My Backstage Boyfriend | teen fiction

act 1, scene 6 - a real miracle

Jessie and I were Skyping on our laptops when the notification appeared in the top right corner of the screen. Theater at Victoria Woodhull High ran entirely through Facebook groups, and the familiar blue "F" could only mean one thing.

Callbacks. However, when I went to the page I skimmed it in confusion. Callbacks had been skipped entirely.

The cast list had been posted.

We both freaked out and frantically surfed our way to the site. I clicked the "read more" option and watched it unfurl in a moment of surreal rush.

Congrats to everyone who auditioned! Making this list wasn't easy, we had such an incredible talent pool this year. The first rehearsal will be principals only and will be tomorrow after school until six. Please come prepared with a pencil, highlighter, and binder.

CAST LIST:

KING SOLEIL - Davis Cooper

QUEEN BLANCHE - Marta Svensson

PRINCESS ESTELLA - Penelope Myers

I had to stop for a moment. I had gotten a lead. Me. Practically a nobody. The people playing my parents were both seniors as well and incredibly talented. I couldn't believe it. My mouth hung agape as I read the rest.

KING NUIT - James Nguyen

QUEEN RAVEN - Elena Juarez

PRINCE CERIN - Nick Dupont

We'd be playing lovers. Was there any situation more perfect? And then finally:

ROXANNE - Jessica Winters

Jessie got a lead too! It was perfect. There were other characters, but they didn't really matter to me. All I could think about was that my best friend would be stage managing, my newest companion would be starring alongside me, and the almost-love-of-my-life would be playing my fiancé. It seemed like everything was falling into place.

---

The next day at rehearsal, we were all seated in a circle. Leila and Emmy sat on either side of Mr. Phelps and Ms. Listine. The only person outside of it was Christian, who sat on a piano bench and rested his elbow on the closed lid of the instrument.

Our scripts were still warm, freshly photocopied. We were actually allowed to highlight them this year, since it was an original show. I admired how good it looked in the binder, PRINCESS ESTELLA highlighted in yellow. The excited, giddy energy radiated from the lead members of the cast. It was so fresh and exciting.

"Now, we were all - to put it simply - utterly astounded by your auditions. This year's show will undoubtedly be the best we've ever had," Mr. Phelps projected. It was the same speech he gave every year, but it was inspiring nonetheless. "You all put your best foot forward and that's what got you here. To play these roles is a privilege, and that privilege can be taken away. You will be expected to work hard and set an example, especially you upperclassmen." He nodded towards the juniors and seniors.

"We know you can live up to the challenge, otherwise we would not have cast you. Now, I have to run to another rehearsal, but I'll leave you with this final notion." Ms. Listine was constantly in new local productions. "While Mr. Phelps and I have the last word, you are still to respect the direction and authority of Leila, Emmy, and Christian. They will be great resources throughout this production and I highly suggest you use them."

And with this she said goodbye and quite literally fluttered out.

Mr. Phelps had everyone go in a circle and do an icebreaker, but then it was finally time to work. He had us all come to our feet and warm up. He dramatically belted out "Do-re-mi" and had us follow, going increasingly higher with every note. The two queens and I were the last people still going towards the upper register, however I croaked somewhat quickly going low.

We then took turns learning our songs. When we weren't at the piano singing, we were to the side going over our scenes. While the kings and queens were learning their quartet, Nick, Jessie, and I sat down and cracked open our binders.

"You guys, I just wanted to say, I am so excited to work with you all," Jessie beamed.

"Me too, I think this is some of the least problematic casting they've had in a while," Nick noted. I wasn't sure I agreed. There were some seniors that didn't get main parts for their final high school show that probably deserved it more than three rag-tag sophomores. I guess I could understand their point though. People who couldn't perform well at auditions wouldn't last in the real theater industry.

"Also, before we get into this, I had to fill you guys in. I'm going to tell everyone else in the cast later, but basically my birthday is on Halloween." I was kinda confused as to why that was important.

"Oh, uh, that's cool..." I tried to break up the awkwardness.

"No, no, what I'm saying is, the weekend before Halloween I'm having a party. It's going to be huge, I'm inviting the whole cast. It's a costume party too and we'll have all sorts of themed activities. It'll be great."

"That sounds really fun, actually," Nick smiled. "Can't wait."

"Me either," I agreed.

We went over our scenes and started marking out character arcs when Nick and I were called up to do our duet, our first song together. It was right after the two meet for the first time, the scene we did at auditions.

"So Christian is going to explain to you guys what his thought process was in writing this song and its significance to the story and characters. Christian, go ahead." Mr. Phelps stepped back for once and let someone else speak.

Christian pushed his hair back behind his hairband, which I wouldn't have thought would look cute on a guy, but here we were...

"Basically, the audience knows who Roxanne is. They know who Estella is. They know who Cerin is. However, Estella and Cerin are just meeting each other. Roxanne isn't in the picture yet. It's like that very first crush you have. It's pure. It's innocent.

"At the same time, there are moments in the song where they're supposed to be singing together, but it's a little out of sync. Yet, the end together. This symbolizes the arc of their relationship. While it seems like they're on different planets in the middle, whether they like it or not, they do ultimately end up together."

I scribbled everything he said in the margins of my script. Maybe after analyzing it for hours I would have figured that out, but he just put it all so simply.

"Alright, Penelope, here's your note. Nick, here's your note," He played them each on the piano. "Penelope, you're first, okay? I'm going to lead you in." He began the intro and I started to sing.

Singing with Nick was everything I had always dreamed. There were some moments where we'd just look up from our music at each other and it was so hard not to smile. It felt so intimate. And maybe we didn't do it 100% perfectly, but it was only our first go. At least the last note sounded amazing.

Once we finished, it was time to run it again.