Opening night is one of my favorite nights. The energy, the nerves, the excitement. Standing backstage, bouncing on your toes, listening to the overture. Your mic is finally in place after the terrible struggle getting it on under your costume. Your makeup has been perfected; it's much to heavy for most occasions, but tonight, it's exactly what you need. You've warmed up your vocal chords, run through those few pesky lines that always seem to slip your mind, and had a proper meltdown the night before. Finally, you're ready.

You listen to The Narrator...There! It's your cue! You count silently to the beat of the drum: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7-now! You practically bounce out from behind the curtain, the knot of nerves in the pit of your stomach melting instantly. Your smile is bright, rivaling the sun with its intensity, for this moment-right now- is the one you've waited for since your name appeared on the top of the cast list three stressful months ago.

Words cannot describe how hard you've worked to get to this moment; how much energy you put into this, how many tears you shed, how many sacrifices you've made along the way. That date with your long-term crush you had to turn down due to tech week, that test earlier today you probably failed due to your nerves, that huge party you had to miss because of auditions, every single one of your weekday afternoons for rehearsals... Despite your previous notions, everything seems worth it now.

You open your mouth. "Little town,it's a quiet village/ Ev'ry day like the one before/ Little town, full of little people/ Waking up to say-" The stage suddenly fills with the rest of the cast, and the audience overflows with smiles.

The show has begun!

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hi! TheFunnyGirlDefyingGravity here! So, this story is about theatre... Musical theatre (insert scary music)! The glory of it all, the setbacks that occur, and (this will be the largest portion of the story) the funny and awkward moments that all theatre kids face at one point or another. From horrific wigs, to ripped costumes, to dead mics, to the most embarrassing scenes- this story will have all the best and worst moments in our theatre lives.

When I say 'our', I refer to myself (Nessa/ TheFunnyGirlDefyingGravity), the amazing LeaGirlWriter22 (who is my co-author), and you! Yes, you! PM me your story, and if it's "deemed worthy" by Lea and I, then we'll publish it so that all of the world can hear about your "fun" on the stage!

Obviously, this chapter is very short, but you need not worry, for it was simply the introduction to...There's No Business Like Show Business by LeaGirlWriter22 and (me) TheFunnyGirlDefyingGravity!

And no, you do NOT have to be a theatre kid to enjoy this story! As a matter of fact, you could hate musical theatre and still love this story! It's for everyone!

As you can probably tell by now, this isn't actually a Les Mis story, however, Les Mis seemed like the best place to put this for two reasons: 1) Lea played Cosette in a production of the show, and I'm currently playing Fantine in a production; 2) No offense to anyone, but let's face it... No one reads the stuff in the Misc. category. So despite it not technically being Les Mis, we hope you'll still read it! :)

Our first story shall be posted soon, but we'd love to hear from you about this (coughcough*slightlyboring*coughcough) chapter! (That means: everyone reading this should review!)

-Nessa