Chapter 175: Public Opinion Disadvantage
【Today's Task: Complete a perfect performance. Reward: 100 Talent Experience, 500 Skill Experience, one random reward.】
"A perfect performance—"
Looking at the task description on the system panel, Jia Na couldn't help but furrow her brow slightly.
"What counts as perfect?"
Seeing that it was only a white-level task and judging that the task shouldn't be difficult, Jia Na didn't delve into it further and directly closed the task panel.
"Jia Na, you're next. Let me touch up your makeup first."
Hearing Julie-Ann's soft reminder from the side, Jia Na smiled and nodded.
"Julie, you're so thoughtful."
"Haha, it's all part of my job—"
As the time spent with Jia Na grew longer, Julie-Ann's impression of Jia Na also improved.
No matter when or where, every time Julie-Ann finished speaking with Jia Na, she would feel a refreshing sensation like drinking a sip of watermelon juice on a hot summer day—...making her want more.
"Jia Na, your skin is truly amazing. It never looks cakey and is even smoother than a peeled egg—.—"
Staring at Julie-Ann's endless compliments, Jia Na's lips couldn't help but curve upwards.
"That's also because your skills are good."
"I wouldn't dare claim that—·It's done. Take a look."
Taking the makeup mirror handed over by Julie-Ann, a face as richly colored as an oil painting suddenly appeared in the mirror.
Because stage lighting tends to make makeup less visible, Jia Na's current makeup was quite a bit heavier than her usual rehearsal makeup—especially the eye makeup. Julie-Ann had also put some extra thought into the eyeshadow design.
To emphasize the "mermaid" feel, Julie-Ann used blue-toned eyeshadow throughout and also used shells, coral, and other items for embellishment and decoration when selecting hair accessories.
Even without changing into her performance costume, from a distance, Jia Na's entire features were enhanced by the makeup, adding a sense of Charm and allure.
"It feels quite good—"
"Excellent! This is the lighting I want—Freya, you can step down now. Have Jia Na come up and try it."
Before Jia Na could finish speaking, David-Berg began calling for Jia Na on the stage.
And Julie-Ann, who also heard David-Berg's call, quickly tidied Jia Na's hair near her ears, then silently took the mirror from Jia Na's hand and stepped aside.
"Thank you for your hard work."
Quietly thanking Julie-Ann, Jia Na gathered her hair behind her back and walked onto the stage according to David-Berg's instructions, beginning her stage positioning.
"Your skills are quite good—..This makeup suits her very well."
At this moment, Freya, who had already stepped off the stage, looked at the face bathed in light on the stage. Even though she had seen it many times, that face, as if favored by the gods, always unconsciously attracted Freya.
"Thank you for the compliment, but I also know that the reason this makeup looks good isn't because my skills are so great, but simply because she is Miss Jia Na—"
Listening to Julie-Ann's unreserved praise for Jia Na from the side, Freya also nodded in agreement.
Jia Na's Charm, besides her stunning appearance, lies in her ability to quickly use micro-expressions to get into character anytime, anywhere. That is the fundamental reason she can shine brightly on stage.
That is the Charm belonging to an opera actor, and at the same time, it is the Charm of a character who has integrated into the soul and is born within the actor's body.
"Tomorrow—it will definitely go smoothly!"
The next day, two o'clock in the afternoon.
Vivian, who had arrived a full hour early at the entrance of the Nightingale Opera Troupe, felt at this moment that she was being swept along by an endless stream of people.
Although Vivian had VIP tickets, there was still a considerably long queue at the VIP area entrance.
"Everyone isn't staying home properly for the New Year; what's with all this aimless wandering out here—"
On the first day of the New Year, the entire Turin was enveloped in a lively atmosphere filled with the clamor of people.
After all, besides casinos, circuses, and some establishments that only operate at night, "opera performance" is one of the more popular forms of entertainment within the City of Turin.
For this very reason, residents of the City of Turin, tired from a whole year, would grudgingly tolerate slightly higher ticket prices and choose an opera from the various performances that they believed would be more exciting and worth the price.
Therefore, New Year's Day is often the day when all opera troupes "compete for attention."
Just like Liji-Xiaosi's previous employer, the White Horse Opera Troupe, they also premiered their main new production, "The Kingdom of Cats," today. It primarily tells the story of a mortal who longs for extraordinary power, accidentally arrives in "The Kingdom of Cats," begins an adventure, and thus gains extraordinary power.
In addition, the Bauhinia Opera House (in which Bauhinia Bank has a stake) and the Starlight Opera Troupe also began heavily investing in pre-show promotions for their new productions half a month ago, creating a buzz.
And their promotional rhetoric was surprisingly unified. In their words and implications, they were all expressing to others that their operas were "brand new," "original," and "sufficiently groundbreaking" new works.
At the same time, they also took a jab at the Nightingale Opera Troupe's main production, calling it an old work that was "old wine in a new bottle," "uncreative," "insincere," and "purely for making money," completely incomparable to theirs.
This obvious "sarcasm" and "implication" that was already out in the open did indeed cause considerable negative public opinion for the Nightingale Opera Troupe in the early stages of promotion.
After all, no matter how unpleasant the other party's words were, they were indeed the truth.
As the song of the ocean, which had officially premiered three years ago, it did indeed achieve considerable box office success in its early stages.
Even though the number of performances for the song of the ocean had begun to gradually decrease since last year, for opera enthusiasts in Turin, there was indeed nothing new to speak of about this play.
Because no matter how much the work song of the ocean is modified, in the hearts of those who have already seen the play,
it cannot escape being just a cliché love story of a "mermaid and a human prince falling in love."
Even if the process was twisted and complex, these audience members could roughly guess that the opera's ending would definitely still be a happy reunion-style ending where "the mermaid and the prince lived happily ever after."
It was precisely because of this "love" label that the box office performance of the song of the ocean was always inferior to that of the blood shadow rose, which had "war and revenge" as its theme.
And these were also one of the entry points used by other business competitors to attack the Nightingale Opera Troupe as "not good enough."
It can be said that in the public opinion guidance of the early opera promotion, the song of the ocean was already in an absolute disadvantageous position—