
All three came here thinking that Lim Eun-jin, who has experience as an ensemble actor, would be better than Koo Ga-eun, who is just an idol, in terms of skills.
However, the three people also knew that the intentions of the CEO of Studio Nekmu, the producer of this musical, were different.
Unless Koo Ga-eun’s skills were so inferior that anyone could see them, she had no choice but to eliminate Lim Eun-jin.
No matter how much authority I have over this audition, if I say that I ruined this musical by stubbornly not selecting Gu Ga-eun, what kind of opinion would I receive in the small industry….
“First, let’s check Gu Ga-eun’s skills.”
The choreography director and music director nodded at the director’s words.
Then, I called Gu Ga-eun, and she brightly said, “Yes…” !” While doing so, she walked in front of the three people.
All three people who saw it thought it was cute and behaved like an idol.
“Then let me begin… !!”
“Yes.”
Well, even if I don’t know how to sing or dance, I’m probably not good at acting.
I hoped it wasn’t just reading a Korean language book.
Goo Ga-eun put the first line in number 1 into her mouth and moved her body.
The director, music director, and choreography director were all shocked.
It was better than expected.
The three of us watched with lowered expectations, but from the moment Gu Ga-eun spoke her first line, we had expectations again.
He said he had no experience in musicals, but he was better than most aspiring musicians.
Was she originally an idol who was practicing acting?
Or talent?
“I had many dreams when I was young, but now I can’t remember which rented room I left them in~♪”
“”… !””
Goo Ga-eun started singing and dancing in earnest.
The director, music director, and choreography director all opened their eyes wide.
All three had experience as idols in the past.
However, no matter how talented an idol is, it is rare for them to make up for the subtle differences between regular pop songs and musical songs.
I always had a hard time adjusting that part, but it wasn’t for Gu Ga-eun.
At least the vocals and dance parts were completed.
“I’m definitely Gu Ga-eun.”
Gu Ga-eun’s turn wasn’t over yet, but the music director whispered to the director and choreography director.
As a music director, he highly praised Gu Ga-eun’s singing skills, which completely surpass those of Lim Eun-jin.
Even if Goo Ga-eun wasn’t an idol, she would have chosen her over Lim Eun-jin.
“Let’s take a closer look first.”
Although the director and choreography director were surprised by the level beyond expectations,
I didn’t think it was above Lim Eun-jin.
Of course, she sings well.
The choreography director acknowledged that, but there was something somewhat ambiguous about the dance.
If you say you don’t have dancing skills, that’s not true.
It was true that he was at a level better than most aspirants.
But it was closer to a broadcast dance than a musical dance.
It may be an unavoidable limitation since she is an idol, but it was a shame if she did not take into account that she was an idol.
“What does this mean?”
Goo Ga-eun, who sang all of her songs, performed the act of opening the door as written in her script.
The director unconsciously tilted his head.
She was good for an idol, and if it was true that she had just started acting, she seemed to have talent.
However, the understanding of the character seemed to be somewhat poor.
If Goo Ga-eun wasn’t her idol, she would have been eliminated because of her acting.
Musicals must have the three beats of vocals, dance, and acting, but the acting part lagged behind.
In terms of balance, Eunjin Lim was better.
“Thank you for your hard work.”
“Thank you… !”
Gu Ga-eun bowed her waist and said hello.
She soon walked out next to the pregnant producer Gil.
The director, music director, and choreography director came together again.
And we wrote down our common opinions on a note.
[Song: Gu Ga-eun ≫ Lim Eun-jin]
[Dance: Gu Ga-eun ≤ Lim Eun-jin]
[Acting: Gu Ga-eun < Lim Eun-jin]
“”Um… ….””
Even if Goo Ga-eun wasn’t an idol, she would have been arguing over who to pick between Goo Ga-eun and Lim Eun-jin.
Is it Lim Eun-jin, who has good balance even though her singing skills are poor?
Or is it Goo Ga-eun, whose singing skills are enough to cover her acting skills?
At this point, she was almost in the realm of likes and dislikes.
“Let’s look at other numbers first.”
“”Yes.””
I had Koo Ga-eun and Lim Eun-jin sing numbers 4 and 7, which had a completely different atmosphere from number 1.
But the result was the same.
The worries of the three judges only deepened.
***
After finishing the three numbers, Lim Eun-jin sat down in her chair and was astonished.
If I hadn’t really devoted two weeks to practicing for this musical,
Losed to Koo Ga-eun.
In other words, if Goo Ga-eun had canceled all of her idol schedules and devoted all her time to practicing for this musical,
It was said that he could show results that surpass Lim Eun-jin.
Suddenly, Eunjin Lim remembered what producer Boogil Lim said to her in the underground parking lot two weeks ago.
‘Aren’t there often cases where rookies who don’t put in much effort surpass those who put in a lot of effort?’
I wasn’t unaware of the fact that such things happen quite often in the musical world.
She just didn’t want to be the person who was overtaken by a newcomer without being rewarded for her hard work.
Lim Eun-jin’s eyes turned red.
She felt sorry for the people who believed in her and supported her, including her parents and the female owner of her restaurant.
Now that her illusion that she was talented had been shattered, it was time to return to reality.
“Hey, hey…” !”
Gu Ga-eun approached Lim Eun-jin, who was sniffling her nose.
What’s going on?
Are you here to make fun of the loser?
“Why?”
It’s not Goo Ga-eun’s fault.
But she couldn’t hide her disgusted feelings.
So she answered without looking at her face.
“How can you act so well…?” ?”
“Yes… ?”
“I saw it earlier and it was amazing… ! Ah, is there a law against asking questions like this? ?”
Foot, Lim Eun-jin burst into laughter without thinking.
There is no way such a law exists.
There is such a pure person.
Even though she is younger than Lim Eun-jin, she is at the age of nineteen and she knows something.
“I really want to ask. “How do you sing so well?”
“Um… ….”
Goo Ga-eun turned her head up, down, left and right as if she had been asked a difficult question.
Soon she answered cautiously.
“Good… ?”
“What is that?”
I wonder if we would have become friends if we had met in private.
Not a competitor.
When you feel bitter in many ways,
Producer Lim Bu-gil approached Eun-jin Lim.