The Role of Her Lifetime

by Nanisi Barrett D'Arnuk

  “Exactly. When are you going to make your move?”

  Marie sat down in one of the lounge chairs. “You sound like Chris Anthony. She asks me all the time.”

  “And how do you answer her?” Ashley asked.

  “The same way I’ll answer you. Give it time. I think she’s straight.”

  Ashley just stared at her as she uncorked a bottle of wine and poured it into two glasses.

  “Marie,” Ashley said softly. “I know you. You want her. Hey, who doesn’t? You’ll have to fight the world starting next week. Once everyone sees her on-stage, there’ll be men and women lining up just to shake her hand. You’ll have lines, too. Hopefully, we all will. If you’re gonna make a move, you’d better do it soon before someone else does.”

  “I’m not sure I’m going to,” Marie whispered.

  “Well, decide soon.” Ashley went back to grilling their food. “I know this is against my better interests, but I want you to be happy. And if you do come back to me, I don’t want any what ifs hanging over us.”

  * * * *

  “That was a great steak,” Marie said, putting her fork and knife down on her plate. “Good wine, too. I think I had too much of it. I might never make it home.”

  “You can always stay the night,” Ashley said hopefully.

  Marie smiled at her. “No, not tonight. We can discuss it later.”

  “Well, that’s hopeful. At least it wasn’t an outright no.”

  “Sweetie,” Marie started. “You’re right about Jackie. I’ve got to get her out of my system first. I can’t be with anyone until I do.” She stood to get ready to leave.

  “That’s one of the things I like about you, Marie. First things first. You’re very true to your wants and needs. No fooling around. Sometimes, I wish I were like that.”

  “But then you wouldn’t be as much fun.”

  Ashley hugged her close and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek.

  “Thank you for this dynamite meal and putting up with my obsession about Jackie.”

  “I’d love to say it isn’t a problem, but…well, I wish you were like that about me.’

  “I was once.”

  “Yes, I know.” Ashley turned and took a step away. “Hey, I’m always here. I can help with broken hearts and lots of other emotions, and I’m not too proud to take second place. That’s one of the things I learned from acting. If you can’t get the lead, at least you can be the supporting role.”

  “Ashley,” Marie said as she drew Ashley into her arms, “You are one of a kind.” She kissed her gently.

  “Honey, for you, I’ll always be waiting in the wings.” They kissed again, and then Ashley was all business. “But you look exhausted. I’ll call you a cab. I won’t let you take the subway home. You’d fall asleep and end up at the line end in the Bronx, stripped of everything you own. It’ll only take a cab ten minutes to get here.”

  She turned to go into the house, but Marie stopped her.

  “Thanks. For everything, Maybe someday…”

  “Yes, and someday, one of us will get a best actress Oscar. One can always dream.” Ashley winked as she went to get her phone.

  Chapter 16

  “Hey, look. The playbills are here,” Joey called as he ripped into a box containing the programs.

  There was a pallet of cartons of playbill boxes, enough to last at least a week. There must have been more boxes stored somewhere else.

  Everyone rushed over to get a copy and pass another to someone else. Marie almost choked when she saw what was in her hand. Right there on the cover, documented for all times and humanity, was the photo of her kissing Jackie. All right, it was background, with the name of the show and the producers and the theater over it, but it was still her kissing Jackie. Most would see it as the prince kissing Ella, but she knew what it really was.

  “Wow,” Jackie said, standing next to her, the playbill in her hand. “Will you look at this?”

  She had it open to the pages where the personal information on the cast began. Of course, her name was first. There were headshots and info on each of them in the order of their importance as a role. Jackie said nothing about the cover. Had she even noticed it?

  “Great cover!” Rod called to them. “Now everyone will know about you two. I thought the one they used on the buses was good, but this is even better.”

  Jackie immediately turned the pages back.

  “Oh, my…” Jackie said.

  “God,” Marie concluded.

  “That’s us.” Jackie sighed.

  “It sure is,” someone concluded.

  Jackie turned to Marie and took her hand. “It’s a good picture. I like it.”

  Marie could only nod.

  * * * *

  Through the rest of the week, Marie was all business. She sang and acted, flirted a bit, laughed with the cast, and went from scene to scene. Jackie was the same. They stood in their spots and stage-kissed as written in the script. One night, they rode home together, but the two of them were too tired to go out to eat. Another night, Jackie had to stay to work with Vincent on her first aria.

  On Thursday, they started with the performance right away, without any run-throughs. When that was over, the cast sat in the front of the audience and listened to Kent tell them how good the show was and how proud the whole production company felt.

  “All right,” he said as he finished, “be here tomorrow in your first costume and makeup by six-thirty. We’ll do a warm-up and any corrections we need. The performance starts at seven-thirty. Now, go home and rest, it all starts for real tomorrow. There are preview performances on Friday and Saturday nights and Sunday afternoon. Then you’ll have until next Friday to get your lives in order. Friday night, we start with seven shows a week. If there are any changes or corrections, we’ll redo them during the week. I think we’re ready. In fact, I’m pretty sure there will not be many corrections. Treat your voices well. You’re doing a dynamite job.”

  Casey stood. “On Sunday evening, after the show, the producers are throwing you a “Getting Ready to Open” party. You may bring a significant other. Information will be given out on Sunday afternoon. Just be available.”

  The cast cheered and applauded themselves, then started to get up to leave.

  Marie waited for Jackie. “Want to get a bite?” she asked.

  “Sure. Let’s go to that Italian restaurant near me.”

  “Are they open this late? I loved it there.”

  “It’ll have to be just a quick meal, though. I’m exhausted, and we need to be in top form tomorrow night.”

  “Yes, me, too,” Marie agreed. “Do you have anything special you do before a performance?”

  “I just laze around and try not to think about it. I take a long bubble bath, then I watch TV until it’s time to go.”

  “That sounds wonderful. I just rest, maybe read, maybe watch TV and drink hot tea with honey. Sometimes, I meditate if it’s a hard performance.”

  “I’m lousy company before a performance. I don’t like to talk to anyone. I may have to have lunch with my brother, but he knows I’m not sociable before a performance. My parents will be here next week if this is still running.”

  Marie nodded as they walked along, but didn’t say anything until they were in the restaurant. They ordered before either spoke.

  “I don’t know if it’s just excitement or nervousness. Maybe it’s even fear. We perform in front of an audience tomorrow,” Jackie said softly as they dug into their meals. “My stomach is so tight, I don’t think I can eat all this.”

  “I feel the same way. I can’t believe the previews are here already.”

  “I usually don’t feel this way until the day of the performance.”

  “Yes, but this performance is the beginning of many more.”

  “Do you think it will run a year?”

  “Ashley said the way it’s going, she wouldn’t be surprised if it ran ten.”

  “Good God! We’ll be too old to play these p
arts.” Jackie shook her head as she pushed her food around her plate.

  “Would they let us star for ten years?”

  “Would we want to?”

  They both stopped and stared at each other.

  “We’re getting ahead of ourselves,” Marie finally said. “We don’t even know if it’ll run a month.”

  “I’ve heard the first week is already sold out.”

  “And that’s as far as we know. I imagine they’ll tell us Sunday what they think.”

  Jackie agreed. “That’s what I fear.”

  Chapter 17

  The excitement backstage was beyond anything any of them had ever experienced. People stood in the wings, listening to the audience arrive and the orchestra settle in and tune. There was excitement in the air.

  At 7:10, Walter gathered everyone into a backstage room and led them through calming breathing exercises and a warm-up.

  At 7:25, Kent said, “Well, this is what the past five weeks have been for. You look and sound wonderful. Break a leg.”

  Casey came into the room a few minutes later and announced, “Places everyone. One minute ‘til curtain.”

  Everyone went out onstage and got into the places where they had to be when the curtain rose.

  The orchestra began the overture.

  The first act started. It felt right. Everyone seemed to be doing a wonderful performance. The audience’s responses were happy, and the applause was loud. Marie felt the excitement and played her part to the hilt. She played the brat better than she ever had before. She could see the wonder in Jackie’s eyes as she stole the apple and teased her. As she danced away, she felt the audience’s energy going through her.

  When Rod and Andy first appeared onstage, there was laughter and applause.

  The entire first act ran well, and the scene with the prince and the king got lots of laughs. There were gasps when the ball started. The house got really quiet when Marie and Jackie started their duet before the wedding. Emotions bounced around the theater. When Marie held her hand out to Jackie and Jackie finally took it and they stepped together, Marie felt the relief going through the audience.

  Both Marie and Jackie rushed backstage where members of the costume crew were waiting to get them changed. They could hear the three ladies sing their number.

  As the wedding started and the stepsisters walked out in the bridal procession, the entire audience broke into loud laughter and applause.

  Marie stood at her place beside the priest as Ella’s stepfather walked her down the aisle. They heard the audience gasp at Ella’s beautiful gown. Suddenly, all of Marie’s emotions surged to the top of her thoughts. As she stood beside Jackie and they sang the vows, Marie had a tight feeling stretching across her chest.

  Then the priest proclaimed them man and wife, and she lifted Jackie’s veil and drew Jackie into her arms. This wasn’t acting. This was the real thing. Marie pressed her lips to Jackie’s and really kissed her. It seemed like the most natural thing in the world. Then she felt Jackie kissing her back, and it gave her courage to continue. She didn’t hear the music. She didn’t hear the singing, and she couldn’t hear the applause. The only thing that stopped her was the darkness as the curtain lowered. The orchestra played them into intermission, and the audience started moving and talking.

  Then the work lights came on, and the stage crew rushed around to change the scenery.

  Jackie took a step away, and they looked at each other for a moment. Jackie’s face was blank, and Marie had no idea what she was thinking. They were interrupted as the stage crew pushed them aside to move furniture and change the scenery.

  “I have to change,” Jackie whispered as she backed away.

  “I do, too.”

  Jackie rushed off to her dressing room where the costume crew waited to change her into her plain dress and tone down her makeup a bit so she’d look five years older and just a little haggard. In the second act, she’d been married five years and had two children. One was represented by a doll in the cradle. A four-year-old would come running to her at one point. A maid would come to take him away after Jackie hugged him.

  Marie realized what she had done. She immediately also remembered she didn’t have to change, that she would wear this costume without the wedding extras for the finale, change into the ball jacket, then back into the first Act market one. She drifted back to the dressing room. She didn’t have to rush. The costume and makeup crews were busy with everyone else. They’d work on her costume and makeup after the second act started.

  * * * *

  Marie stood in the wings as the second act progressed. She watched Ella sitting in her salon in the castle, rocking the baby and hugging and kissing the son when he ran to her.

  Oh, my God, Marie thought. What did I do? I really got into that kiss. I didn’t hold back.

  What did Jackie think? Would they have to talk about it? Why hadn’t she said something before? Her mind whirled with the thoughts of the ramifications.

  Marie stepped aside as Rod and Andy rushed onstage to gossip about the prince. They waffled between gossiping about what everyone was saying about the prince and telling Ella how sorry they were for her. That scene between Ella and the stepsisters was a major hit as Rod and Andy really played up their roles. The audience thought they were wonderful. There was laughter all through their piece and loud applause at the end. It was a very comic scene.

  * * * *

  Marie wandered through the wings. The second act was going well. It was quite different from the first. The prince, now played by Bill, had proved to be a real cad. He was having affairs with several women, including Lady Evangeline, who had changed her mind over being with a younger man. She was now pregnant and a real bitch when he wouldn’t divorce Ella. She wanted her child to be first in line for the crown.

  Marie smiled as she listened to the singing. Yes, Ashley was cut out for that role. It definitely was type-casting. She’d always flirted with just about everyone. Marie chuckled to herself. Maybe there was a lot of typecasting in this show.

  When a second woman revealed she was also pregnant, the king summoned the prince to have a talk with him, a serious scene where his father tells him to man-up or he’d be disowned and Ella’s son would be the successor. As it neared the end of the piece, a crew member pulled on Marie’s arm to warn her to get in position. After Bill’s aria about changing his mind and thinking of Ella and the kids, the finale would begin.

  Marie stood in the wings in her ball jacket and watched as the prince entered the room where Ella held the baby.

  At first, they were merely cordial to each other, but the prince finally got up the courage to apologize. Ella didn’t seem interested. She didn’t believe him. The prince reminded her they were once strangers and he had fallen in love with her.

  Marie was now in the spotlight and repeated some of the words from the ball scene.

  When the light went out on Marie, the prince tried to persuade Ella he’s sorry he was a cad and he would never stray again if she’d take him back. When Ella told him she can’t believe him, that she did before but it only led to a broken heart, the prince tried to apologize once again. But Ella refused to give in, and the prince tried to order her to accept him, that he is coming back to her and she will forgive him. Ella refused to be bullied and asked if that’s the way he wants to raise his son.

  Marie appeared in another part of the stage and repeated her vows from the wedding.

  That light faded, and the prince pleaded, begged, and cajoled Ella to forgive him and let them be a family. His pleading lasted so long, Ella appeared to give in. She asked him if he’s given up his other women. He pledged he has. Even though he admitted the children are his, he vowed they will never come before Ella’s children.

  After much begging and pledging, Marie appeared and repeated the words from the very first time they had met in the market. Ella finally said she will consider it.

  The prince pleaded until she said, “We’ll see.”


  Marie appeared again, repeating the promises from the first act.

  Now the whole town, in the background, debated if she should take him back or kick him out. It devolved into “Forgive Him; Forget him.”

  Ella sang that it will be hard to forget her broken heart and everything he has done, but she will consider it.

  The whole opera ended with Ella hitting a high note on, “Maybe. We’ll see.”

  The chorus and orchestra soared to a close, and the curtain descended. The lights went out.

  The audience roared, and the applause boomed.

  Chapter 18

  The cast hurried to their places as the back screen rose. The main curtain opened again, and the chorus stepped forward. One by one, the principles walked onstage to take their bows

  When Andy and Rod came out, the crowd went wild. They really loved them.

  Bill and Marie, who are both dressed in the billowing shirt and leather vest, entered from opposite sides and walked to the center. They shook hands. Bill stepped forward and acknowledged the roaring applause. Then Marie stepped forward to even louder cheers.

  Then Jackie walked on. Bill and Marie stepped apart and held their hands out to her to guide her to center stage. The applause was deafening.

  There were three curtain calls. When the curtain finally came down, the cast was jumping up and down and hugging each other. Rod was the first to grab Marie.

  “We did it!” he shouted as he picked Marie off the floor and twirled her around.

  “You were great!” Andy said as he wrapped her in a big bear hug.

  “Hey, for a bunch of transvestites, we did real good,” Marie told them. “Did you hear your applause? I knew you were going to steal the show. You were fantastic.”

  Other cast members came over to congratulate them and tell them how wonderful the show had gone.

  A member of the crew came around and handed everyone a schedule from Kent, telling them tomorrow’s schedule.

  Marie turned around, looking for Jackie. Jackie was talking to the cast members who played her mother and stepfather. Other cast members were also going up to her to give her congratulations and a kiss.