STAGESTRUCK - The Complete Series (13 page)

“And they’ll just hold your job?” Parker asked incredulously.

I nodded. “The more roles I land, the more they’ll want to keep me.” I explained. “Having working actors on staff helps them justify the outrageous tuition they charge parents.”

“You know what that means, don’t you Kate?” Janette asked as she had a realization.

“What?” I asked.

“Max’s family must have money… Fiona’s parents have to at least. Did he ever talk about his family?” She asked.

I shook my head. “He never mentioned them… he never mentioned money either. He picks up as much overtime as he can, so I bet that he has a successful sibling but no ‘family money’.” I thought out loud. “I guess I’ll find out soon enough.”

I finished my glass of champagne and tried to snap out of my disgruntled mood. I’d been so excited after Marion’s call, but Janette’s comment about Max sent me right back into the sullen mindset I’d been in before my phone rang. Mark noticed my mood swing and stepped in to help.

“I’m going to the bar for another pitcher.” He announced. “Kate, would you like to join me?”

“Sure,” I agreed quickly, thankful for a reason to escape. We walked arm in arm to the bar; Mark placed our order and then turned to me with a smile.

“You’re fighting back pretty hard.” He observed with a smile. “If I didn’t know better, I’d think that some devastatingly handsome man gave you some good advice.” He teased with a smile.

“You did give me great advice, and I think about it every time I get frustrated.” I told him.

“Are you thinking about it now?” He asked. “Because you look frustrated.”

I sighed. “I was so happy about this new job. I get to do what I love every day, I get to help kids… I wasn’t…”

“Going to be forced to see Max all the time.” Mark finished. “I know that you were caught off guard today, but I really think that Janette and Parker are right. Instead of dreading the awkwardness every Wednesday, look at it as an opportunity to show Max what he’s missing out on. And remember, Kate,” He added with a sly grin, “you’re well on your way to being a big star. Soon, you won’t even remember Max Shepherd’s name.”

The bartender delivered our new pitcher; as we walked back to the table, I prayed that Mark was right.

Thursday morning, Serena and I met at a small diner in the Theater District to have breakfast and give each other one last pep talk before our audition. We were both too anxious to eat much; I managed to choke down a whole grain bagel so I wouldn’t crash on stage.

“I’m so nervous.” I confessed as the clock moved closer to nine.

“That’s normal,” Serena assured me, “but you’re prepared… we both are. Besides, there’s no way it could go as bad as your Phantom audition.” She pointed out.

“Yeah,” I laughed. “At least this time I’m sober… do you know if that Sheila girl is going to be there today?”

Serena shrugged. “I have no idea, but don’t let her get to you if she is.”

“I’ll try not to, but I can’t make any promises… she’s such a hateful bitch.” I sighed.

“Kate, you’re just going to have to accept that there are people in the business who resent the fact that Marion Russo signed you.” She explained. “We’re both walking in to that theater today with targets on our backs. They’ll target you because of your agent and me because I already know all of the production staff.”

“Well, at least we have each other.” I laughed nervously.

“That’s right,” Serena smiled, “we’ll stick together and ignore all of those other bitches… it’s half past eight, we’d better get going.”

We stopped at the counter to pay our checks and then set off down the sidewalk. The closer we got to the theater, the calmer I became. Serena was right, if nothing else this audition would be better than my last. And we were beyond prepared. We’d spent the last week rehearsing every line, song, and choreography move from the last thirty years of the show’s productions. We’d studied tapes, watched interviews with former stars, and read critiques of past performances. As we walked arm in arm into Lincoln Theater, I knew that we were prepared.

“Auditions are in the east theater.” Serena explained as we stepped through the lobby. We made our way to the east side of the building; I pushed open the theater door and was overwhelmed by the enormous crowd of people already sitting on the stage.

“I told you they were recasting practically the whole show.” Serena whispered as we joined them.

The calmness I’d felt on the way to the theater completely disappeared as I wondered how in the world I’d be able to set myself apart from everyone else at the audition. As I scanned the stage for Sheila and her ‘mean girl’ friends, a voice boomed through the theater.

“Everyone sit down so I can explain how we’re going to do this!”

I looked for the source of the voice and saw a tall, thin, middle-aged man standing in the aisle with a megaphone.

“I’m Harrison Kaylin and I’ll be running today’s audition.” He continued. “Since we have so many roles to fill, we’re going to do things differently today. Everyone in this room will be considered for all available female roles, including chorus. When I call your name, arrange yourselves in a single file line. We’ll be doing the vocal auditions first, and I’ll be making immediate cuts from the stage. Everyone will be singing the first verse of Cellblock Tango.”

“Here we go,” Serena smiled. “Are you ready?”

I nodded; Harrison Kaylin called out names in alphabetical order and we arranged ourselves accordingly. I was suddenly separated from Serena by fifteen other actresses. The piano player started the opening chords of our audition song and we ran through the entire thing as a group to warm up our voices. From there, the individual auditions began.

A woman named Sydney Aaron stepped to center stage; as she killed the song, I heard a snide whisper behind me.

“I can’t believe she had the nerve to show her face here.” The first voice hissed. My cheeks burned and I hoped they were talking about anyone but me.

“At least she looks sober this time.” Another voice replied.

‘So much for that hope.’ I thought to myself. ‘Just ignore them… just ignore them…’ I recited the mantra over and over in my head but I couldn’t bring myself to follow it.

“She’d better be.” The first voice agreed. “Marion will drop her for sure if she fucks up today… I’m surprised she didn’t dump her after Phantom… what I wouldn’t give to know why Marion signed her in the first place… I bet she blackmailed her or something.”

‘They know I can hear them.’ I realized. ‘They’re trying to psyche me out… well fuck that, I deserve to be here just as much as they do.’ I wanted to turn around and defend myself but I was determined not to make another spectacle of myself. I concentrated on my competitor’s performances and blocked everything else from my head.

Eight women had auditioned so far; six had been cut immediately while two were instructed to take a seat in the front row. I felt confident that I was better than both of them. Then came Serena’s turn; she hit her first high note and my heart sank. Her voice was sharp and an octave too low. She recovered quickly and finished the verse with perfect pitch. I crossed my fingers and said a prayed for her until Harrison called out “Nice recovery Carson, take a seat.”

I breathed a sigh of relief while Serena bounced happily off the stage. I waited patiently as the women ahead of me performed. As I listened to the same run of lyrics over and over again, I let my eyes drift across the theater; to my surprise, a lone observer sat in the front row of the balcony.

‘Is that… Dylan Matthews?’ I thought. ‘Surely not… he isn’t even in Chicago… he’s in Jersey Boys… why would he observe the auditions?’

Dylan Matthews is one of Broadway’s biggest living legends. He started his career twelve years ago with a run as Danny in Grease. He moved on to television and movies, but he still returns to Broadway every couple of years for a limited run; he gets his pick of roles. ‘That guy is built the same, but he can’t really be Dylan…’ I assured myself. My stomach fluttered at the thought of having such an accomplished actor watch my audition.

After what seemed like hours, it was my turn to sing. I stepped to center stage and belted out the song with everything I had. Harrison called out “Great Harper, take a seat,” before the piano player released the last chord. I smiled and joined Serena in the second row; as I walked down the aisle, I looked to the balcony and saw that the stranger had disappeared.

“You did fantastic!” Serena beamed at me as I settled down next to her. “I can’t believe he didn’t cut me after I missed that note.”

“Like he said, you recovered well.” I told her. I scanned the front rows of the theater and counted the women who’d passed the first round; so far, there were seven of us. Twenty-seven women remained in line.

“This is going to take all day, isn’t it?” I sighed.

Serena nodded. “We’ll probably break for lunch at some point… maybe between the acting and dancing rounds…”

“Shh…” I whispered, gesturing at the stage. “See those two blonde girls? The ones coming up next? They were talking mad shit about me in line.”

“Well, let’s see if they can back it up.” Serena smiled. We watched as the first of the women, who Harrison referred to as “Garber”, move to center stage. She wasn’t awful, but her voice had very little power.

“Not this time, Garber.” Harrison said as she finished. “Garrison, you’re up.”

The second blonde woman performed and did even worse than the first; her voice cracked multiple times and she forgot the third line of the song completely.

“You’re cut.” Harrison called out before she’d finished. “And if anyone else in line is going to waste my time like that, you can go ahead and leave now too. Jesus people, you have to KNOW THE LYRICS! NEXT!” He boomed.

“Oh my god, I’m glad we’ve already gone.” I sighed in relief. “And the hardest part is over…” I added.

Serena nodded. “Yep, it’s all downhill from here.”

As Serena predicted, the rest of the audition was a cakewalk compared to the vocal portion. We started the acting auditions with twenty-one women; after, Harrison cut the group to fifteen. We broke for lunch, then returned to the theater to meet with the choreographer and learned the group dance number. After an hour of rehearsing, we performed for Harrison and the day was over.

“Excellent work today, ladies.” He called out as we released our final pose. “I’m sure some of you may have noticed that different members of the theater have been popping in and out today. I’ll be speaking with them and gathering opinions before I make my final decisions. You can all expect to hear something by Monday.” With that, we were dismissed.

“Oh my god, I’m starving.” I told Serena as we gathered our things. “Do you want to go grab dinner somewhere?”

“Yes, but hold on a second.” She answered. “Violet’s heading this way, I need to make sure that everything is alright over at Kinky Boots.”

I followed her gaze and saw an adorable redhead walking towards us.

“Serena, I’m so glad I caught you.” She said. “How did it go?”

“I made it all the way through,” Serena smiled, “now I just have to wait. Is everything alright backstage?”

Violet shook her head. “Marshall didn’t show tonight.” She told us. “And the make-up room is behind… like we’re not going to be able to meet curtain behind.”

Serena started moving quickly; she spoke as she rushed towards the other side of Lincoln Center.

“Kate, I’m so sorry… I’m starving too, but can you wait about an hour? They can handle touch-ups during the show without me, but I have to make sure the curtain goes up on time.” She explained. “You’re welcome to hang-out backstage with us.”

“Sounds great,” I agreed with a smile. I followed Serena and Violet through the maze of backstage tunnels until we arrived at the Kinky Boots make-up room.

“You can watch us work, or you can just go explore on your own for awhile… just stay out of the restricted areas and if anyone stops you, tell them you’re with me.” Serena told me.

The excitement of having almost free reign behind the scenes made me completely forget my appetite. “Really? I can just wander around?” I asked with excitement.

“Really,” Serena laughed, “curtain goes up at eight; with any luck, I’ll have everyone ready by seven-thirty and we can get out of here.”

“Alright,” I said as I turned back to the hallway. “I’ll see you in about an hour.” I retraced my steps to the room that had intrigued me the most during our journey through the hallways. I reached the solid door that held a sign reading “Retired Props”. I took a deep breath and twisted the doorknob; it turned in my hand and the door swung open.

I stepped into the room, overwhelmed by amount of random things that had been crammed into the small space. I flipped on the lights so I could get a better look. I found the head of a Mr. Mistoffelees costume on a low shelf and lifted it for a better look.

“Thinking of going as a cat for Halloween?” An unexpected but oddly familiar voice called from behind me. I turned and my mouth dropped when I saw Dylan Matthews in the doorway.

“No…” I stammered and blushed. “I was just… I’m sorry, I know I’m not supposed to be here.”

“Relax,” he laughed easily, “I won’t tell anyone. I’m Dylan, by the way.” He said as he extended his hand.

“I know,” I blushed again as I accepted it. “I’m a huge fan, Mr. Matthews. I’m Kate Harper, it’s so nice to meet you.”

“It’s nice to meet you too.” He smiled. He seemed amused by the whole exchange. “So, Kate Harper, what are you doing in the dusty retired props room?”

“My friend does make-up for Kinky Boots… we were leaving an audition on the other side of the building when one of her coworkers showed up to ask her for help… I’m just waiting for her to finish so we can go to dinner.” I explained.

“I see,” he said with a smile. “Well, since you’re just killing time I’d be happy to give you a backstage tour. There are much more exciting things around here than this old props room.”

His smile dazzled me and I felt like I’d walked into a dream. “Are you sure you have time?” I asked him with disbelief.

“Sure,” he smiled. “My show is dark today… we had an unexpected disaster with our lighting system… I’ve just been wandering around aimlessly all day, some company would be nice.”

“Alright then… thank you.” I said with a smile.

“You’re more than welcome.” He smiled. “Just follow me.”

We’d taken three steps down the hallway when my stomach grumbled again. I was embarrassed, and hoped that Dylan hadn’t heard; I had no such luck.

“Goodness, Kate, it sounds like you’re starving.” He commented. “We could go grab some food instead of taking a tour, if you’d like.”

I couldn’t believe that Dylan Matthews was talking to me, much less offering to feed me. “I promised Serena I’d wait and eat with her…” I hesitated. “She should be ready to leave in about forty-five minutes…”

“Perfect,” he smiled again. “I know exactly where we can go. You can have a little snack; you’ll feel better, but you won’t ruin your appetite for dinner with your friend.”

“Alright…” I accepted with disbelief. I followed him down the hallway but hesitated when he opened a door that was marked “Restricted”.

“It’s fine,” he assured me with a smile, “you’re with me.”

I continued through the door and was shocked when I realized that we were on our way to Dylan’s dressing room; the second door to the left held a placard with his name on it.

“I have plenty of light healthy snacks,” he assured me as he unlocked his door. “And I promise that I won’t bite unless you ask.” He added with a devilish grin as I hesitated at his door.

I smiled and stepped into the room; it wasn’t as glamorous as I’d expected. A simple leather couch sat on one wall; a flat-screen television was mounted to another. A miniature refrigerator sat in the far corner of the room. Dylan crossed to it and pulled open the door.

“I have yogurt, granola bars, and beef jerky.” He told me. “I also have sparkling water and apple juice.”

“I’d love a granola bar and a sparkling water.” I said; he tossed them both to me.

“Please, take a seat.” He said, gesturing to the couch. I sat on one end while he took the other. I appreciated that he was keeping a comfortable distance.

“So, Kate Harper, where are you from?” He asked with a smile.

I laughed. “Is it that obvious that I’m not a native New Yorker?”

“Of course it is… you don’t talk like a New Yorker… you don’t carry yourself like one either and I mean that as the highest of compliments.”

“I’m from Iowa.” I told him. “I’ve only been in the city of a couple of months.”

“Well, this is the best time to be here.” He told me. “I love Christmas in New York. Will you be going home for the holidays?”

I shook my head. “Not this year… I was going to fly home for Thanksgiving, but my parents decided to take my grandmother on a cruise… and to be honest, I hope to be working over Christmas.”

He nodded at me with a smile. “I know... I saw your vocal audition this morning.”

I blushed. “That was you in the balcony…”

“I knew you saw me!” He laughed. “To be honest, I showed up to see you, specifically. You’ve developed quite the reputation around here already.”

My blush deepened and I felt like I was going to be sick. “So you heard about my Phantom audition.”

“Everyone’s heard about your Phantom audition.” He teased. “But don’t worry about it, we’ve all been there… and that’s not why I wanted to watch you this morning.” He added. “The whole industry is buzzing about how you got a contract with Marion Russo. I see now that you deserved it.”

He gave me that dazzling smile again and his blue eyes twinkled mischievously. “I think you’re going to have a long career here, Kate.” He told me. “And I could help make that happen.”

‘OH MY GOD!’ I thought. ‘Dylan Matthews is hitting on me!’ I was more suspicious than flattered. Like most big stars, Dylan had a reputation for being a playboy. He went through women the way most people went through socks, and I had no intention of being just another name on his list of conquests.

“I appreciate that.” I told him with a polite but firm smile. “But I really want to make it on my talent, and nothing else. Thank you for the snack, but I really need to get back to the make-up room. I’m sure Serena will be ready to leave soon.”

“I admire your determination.” He told me. “May I escort you back to your friend?”

I shook my head. “No, I can find my way. Thank you again.” I said as I escaped to the doorway.

“You’re welcome,” he called after me, “I’ll see you soon.”

I rushed out of the restricted area and back to the make-up room. I walked in just as Serena was putting the last touch of mascara on Lola.

“Perfect timing.” She greeted me with a smile. “Did you have fun? Stumble on anything exciting?”

“No,” I answered casually, “I just wandered around for awhile. I spent most of my time browsing through the old prop room… do you think any of the shows would be willing to donate their old stuff to the Youth Theater?”

“Maybe,” Serena shrugged. “I’ll find out who to ask… so you spent the whole hour in that dusty room?”

“No,” I laughed. “I spent part of it lost in a hallway.” I didn’t want anyone, not even Serena, to know about my run in with Dylan Matthews. The other actors were already talking about me because of my agent; I didn’t need the whole theater thinking that I was messing around with Dylan Matthews on top of everything else. My stomach grumbled again and Serena laughed.

“Alright, let’s get going. I called Marco’s and reserved a table.” We gathered our things and left the theater.

“Just think,” Serena said as we stepped outside. “Next week, we could be on stage together… I just know that it’s going to happen, Kate, I have a great feeling about our chances.”

“Me too,” I agreed as Dylan’s face flashed through my mind. “I have a great feeling about it too.”