I wonder what she defines as “okay.”
I sling my arm around her shoulder, steering her toward the stairs. "Well, then you should be just fine. There's absolutely nothing to be stressed or anxious about here, now, is there? No pressure whatsoever."
I purposely try to make my tone light. The last thing she needs is my residual feelings weighing her down.
She smiles slightly. Mission accomplished.
What I do understand is this: she was in no place to be in a relationship back then, and it doesn't seem like she's evolved much either. It was just unfortunate timing for me. Leslie has a lot of healing to do. The Edison has worked wonders for a lot of people, including Gloria. I hope Leslie can start on that path while she's here.
And then it hits me. The motivation for my lead character who lives a double life. When Oscar Wilde originally wrote the play,The Importance of Being Earnest, it was in a very trivial way. The character creates an alter ego just because he's bored. But I know that my main character has other reasons.
She's creating the person she wants to be, rather than the person society tells her she should be. She's Leslie.
I grab a quick sandwich and rush back to my room to scribble down my ideas. This is what I needed. This eureka moment.
My phone buzzes with a text message asking where I am.Shit. I've got to get to rehearsal. The sandwich is largely untouched, so I grab it, shoveling it in my mouth as I take the stairs two at a time. I'm still chewing as I hit the auditorium. "Sorry," I mumble. "I was working on my—"
"Show. We know. You're always working on your show," Zak laughs. "Are we ever going to see this show or is it just some mythical creation?"
"You know, like a hetero chorus boy?" Levi pipes in.
Everyone laughs. I've got so much adrenaline rushing through me. "No, it's coming. I'm—"
"Almost done. We've heard that before." Zak nods sagely.
"No, I had a breakthrough and figured out what I was missing." Involuntarily, my eyes dart to Leslie. I pull my gaze back to Zak. "But enough about my show. Where are we with this one? I think we're working on 'From Now On' today. Gray, you ready?"
These huge ensemble numbers can take days to work out. The song ends up being over five minutes long. There are tons of transitions and layers of choreography. It's the final number in the show, so we have to pull out all the stops. The entire cast will pretty much be on the stage at some point, and Leslie will be doing aerial tricks above everyone.
We need to break down the vocals first before they try to learn the choreography. Everyone separates into their groups by classification. This is my favorite part. Teaching the separate lines and then layering them together to create powerful harmonies. I see notes weaving together like a painter mixes colors.
As excited as I am forThe Greatest Showman, I'm even more excited to see—and hear—my vision come to life for my show. I wonder if I can get some people here to do a rough demo for me. Someone hits a note that's way off, pulling me back in.
"Let's try that again. We're looking for a D4on that one. I think someone hit E#4." I tap out the note on the piano a few times for the sopranos to hear.
It takes about two hours to get through the music for this song. Now it's Kori's turn to take over with choreography. I've recorded a track of the instrumentals for her to use so I don't have to play the piano the whole time. I don't mind sitting here for some of it, but I was going to use this time to run over Tabitha's number with her since she's pretty much the only person not in the finale.
It's amazing to work with someone who's this level of professional. I hope it won't be the last time. I mean, she was nervous—nervous!—about this piece, so she worked with her own vocal coach to prepare.
"I don't think we have much to do, but let's run through this a few times, just so you feel comfortable."
Tabitha smiles. She begins singing "Never Enough," a soulful, wistful ballad that has the potential to freeze the audience in its tracks. Especially the way Tabitha sings it. I'm not sure what's going on with her and Henderson, but anyone with eyes can see it. I feel as if she's singing this directly to him.
If that's the case, she should stick with it because it's working for her.
"Are you getting back in the recording studio anytime soon?" I can't help but ask. "Is there another reunion planned?"
"We haven't talked about anything, but on the other hand, we didn't talk about it last time. Callie just booked us and assumed we'd all drop everything to be there." She shrugs. "Which is basically what happened."
"Maybe you should book something and see if they all show up."
Tabitha laughs. "The best I can do is a partial reunion. I know Mandy is coming to at least one of the shows, and I think Angie will as well. Last I heard, Callie's in England, so I don't think she'll be flying in. We're not important enough."
I break into one of the Sassy Cats' songs, and Tabitha immediately starts singing along. I realize she's a register off from me, so I adjust. She smiles at the fix.
"How do you know that music? I mean, it's not generally something you hear at a piano concert."
Sheepishly, I lift my shoulders and then let them casually fall. "I dunno. I can just hear things and play them. I can tell what the notes are."
