I finished sending the text when Ralph pulled back the chair and sat down at the table.
“I’m sorry I was late. I was brought on to a new project this afternoon, and I was trying to get up and running.”
“Anything I would have heard of?” I asked.
“Maybe. There’s a new Broadway theater set to open next month—“
“Let me guess, the Maurer Theatre?” The quick wrinkle of his forehead showed me he hadn’t expected me to know about it yet. The crease on his forehead also showed me he wasn’t using Botox…yet.
“I’m surprised you’ve heard of the Maurer Theatre. It’s flying under the radar right now.”
“The new show opening the Maurer…”
“Yes?”
“I’m in that musical.”
“Really? I hadn’t heard that yet. But then, the only person the producer has told me about is the lead, Caiden Wynter Jeanes. Rebekka went on and on about him when we met. She wanted to make sure that I knew Jeanes was a teen heartthrob making his Broadway debut. Honestly, I hadn’t heard of him, so I watched a few old episodes ofDerek’s Destinyon YouTube.”
“I’m surprised Rebekka didn’t bring you Caiden’s entire DVD collection,” I said with a smile.
“Yeah, she sure seems to be putting a lot into his stock as a draw for a younger audience.” Ralph took a drink of his coffee before he continued. “What can you tell me about the show?”
I snorted out a quick laugh that was very un-lady-like. When I got myself under control, I said, “I’ll let you know once I do.” He narrowed his eyes in confusion. So, I provided a few more details. Over the next ten minutes, I laid out everything that had happened in the rehearsals.
“Well…wow… I can tell you Rebekka made it sound like things were moving along much better than that.”
“I think we have something, but I really have no idea what it is yet. Honestly, I don’t think anyone knows what we have yet.”
“Well, you better hurry up and find out. The show opens in five weeks.”
“Tell me about it,” I said. I then took a sip of my flat white, which had grown lukewarm. After putting down my cup, I looked at my watch—we had twenty minutes to curtain. “Shall we head on over?”
Ralph looked at his watch. “Wow, you’re right. We really should make our way to the theater.”
Ralph stood up and donned his coat. I put on my coat. Ralph didn’t offer to help me. Not that I need help to put on my jacket, but it’s still nice when a guy offers. We left the coffee shop, headed around the corner, and made our way to the will-call line. We chitchatted about nothing in particular. Before long, we had our tickets in-hand and made it past security into the theater with about five minutes to spare before curtain.
The usher handed us ourPlaybillsand showed us to the sixth row of the theater. Our seats were on the aisle. Ralph took the aisle seat and I sat next to him. Almost immediately, Ralph saw someone he knew a couple of aisles over, so he went over to say hello. I spent the time flipping through thePlaybill. One of the first pages that caught my attention was a reprint of the T.S. Elliot poem, “The Hallow Men.” I hate admitting that I’d never read it before, but I hadn’t heard of it until this show came about. After reading the poem, I wasn’t sure what to expect from the show. The lights flashed, so I put thePlaybillunder my chair as Ralph came back to his seat.
“Sorry about that,” he whispered. “That’s one of the co-producers on the show. Just wanted to check in with him quickly.”
The orchestra started playing before I could say anything as the theater lights dimmed.
“This is the way the world ends. Not with a bang but with a whimper,” the lead actor sang as the lights faded to black.
I wasted two hours and thirty minutes of my life that I’ll never get back.What the heck was that?The timid applause from the audience suggested I wasn’t the only one who was utterly lost. The actors took their bows, and they looked defeated, like the closing notice for the musical had already been posted.
Once the curtain came down, we waded our way through the streams of people flowing out of the theater. Thankfully, the ushers opened the side doors, which made getting the masses of people inside the theater outside much faster.
“So, what did you think?” Ralph asked me.
Is this a trick question?“You’re the publicist. What do you think?”Good job, divert the question.
“I think it will be a smash hit and run for years,” he said with all seriousness without skipping a beat.
I stopped in the middle of the sidewalk, spun around, almost bumping into an older woman, and, before I could think, said, “Are you delusional? I mean, did we watch the same train wreck in there? The show had no plot. The music sounded like something I’d expect to hear in my niece’s kindergarten class. And I don’t have a niece. The choreography, albeit good, did nothing to further the story. If anything, it felt like someone wrote on the script ‘insert dance here,’ and that’s exactly what the choreographer did. Shall I go on?”
“Whoa there, tiger,” Ralph said, putting his arms up in mock surrender. “I wanted to see your reaction. And you’re right about everything you said. Don’t forget the costumes, which I swear came from the Salvation Army’s secondhand store.”
