Big Apple Dreams

by Solomon, Kamery

  My stomach instantly started twisting into knots as she started talking about some of the impressions they’d gotten from me the day before.

  What if she’s just being nice because I didn’t get it? What if I did? I wish she would just tell me! No, I don’t!

  “Basically, your reading and singing were both really great. We were all very impressed with how you handled yourself, especial for someone who’s never performed on Broadway, or even in the city for that matter.”

  “Thank you,” I said, hoping she couldn’t hear the nervousness in my voice.

  “You interview really was the kicker, though,” she laughed. “You were very friendly and personable. We like to see that in our cast members.”

  “Right. I mean, thank you!”

  “Now, you’re probably wondering about the part,” she said, her serious business tone back. “We would like for you to have it.”

  Everything in the world came to a crashing halt. I couldn’t even feel myself breathe, let alone my heart beating. I swear, even the birds outside froze in midair.

  “I’m sorry?” I whispered, frozen completely.

  “We would like for you to take on April’s part as an extra. Well, not just that, though. I would also like to extend a few, small understudy roles to you. If you would like to have them, that is.”

  “You would?” I asked in a shaky voice, some feeling returning to my face as I realized I was crying.

  “The decision was unanimous,” she laughed. “You’re the one we want.”

  “I am? I mean, yes! Yes, to it all! I will do whatever you want me to do!”

  “I thought you might say that,” she chuckled. “I had your contracts drawn up early this morning. As soon as you can, the hiring team here would like to meet with you at the theatre and get everything set up.”

  “You mean like payments and stuff, right?” I asked nervously.

  “Yes.”

  “Sorry. I’ve never been paid to be in a show before,” I giggled giddily.

  “It’s fine,” she said sweetly. “Once all of the technical, non-show stuff is taken care of, you and I will get together. I’ll be teaching you your blocking and such. We’ll have a few regular rehearsals with your immediate cast and then one put in the night before you go on. Once we get that out of the way, I’ll help you learn your understudy roles.”

  “This is a dream come true,” I gushed. “Thank you so much!”

  “It’s my pleasure, really. We love finding new talent here at Wicked. Everyone always dreams of finding that unknown talent and bringing them into the light. You are our undiscovered talent, Mara.”

  “I can’t believe this is really happening,” I said, placing my other hand on my forehead. “I feel like I’m going to wake up any second now and discover this has all been a wonderful dream.”

  “It’s not a dream,” she chuckled. “It’s really happening. You deserve this—these—parts. Your waiting has paid off.”

  “I can’t say thank you enough,” I said, my face now thoroughly soaked through with happy tears.

  “Welcome to the big leagues,” she laughed again. “Welcome to Broadway, Mara.”

  Chapter Twenty Two

  I can’t believe I’m signing a Broadway contract right at this instant!

  My hand shook slightly as the pen scrawled over the paper, agreeing to each clause and stipulation. Thankfully, I’d understood it all when I’d read through it previously. It was what I’d always wanted—to sign my life away to complete servitude under the bright lights of the theatre.

  Raquel sat next to me at the table, waiting for me to finish and her job to begin. She’d been there the whole time, listening to me set up my taxes, payment information, and necessary contacts for the last two hours. There had been extra things to explain, because I was being set up for the understudy roles, as well. For the most part, I would be paid the same amount each week—just under two grand—unless I got moved up to permanently take over one of my understudy roles.

  As I laid the pen on the table and watched the man in front of me collect my contract, I felt the sudden thrill of realizing I was officially a Broadway actress. Everything I’d worked for in my life had come to fruition. I fought the happy tears in my eyes as hard as I could, wanting to maintain the upmost semblance of professionalism.

  “Well, Mara,” Raquel said, standing up. “I would like to be the first to officially welcome you to the cast of Wicked.”

  She extended her hand and I took it gladly, laughing slightly as I shook it.

  “Thank you very much,” I said for what felt like the nine millionth time.

  “Congratulations, Ms. Adams,” the man said as he stood up and moved to leave.

  “Thank you!” I beamed at him, not able to pull the smile from my face.

  “Now, we have a lot of work to do,” Raquel said, back to business as usual. “We’ll start with another costume fitting.”

  She motioned for me to follow her, leading me out into the hall. We were in a part of the theatre I’d never visited before. Instead of costume rooms, and props lying around, this was more the business side of things. After a short walk, though, I started to recognize the stairwell we were in.

  “The measurements Kayla—that’s the head of wardrobe—got at your audition were pretty close to what we have the costume at already. You’re going to have to try them on, so they can fit them to you exactly. We want you to look in tip top shape when you’re on stage,” Raquel said as we came to the ground floor. “Nicolle is going to pin them up for you, or mark where they need to be let out a bit.”

  “Okay,” I said excitedly.

  “After that you’re free for the day. I imagine you have some things to take care of, since you only just got the call, today,” she laughed.

  “I can stay and do whatever,” I rushed to say, knowing that if I were sent home I would dwell on Evan.

  “Mara,” she chuckled. “You get paid to be here, now. While it may be a set weekly pay, I don’t want you here any more than you have to be. Tomorrow you’ll be coming in to learn your ensemble music, assuming that you’re able to quit your previous job quickly. Once that is done, you’ll be learning blocking. By next week, you’re going to be here almost every night, performing for an audience. Take today for yourself. I know you want to be here now, every actor always does, but you need this time. Trust me.”

  “All right,” I grumbled, somewhat downtrodden. “I understand. Thank you for looking out for me.”

  “It’s what I do,” she said with a smile.

  She stopped in front of one of the doors and held it open for me, revealing the same dressing room I’d waited in the day before.

  “Let’s get to it!”

  After my fitting, which only confirmed the fact that I had the best job in the world, I stopped by Olive Garden and quit my job. Valarie, the schedule maker, told me that she’d find someone to cover the rest of my shifts for the week and not to worry about the next, because she hadn’t gotten anything together yet.

  The many well wishes from my ex-coworkers made me blush. I’d never realized how many of them were actually listening when I’d talked about auditions before. A few fellow performers seemed a little sad it wasn’t them, but congratulated me all the same.

  This is it, I thought as I walked through the restaurant’s revolving door and crossed the street to sit on the red steps. I’m officially a working, Broadway actress. It actually happened! If only Evan still worked here.

  I stopped myself short, not ready to deal with the emotions I’d shut away in order to deal with what was newly required of me. It had been easy, pushing it to the side as I watched everything I’d worked for come together. But now? I didn’t have anything to immediately distract me.

  You will not cry in public, I coached myself, taking several deep breaths.

  It suddenly occurred to me that I’d never called my parents to tell them the good news. While I would have rather been actually working, it seemed like a goo
d idea to call now. At least I’d be distracted for a few minutes longer.

  I called them and headed to the subway, our conversation lasting the entire trip home.

  “Mom,” I laughed as I unlocked my door. “It’s okay, you don’t have to tell everyone right now.”

  I’d caught them when they were grocery shopping. She’d promptly shouted out to the whole store that I’d gotten one of the best parts in history and wouldn’t stop telling every person who walked by, no matter how much I asked.

  “We have to come see you,” she suddenly said. “On your opening night!”

  “That’s an expensive flight, Mom. You don’t have to, really.”

  “Don’t be silly,” she scolded me. “We wouldn’t miss it for the world!”

  “I start next week,” I chuckled. “That’s really short notice for airline tickets.”

  “I’ve been saving money each week since you left,” she giggled. “I knew you would get cast. We don’t want to miss your opening night.”

  “Mom,” I said, touched that she’d been so thoughtful. “If you really want to come, I think that would be wonderful. Thank you!”

  “I’m so excited to see you!”

  I finally opened the door and went inside, nodding to Lizzy who was still lying in her bed and looked like she’d just woken up.

  “I’ll call you when I know more, Mom. Okay? I love you, too. Talk to you then.”

  “Good morning,” Lizzy said groggily as I hung up and laid everything by the door.

  “It really is,” I said happily, not letting my eyes fall on my bed and the memories it tried to release.

  “Where did you go?” she yawned, sitting up and scratching her head.

  “The Gershwin,” I said casually.

  “What for?”

  “To sign a contract.”

  Silence greeted me as I walked into the kitchen and poured myself a glass of water.

  “What?” she suddenly screeched, jumping from the bed, running into the kitchen. “You got the part?”

  “I got the part,” I laughed.

  “Oh my gosh!” she squealed, throwing her arms around me and doing a little dance. “How do you feel? Wait no, what part are you playing? Mara, you’re a real Broadway actress, now!”

  “I know!”

  “We need to call Evan, right now, and tell him,” she said, breaking away and skipping back to her bed to get her phone.

  “No!” I spat out, choking on the sip of water I’d just taken.

  “Why not?” she asked in surprise.

  “I don’t want to bother him while he’s working,” I said uncomfortably.

  “But he’s not! I got a text from him this morning. He’s already upstate with our mom. I guess he had a week off and decided to come visit. Don’t worry, I already yelled at him for not coming to see us. That punk was going to stay up there the whole time, can you believe that?”

  “Lizzy, please,” I said, feeling the panic bubbling up inside me. “It’s not anything he needs to know.”

  “He’ll be so happy for you, though,” she said with a confused smile. “I mean, he used to work there. He knows all of those people. He could give you pointers!”

  “I’ll be fine on my own,” I insisted. “We don’t need to bother him with anything about me.”

  “That is just silly,” she said.

  She typed a few words into her phone before I could stop her and then tossed the device back onto the bed.

  “There. See? It’s no big deal.”

  “What did you say?” I asked quietly.

  “Just that you got a job at Wicked. What’s wrong? I thought that Evan would be one of the first people you wanted to talk to about it.”

  “Nothing.”

  I knew she could tell how uncomfortable I was. How could I tell her I didn’t want to talk to him because he’d run out on me? I would have to explain everything that happened with Chris. She would find out I’d gone behind her back and slept with her brother. Wasn’t I supposed to ask permission, or something, before doing that? All I knew was that I didn’t want to lose her as a friend and that the truth would certainly do that.

  “You can talk to me, Mara,” she said nicely. “What happened that’s made you not want to talk to Evan?”

  “It’s not that,” I said, trying to brush it off. “It’s . . . uh . . . that time of the month. I’m a little moody, that’s all.”

  “Okay,” she said, obviously not believing me.

  I sighed as she got up and went into the bathroom, scolding myself for not having thought of a better reason beforehand.

  The truth was, even if he hadn’t basically told me to leave him alone, I didn’t want to talk to Evan. I’d given him something that I could never get back and got nothing in the end. My heart was broken to the point of not even wanting to try anymore. The only thing that was keeping me together was the show. I fully planned on using it as a distraction from what had happened. I couldn’t stand the thought that continually ran through my head when I didn’t have anything to do.

  I still love Evan, even if he left me.

  Chapter Twenty Three

  “That was good, Mara.”

  Raquel’s voice came through the master speaker, filling the space between us easily. While she sat in the light and sound booth in the back of the house, I stood on the stage with a few other actors, having just ran one scene.

  “Let’s start it again from the top,” she continued. “Just so we can make sure you’ve really got it.”

  I nodded, moving back into the wings and waiting for the prerecorded soundtrack to start up.

  I’d been practicing like this for two days, every afternoon before the show started. The only day I’d had off was when there was a matinee performance and the stage wasn’t open. Even then, I’d gone to an extra-long voice lesson to practice all of my new music.

  Each day was too busy to think about Evan, which I was still grateful for. I was always doing something, focusing my energy somewhere else. It was when I wasn’t working—which basically meant I was sleeping—that his face haunted me. He was in every part of my subconscious, alternating between telling me he loved me and that he never wanted to see me again. The resulting effect left me just as tired in the morning and made it that much harder to really concentrate on what I was doing at practice.

  It wasn’t that I was handling my new part badly. Everyone could tell that I wasn’t doing my best, though, in my mind anyway. No one said anything about it, but after a hard day of work I could tell that I hadn’t quite met expectations.

  Frustration grew within me continually. I managed to not think about what was bothering me while I was working, but it was still messing with what I needed to do. My secrets still remained unspoken, despite the fact of knowing I’d have to fess up if I wanted to work at one hundred percent.

  Lizzy was mad at Evan, as well, that much was clear. She hadn’t exactly said it, but I was sure he was refusing to talk about me, or come to the show.

  I felt bad keeping things from her, but I was more afraid of losing her, as well. Lately, it felt like she was the only un-judgmental person I had in my life.

  Maybe it’s all in my head, I thought as the track started up again and we all started moving onto the stage. I’m playing head games with myself. I got this job. I deserve this job. If I was doing badly, they would let me go.

  I pushed the thoughts aside as I came into view, doing my best to play my character. It took all my energy, but by the end of the scene I felt like I’d given my best performance of the part yet.

  “Great job, guys,” Raquel said. “That’s it for the day. I’ll see you at the show tonight.”

  The other cast members started to leave the stage, laughing and talking amongst themselves.

  “Good job, Mara,” Julie, one of the actresses, said warmly as she left.

  “Thank you,” I said softly, turning to follow.

  “Hey, Mara, hang on a second,” Raquel said.

  I t
urned back towards the house, shading my eyes as I tried to look up into the box she sat in. The lights died, and I saw her stand up, removing her headset and moving to walk down towards the stage.

  Oh no, I thought nervously. They wouldn’t actually fire me for having a few rough rehearsals, would they?

  “Don’t look so scared,” she laughed as she came up to the lip of the stage. “I only need to run something by you.”

  “Okay,” I said, trying to chuckle away the nerves.

  “One of your understudy roles is Nessarose.”

  “Yes.”

  “We haven’t worked on that role any yet, but,” she looked at me expectantly. “Our regular Wicked Witch of the East is leaving on vacation Sunday. Her understudy, Crystal, just called in about an hour ago. She’s got meningitis and the doctor says she can’t perform until the end of next week.”

  “And I’m the understudy’s understudy,” I said slowly, realizing where she was going with this.

  “Now, JoAnna said she can cancel her trip if we need her to. But, I think if you come in every morning, and we switch your ensemble rehearsals to Nessarose ones, you can be ready by Monday.”

  “That’s in three days,” I laughed.

  “I know,” she said confidently. “Can you do it?”

  I looked at her for a second, biting down the instant yes I wanted to shout.

  I could open on Broadway in a lead role! But Nessarose? Can I pull of playing a woman who suffers through life trying to win her unrequited love?

  “I . . .,”

  Evan. I’m in love with him and he doesn’t love me back. I could easily play this role. What if it turns out bad, though? What if I’m affected too much?

  “When do we start?”

  I sucked in a breath, suddenly realizing I had in fact just agreed to do it.

  “Right now,” Raquel said with a grin. “You don’t mind staying later, do you?”

  “Not at all.”

  “Great! Let’s get into a practice room then. I’ll call the musical director to see if he’d like to come down and play the piano for us. We’ll also need to call wardrobe and have them finish the right costumes first.”