Peeter entered the stage door into the penthouse, followed by Katherine and me. I walked through the door and took an extra step before I remembered I needed to shut the door. I didn’t want to make it look like I forgot, so I kicked backward and hoped for the best. It got a laugh, so I made a mental note to keep it.
“Come now, Icelyn, Blitz, and Tinsel,” Madam Winterville started, “what mischief have you three been up to?”
Blitz explained his theory about the depravities of man, which was cut off mid-sentence.
“Ding Dong,” Serafina yelled again.
Josef appeared, opened the door, and let in Billy James. We then hear Billy James’ sorrowful tale of being in the big city and not knowing anyone or having any place to go on Christmas. The whole passage was cheesy beyond cheesy, but Caiden delivered the lines without making it seem too disingenuous.
“Ding Dong,” Serafina yelled.
Josef appeared again and let in Coleen Lawrence. Her sweet disposition was enough to make any actual New Yorker gag, but I could see how she would sell to an out-of-town audience. She also has no plans for Christmas. She was going to read a book and head to bed early. Clearly, this character learned nothing about being a single gal in the city. I wanted to sit the character in front ofSex in the Cityand give her some lessons.
After both sad stories, McKenna gets to have her big moment on the stage. The song “Stay and Have a Good Cheer” was written primarily for McKenna’s vocal range. She sort of half-sang, half-spoke the song. It reminded me of when I saw Elaine Stritch in her last role on Broadway as a teenager when she didA Little Night Musicwith Bernadette Peters.
“Take twenty,” Serafina yelled from her spot as soon as McKenna finished the song.
I bent over at the waist and stretched out my back. After a while, standing on the wooden stage took a lot out of you, so I enjoyed a good deep stretch.
“Good morning, Ms. Saunders,” a man’s voice said.
I looked between my legs to catch Lachtna MacGrory staring down at me. I quickly stood up straight, causing the blood to rush out of my head, leaving me woozy for a second. Lachtna reached out to steady me as I asked, “How are you this morning?”
“I’m doing great. And yourself?” He dropped his supportive hand from my upper arm now that I was firmly planted on both feet.
“So far, so good. The first act was running smoothly. Any idea why they called a break?”
“Not a clue,” he admitted. “Gives me a chance to double-check a few items in the meantime. Anyway, back to work.”
He walked away, and I stared after him.
“Whatcha looking at?” Katherine asked.
I spun my head toward her, “Umm…nothing.” The red flush on my face didn’t fool her at all.
“You have the hots for everyone’s favorite leprechaun?”
“Katherine…” I stammered out. “Isn’t that like racist or something? You know, calling a guy from Ireland a leprechaun?”
“I don’t think he would mind,” Katherine looked past me. When I turned my head to see what she was looking at, Lachtna stared back at me and gave me a wink. “I’d slide down the rainbow into his pot of gold anytime.”
“Katherine!” I chastised.
“Oh, come off it. I’m jealous that all the hot guys fall for you.”
“That’s not true,” I said, but I could feel the flush in my cheeks.
I ran to the bathroom while I had a chance, then grabbed a new water bottle before walking back on stage. As I was getting back, Lachtna was walking my way. A smile lit his face. “Erika, some of my mates that work backstage are going to a pub tonight. Why don’t you and the other girl elf join us?”
“Let me check with her, but I think that can be arranged.”
“Places!” Serafina yelled. “We’re going to pick up from where we stopped. I’ll have notes about the first half of Act One before lunch.”
I hurried to my mark on the stage.
“I saw you talking to the Irish hottie,” Katherine said as she joined me back on stage. “Has he proposed and promised to take you back to Ireland with him?”
“No,” I drew out, “but he invited us to a pub with some of the rest of the stagehands tonight.”
