A Rising Star

Chapter 18 - Scenes

"For the last few hours today, we plan to call up people to do scenes for us. We have exactly 250 people here today, so please be patient as we will have each of you go at least once." Lizzie explained. She glanced at a crumpled paper she held in her hand. "First up... to do Castle on a Cloud, we have number 39 as Madame Thénardier, 101 as Young Eponine, and 58 as young Cosette."

First one out of the group!

I made my way to the stage. On the way, Lizzie handed us scripts and told us to turn to page 19. I took a second to read over Young Cosette.

There was one line. "Please do not send me out alone. Not in the darkness on my own-"

It seemed like a fun scene. The three of us discussed for about 15 seconds before beginning.

The woman playing Madame suggested to us that we should be in a sort of triangle. I was on the floor, acting terrified and distraught when Madame yelled at me. The other girl came running across during a certain line and hugged her. Reading ahead, I saw a line that mentioned I was crying.

I looked down during a part of it and tried to muster up a few tears by not blinking for as long as I could. After a while, I could feel the air on my eyeballs as they began to burn. My vision became blurry as tears exploded into my eyes, begging me to blink.

"Your tears will do you no good! I told you fetch some water from the well in the wood!"

I allowed myself a pained blink. I looked up, a tear rolling down my face and eyes still in pain. I hoped it looked good.

"Please do not send me out alone! Not in the darkness on my o-"

"That's enough of that!" the scene continued.

Phew. It was over. My singing hadn't been nearly as bad as my audition, but it still wasn't even in the realm of on-key.

Acting has gotten me far, I thought optomistically.

The scene ended. We got loud applause. It made me feel wonderful, but nevertheless I wasted no time getting off of the stage, wiping the tear away.

My face was getting warm as I returned to my seat, since my mind decided it wanted to torture me by replaying my singing voice in my head over and over, completely against my will.

"Nice job," Carter praised.

"Thanks," I acknowledged him, not knowing what else to say. I knew he didn't mean it though, considering my voice.

I watched some amazing people (and some not-so-amazing people) perform until there were only a few left. Carter was called to read for Gavroche, which I found suitable. He did phenominally.

"Wow, you're so going to get that role," I told him confidently.

He grimaced. "I don't know. Not my best performance, but it was okay..."

"No, really! You're amazing!" I insisted.

He laughed. "Whatever you say. I hope you're right!"

Lizzie jogged up to the booth to see what Robert had thought of our interpretations of the scenes. The entire room seemed to be holding its breath.

Sitting in the tense silence, I reflected on my personal performance. I found myself comparing myself to others. I remembered Natalee, how confident she had been, and was thankful I didn't have her around to remind me how perfect she was.

A few more mute minutes ticked by before people began to chat.

I turned to Carter. "So. How old are you?"

"I'm nine. What about you?"

"Eight. I turn nine in October,"

We talked about our lives, and Carter told me about his theatre experience. He'd never been in a Broadway show, either, but had played Oliver in Oliver and Charlie in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. I had only heard of these shows before, but again didn't know what they were about. Considering the characters were in the titles, though, I assumed they were both big roles.

He was surprised to find out that I'd never been in a show before. I told him how I had read the book and seen the ad, and decided to come.

"But you act so well!! Anyone with half a brain would hire you in a heartbeat!" he exclaimed. I giggled.

The conversation was dying, so I change the subject. "Do you have any siblings?"

His mouth formed the flat shape as if he was about to answer yes, but he caught himself and shook his head. "No."

I pondered why he had hesitated but soon brushed it aside. "Neither do I," I told him.

Lizzie returned to the spotlight to let us know that all people in the age ranges for Eponine or Cosette, both old and young versions, needed to come back up to get their pictures taken. I suspected it was so they could see who looked enough alike to pass for the same person at different ages.

We did just that. First, we were grouped together based on age, then we were asked to find someone in the opposite age group who we thought looked like us and stand by them.

I managed to find a girl with sandy brown hair like mine but who was at least a foot taller than me. She had brown eyes (like me) and was thin enough that her collar bone stuck out slightly, yet all in all she was beautiful. She looked at me, I looked at her, and wordlessly we stayed next to each other. The photographer was the same man who had been our accompanist during auditions.

I went back to my seat when we were dismissed from the set, where Carter gaped at me.

"Do you know who that was you stood with?"

"No, who?"

"That was Christine Bennett!!" he informed me urgently. "She's practically more famous than the president! I can't believe you got so close to her! No way she won't get cast; it would be bad for the show! She could say 'Don't go,' and not a single person would show up at any performances." Carter ranted. I got the feeling he was a huge fan of hers but didn't want to say so.

Robert walked onto the stage before I had a chance to respond.

"First, I'd like to tell you all how glad I am that you all auditioned. Thank you. The cast list will be posted on our website, lesmiserablesrevival.com, by Saturday, and you will be notified by phone before then if you are in the cast. Thank you all so much!"

"Good luck," Carter said to me. "Hope to see you at the first rehearsal, if we're both lucky,"

"Thanks, you too!" I replied.

And with that, it was over.