“Come on then, Poppy,” said Miss Mallow.
“It’s your turn now.”
She walked to the front of the gym, trying hard to imagine how sad and lonely Cinderella must have felt without a kind mother like hers – and how tired after all the housework the stepsisters made her do. She only had to look at her script once during the whole audition and was quite pleased with how it had gone.
“Well done!” said Honey when Poppy had finished. “You were really good.”
All the girls, including Poppy, had done really well in their auditions for the part of Cinderella. Poor Miss Mallow had a tough decision to make. She scratched her head and looked back at the notes she had made about each performance. She liked Poppy’s energy and spirit, but she liked Abi’s singing voice – and it was lovely to see a shy girl blossom through drama. Lola had a beautifully clear speaking voice and Sweetpea had put so much feeling into her performance. All the other girls had been great in their own ways and all of them would make lovely Cinderellas.
Oh, dear. What am I going to do? thought Miss Mallow.
However, she didn’t have time to dwell on it – she had to get on and cast the rest of the play. But by the end of the session she still had no Ugly Sisters or a Wicked Stepmother.
When it was time to go home, Miss Mallow told her class that she would spend the weekend thinking about who was best for each role and would announce the cast on Monday. Poppy sighed – she couldn’t bear the prospect of spending another weekend without knowing if she was going to be Cinderella or not.
What if Miss Mallow didn’t choose her – who would she be? Poppy shuddered at the very thought of being made to play one of the Ugly Sisters!
Chapter Four
MISS MALLOW SPENT a long time thinking about the auditions and who she should choose for the main parts. She re-read the script, only to realize how few good parts there actually were in the story, especially considering the size of her class. Then she had an idea!
Hmmm, I suppose I am the writer of this show, so I could create a few new characters, she thought.
Miss Mallow decided to write in a sister for Prince Charming and named her Princess Ursula, and a cousin for Buttons called Rose. Then she added a Hunter and a Horseman to the Prince’s staff. But even when she’d finished, she still wasn’t sure who would play which part. She hoped that if there were some new characters, the children would not be too disappointed if they were not Cinderella or Prince Charming.
“But I still want to make the choosing as fair as possible,” she said to herself.
On Sunday Miss Mallow had arranged to meet Saffron at the Lavender Lake School of Dance. Madame Angelwing had invited them both over to see whether there was anything in the costume room that they might like to use for the show.
“Thank you so much for letting us look around, Madame Angelwing,” said Miss Mallow as she took in all the gorgeous costumes and accessories.
“It is a pleasure, Miss Mallow. Just make sure you note down anything you borrow in the costume book,” Madame Angelwing replied as she glided off to her office.
Just then Miss Mallow noticed a rack of shoes and had a spark of inspiration – she couldn’t wait to share it with her class!
“Good morning, everyone!” she said to them on Monday morning. “I’ve been thinking about the play and I’ve had some ideas that I think you’ll like. In some cases I’ve decided who will play which parts, but I’ve also written in some exciting new characters. However, for the roles of Prince Charming and Cinderella I have a further little test because you were all so good it was impossible to choose between you.”
The children were desperate to hear her ideas, especially what the extra test would be.
“I will reveal everything in a minute. In the meantime, here is a list of the parts already decided,” said Miss Mallow as she flipped the board over. “If your name isn’t on it, you are being considered for the roles of Prince Charming or Cinderella and will have to take the additional test.”
“You’ll notice that there are still a lot of parts left to cast and we’ll get to that. But first, let me tell you about the main roles. A lot of you wanted to be Prince Charming and Cinderella but there can only be one of each, so I’ve come here a pair of very dainty ‘glass slippers’. Actually, they are just very sparkly silver ones from the Lavender Lake School of Dance costume room! I’ve also got a pair of black patent Prince Charming shoes. These are the shoes that so whoever they fit the best will be Cinderella and the Prince. And the rest of you will take the remaining parts without complaining. Does that sound fair?”
Everyone nodded but Poppy was really worried – what if they didn’t fit?
Miss Mallow put the sparkly slippers on her desk and the girls queued up to try them on. Sweetpea went first. No luck – they were far too small. She looked very sad. Mimosa tried, and Lola too. Again, they did not fit – they were simply too narrow. When it was Poppy’s turn she tried to force her foot into the pretty shoe. It was a terrible squeeze – her heel simply wouldn’t go in, however hard she tried. She sighed – like the others, her feet were just not dainty enough for the exquisite antique shoes. The last person to try on the slippers was Abi. While her feet weren’t particularly small, they were unusually narrow. As she slid her foot into the silver slipper, all the other girls gasped. It was a perfect fit!
“Well, these do fit well!” smiled Miss Mallow. “I was beginning to think they wouldn’t fit anyone. It looks like we have our Cinderella!”
Abi beamed with delight. She had never been picked for anything like this before. But Poppy and all the other girls were very, very disappointed. A huge black cloud settled over Poppy; she thought she would never be happy again. She tried to be pleased for her friend and was determined not to cry in front of everyone, but deep down she felt very sad – it was all because of her stupid wide feet!
“Girls, please don’t be upset. There are other fun parts and lots of chances to wear pretty dresses,” said Miss Mallow. “But before we sort that out, we need to choose our Prince Charming. Up to the front, boys!”
She then tried the Prince’s shoes on the boys and Charlie Beaches was chosen for Prince Charming.
“Abi! You’ll have to marry Charlie!” shouted out Billy Baxter.
“Abi for Charlie!” called Sweetpea.
Abi blushed.
The boys who had missed out seemed to take it better than the girls and they were just keen to hear who would play the other parts.
“Right,” said Miss Mallow, “we have our Cinderella and Prince Charming, so now I can decide who will play the remaining parts. As you can see, there are two new girl parts on the list – Princess Ursula and Rose. Sweetpea, you will be Princess Ursula; Poppy, you will be Rose!”
Sweetpea and Poppy both smiled weakly and accepted the new parts. Both girls were trying very hard to hide their disappointment at missing out on the main starring role.
Lola was given the part of the Cook, which she was secretly quite pleased with as she adored cooking and even had her own chef ’s hat! Mimosa was told that she would play the Wicked Stepmother. At first she was upset because she didn’t want to play such a horrid person, but she loved acting and soon realized that she could make the part really special – plus it was an important role.
“Now, children, who are the funniest people in this class?” asked Miss Mallow. “The ones who make us laugh the most and the ones who make me cross most often?”
“Freddie and Ollie!” everyone said in unison as they turned to look at the terrible Morrison twins.
As usual, they were up to mischief and not paying attention to Miss Mallow!
“Boys,” began the teacher, “you know how stories like Cinderella sometimes have boys dressed as girls? Well, I’ve decided that you two are going to be the Ugly Sisters.”
Everyone giggled – they could just picture the twins larking around as Jealousina and Angriana, with hideous outfits and make-up, complete with warts and wigs.
“But Miss Mallow, I don’t want to dress up as a girl. That’s so sissy!” complained Ollie.
“Me neither,” agreed Freddie.
“Aw, go on,” cried Charlie. “They’re the best parts in the show after Prince Charming – even if you do have to wear dresses!”
“Yeah, you’d be really funny – to look at!” laughed Tom.
“Go on, boys, you’ll be excellent – you’re both perfect for these roles,” said Miss Mallow encouragingly.
“Oh, OK then,” said Ollie, poking his twin in the ribs. “I’ll do it, but only if Freddie does.”
Freddie nodded. He always agreed with Ollie.
Miss Mallow filled in the remaining gaps in the cast list. Now that this was done, the show could really come together. The children accepted their teacher’s decisions, even though most of them were very sad that they weren’t in the starring roles.
After the rehearsal, Mum knew by the look on Poppy’s face that she had not been given the role of Cinderella.
“There’ll be other times, sweetheart, and it will be lovely for Abi.”
“But why don’t I ever get to be the star?” complained Poppy.
“But you are a star. You don’t need to be on stage to shine,” said Mum, which cheered Poppy a tiny bit.
Chapter Five
POPPY WAS BITTERLY disappointed at first but she gradually got used to the idea that she was not Cinderella; she decided to make a really good job of the part of Rose and get involved in the play as much as possible.
The first proper rehearsal on the following Friday started off well, with Miss Mallow feeling very excited and the children equally so. Poppy looked at her script as they all waited for their teacher to photocopy some extra sets for those children who had forgotten or mislaid theirs. She loved Miss Mallow’s retelling of the story – it made her favourite fairytale even better!
“Before we start running through Act One, Scene One, can I have some volunteers for some of these jobs, please?” said Miss Mallow, pointing to a list on the board.
Poppy offered to design the programmes, while Honey and Sweetpea said they would make the tickets and some of the boys agreed to take posters round all the local shops.
“I will be sitting in the wings to prompt anyone who forgets their lines,” explained Miss Mallow. “I think that is almost everything taken care of now. Take your positions on the stage area for the first scene in the kitchen.”
But as the children were making their way up, Mimosa piped up: “Please, Miss Mallow, I just want to tell Poppy something about the programme. I think my name should be on the front and in big letters because I am the main character. After all, there would be no story without the Wicked Stepmother and no one else really wanted to be her, so I have done the class a favour.”
Before Miss Mallow could say anything, Freddie joined in: “You’re not the main part. We are! Everyone knows the Ugly Sisters get the biggest laughs – when Cinderella is on up in the City at Christmas, the Ugly Sisters are always the main characters on the posters.”
“No way!” shouted Sweetpea, sticking up for her friend, Abi. “Cinderella is the star. If anyone should have her name in big letters, it’s Abigail Melody!”
“Yes, but I wanted to be Cinderella!” exclaimed Lola, who was playing the Cook. “Why should my name be in small letters just because Abi’s foot fitted in a little shoe!”
“Yeah!” agreed Billy. “I don’t think it was fair using the shoes. It should have been based on how good we were at the auditions, shouldn’t it?”
“I was off that day! I could have been Prince Charming!” chimed in Nathan.
And so the squabbling and moaning went on, until Miss Mallow could not stand it any longer.
“Quiet, everyone! I tried my best to be fair – I explained my reasons for doing the shoe test. I thought you all understood that. Each and every one of you is absolutely vital to this production, however big or small your part, whether you are acting or helping backstage. If anyone were to drop out now, then there would be a problem, wouldn’t there? Now, enough of this nonsense! Get on the stage and let’s run through the kitchen scene. After that I will tell you about the song and dance moves for this scene. We have a lot to learn and we certainly don’t have time to bicker!”
It was very rare for Miss Mallow to lose her temper, and although she hadn’t raised her voice, the children knew she was cross. They silently shuffled onto the stage, took their positions and waited for further instructions.
Miss Mallow’s special version of the story, with just six simple scenes, was designed to make it easy to move the scenery around without too many complicated changes. It seemed to Poppy that some people did not appreciate all the hard work that their teacher had done and she felt sorry for Miss Mallow. Even though Poppy was still secretly disappointed about not being Cinderella, she wanted the show to be a huge hit – but most of the class didn’t seem to care.
When no one knew their lines, even though they had now had the script for almost two weeks, Miss Mallow felt rather worried. The run-through of the first scene was very messy.
“Did anyone read through their lines during the week?” she asked.
Poppy, Abi and Honey raised their hands, but no one else did.
“Well, you had all better come back next Friday with a better attitude and with your lines word perfect – the show will not happen if you don’t put the work in! I can’t learn your lines for you!” said Miss Mallow, just as the parents arrived to collect their children.
As she tidied everything away after the children had gone, she felt very tired and low. She really wanted to impress Bryony Snow – it would be such a privilege to appear in Buttons and Bows magazine: all her friends read it. But the children were being so difficult and she wasn’t sure what she could do to make things better. Perhaps she wasn’t up to such a big project after all. Just then she remembered that she was going out for supper at the Hedgerows Hotel with her friend Saffron Sage and Poppy’s mum, Lavender Cotton, and she began to feel a bit better. They were meeting to discuss the costumes as Saffron and Lavender had both offered to help. She was sure they would have some good advice for her.
“Are you OK, Holly?” asked Saffron when she saw her friend.
“Oh, I’m fine, thanks. I’m just tired and my class were absolute horrors at the rehearsal this afternoon. But it’ll all be worth it in the end,” she replied, not sounding terribly convinced by her own words.
“Well, I think you’re doing a wonderful job,” said Lavender. “I know Poppy is determined to make it the best show ever, plus we’re here to help you!”
Holly Mallow smiled. She knew her friends would make her feel better. And when Saffron showed her some truly wonderful sketches for the costumes, she almost forgot how disastrous the rehearsal had been and how upset she was at her class’s lack of commitment.
To start off with there was a grey and brown rag dress for Cinderella, which managed to look quite stylish; then, for later, a fabulous pale pink ball gown, followed by the most dreamy white wedding dress imaginable.
“Oh, Saffron, these are gorgeous!” said Miss Mallow.
Then Lavender showed some magazine clippings and sketches of special hats and headpieces for each character.
“Wow! These are amazing! I don’t know where you get the time,” enthused the teacher.
“I’m so pleased that you like them,” said Lavender. “I’ve had such fun, especially with the Ugly Sisters’ hats!”
She and Saffron had reminded their friend what fun it would be to put on the show – and impress Bryony Snow. Miss Mallow was re-inspired. That’s what friends were for, after all.
“I’ve had a great evening!” she said. “I can’t wait for the performance now that you have made it come alive – just as long as everybody learns their lines!”
Chapter Six
ON MONDAY MISS Mallow announced that all homework would be based on Cinderella until the show was over. She was sure this would be
a good way to keep the children’s interest levels up. She wanted them to become familiar with not just their own part, but with every part in the show – as well as the stage directions, the songs, costumes and dances.
“Think of reading through the script as reading homework – and I’ll also set you other tasks to do with Cinderella, such as writing a paragraph about your favourite character. The better you understand the whole show, the more we can help make it the best performance ever,” she explained.
The class cheered, delighted to get a break from regular homework – they were sure this would be much easier.
In addition to the show-themed homework, Miss Mallow found fun ways of bringing Cinderella into their lessons. One day they had a Cinderella spelling test. Poppy was quite proud of her paper as she normally found spelling really hard.
The next day there was a Cinderella maths test.
Most days after school, Poppy, Honey, Abi, Sweetpea and Mimosa went to each other’s houses to rehearse their lines. They didn’t want Miss Mallow to be disappointed again on Friday. But they ended up chatting about how fantastic the show would be and how spectacular they would all look rather than actually learning their lines.
By mid-week, Poppy and Honey realized that they didn’t know their parts as well as they should, so in addition to meeting up with the others to talk about the show, they worked really hard to learn their lines and impress their teacher.
At the next rehearsal, Miss Mallow arrived with Madame Angelwing, Poppy’s ballet teacher.
“Class, Madame Angelwing is joining us today to take us through the dance routines. Please say ‘Good Afternoon’ to her and then we can begin.”
Fairytale Princess Page 2
