No Biz Like Show Biz

by Nancy Krulik

  Miriam definitely sounded more scared than happy.

  Katie frowned. She bet there was one person who wasn’t so happy right now—Suzanne.

  A few minutes after she hung up with Miriam, Katie’s telephone began to ring again. “Hello?” she said as she picked up the receiver.

  “I can’t believe it!” the person on the other end shouted into Katie’s ear.

  “Hello, Suzanne,” Katie said.

  “Mr. G. picked Miriam Chan to be the Snow Fairy,” Suzanne continued without even saying hi back.

  “I’m sorry you didn’t get the part you wanted,” Katie said.

  “I’m stuck being a snowflake,” Suzanne told her. “Me? A snowflake! I have to lead a bunch of kindergartners onstage. They’ll be the little snowflakes. Can you believe it? I’ll be dressed like a kindergartner while Miriam is up there playing my part.”

  “Suzanne, that wasn’t your part. It was up to Mr. G. to decide,” Katie reminded her.

  “Whatever,” Suzanne replied with a sigh. “Maybe Miriam will get sick. Then I can be the Snow Fairy.”

  “What do you mean?” Katie asked her.

  “I’m her understudy. I have to learn all her lines and all her songs, just in case.” Suzanne groaned. “I don’t know who told Miriam to try out. But when I find out . . .”

  Katie gulped. She crossed her fingers that Suzanne would never find out.

  Because when Suzanne was angry, she could start a real blizzard of trouble.

  Chapter 6

  “We need to attach the sun to a wire so it can move across the sky,” Mr. G. called backstage to Katie. “Can you do that?”

  “I’m working on it now. Don’t worry. I’ll have it ready before the dress rehearsal,” Katie shouted back. That was still two weeks away. She smiled proudly. Since rehearsals had begun, she’d learned a lot about how to make scenery look real.

  “Great,” Mr. G. told her. He leaned back in his chair and turned to the stage. “Now let’s take this scene from the top. It’s time for the Snowman Shuffle. This is an important scene because it’s when the Wicked Wind Monster comes and freezes everything—maybe forever!”

  George laughed. “This play is really wild, Mr. G.,” he told him. “Where did you come up with a story about a Wicked Wind Monster who threatens to freeze the planet?”

  “I don’t know, dude,” Mr. G. chuckled. “It’s the magic of imagination. And that’s my favorite nation.”

  George grinned. Mr. G. said that all the time.

  “Okay, Kadeem, you’re the Wicked Wind Monster. It’s time for you to blow onto the stage.”

  Katie stood next to Miriam and watched from the wings.

  Kadeem Carter began to wave his hands wildly as he moved. “Whoosh,” he said. Then he puckered his lips and blew. “Here I come, freezing everything in sight. That’s good news for you, Snowman.”

  “All that cold air is sure making me hungry,” George said. He was the Snowman. “I could go for an iceberg-er!”

  Katie couldn’t help laughing. Some of the kids in the chorus began to laugh, too.

  “Hey, that’s not your line,” Kadeem told him. “I know every line in this play. You’re supposed to say, ‘Brrr . . . thanks for the help.’”

  “I know,” George admitted. “But my joke’s funnier.”

  Mr. G. shook his head. “Stick to the script, George.”

  George frowned.

  “Let’s start over,” the teacher said.

  Kadeem went back to his spot and began waving his arms again. “Here I come, freezing everything in sight. That’s good news for you, Snowman,” he repeated.

  “Brrr—” George began to say his line.

  But Kadeem interrupted him. He opened his mouth really wide and pretended to nip at George’s arm.

  “Hey, what’s that about?” George demanded.

  “Frostbite,” Kadeem said. He began to laugh.

  George frowned. “That’s not his line,” he called out to Mr. G.

  “No, it’s not,” Mr. G. agreed. “Can’t you two just say the lines the way you’re supposed to?”

  George and Kadeem stared at each other.

  Mr. G. sighed. “Okay, let’s move on. Suzanne, bring the kindergarten snowflakes onstage.”

  Katie watched Suzanne take one of the kindergarten snowflakes by the hand and practically drag her across the stage. The other little flakes followed.

  “Mr. Guthrie, this isn’t working for me,” Suzanne said, stopping suddenly.

  “What do you mean?” Mr. G. asked her, surprised.

  “I just don’t feel the part. I can’t get into the Snowflake’s head,” Suzanne explained.

  Katie and Miriam looked at each other and rolled their eyes.

  “That’s because snowflakes don’t have heads,” George reminded her. “I think your brain’s melting, Suzanne.”

  “You don’t know anything about acting,” Suzanne told George. “I have to be able to understand my character in order to play her.”

  “Okay,” Mr. G. said. “So how about this? You’re a snowflake who is really, really excited to finally come down to earth.”

  “How excited?” Suzanne asked him.

  “Um . . . as excited as you would be if your picture were on a magazine cover,” he suggested.

  But Suzanne wasn’t listening anymore. She was staring at Katie and Miriam in the wings. As she took the kindergartners backstage so they could start again, she ran right up to Miriam.

  “Are you okay?” Suzanne asked her. “You don’t look so good.”

  “I don’t?” Miriam asked. “I feel all right.”

  Katie looked curiously at Suzanne. “Miriam looks fine to me,” she said.

  Suzanne avoided Katie’s stare. “Well, Miriam looks green to me. Like she’s going to throw up or something.” She paused and turned to Miriam. “Please tell us you didn’t eat the squiggly pasta at lunch today!”

  “Yeah, I did,” Miriam said. She sounded worried. “Why?”

  “Oh, it’s nothing. I heard a worm got stuck in the pot,” Suzanne continued. “It was probably just a rumor, though. Of course, eating a wiggly, squiggly worm could make someone kind of sick—”

  “Suzanne! Stop talking about yucky stuff !” Katie said. She knew creepy, crawly things like worms really grossed Miriam out. Everyone in the fourth grade knew that.

  And now Miriam’s face really did turn kind of green. She clapped her hand over her mouth. “I’ll be back,” Miriam groaned. “I don’t feel so good.”

  Suzanne smiled triumphantly as Miriam ran to the restroom backstage. “Gee, I hope she’s okay,” she said. “But if she’s not, I know all her lines. I’m ready to take over.”

  Chapter 7

  “Okay, now carefully pull the sun across the stage,” Mr. G. told Katie. Katie nodded and, with her teacher’s help, began to pull the thick ropes that were attached to the heavy wooden sun. It had taken more than a week for Katie to draw, paint, and attach the piece of scenery to the ropes. But now it was ready to go.

  And just in time. After long weeks of rehearsals, the show was just two days away!

  “Wow, it’s working!” Katie squealed with delight as she stood offstage.

  “That was perfect!” Mr. G. told her. “It looks like the sun is actually moving across the sky.”

  “We did it!” Katie told her teacher.

  Mr. G. shook his head. “No, you did it, Katie.”

  She smiled proudly.

  Mr. G. looked down at Katie’s new red sneakers. There wasn’t one drawing on them anywhere. “You’re not doodling as much, are you?”

  Katie shook her head. “Just when I’m watching TV or talking on the phone or something.”

  “Your scenery is really wonderful, Katie,” Mr. G. told her. “The crystal icicles you hung on the curtains and the wooden trees are amazing. They shimmer like the real thing. What a great idea! And the drawing you did of the frozen lake for the backdrop is really spectacular.”

  She smi
led proudly. “Thanks,” she replied. “I . . .”

  But Katie’s voice was drowned out by the sound of the piano. Miriam was about to sing.

  “Snowballs rock! We’re on a roll. He can freeze the planet, but not our souls,” Miriam sang. “So don’t be frightened. Don’t take the Wicked Wind Monster’s jive. The Snow Fairy’s here, and we will survive!”

  Katie grinned. Miriam was really good. She was going to be a big hit in the show. Everyone knew it.

  But Miriam didn’t brag about getting the lead part or having a great voice, like Suzanne would have if she’d gotten the Snow Fairy role. Miriam was too shy and quiet to do that.

  Well, usually she was shy and quiet. Somehow, once she got onstage, Miriam changed. You could hear her singing all the way from the back of the auditorium.

  “Winter’s wild, a wacky time,” Miriam sang out, dancing around the stage and waving her arms. “But sooner or later, the sun’s gotta shine. Mark my words. It’s gonna shine.”

  Katie couldn’t believe it. Just a few weeks ago, Katie, Emma, George, Kevin, and Jeremy practically had to beg Miriam to practice one little song. And now she was singing and dancing all around the stage.

  As Miriam finished her song, everyone began to clap. “That was great,” Mr. G. told Miriam.

  “Thank you,” she said. “I’ve been practicing really hard.”

  “I can tell.” Then Mr. G. told her to go backstage to the girls’ dressing room. “Ms. Sweet has finished your costume. She’d like you to try it on.”

  “Okay,” Miriam replied quietly. She was back to her usual shy self.

  As Miriam walked by, Katie smiled at her. “Your voice sounds amazing,” she told her.

  “Thanks.” Miriam smiled. “Your sun looks amazing.”

  “Thanks,” Katie replied. “You know, before that day at my house, I didn’t know you could sing. I guess we still have a lot of stuff to learn about each other.”

  Just then Suzanne came walking over to the girls. “I saw the greatest movie on TV last night,” she remarked casually.

  “Really?” Miriam replied. “What was it called?”

  “The Phantom of the Opera,” Suzanne told her. “It was a really old movie.”

  “What was it about?” Miriam asked Suzanne.

  “This creepy guy with only half a face who lives underneath a theater in Paris,” Suzanne told her. “He’s really crazy. He wants to kill people, and he kidnaps the girl who is the star of the opera.”

  Miriam gulped. “He lives under a theater?”

  Suzanne nodded and looked around. “Come to think of it, the stage in the movie looked a little bit like this one.”

  “Suzanne, stop it,” Katie warned.

  “Yeah, I don’t think I want to hear any more,” Miriam added.

  “But it was so scary,” Suzanne continued. “And you know what, the girl in the movie—the one who had the lead part—had straight black hair just like yours, Miriam.”

  Miriam gulped.

  “Come on, Suzanne. There’s no phantom hiding here,” Katie insisted.

  “That’s exactly what they kept saying in the movie! ‘There’s no phantom hiding here,’” Suzanne exclaimed.

  Miriam gulped and bit her lip nervously. A few beads of sweat began to form on her forehead.

  Just then Mr. G. walked backstage. “There you are, Miriam,” he said. “Ms. Sweet is waiting with your costume.”

  “Y-yes, sir.” Miriam looked like she was about to cry.

  As Miriam headed out of the auditorium, Katie turned to Suzanne. “Why did you start talking about that movie? You know how scared Miriam gets.”

  “Miriam is scared of everything.” Suzanne pressed her lips together. “Who knows? She might even get too scared to go on the night of the show.”

  Katie’s eyes grew wide. Now she was certain about what Suzanne was up to. She was trying to scare Miriam out of the play so she could take over the lead part. “Suzanne, leave Miriam alone!” Katie shouted.

  Suzanne shook her head. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she insisted. “I wasn’t doing anything to Miriam. I was just talking about a movie I saw. Miriam shouldn’t worry about a phantom or stage fright. If she’s not here, she’s got a talented understudy to go on for her. She’s very lucky.”

  Katie rolled her eyes. Lucky wasn’t exactly the word she would have chosen.

  Chapter 8

  The next afternoon, Katie hurried to the auditorium right after school was over. She wanted to get there as quickly as possible to get ready for the dress rehearsal.

  The dress rehearsal was very important. Today all the actors would perform the play in their costumes. They would run through the whole show without stopping, whether or not they made any mistakes.

  Now that the play was just one day away, Katie was getting kind of nervous. She wasn’t really sure how it was all going to work out. But Katie could tell Miriam wasn’t nervous at all. She had no reason to be. She knew her part really well. She had been rehearsing every day, singing her songs and going over her lines with her best friend, Zoe Canter. Even now, she was practicing one of her songs on the stage.

  “Get out of my way, you Wicked Wind Monster. Blow right out of town. It’s time for spring to rock your world. The sun’s gonna knock the wind down!” she sang.

  Katie smiled. Miriam was going to be amazing!

  “Okay, dudes,” Katie heard Mr. G. say as he walked into the auditorium. “Let’s get this show on the road. Everyone go to the dressing rooms and put on your costumes.”

  All the cast members headed backstage, leaving Katie alone in the auditorium. She poured some glue over the branches of one of the wooden pine trees she and Mr. G. had built. Then she sprinkled green and silver glitter onto the glue.

  There. That would make the trees look all sparkly and wintry.

  Just then Katie felt a cool breeze blowing on her neck. Gosh, it’s chilly in here, Katie thought. She turned to see if someone had left a window open.

  But all the windows were shut tight.

  The curtains weren’t rustling in the breeze.

  In fact, the wind seemed to be blowing only around Katie. Which could mean only one thing.

  This was no ordinary wind. This was the magic wind! Katie was about to turn into someone else!

  “Oh no!” she shouted into the tornado that was suddenly whirling around her. “Not now. Not right before the dress rehearsal!”

  But the magic wind didn’t care about the school play. It came whenever it wanted to. And it changed Katie into whomever it wanted to. Switcheroo!

  Suddenly the wild tornado stopped. The magic wind was gone.

  And so was Katie Carew.

  She’d been turned into somebody else.

  But who?

  Chapter 9

  “Miriam, there you are,” Ms. Sweet, the other fourth-grade teacher, said as she walked into the auditorium. “I want to make sure your wings will stay on the back of your costume.”

  Katie turned around quickly, looking for Miriam. But there didn’t seem to be anyone else but Ms. Sweet.

  And herself, of course.

  “Miriam, are you okay?” Ms. Sweet asked.

  Katie gasped. Ms. Sweet seemed to be looking right at her. Katie glanced down. Instead of her red sneakers, Katie was wearing a pair of soft, pink dancing shoes. And she had on a sparkly white dress.

  Miriam Chan’s costume!

  Oh no! Katie had turned into Miriam Chan!

  “But I can’t . . .” she began. “I mean, I’m not . . .” Katie stopped. She wasn’t sure what to say. She couldn’t tell Ms. Sweet that she wasn’t really Miriam Chan. The teacher would never believe her.

  Katie wouldn’t have believed it either if it hadn’t happened to her.

  “Come on, Miriam,” Ms. Sweet urged her gently.

  “Um . . . okay,” Katie said quietly.

  Just then Suzanne came bursting back onstage. “Ms. Sweet!” she shouted excitedly. “I can’t find my
snowflake crown.”

  “I’ll be with you in a minute, Suzanne,” Ms. Sweet replied patiently. “I just have to help Miriam with her wings.”

  “But Ms. Sweet, you have to help me first,” Suzanne insisted. “Think about it. No one has ever really seen a fairy. Miriam can wear one wing or no wings, and no one will know if something’s wrong. But everyone has seen a snowflake before. My costume has to be perfect!”

  Ms. Sweet sighed. “Suzanne, stop being such a drama queen. I’ll be with you as soon as I help Miriam with these wings.”

  The moment her teacher turned around, Suzanne made a face and glared angrily at Miriam. But Katie couldn’t think about Suzanne right now. She had to try and concentrate on being Miriam.

  The problem was, Katie hadn’t paid close attention to the rehearsals. Most of the time she had been backstage working with Mr. G. That had taken all of her concentration.

  But Katie had to do something. She couldn’t just run away. If she left now, Miriam might lose her part. That wouldn’t be fair. Not after she had worked so hard.

  Katie was going to have to try and get through the rehearsal as best she could. And if she had to make up a few words, it would be okay. After all, George and Kadeem did it all the time.

  “Hi, Miriam,” Mr. G. greeted Katie. “Have you seen Katie?”

  Katie gulped. How was she supposed to answer that?

  “She’s supposed to help me with the scenery,” Mr. G. continued.

  “Katie, well, uh . . .” Katie began nervously. “I, um . . . I saw her. But . . . um . . . she’s not here now . . . exactly.”

  “Exactly?” Mr. G. asked, confused.

  “Well, I mean, she put the glitter on the trees like you told her to, but she said she still had some props to find. So she left to . . . um . . . look for them,” Katie said quickly.

  “Oh,” Mr. G. said. “No problem. I can handle things till she gets back. If you see her, just tell her to go straight up to the catwalk.”

  “Sure,” Katie told him. “No problem.”

  As Mr. G. walked away, Katie frowned. She hated lying to her teacher. But what else could she have done?