young, scrappy and hungry | a hamilton story | √

Chapter 23

Never before had Kasey been so nervous before a show. For some strange reason, she wasn't comfortable with being Angelica tonight. Her accent made her stressed, and she just hoped that she would get through 'Satisfied' without screwing up.

"You got this, Kasey," Carleigh said. They were standing backstage together, and Kasey could hear the buzzing of the audience on the other side of the curtain. She hugged Kasey. "I love you so much, you know that, right?"

"I love you too, Carleigh," Kasey said, her voice muffled by Carleigh's shoulder.

"I'll see you onstage," Carleigh said, giving Kasey one last comforting hug and then disappearing to her place on the other side of the stage.

The opening bars sounded once again. Kasey inhaled.

This was the first time she'd be performing as a featured role, instead of ensemble. It was supposed to be an amazing experience, but right now, she felt like her heart was at the bottom of her shoes right now.

She didn't think she could do Angelica justice.

Before she knew it, she had already completed her change from the white parchment dress in the top of the show to the red 'Schuyler Sisters' dress. Before stepping onstage, she took a deep breath.

"There's nothing rich folks love more than going downtown and slumming it with the poor..." she heard Leslie begin to sing.

"You got this," Pippa said softly. Megan just rolled her eyes before they all prepared to make their entrances.

"Angelica!"

"Eliza!"

"And Peggy!"

It was surreal for Kasey. It was strange to look at the ensemble and see Morgan Marcell, the swing, in her own spot. And it was even stranger to be seeing the show from a different viewpoint. It was different.

She made it through most of 'Schuyler Sisters' and felt herself starting to relax. She made eye contact with Carleigh a few times during the song, which made her feel more comfortable.

Before she knew it, 'Helpless' was playing, and she could feel her heart rate start to increase again. Soon was the song she feared most. Rapping in an American accent was challenging for Americans. For Kasey, it was always the hardest part of being in the show.

As the opening notes of 'Satisfied' started to play, Kasey started to feel the pressure.

"A toast to the groom!" she started to sing, raising her glass. As she did, she saw Carleigh looking at her with sympathetic eyes, and that calmed her a little bit. "To the bride!"

Then came the rewind section, and Kasey didn't let herself think too hard. She remembered the blocking she had been taught, and just let herself float from one section of the song to the next.

She caught herself on the brink of a British accent multiple times, and then she heard her mic cut out.

There was a split second of panic, when she lost a hold of her American accent for one line, and then she snapped back into it, projecting as loudly as possible. She saw Alex Lacamoire motioning for the pit to decrease in volume.

She made it to the end of 'Satisfied' and her mic still wasn't on. Luckily, she could go offstage, where the stage manager was waiting.

"We're going to switch out Carleigh's mic with yours, because none of the other mics are here. Some new techie misplaced them," the stage manager told her. "You're going to have to wait until Carleigh comes off, and you two will switch as quickly as possible."

This was not helping Kasey's panic. Carleigh came offstage two minutes later and the stage manager pulled them both aside. Pippa's dresser was there to help them both get their mics out of their hair and their costumes.

"I apologize," the stage manager said profusely. "We've never lost mics before. You two have the closest vocal volume, and we've already notified the sound board. Carleigh, we're just going to have you go without a mic for this show."

"Understood," Carleigh said as she extracted her mic from her pouf of hair. "You killed it, Kasey. You had no reason to worry about it."

Kasey gave her friend a quick hug before Carleigh dashed back onstage for the next song. She stood in the wings, off to the side, watching everyone run past.

It was odd not to be onstage for many of the songs, but at the same time, Kasey realized that, despite her dreams of being a leading actor, being in ensemble was almost more work. They were onstage for so much of the time in Hamilton, and they had to know all of the choreography cold.

Soon, before Kasey knew it, it was act two, and she had to get her hair into a more severe hairstyle. She at first wasn't sure what to do, but then she decided to go for a fancy French twist. It definitely wasn't Renee's go-to hairstyle, but it was original. She didn't want to imitate Renee too much. The audience was already comparing her to Renee to begin with.

"You're amazing, Kasey!" Carleigh exclaimed, hugging Kasey. "You're doing so well!"

Kasey laughed slightly. "Thanks, Carleigh. And I've never really gotten to watch so much of the show from the wings, so you're way more amazing than I ever thought. And trust me, before I thought you were perfection."

"You're too sweet, Kasey. How does it feel to have my mic?" Carleigh asked, punching her playfully.

"I'm channeling the Carleigh Bettiol vibes, so it's going well!" Kasey told her. "I panicked a little bit during 'Satisfied' when my mic cut out, so I dropped the accent, which makes me a little disappointed."

"Not many of us have had our mics cut out, and you projected so well. And the accent drop was totally understandable," Carleigh reassured her.

"Places!"

Kasey hurried back to the stage for the top of act two. It was going better than she had expected. She was pretty proud of herself.