Lindsey glanced at her cell to find it was 7:00. Relief flooded her - she'd been so tired, she'd forgotten to set it. At the same time, it felt like she'd blinked and woken - had she'd slept at all?
Lord... I feel like David. I told everyone this show was your will so... work it out, please.
I'm going to be sick...
She read her Bible which was full of passages about God being under control. If he can save King David from a storm of troops, he could bring 27 actors to auditions. But it was so hard to believe it.
She dressed, managed to eat three stale pieces of cereal, then gave up. As hungry as she was, she wouldn't be able to eat until well after auditions.
She wondered if she would actually throw up today before auditions ever started. Feeling as though she should turn on a camera and make a reality show, she waited for her sister to get ready. Growing more ill by the moment, making calls to make sure her Grandmother had gathered up the cameras.
Arriving at the theater, she thought being director required more acting than being an actress. Thirty minutes of setting up, rearranging tables, sorting cuttings.
Then the wait.
The first hour thirty minutes ticked by and the doors remained empty. Saturday morning on spring break was a terrible time.
Lindsey went on faith, arranging the rehearsal schedule with Pat. When they had finished, the door opened and a gentleman walked in. "I just came by," he said. "I saw you needed a cast between 20 years and 40 years. I might be too old."
Lindsey resisted snatching his arm. "No, no, we need everyone."
At the moment she needed anyone.
Waiting for the gentleman to fill out the form, she worked to print out the newly-made schedule. Then the first audition commenced.
Four words out of Mr. King's mouth had everyone perking up. With a rich, deep voice that sounded like the movies from the 50's, the five people in the room broke into claps almost before he'd finished.
He was a mail carrier so he had to rush out, but he was followed by many thanks and lifted spirits. A few moments later, a girl passed by the window, walking into the room and Maranda laughed as she came in the door, glancing around. "Am I the first one?"
"Second!" Lindsey called, "Good to see you!"
"My sister played "Kate" in the musical "Titanic" and I worked on costumes and set design," Maranda explained. "I'm new to Texas and wanted to get to know people."
She filled out the form, wishing her boyfriend didn't work evenings. He could do an Irish accent and his name was Andrew.
"That's one of my favorite names!" Lindsey exclaimed thinking about her story character of Andrew who was an Irish boy who found himself on the Titanic.
"Mine too!" Miranda said. "I always liked Andy."
Lindsey asked her to read for Kate, and Sarah and Kayla portrayed the other Irish girls, with Amy volunteering to be the boy. Maranda sang for the show, portraying a beautiful voice from her training as an opera singer.
While she was describing her job at H.E.B., offering to get word out for the next audition on Monday, Keith walked in. Keith had played Captain Smith before in another Titanic production in the town and he asked, with a twinkle in his eye, "Do I need to audition or do I just get the part."
So now with a total of four actors, Lindsey read Keith and Maranda.
Just after they left, Steve emerged from the office, phone in hand, "Lindsey, it's from you."
She had never recieved a phone call directly to the theater, and Lindsey pulled it up, hoping for more auditioners. It had been a toying game with people coming in for a meeting or to see the building or mow the lawn - with no intention of trying out for the story of an ill-fated ship.
"Hello?"
"Hey, it's Chance."
Chance! There he was. He'd done shows with Lindsey before - lamenting with her when they discovered last years Titanic show would not be repeated. They had to do something for the 100th anniversary.
"What's going on, Chance?"
"Cody and I are coming out. Do we need to bring backtracks to sing with?"
"No. Just sing."
"Okay." A note of relief poured into his voice. "That makes things easier. We'll be there soon."
Lindsey hung up, walking out with a smile. It seemed to be picking up, relieving her fears of waiting for people who never came."
"Two more coming!" she called.
And they came, making a grand entrance in tall green hats, and Irish shirts, befitting an actor auditioning on Saint Patty's day.
Lindsey laughed on her way to greet the boys, giving each a hug. She'd spent three months onstage with Chance playing Uncle Henry and Chance the lion who went beside her on their way to the Emerald City. Before that she had played Chance's wife and the two had worked through dancing rehearsals together. The familiar faces were completed by Emme walking through the door, also from Wizard of Oz and in the midst of the reunion, Frank stepped into the room. Reading for Joseph Boxhall, he easily fit into the roles of a man in charge. Across from Emme's portrayal as a rich woman, concerned about her baggage, the two put on a good dialouge. Frank read for the Captain before leaving the youth to complete their auditions. Emme's clear voice carried singing, "Part of your World." Chance and Cody teased each other in the roles of Jack and Harold.
Pat who had been watching as hostess of the building, sat quietly until Sarah turned to her. "Are you going to audition?"
"I can," Pat said. "I think the only part I could play is Charlotte Cardeza. The others are too young."
"Go ahead!" People encouraged. Lindsey thought she might be tweaking parts anyway. She teased that she should have auditioned and then wrote the script.
Sarah offered to audition as a backup. She wasn't fond of acting. Rehearsals were to be endured for the final show - not used as social events as Lindsey did. But if she needed to be in the show, she'd stand by her sister and be in it.
"Lindsey, are you going to be in it?" Emme asked.
"Probably," Lindsey laughed. "I'll probably have to be."
"So sing. You should sing too!"
"Okay."
"But nothing from Wizard of Oz!" her former fellow cast-members protested.
It recieved only a groan.
Wizard of Oz was fun but they'd all moved on.
So Lindsey stood in front of her own camera, unsure what to sing. Then sang the first song that came to her. "I should have known that you'd be here. I should have known it all along. This whole arrangement bares your stamp. You're in each measure of that song. How dare you try to claim me now. How dare you come invade my life!"
Then switching stances, she lowered her voice from her usual high voice to her usual still-high/low voice. "Oh Christine. My Christine. When the.... do da da da da da da.... On the night just before you were wed...." She couldn't remember the Phantom's part as well as Christine's she she ended the song.
Ending auditions with a total of eleven characters, it left dropping them into potential places. It was difficult. Good actors - she could play this role - but it depended on if someone was playing her husband. He could do that role, but then others would have to shuffle. It was fun - one of her favorite parts of casting. This imagining, mixing people. Working parts out like a jigsaw puzzle. A few more phone calls. A few leads.
In the Wal-Mart isle, looking for another gallon of peanut oil, Lindsey's phone rang. Chance's number came up but Cody was on the end of the line.
"Hey. I talked to Dan. If you have a flyer for auditions, you can put them at the Palace."
"Great!" Lindsey's mind worked quickly. Was there enough ink? Was there a way she could change the days on the PDF poster that Brandi had designed.
It was the clentcher that moved Lindsey's attendance to Willy Wonka up a week. Piknic came in handy to cover the old audition dates and type in new. With a poster printed, Lindsey set off to the Palace where she knew over half the cast in their current show.
Taping it onto the door, she stopped by the concession stand manned by Danny and Emme. Danny told her he was excited about the show - to see someone as young as her with such an interest in such an old story.
If he had any idea about the Big, White House, he might not be so surprised.
Lindsey eyed the crowd as she found a seat in the second row from the front. Not one person did she recognized but a glance at the program told her where all her friend were. Behind the big, black curtain that fascinated the boy who plopped into a seat beside her.
"Get up," the father said. "She has someone there."
"No, I don't," Lindsey said. "He can sit there."
It was the boy's first time in a live theatre. He kept asking when it was starting and why it wasn't starting yet. Who was behind the curtain? Did she have kids back there? Did she have grand kids back there? Would she like some popcorn?"
"He'll talk your ear off," the father warned.
Later the boy switched seats with the girl who informed Lindsey that she had seen "Alice in Wonderland" here.
It wasn't at the Palace - it had to be the high school - and likely was Lindsey's cousin Lauren playing Alice.
When the show started, vague memories played of watching the show at her grandma's - again in the church waiting on her parents to ready for programs. She remembered wanting to try the flavored wall-paper and the mushroom. She remembered better the feeling of horror at the sight of the oompa-loompas or the terrible things that happened to spoiled children - and how unsympathetic Willy Wonka was. Tonight she smiled nearly the entire show. There was Ron, playing the deaf grandpa and making her miss her Sweeny Pop. Oh, and his wife Dana beside him. And little Tex - how badly she wished he didn't have a competition on performance nights. There was someone new playing the grandfather - and he was good. Where had she seen him? Was there a part he could play in Titanic? The father was a possibility. Would it be strange to ask him to come audition?
She didn't get a chance to talk to either man afterwards, but spoke with several other actors who would be finishing up that show in time to start on another. Some had commitments. Some were interested in showing up. She hoped she could find a spot for everyone. She still needed a lot of younger actors, as there weren't many middle-aged parts. She might be doing a lot of rewriting.
Talking to David and Gary, she knew she'd at least have two younger guys as potentials to fill in some of the needed parts.
Then back to home.
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