“Oh, why the heck not!” I smiled to reassure Brice that I was on board. Inside my head, I wondered if I’d made another bad dating decision.
Chapter 21
Wehadacompanymeeting the following morning at 8:30 a.m., which was hard for us to drag ourselves out of bed for. I looked around the theater, and there were larger than usual cups of coffee. Most of them looked like they hadn’t gotten more than a couple of hours of sleep. When you’re in a show, it’s hard to come down from the adrenaline high after the curtain goes down. Many theater types become natural night owls because we’re amped up and take some time to go to bed. When I toured, I often exercised after the show to drain my body of my excess energy. It also meant I could sleep in later because I wouldn’t have to get up early to hit the gym.
I spied Mr. Weiss and his Russian henchman, Nicolai, for a moment, but the two men didn’t stay in the theater for very long. At 8:30 on the dot, Serafina and San Nicolás walked into the theater. “Good news,” San Nicolás said. “We figured out the problem from last night. It was a computer issue.” San Nicolás gestured to Serafina.
“Yesterday afternoon, between our rehearsal and the first preview, our computer system performed an automatic upgrade. I don’t completely get the Internet, but apparently, our computers were still connected to it, which shouldn’t have happened. We’re not completely sure where the break in protocol happened.” The look on Serafina’s face told me she knew exactly who was to blame for this oversight. “The upgrade was incompatible with two different systems we use to run the show. Both vendors have promised software updates today. We will not be running the show with a lot of tech this morning or this afternoon. We are in a holding pattern until they fix it. Going forward, our system will be isolated and not connected to the Internet, so this shouldn’t ever happen again.”
“What happens if it doesn’t get fixed today?” Asher asked from the other side of the theater.
“We’ll postpone our second preview,” Serafina said. The room immediately erupted into a set of murmured conversations. “I know, I know,” Serafina roared over the group. She waited for the room to die down before she continued. “Many of you have friends or family that are coming tonight. If we reschedule, we will do our best to accommodate all the comp tickets through Weiss’ office.”
“This isn’t what any of us wanted to hear this morning,” San Nicolás cut in. “But for now, we must move on. This morning and maybe this afternoon, we will run the show with a rehearsal pianist. Our esteemed musical director is fixing some issues the orchestra had last night in a different rehearsal studio this morning. Hence, our composer is once again gracing us with his presence to help us run the show.” San Nicolás looked around the room to ensure no other comments. A few people took this as notice to stand up. “But first,” he said, looking at those who had stood. “But first, we have notes. Our stage manager has put together a comprehensive list.”
I pulled out my notebook containing the book and score, along with my trusty number two pencil. I readied myself for whatever Serafina threw at me. She spent almost 45 minutes giving notes. Based on her feedback, I was practically amazed she had time to run the show last night. She went through a list and called off a name. She would then inform that actor of every problem she’d caught. She saw it all, from missed dance steps to going up on a lyric. I had forgotten about her eagle eye for detail.
“Erika Saunders,” Serafina said and looked in my direction. All eyes looked at me as I sat up a little straighter. “I only have a couple of notes for you,” she said, looking at her list. I admit I let out a little sigh of relief. “First, watch the foot you enter on at the top of Act One. We wanted the three of you to be walking in sync with each other. Last night, you were off. Second, on ‘He’ll Drink Too Much, and Laugh Too Much,’ you went flat on the high note. I think it was a breath support issue. Try breathing before the refrain to make sure you have enough steam when building to that note. Last, the quick-change.”
I let out a small, “Snowballs!”
“I know. The quick-change is the bane of your existence,” Serafina acknowledged. “It was decided that the dress change didn’t match the shoes. So, we’re adding a shoe change as well. This means you’ll have less time than we predicted. Two extra dressers will now be assigned to help with that change. We’ll run the quick-change when we get the system up and running.” She contemplated her list and said, “Peeter Gaspari.” Serafina looked around the room and found him sitting over near Asher.
I stopped listening at that point. The first two notes made perfect sense. I knew I was going up on that high note, and I agreed that the breath placement may be the answer. The quick-change shoes made me want to crawl into a hole and go back to sleep. I wasn’t sure how the new addition would work, but I wouldn’t know until the costume designer got here with my new shoes.
The rest of the morning went according to plan. By early afternoon, the software company had patched their software, and everything was working as it should have. I texted Brice and Johnny to tell them the good news about what had happened the previous night. Both texted me back to let me know we weren’t the only show with tech problems the previous evening. Apparently, this system update threw a lot of computers for a loop. On the positive, it meant the story about the computer software update was making waves and making news, so the rough patches of our first preview wouldn’t make as much of a splash as we’d all feared.
That night’s preview went off with no major glitches. The costumer didn’t have my new shoes ready, so I was still wearing the unfortunately mismatched shoes. Honestly, the shoes were black. Black goes with everything, so I didn’t see the big deal.
During intermission, I ran to my dressing room to use the restroom. I’d need to pee since the top of Act One. I knew better. When I was done, Gladys ensured my costume was back on me properly. I had a few minutes left, so I checked out my phone. I had a message from Brice.
“I talked to Benedikt Einar, and he’s seeingThe Naughty Listtomorrow night. He would like to take you out for a late dinner afterward.“ Well, that was interesting. Brice’s lawyer friend was already planning on coming to our show.
“What’s wrong, Erika?” Gladys asked.
“My agent wants to set me up on a date. The guy’s supposed to be at the show tomorrow night and wants to take me out afterward. I don’t know if I want to deal with that. First dates are hard enough. And after a show, I don’t exactly look like I’m ready for a night on the town.”
Gladys looked at me and said, “If you decide to go on the date, I’m sure I can wrangle up a team to help you get ready. I’ll ask Carlos in the wig and makeup department to help. You know he’ll jump at the chance to turn you into Cinderella.”
The image of watching Carlos do a little glee dance at being asked made me laugh. “I guess that’s one of the true joys of working on Broadway. There’s always a team that has your back.” I texted Brice to tell Mr. Einar that dinner was a go.
Thursday flew by, and the evening show was our best run-through yet. I’m sure Serafina would have notes for us in the morning; she always did, but the notes helped people fine-tune the show. When the final curtain closed, I rushed back to my dressing room. Gladys helped me out of my costume while Carlos took off my wig and the microphone rigging. After a night of hoofing it on stage, I was a hot, sweaty mess, so I took a fast shower. From the front row, we may look like we’re in a winter wonderland where it’s all cold and icicles, but it can be oppressively hot under the heat of the lights. During the winter months, it’s not that bad. But during the summer months, it can be miserable. And heaven forbid you have an air conditioning unit go out during a show. There’s a reason most Broadway houses are cold enough to hang meat in during the summer—it’s so the talent doesn’t pass out on stage.
After my shower, I toweled off and dressed in my undergarments, brushed my teeth, and put on deodorant.
My amazing team was ready to go the second I entered the room. I planned on wearing something a little more casual, but decided to glam it up a bit. I wore a pair of thin-fit blue jeans with a rather tight forest green sweater dress over them. I finished the outfit with a pair of faux leather boots dyed the same color as the dress. In this outfit, I could look both upscale or scaled-down depending on where my date took me. That was one tiny piece of information Brice had not filled me in on. Once Gladys finished making sure my outfit looked perfect, Carlos moved in and quickly did my hair and makeup. Carlos was a wiz. He was fast and could accentuate a girl’s features without making her look over the top. He went with a rose-colored eye shadow that set well against my dress. He wanted to use a nude illusion, so he outlined my lips in a salmon color, then filled them in using a lighter version of lipstick.
By the time he was done with me, I was smoking. I thanked both for their help.
“Any time, girl. You know where to find me,” Carlos said as he left.
Gladys thanked Carlos, too, then bid me a good night. I looked down at my watch and realized only about thirty minutes had passed. I grabbed my coat and headed toward the stage door.
Nicolai was standing next to the stage door when I got there. Part of me was hesitant, but I marched right up to the door as if I owned the place. “Good job tonight,” he said with a single head nod. “You might need this,” and he handed me a marker before he opened the door. A line of fans stood out back, waiting to get autographs and pictures with the cast. I hadn’t considered fans stagedooring when Brice had recommended Benedikt Einar pick me up here.
“Thanks,” I said to Nicolai and exited into the cold. Security personnel stood on each side of the barrier wall to ensure the fans didn’t get too close. I pulled the lid off the marker and turned to the first woman.
“I absolutely loved the show,” the woman gushed. She handed me herPlaybill, and I signed it. I then took a selfie with a teenage girl from Columbus, and I signed herPlaybill. Down the line I went, talking to adoring fans of all genders and ages. Everyone was so amazingly polite and thanked me for taking the time to greet them. When I got to the end of the line, aPlaybillwas extended out to me. I accepted it and handed it back to the gloved hand without thinking. Only then did I look at the gloved hand and follow it up to a pair of azure-blue eyes.
