young, scrappy and hungry | a hamilton story | √

Chapter 4

The opening night party was amazing. Kasey wore a navy blue lace dress and a pair of flats. Carleigh wore a white dress.

There were a lot of pictures taken, and a lot of fangirling. Even the reporters were so excited about the show. It was the best feeling Kasey had ever had.

"Looks like the rat made it through her first Broadway show," a snide voice said in Kasey's ear. She whirled around. It was Megan. "Go back to Britain, shrimp."

"I have every right to be here," Kasey retorted. "I earned my spot on this show. So did you. Why can't we just get along?"

"I'll never get along with a talented, worthless waste of space like you, Kasey Winslow. Leave, before you humiliate yourself in front of someone important."

"Every audience member is important. Maybe you should stop making a fool out of yourself. You're just jealous of me," Kasey shot back. "Excuse me. I'm going to talk to my actual friends."

"Which ones? I don't see of them around here. Oh, wait, it's because you don't have any," Megan sneered. "See you at tomorrow's show, rat."

Kasey turned around and ran right into Pippa as she was giving an interview.

"Kasey!" Pippa said happily.

"And here we have ensemblist Kasey Winslow!" the interview exclaimed. Kaesy tried to back out, but the interviewer gave her a stony look and she froze in her tracks. "How did you get involved in Hamilton?"

"Oh. Um, I was actually an exchange student in Juilliard for my sophomore year. I was basically auditioning for any show that came around. When you're a green card holder, you can only have the job that's written on your card. I could only act, so that was all I could do. Then I went to a Hamilton audition and met Lin, and I ended up here, even when my exchange year ended," Kasey explained.

"So you're British?" the interviewer asked. "What's it like?"

"Being British?" Kasey asked, raising her eyebrows. Pippa laughed slightly. "It's like being American. You're a person, you eat, you sleep, and you dance. In the cast, I'm the only British person, so they all tease me about it. If there's ever British soldiers onstage, it's guaranteed that I'm one of them. It's nice to learn about America from such an engaging perspective. Singing wise, it's a little more difficult because the entire show is in an American accent for me. I learned them all with the accent to make it easier, but sometimes I slip up and then usually one of my costars pokes me or something."

"Phillipa, what is your relationship with the ensemblists?"

"Oh, that's an interesting question," Pippa said. "I love them all dearly. There's a few that I'm closer to than others. Kasey is such an adorable person. Um, Carleigh Bettiol is a dear. I'm closer to the girls than the guys, but they're all so talented. I'm in awe of them all the time."

"I think we're out of time, but can you guys pose for a picture?" the interviewer asked.

"Sure!"

Pippa and Kasey posed with their arms around each other for the cameras and then they moved away.

"That was awkward," Kasey admitted to Pippa. "I hate the fact that they assume being British makes the show different."

"I mean, it's not as much of your history. I think that's why it takes them a while to wrap their heads around it," Pippa said thoughtfully.

"Yeah, I suppose!" Kasey laughed. "You did an amazing job tonight. I cried during 'Stay Alive Reprise' when you screamed. It was so sad!"

"You're so sweet, Kase," Pippa said, hugging her.

"My loves!" Renee exclaimed, smushing both of them into a giant hug. "You're both so gorgeous!"

"You are, too, Renee!" Kasey answered. "You were so good tonight!"

"Aww, thank you!The ensemble slayed it tonight," Renee said immediately. "I was like how do they have so much energy? And it looked so good!" Renee smoothed Kasey's hair absentmindedly as she talked. "'Yorktown' was fabulous."

"Thanks!"