Curtain Up (9 page)

Teddy offered to help Austin and Deon set up the folding chairs. Under Austin's direction they arranged thirteen chairs (one for everyone who'd come to audition) facing the stage,
just like a real audience.

When everyone had taken a seat, I took a deep breath and made my way to what, in a Broadway theater, would be the orchestra pit. Austin joined me there.

My heart was thudding in my chest like a conga drum.

“Hi, everyone,” I said in as confident a voice as I could muster. “Welcome to the first meeting of the Random Farms Kids' Theater. I'm Anya Wallach, and this is my musical director, Austin Weatherly. The purpose of this theater is to put on an extremely cool show.”

“Just one?” asked Gracie.

“Well, anything can happen,” I conceded, “but for now we're just going to focus on this theatrical revue, giving it all we've got.”

Gracie seemed satisfied with my answer. Of course, I was hoping we'd be such a huge success that we'd be able to keep the theater alive for the rest of the summer—and with any luck, our second show would be Austin's original musical. But even hoping for that would be getting ahead of myself, so I just went on talking.

“The revue will be a one-hour performance with singing, dance numbers, and dramatic scenes and skits. Austin, our in-house playwright, has compiled a script that will allow us to work in lots of different kinds of talents.”

I paused when the door swung open.

Every head turned to see the silhouette of a girl standing in the sunlight-flooded doorway. She held her pose for a moment as though she were expecting a round of applause. Then she stepped out of the glare, and I saw who it was.

I should have known. Who else but Sophia Ciancio would consider the sun her own personal spotlight?

“You're late,” said Susan.

“Am I?” Sophia looked utterly unapologetic as she glided across the old wooden planks of the floor.

I forced myself not to make eye contact, and continued, “My goal for this summer is not only to put on a totally entertaining show, but also to have some major fun. Today, as you know, we're going to hold auditions.”

At this, a few kids squirmed in their seats. Some looked worried.

I knew that look; it was exactly how I'd looked on the day of soccer tryouts.

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Susan turn away. I guess she didn't want to see the disappointment on the actors' faces when I told them some of them weren't going to get to stick around long enough to join in on that major fun.

And suddenly I knew I didn't want to see it either.

These kids had come here with big dreams. They wanted to be in a show . . .
my
show . . . and it occurred to me that there was no reason why every single one of them shouldn't get that chance.

I was the director, after all. I made the rules. And rule number one (which I made up on the spot) was that everyone in this room would be part of the cast. I would keep all of them.

I felt the smile spread across my face.

“In this case,” I explained, “you're not auditioning
to be in the show
because you already
are
in the show.”

I snuck a glance and saw that both Austin and Susan were smiling.

Sophia let out a snort. “That's
so
parks and rec.”

I ignored her.

“I don't get it,” said Sam. “If we're all automatically in the show, why do we have to audition?”

“Because we have to decide which roles are right for which actors. Once we see what everyone can do, Austin and I will cast you in the most appropriate parts.”

“What if we don't like the parts you give us?” asked Madeline.

“That's show biz, kid.” Teddy laughed. “You take what you
get, and you like it.”

I was glad he'd said it so I didn't have to. The last thing I needed was a bunch of cranky kids complaining about their parts.

“We'll do our best to make everyone happy,” Austin promised. “But remember, there are no small parts, only small actors.”

I smiled at his use of that old theater adage, which just happened to be absolutely true.

“What Austin means is that every part is important,” I clarified. “Even the smaller roles matter, and it's up to the actors to be big enough to make the most of them.”

Maxie raised her hand. “I signed up for costumes and makeup,” she reminded me. “What am I supposed to do during auditions?”

Austin held up a copy of the script and smiled. “You can look this over and start getting ideas for wardrobe possibilities. You can also sit in on some of the auditions. That'll definitely inspire you.” He pointed to Deon. “As our tech specialist, D, you should take a look at the script as well. Maybe start jotting down notes for lighting cues.”

“Okay,” said Deon. “But . . . what's a lighting cue?”

Austin and I exchanged glances. Deon was an electrical genius and a tinkerer of the first order, but apparently, he
would need to be taught how to apply these skills to a theater setting.

“I'll explain it all later,” said Austin with a sigh.

“Susan,” I said, “will you please hand out the sides?”

Susan nodded and hopped to it. And before anyone could ask, Austin said, “
Sides
is just another word for the scenes you're expected to perform in an audition.”

“You'll see we have two options,” I explained. “A monologue and a scene. A monologue is kind of like a spoken solo. A scene is dialogue done with a partner.”

At the word
partner
, all eyes turned to Teddy, the one professional among us. I could tell everyone was remembering his groundbreaking work in that mac and cheese ad and, of course, they all wanted him for a partner. Teddy was talented enough to make anyone look good.

I could tell that Austin was seeing exactly what I was seeing. We were both relieved when, of the two pages Susan was offering, Teddy took the monologue. Still, I'd been assigned enough group projects in school to know that the process of choosing partners could get pretty hairy. In school it usually turned out to be a popularity contest. I didn't want that to happen in our theater.

“For the partner work,” I said quickly, “we'll put names in a hat and draw at random. It's the fairest way to do it.”

“Excellent idea,” said Austin. “Anyone who wants to do a monologue, raise your hand.”

Teddy, Spencer, Mackenzie, and Madeline shot their hands into the air. That left Mia, Sam, Eddie, Gracie, Travis, Elle, Jane, and Sophia.

Sophia . . . who was giving me a very smug look.

“Anya . . .,” she said, standing and motioning for me to follow her. “A word?”

I hated the thought of responding to her command, but since I knew our presence in this clubhouse had everything to do with her, I followed her to the front door. I was happy when Austin joined us.

“What's up?” I asked, trying to sound calm and offhanded.

“You know I have no intention of auditioning, right?”

“What do you mean?” said Austin. “Everyone has to audition. How else will we get a feel for what kind of talent and ability we're working with?”

Sophia gave me an icy smile. “Oh, I think Anya is more than up to speed when it comes to my talent and ability.”

“Well, I know you can sneeze on cue,” I muttered. “If that's what you mean.”

“I mean, I'm easily the best performer in this troupe, and I don't see any need to prove it to you. We made a deal, remember? I got you this quaint little venue. Now I'm calling
in the favor.”

“The deal was you'd get a role in the revue,” I reminded her. “That's it. We never said you didn't have to audition for a part.”

Sophia laughed. “OMG, Anya. I mean, come on. What other sort of part would I want? I assumed ‘starring role' was implied.”

I was about to tell her it wasn't, not at all, and that if she wanted to be a part of Random Farms, she would have to stand up and sing for us like everyone else. But just as I was about to open my mouth, Austin piped up.

“That's fine, Sophia,” he said evenly. “We know what you're capable of. We'll cast you in a suitable role.”

“And by suitable,” Sophia crooned, giving him a flirty smile, “you mean big, right?”

Austin hesitated. Then, to my shock, he nodded. “Okay, Sophia.”

I actually felt my hands curling into fists. “Austin . . .”

“Excellent!” Sophia's eyes were shining triumphantly. “So, I guess I'll be on my way. Daria Benson's having some people over for a pool party. I'm one of only three rising seventh graders who got the invite.”

“Congratulations,” I said through gritted teeth. Then I got a sinking feeling in my belly and asked before I could stop
myself, “Who were the other ones?”

“One was your friend Becky,” Sophia reported. “But she sent her regrets. Something about having to catch butterflies, I think. I'm not sure who the third person was, but I'm sure it was someone with major status.”

I was speechless. Becky had been invited to Daria's party. And she hadn't told me. She'd texted me about her swim meet and the one-hundred-meter butterfly, but Daria's name had never even come up.

I had no idea how to feel about that, so I pushed the thought out of my head and gave Sophia a smile (which I was sure looked more like a snarl). “Have fun,” I said. “Be back here tomorrow for rehearsal.”

Her expression told me she'd show up whenever she was good and ready. Then she gave Austin a bright smile and flounced out of the clubhouse.

I whirled to face him. “Seriously?”

“What?”

“You promised her a big part without even making her audition for it.”

He motioned around at the vast space of the clubhouse. “We wouldn't be here if it weren't for her. What if she ran back to her father and told him to change his mind about this place?”

“He wouldn't do that!” But the truth was I didn't know Dr. Ciancio well enough to say what he would or wouldn't do in that situation. Maybe the thought of Sophia whining and pouting all summer would be enough to make him go back on his word. So Austin had a good point, but still . . . he had no right to make that decision without asking me. If he'd given me a chance, maybe I could have talked Sophia into auditioning. I told him this in a curt tone.

“She wouldn't have agreed to hang around that long,” he said. “Daria's party starts at eleven thirty.”

I was about to ask him how he knew that when Susan came bounding over.

“Let's get moving,” she said. “The thespians are getting restless.”

“Where were we?” I asked with a heavy sigh.

“Pairing up for scenes,” Austin reminded me. “But with Sophia gone, we're left with an odd number of actors.”

Great. An odd number wasn't going to work for partnering.

Reluctantly, I found myself turning to Austin. I was still a little miffed over his giving in to Sophia, but sulking about it wouldn't get us anywhere. “Do you mind . . .?” I began lamely.

“I'll be the wild card,” he said, grabbing an extra
questionnaire, tearing off a corner, and writing his name on it.

Sam offered his baseball cap to use for the drawing.

As we shook up the names, Mia asked, “What about the singing auditions?”

“We've chosen a few songs,” I said. “You can pick whichever one best fits your voice.”

“Mia can sing anything,” said Eddie.

I smiled at him. “It's nice that you're so proud and supportive of your big sister.”

“I'm not being proud
or
supportive,” said Eddie with a roll of his eyes. “I just wanted to say it before she did.”

“Well, it's true,” said Mia in a matter-of-fact tone. “I'm not bragging, honest. I'm just saying it doesn't matter which song I sing, which might make things easier.”

“Thanks, Mia,” I said. “It's good to know you're flexible.”

“But I guess I am
sorta
proud,” Eddie mumbled.

Austin tore seven more little paper rectangles. The actors quickly scribbled their names on these and dropped them into the hat.

“Okay,” I said. “I'll draw out two names at a time, and those people will be partners for the audition scene.”

This was fine with everybody. I reached into the hat and grabbed two scraps of paper. “Mia and Travis,” I announced.

Travis gave Mia a shy smile. Mia beamed.

I dipped into the cap again. “Sam and Eddie.”

“Let me pick this time,” said Susan. She made a grand gesture of reaching into the hat and drew out two more names with a flourish. “Gracie and Jane.”

The girls high-fived each other.

The last two names were Elle and Austin. When I read them aloud, Elle blushed. But to her credit, she didn't flip out or panic or faint. I had a feeling we wouldn't be having any stage fright issues with Elle.