Looking at Freya's unwilling expression, Hill, who was standing nearby, unusually didn't make any sarcastic remarks. She just stood quietly, her gaze fixed on Jia Na.
...
Jia Na, who was receiving everyone's attention, was also observing the dozens of actors in the rehearsal hall with a calm gaze.
Seeing that the atmosphere in the rehearsal hall was subtly quiet, Jia Na, who had already put on her social mask, skillfully raised a warm smile and greeted the actor nearest to her.
"Hello, nice to meet you. I am Jia Na-Luo Lan."
"H-hello, I'm Richard-Joe, nice to meet you."
As a minor character with very few lines, besides the few actors he acted with, hardly anyone would take the initiative to greet him. Looking at the friendly smiling girl in front of him, Richard-Joe's ears immediately felt hot.
"Jia Na, you're finally here."
Walking across most of the rehearsal hall, the scruffy David-Berg quickly walked up to Jia Na. As he called out, the rehearsal hall, which had seemed to be on pause, also lowered its voice and began to whisper.
"David, you look quite tired today."
"Is that so?"
Touching the somewhat prickly beard on his chin, David-Berg shrugged indifferently.
"Beards are sometimes a characteristic that reflects an artist's taste. You just don't know how to appreciate it."
"Oh? Then it seems my aesthetic needs improvement."
Seeing Jia Na cooperate with his nonsense, David-Berg couldn't help but laugh.
"You are the absolute protagonist here now. Many people came today just to see you..."
Hearing this, Jia Na's gaze quickly scanned the number of actors in the rehearsal hall. Just as David-Berg said, there weren't this many actors for the A Act segment.
"Sorry, sorry! I'm late!"
Panting sounds rang out behind Jia Na. Looking at the messy red hair, Jia Na's original social fake smile suddenly became lively.
"Liji."
"Ah, Jia Na, I thought I would arrive earlier than you... Damn it, I'm the third female lead and I arrived later than the protagonist!"
Listening to Liji-Xiaosi's startled and jumping way of speaking, the corners of Jia Na's originally smiling mouth twitched almost imperceptibly.
"Don't worry, you're not late. I just arrived too."
"Is that so?"
Looking at the room full of people, and then at the mechanical clock on the wall which showed it was still ten minutes before nine, Liji-Xiaosi, realizing she wasn't late, patted her chest in relief.
"As expected of the Nightingale Opera Troupe. Not only do they not arrive just on time for work, they even arrive this early. If it were the theater I used to be in, they definitely couldn't do this..."
Although she was praising them, Liji-Xiaosi, who was long used to arriving just on time for work, secretly clicked her tongue in her heart, somewhat worried if this kind of early arrival was one of the Nightingale Opera Troupe's unwritten rules.
"Don't worry, it's the same here. It's just unusual today."
Saying this, David-Berg's gaze couldn't help but look at Jia Na, who still had a smile on her face, with a hint of teasing.
"Let's go over."
Although there were still ten minutes left, seeing that most of the newcomers had arrived, David-Berg led the two people towards the side of the rehearsal hall with mirrors.
"A total of six people passed the audition this time. I will take you to get familiar with the other actors in the A Act segment later, which will also make it easier to get into character during rehearsal."
Jia Na remembered that during the last audition, a total of forty-two people participated in the competition. Moreover, there were ten character slots released.
"Forty-two into six? And they are selecting from experienced actors... It seems the selection criteria of the Nightingale Opera Troupe are indeed very high."
Thinking silently, besides herself and Liji-Xiaosi, Jia Na did have a strong impression of the other four successful candidates.
Especially the middle-aged man with a refined temperament who played the villain blood shadow rose Baron Charlotte. His strong professional ability left a very deep impression on Jia Na.
"Hello everyone, I am Jia Na-Luo Lan. It's a pleasure to meet you seniors."
Without being awkward, as a newcomer to the Nightingale Opera Troupe and a complete newcomer to the opera circle, Jia Na's generous, humble, and polite attitude also received enthusiastic responses from the few people who already had a good impression of Jia Na.
"Hello, I'm Lyon-Lie Yan."
Lie Yan?
Hearing the self-introduction of the middle-aged man playing Charlotte, Jia Na realized that he, like Suo Luo-Lie Yan, was from the same family.
"Could he be Suoluo's uncle?"
She thought silently, but Jia Na's expression didn't show the slightest abnormality.
"Hello, I'm Lucy..."
"I'm George..."
"I'm John..."
Jia Na's smile never stopped while listening to everyone's self-introductions.
Among these six people, if sorted by the amount of lines, Lyon-Lie Yan, as a character with important roles in Acts A, B, and C, could be said to be the absolute male second lead in the entire opera.
Second place was Jia Na, playing the protagonist Natasha in the A Act segment.
Third place was Liji-Xiaosi, playing the third female lead Nakiusha in the A Act segment.
The remaining three played supporting roles in the A Act segment. Although they didn't have many lines, they were all very strong and experienced opera singers.
Clap clap clap—
"It's about time. All the actors for the A Act segment come and gather here."
Clapping his hands, looking at the mechanical clock that was already pointing to nine o'clock, David-Berg also began to organize the actors to officially start the rehearsal.
"The reason I asked everyone to come today, besides letting the older members get familiar with the newcomers, is also to follow the old rule and organize a script reading. We'll start with the opening scene, skipping the acting part and going straight to the singing. This will also allow you to get familiar with each other's singing styles, which will help with subsequent adjustments."
Hearing this, Jia Na, who was already very familiar with the script, naturally knew that the first segment David-Berg was talking about was the scene where the girl Natasha made her first appearance at the kingdom banquet.
The entire scene was not difficult to perform. It mainly used opera singing to quickly introduce each character's identity and personality.
It interspersed with a large number of supporting roles such as nobles, butlers, and maids. It could be said to be a segment of blood shadow rose with a relatively light and cheerful tone.
"Jia Na, you start. Let everyone see the protagonist's strength."
The speaker had no intention, but the listeners took it to heart.
Hearing David-Berg's address to Jia Na, Freya and Hill, who had been observing from the crowd, couldn't help but straighten their backs.
"I want to see if the protagonist, who Director David thinks so highly of, has the strength to match this position..."