Backstage Drama

The Beginning of a New Life

Chapter 5
The Beginning of a New Life

The next day, all the performers filed into the Boardroom. They had really enjoyed their first night in the hotel. Some complained of the beds, but they had to suck it up.

Edmund Bumble, Mrs Bingley and Mr Cartwright were already in the boardroom by the time the cast had got there. Mr Cartwright drinking his second mug of coffee for that day. He'd been up for hours planning the meeting and planning what to cover today and what to cover at rehearsals.

May sat down were her name card was. She was sitting with Sienna and Ben, two of the people she was closest to in the cast. Opposite her, Clare and Sara were talking about the latest book they had read. May felt a little awkward and very young at that point. She was, after all, only 14. This would be the first time she was away from her family for a very extended period of time. Her overbearing mother, however, would be coming up every weekend to see her baby girl. May was pretty thankful for that too, but she occasionally thought that when it came to her mother, she felt like she was breathing with a pillow over her face.

"People, people!" Dene said, everything going quiet before he proceeded. "Thank you. Welcome to Sydney and the professional world of performing!" the group of teens cheered at that point. Dene raised his hands to quiet the kids. "Now, before we start, are there any questions anyone has that weren't covered in your information pack?"

No one said anything so Dene and the producers explained everything the kids needed to know. The whole cast were all listening intently, knowing that losing this information could affect then badly later.

One thing that was covered was the introduction of the Sydney professionals. Mr Cartwright is the manger of the teenagers safety and well-being for the duration of the season, Mrs Bingley is in charge of the schedule for the teenagers, making sure they get to where they need to be on time and prepared. Mr Bumble was the producer, he kept track of the seasons earnings, their pay and the success of the show. Most of the things that was brought up were in the information pack the teens were given. But there was one more thing that was added.

"Agents, managers and casting directors will be coming to the show on a weekly basis. They will likely come on weeknights. They may ask you to talk to them about representation or they may come backstage to see you. But if an agent wishes to speak to you, you must let us know and someone must accompany you to the meeting. We are your legal guardians for the duration of the show and we must behave as such. Is that understood?" Mr Cartwright said.

May's heart skipped a beat. She would love to work on TV so she could easily be picked out when she was Tuptim one night and be offered a role on a drama soap or something.

"If you do get an agent, however, let us know and we can arrange for your pay to be spilt up to pay for headshots, online casting websites and so on," Mr Bumble added. A few of the people sighed in relief, knowing that they couldn't pay for it without dipping into their paycheck.

The meeting did go on for a long time. Until about 6:30. Dene wrapped up with, "Okay guys, rehearsals will be at the theatre. No school tomorrow because we're moving rehearsal forward to start at 10. We will start the normal timetable on Thursday. Tomorrow please meet in the lobby at 9:30 so we can all walk over together. Please bring your scripts, scores and water. Now, go to the dining room for dinner half of you look dead, and the other half I can hear your stomachs rumble," he said. Everyone got up and began talking to one another.

May went over to Hayley. One thing about Hayley is that she is like the glue to the cast. She keeps everyone together and keeps them all from killing each other. But, being one of the oldest in the ensemble, she is like the mother of the girls when Georgina (Who is basically everyone's mother) is too busy working on the 'Small House of Uncle Thomas' dance to listen.

"I cannot wait for tomorrow!" May squealed to Hayley.

Hayley smiled, "I can't wait for food!" There was food at the meeting, but because of Hayley's nut allergy, she didn't eat anything. Just in case.

"So, will you be bringing any home-made goods?" May asked. On the first rehearsal to break the ice, Hayley brought in chocolate chip cookies so she could meet everyone and have everyone like her. Ever since then, it has been tradition for her to bring cookies, cupcakes and brownies to rehearsals and shows, and often it worked in her favour when Dene, Carla or Chris were having freak outs about how well the show would fall together. And a sweet treat was perfect just before getting make-up on. It would give everyone energy to get through the show and it's also a little bonding session for the cast.

Hayley laughed, "I wish, we don't have an oven, so not baking for me...Or anything. I can make a cookie in a mug though, if that's anything."

"It's something," May said, chatting to Hayley on the way back to the dining room for dinner.

____________________________________________________________

There was a small gathering in Hayley and Alice's room later that night. Everyone should've been sleeping, but they were just too excited for tomorrow to come. So they were trying to make themselves tried. Plus they could all catch up with everything before they had to buckle down and start working. Even though they didn't have to wait too long for rehearsals to start, they all couldn't wait until they were finally working professionals. Lewis, Bert and Genevieve had joined the two girls in their room. The boys were sitting on the floor while the girls took the beds.

Hayley was brushing her long, brown hair with her finger tips. She was listening, but the knots in her hair were starting to annoy her. "Can someone put some music on," she said, even though there were people talking, she wanted to have something to relax her. Lewis put the radio on and turned it on low, Owl City was playing. Hayley smiled to the song in the background.

Alice brought out a black pair of chorus shoes. "Hayley, what are these?" she asked.

Hayley put stopped playing with her hair and picked up the black shoes and put them on. "I am in love with these. These are my chorus shoes, I wear them in shows, but I always feel like Belle from 'Beauty and The Beast' whenever I wear them," she said. Hayley's dream role is Belle, there was something about that role that just spoke to her.

Lewis laughed, "Well that was random..." he said, pushing his glasses back up his nose.

"Well, you do know that the next musical if it's 'Beauty and the Beast', you and I are the leads," Hayley said, winking at him.

Genevieve snuggled into Hayley's panda pillow pet. For some reason it reminded her of back life back home. Maybe because she had one just like it back in her room. Bert nudged Hayley and point over to Genevieve sleeping on her bed. They had to smile. "Am I ever getting that back?" Hayley said, seeing Genevieve doze off on her pillow.

"Mine now," Genevieve grumbled, half asleep on the soft pillow.

"Okay, maybe it's time to call it a night everyone..." Bert said.

"But it's only 9:30!" Hayley protested. She paused for a second to think about what she just said, "Yeah, sleep is a good idea. Now get out of my room," She joked.

Bert nudged Genevieve. When she didn't respond much, Bert picked her up and held her to his chest. "She's in room 1006 right?"

Alice nodded as they all left. "Good night. See you at rehearsal tomorrow," she smiled at Bert carrying his co-star away.

"That's a bit cute," Lewis said to Hayley.


"I know right," Hayley said, hugging him. "See you tomorrow."


____________________________________________________________

Heather was relaxed and warm in her bed, she was practicing lines before tomorrow. She wasn't bothering with going through the blocking in her head because all of it could be changed in rehearsals. There was a knock at her door. She groaned, got out of her warm bed and answered the door.

"Bert. Why the hell are you carrying Genevieve?" She asked.

The boy rolled his eyes, "She's asleep genius. I'm just making sure she isn't roomless tonight."

"Come on, I'll help you put her to bed," Heather said. She wasn't going to change her clothes or anything, but she was going to make sure she had enough blankets so she wouldn't freeze through the night.

"Hey Bert," Heather said when the boy was about to leave. He turned around to look at Heather. "Thank you," she said, smiling.

Bert smiled back, and left. Heather shut the door behind him. Her heart was beating at a million miles an hour. But she brushed off the feeling and went to bed.