Backstage Drama

One Last Time

Chapter 9

One Last Time

Lucas carefully measured the honey he was putting in Heather's hot earl grey tea, grumbling to himself. He hated this new punishment. The amount of coffees, hot chocolates and teas he's made today is crazy. Jack has already been sent to 7/11 (In costume!) twice for food from there. He was so pissed off at Dene for giving him this punishment. It was about 9 in the morning, and this was the first and only Monday rehearsal and show they would be having over the next three months. Luckily because of the union rights, they were getting paid $800 today instead of $230 as they normally would on performance days. So the extra money would be handy at least.

Taking the tea back to Heather, who was in the green room, was hard, not only because Lucas filled the cup too much, but because he was in costume and the shoes he was wearing get really uncomfortable

Lucas gave Heather the tea, "Thanks for the tea," she took a sip from it. It was overly sweet and Lucas hadn't left the teabag in long enough, but hey, at least she didn't have to get it herself.

"So, Heather, what are you doing after the show..."

"Heather! I need you! We need to fix your hair!" The make-up artist said, before Heather could answer Lucas. She was thankful for that though. Heather got up, sipped her tea, smiled at Lucas in a friendly way and went to the dressing rooms.

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Ben was freaking out. As Stage Manager, it was his responsibility to make sure the whole run of the show  was smooth. And he was in charge of all the movement backstage such as prop location, costume location and plus he made sure the ensemble come on stage on time and at the right time. Right now, Anna's ring, three books, two skirts and a tan chorus shoe was missing. He knew that the chorus shoe was Heather's and she had another pair, so for now it didn't matter too much, besides, it was probably just lost in her dressing room. The skirts, they were probably already on the rack in the green room and the girls hadn't checked there yet. The book, there were heaps of spares, so for now it wasn't a problem. The ring, however, was a huge green costume ring that the King gives to Anna before 'Shall We Dance?' and it plays a big role in the show, they had a spare but it was only to be used in case of emergency. He had his headset on and was talking to Carla, who was downstairs looking for all the missing props and costumes in the green room. She had found the skirts fine and the books were in a small pile under the rack, but no sign of the ring.

Ben was still looking for the ring in the darkened wings of the stage when Brittany came up to him. She tapped his shoulder, handed him the ring she found in her dressing room, she guessed that someone left it there by mistake. They quickly exchanged a smile and she walked away. Normally she would've stayed for praise, but Ben was way too busy to do anything rather than focus on the job at hand.

Ben made a mental note to thank Brittany the second he could. She had just saved his ass.

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"Could everyone please come to the stage to get your microphone put on in the next twenty minutes. All make-up and costumes must be on and you must be ready to go. After sound check, we'll be having a warm up," Ben said over the PA system that went backstage. It is normally used when the Stage manger needs to call the cast up to the stage However, it was good for getting messages to the cast quickly.

Maybe it was because everyone was excited, or maybe it was because they had decent amount of time to get their hair and makeup done, but almost everyone (except for Heather, who was talking to Dene) was up getting their microphones on. Ben, Carla, and Chris were putting them on with help from the sound guys. It wasn't long before the whole cast was microphoned and ready for their final dress and tech rehearsal.

"Alright," The sound guy, Travis said. "Every night, you need to have your microphone on by 7:15 at the LATEST, or 1:15 for the matinée shows. Or else you will not be getting one for the show. I don't care how much you need it! So please be ready for sound check at 7:20 every night," he said. He listened to his headset, which told him that everyone already had their microphone on for the last dress rehearsal. "Could we please have sound check now. Oh, and please sing something interesting..." he said.

Everyone just sung a normal pop song, until it was Patrick's turn. He was the last person to have his microphone checked. An idea was bubbling away with him during everyone's microphone check. Containing his laughter, he just did a dodgy moonwalk dance while belting out, "WELL YOU CAN TELL BY THE WAY I DO MY WALK I'M A LADIES MAN!"

The whole cast burst into fits of laughter. It was a pretty funny sight a guy in curtain clothes doing a Michael Jackson type moonwalk. And he was going all at it. Travis just sat and watched. Patrick had guts, and he also had the most interesting song choice of the day.

Shaking his head, half laughing, half disapproving, "Thank you Patrick, that's enough," Dene said over the microphone, ready to give out notes on the show. There was only one he had to give the cast. "Have fun. This is the last time you will be doing this without an audience present. I want you all to be back here by about 6pm tonight. This will give us time to warm up. Please go to the green room to warm up with Carla and get ready. The band's ready to go, please enjoy this one last time," Dene said. No one really understood what he meant at the start of the speech. But Dene knew that by the end of the run it would make perfect sense.

Dene knew, he knew exactly what he meant, even if the kids didn't know yet. Because it was what his first director, Edmund Bumble, said to him when he first stepped on the professional stage.

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Applause thundered through the house of the theatre as the kids took their bows. The cast could barely contain their excitement as the curtain closed. Dene couldn't have been prouder of the kids, and he had a surprise for a few of them when they got back to the hotel. They had to be back there within the next hour to get the surprise.

Rose walked out of the stage door with Genevieve, the two girls talking about the show and how great the audience was, they were a little late leaving, so they had to go with Carla to walk back to the hotel and she was leaving once the rest of the cast was at stage door, Chris was the last to leave, to make sure everyone was back at the hotel and take home anyone else who's left. When Rose looked up, there were dozens and dozens of people with programs and sharpies were cheering as they walked towards them. Genevieve turned to Rose, "When in Rome," she shrugged, going up to the first person she saw who was holding out a pen towards her. Genevieve gracefully took the pen, thanked the woman for coming to the show, signed her headshot in the program and got a photo. She did the same thing to the next woman. And the next. It was a lengthy process, but she finally got through everyone, who, after getting her autograph, had turned to Rose for hers. She obliged to their requests, wanting to be professional.

It took a while, but the girls got through their first experience at stagedoor. "That was kind of fun," Genevieve said once Rose had joined her. Luckily by then, a lot of the cast were already with Carla, ready to go back to the hotel.

"It was. Maybe we'll be famous by the end of this," Rose joked.

The two girls laughed, and began chatting as they walked back to the hotel.

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Dene was in the lobby of the hotel. He was busting to tell the news to the cast but they were taking a lot longer than expected to get back from the theatre. He really only needed to talk to Clare, Sara, Walter, Tim, Genevieve and Bert. Everyone else could go upstairs and to bed. They had a full week of shows ahead before they could slip into the routine for the next three months.

Once the required people had arrived, Dene pulled them to the side. They were all wondering what they'd done wrong, after the Jack and Lucas situation, everyone was walking on eggshells so they could go to the open night after-party. No one wanted to miss out on anything.

"Alright guys," Dene said, "How would you all feel about doing media interviews about the show tomorrow?"