young, scrappy and hungry | a hamilton story | √

Chapter 61

For a few weeks, the cast's days were spent rehearsing and performing. The date of the awards drew closer.

Kasey was excited. She'd dreamed about the Tony's since she was little- but she didn't think she'd ever live in America, let alone be on Broadway.

It was a little girl's dream.

Two weeks. One week. Four days.

The excitement and anticipation in the air was palpable. Everywhere Kasey looked, she saw signs of Tony preparation. They had staging rehearsals, camera rehearsals, sound checks, everything you could possibly think of.

The ensemble had the inevitable conversation on who should accept the Tony if they won. Kasey thought that since she'd already accepted awards for the ensemble, that it should be someone else. She voted for Carleigh and Jon Rua.

In the end, it was Carleigh and Jon. Kasey was glad. They both deserved recognition. She wished that they could all speak to accept the award. They were all allowed onstage, but because of time, the managers had said only two ensemblists could speak.

They had their final rehearsal and information session.

Kasey met up with Jace on the day before the awards.

"Are you excited?" Jace asked her.

"I don't think I've ever been this nervous in my life," Kasey admitted. "What was it like when you performed at the Tony's?"

"Nerve-wracking," Jace told her. "There's a lot of people out there. But just have fun. It's a one-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Enjoy it."

"You said Tangled was nominated?"

"We were. Kaitlyn Knox and our orchestration, and I was, too," Jace said. "Don't stress out too much. It'll be a fun night. Don't worry if you don't win- this season was competitive. And just being nominated is a huge honor."

"Thanks, Jace," Kasey said gratefully.

"Of course," Jace said. "I'll be watching tomorrow."

"I'll keep you in mind."

"I'll be thinking of you. Good luck."

~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next day was a whirlwind of packing and making sure that they had everything together. The costumes, the wigs, everything. It was chaotic, but it was the kind of theatre chaos that Kasey had fallen in love with.

Then they heard about Orlando.

The cast talked on the bus ride on the way over and decided not to perform with the muskets.

At first, the change stressed people out a little bit. Then Kasey had the somewhat strange thought:

At least no one would drop their gun. Which had happened before.  And it would make their performance even more memorable.

A few of the cast members were performing in the opening number, including Kasey. They had to get ready quickest, so they didn't get the chance to walk the red carpet. Instead, they went before so that they could get their pictures taken by Lin, Leslie, and Pippa.

Kasey finally registered the fact that she was going to perform in the Tony awards when it was Ariana, not Carleigh, who helped Kasey curl her hair.

Not that Kasey needed help, but she suspected that Carleigh had instructed Ariana to. Since Carleigh wasn't performing in the opening number, the two friends would see each other next to perform 'Yorktown'.

Kasey was glad, at least, that she got to meet James Corden. He was extremely funny and nice- he fangirled over the cast just as much as they were fangirling over him.

They had some more rehearsal of the opening number. People stood in for the nominees that were participating in their nice clothes. Lin was one of them, Kasey was pretty sure, but most of them were getting ready to walk the red carpet. 

After rehearsing and sorting out some of James's mic problems, they were allowed to relax for an hour or two before the show started.

Kasey, Ariana, and some of the other cast members FaceTimed Renee, who was getting her hair done. Pippa popped in occasionally and Carleigh snuck over to Renee's dressing room for a minute to be on the FaceTime.

Then Renee, Pippa, and everyone else had to leave for the red carpet, so the ensemblists already at the theatre decided to play Heads Up for a while.

"Opening number, this is your half-hour call. Again, your half-hour call."

Kasey's heart leaped. They were so close.