young, scrappy and hungry | a hamilton story | √

Chapter 15

Jace knew something was wrong when his stage manager called the entire cast onstage before their curtain.

"There's a situation at the Richard Rodgers Theatre, with a shooting threat. There are police there now, which is why you may hear sirens coming down the street," Jason, the stage manager, said. "I wanted you all to be aware just in case there ends up being some kind of emergency in the Richard Rodgers. We are very close, so just be aware."

What? A shooting threat at the Richard Rodgers? Jace had never believed that anything like that could ever happen to a Broadway show. Broadway was the one place where prejudice never touched. It was like the safe haven for anyone and everyone.

The Richard Rodgers. Hamilton. It suddenly clicked in Jace's mind that that was where Kasey was. She was in ensemble. She would be there, and knowing Lin Manuel Miranda, he would perform. Jace guessed that Kasey would to.

Just knowing that made Jace's heart plummet to the ground. Kasey was in danger, and there was nothing he could do about it.

His parents had always bothered him about finding a girlfriend. Jace had never been interested. He'd always been training, dancing, singing, or preparing for his next role, not thinking about what girls he wanted to date.

Kasey was the first girl that made Jace even consider dating. But he didn't even really think about that when he was with her. It comfortable. It was like having a best friend that he could talk to. Not that Jace had never had best friends... it was just... having a friend like Kasey was nice. Refreshing. Something different. And now she and the rest of her cast could get hurt because of their belief in a show. It was crazy.

"Let's do this show for Hamilton," Araella said. "That's all we can do, so let's just do the best we can."

"Agreed," Kaitlyn chimed in.

Jace swallowed and went to his place for the top of act two. He just wanted the show to be over so he could text Kasey, and make sure she was alright.

The instant the curtains closed signaling the end of act two, the cast turned to the stage manager.

"There were shots fired in the Richard Rodgers about thirty minutes ago. Police are there now. That's all we know. That's all I can tell you, I'm sorry," Jason said. "You're all free to go. Please do not send anything out on social media until we get the go-ahead. This is still extremely sensitive information."

Jace had never changed out of his costume fast enough. He put on his light blue button-down shirt and grabbed his phone. He then hurried outside and down the street. The road had been closed off and there were swarms of police cars parked outside. It was dark, and the only people were those flowing out of the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre. Sometimes the Richard Rodgers Theatre emptied at about the same time, but this time was different. This time, the doors were guarded by police officers.

Jace opened his texts.

Jace: Are you safe, Kasey?

He doubted she would answer, but that didn't make it any better. It didn't. And the fact that ambulances were being let through made him even more nervous. He started pacing just beyond the barrier that blocked pedestrians off from the Richard Rodgers.

~~~~~~

Inside the Richard Rodgers was pure chaos. There were policemen running around everywhere, checking to make sure all the extremists had been caught. There were audience members screaming and crying, and there were injured people in the hallways being tended to by the medical personnel.

The shooters had fired onto the stage and the audience during 'Blow Us All Away'. A great majority of the cast had been onstage, most of them ensemble, as well as Anthony. The cast had mainly been hit by a spray of splintering wood from the set, rather than the actual bullets. The stage had holes in it. The audience was a different story. From what Kasey had heard, there were at least fifty people injured. There were at least thirteen dead.

It was unimaginable.

The stage management had shut the curtain immediately when the shooters fired. The thick curtain had stopped most of the bullets from making significant damage, but it had been chaos backstage.

They were ushered offstage and to the dressing rooms, even though they could still hear shots being fired in the theatre. It was unbearable, not knowing who had been hurt. Kasey had been separated from Carleigh. Instead she had been with Megan and Thayne in Pippa's dressing room. None of them had known Pippa's passcode to her phone, so they couldn't use her phone to text the others. The management had told them all to lock the doors.

"Do you think anyone was hurt?" Kasey had asked. Megan had, surprisingly, nothing snippy to say to Kasey. That alone made her apprehensive. She'd gotten used to Megan's verbal abuse, and now that Megan was silent- well, it just showed how drastic the situation had been.

Eventually they'd been let free by the policemen who came into the theatre. Kasey had rushed to find Carleigh. That was ten minutes ago.

Now, in the present, Kasey was still looking for her best friend. She could be anywhere. Sometimes she saw her fellow cast members. When they did, they would come over to silently hug Kasey before turning back to whatever else they had been focused on.

They seemed to have forgotten their mistrust of Kasey. That was the only good thing that appeared to have come out of today.

Finally, Kasey found Carleigh. She was sitting with Jazzy, Renee, and Pippa.

"Kasey, thank god," Carleigh said, standing up to embrace her best friend. "I wasn't sure where you were."

"I'm so glad you're safe. I've been searching for you for ten minutes," Kasey said. Jazzy stood to hug Kasey, too. The usually strong, powerful Jazzy seemed somber and quiet now. Renee remained seated. Pippa's head was in her lap and Renee was running a comforting hand through Pippa's hair. They were both still wearing their black costumes from 'It's Quiet Uptown', and Pippa seemed eerily silent.

They all sat down together, still shell-shocked. Kasey's eyes kept drifting to the bullet holes in the stage, and the blood spatters on the wood.

Blood spatters. Who was hurt, who was it, were they dead? Kasey didn't even remember. All she remembered was everyone pushing, pulling, running offstage as the curtain shut faster than she'd ever seen it shut, hearing the guns going off, hearing the audience's screams, the cries of terror, and then the silence as the dressing room door shut behind her, Megan, and Thayne. And then the gunshots that punctured the silence. She didn't remember any blood. Who was it?

Footsteps. Kasey forced herself to look upwards. It was Oak. "No one here is hurt?" he asked, kneeling down. Renee shook her head.

"We're all unharmed," she said. Her hand was still running unconsciously through Pippa's hair, and the brunette was still quiet, her head buried in the folds of Renee's dress.

Oak let out a relieved sigh. "We're trying to account for all the cast members. Javier's been hurt, and we can't find Alysha," he told them. "I have my phone, text me if you four need anything."

They all nodded. Oak left, and they sat in silence, Kasey watching the medical personnel bustling amongst the cast members. Someone opened the curtain at some point.

"You can all change out of your costumes," the stage manager said, passing by. "We won't be performing for a long time."

Carleigh stood up. "I'm going to get my clothes. I'll get all of your clothes, too."

Jazzy nodded. "Thank you, Carleigh," she said.