Chapter 11.4 - Act 11: Slowly 4 (2/2)
I had been singing solely for myself, or for judges.
Learning musicals this time around was, after all, also for myself.
‘A song not for myself, but for others…’
While I was in my muddled thoughts, teacher Kwak Jungsoo rhythmically continued his words.
“But if you can’t pass through their ambiguous standards, cruel yet naturally, the audience will turn their backs from you. The amount of effort you put in during the past three months, skill and future – all of those will scatter away like dust. They won’t be interested in those in the first place, because that is what ‘audience’ is.”
Teacher Kwak Jungsoo threw a glance towards me.
“…”
After wordlessly examining my face for a short period of time, he turned towards Chloe once again.
“So, do you still want to be on the stage?”
Wearing an expression of determination, Chloe replied.
“Yes.”
“Good. Then four freshmen it is, and so there will be six to seven people on the stage.’
Raising his hands from the table with a smile, he carried his feet in large strides until he was before the whiteboard again. Touching the word [Protagonist] still remaining on the board, he opened his mouth.
“Now then, let’s get back to what we were talking about – protagonist.”
Returning each and every gaze he was receiving, teacher Kwak Jungsoo opened his mouth.
“Protagonist. Quite obviously, who the protagonist is, is very important in operas and musicals. It’s the same in dramas. While watching a drama, rather than saying ‘that drama is fun’, or ‘it has an interesting twist’, the names of the main actors have more impact in gathering views.”
“Yes.”
“But unlike dramas that could at least compete in terms of story, musicals and operas offer the same plays by just changing the actors. Since a variable called ‘story’ disappears, the importance of the main actors become more and more important.”
That was true.
Even I also decided on whether to buy tickets to operas or not by seeing the main actor’s name.
“That’s why the first step in preparing for a musical, is to choose who the main actor will be.”
Hearing that, Lim Suhjoon-sunbae tilted his head.
“But don’t you usually choose what piece to do first? Then we choose a protagonist that suits that play through auditions. That’s what we did during our play last year…”
“Normally, yes.”
With a light reply, teacher Kwak Jungsoo glanced at us and raised one of his thick eyebrows.
“But you guys lack way too many members to find a matching protagonist for a musical piece.”
Ah.
They all closed their mouths in response to the teacher’s arrangement of facts.
“So choosing the important protagonist first, and choosing a matching piece afterward will suit you guys more.”
“…Yes.”
“So… Who will be the main actors? I’m thinking of going with the classic method of choosing one male and one female.”
Out of the seven people that would be going on the stage, there were only two males consisting of a second-grade sunbae and myself, but when he saw my face, he immediately shook his head.
“I will concede it to him. I saw him during the Prac Concert and, wow, he was good.”
“Thank you.”
Seeing how we had come to a quick conclusion, teacher Kwak Jungsoo then turned towards the girls.
“So let’s say Yunjae will be the male protagonist, so who will be the female protagonist?”
“…”
Han Dasom, Song Mirae, Chloe, a second-grade sunbae, and the club president, Yun Soojin-sunbae. The gazes of those five female members met in the centre.
Silence befell the room.
‘…’
Observing that fierce staring contest while holding my breath, I suddenly felt an urge to tremble.
‘…Maybe the aircon is too strong.’
It was a bit cold.
*
The first person to withdraw from the fight for female protagonist position was Chloe.
“I think it would be better for someone else to do it, huhuh.”
She then added more words saying that it would be better for someone that could sing well to be the protagonist, to which I agreed.
Since it was the protagonist, it would be better for it to be done by a person that could sing than someone that couldn’t. It was a logical decision.
When the atmosphere was calmed down a little by Chloe’s bright smile, Yun Soojin-sunbae gave a clap in agreement.
“It would be better to yield it to the Opera Department here, right? Count me out as well!”
Thus, the remaining members were three; a second-grade sunbae giving a strong impression, Han Dasom and Song Mirae.
When the three remained quiet while glancing at each other, teacher Kwak Jungsoo organised the situation for them.
“If all three of you want to do it, there is no other option. Do an audition.”
“Sorry?”
“I’ll give you scripts, so sing. The best one out of you three will then be the protagonist.”
“…”
It was a simple solution.