"Hey Ethel, take a look at that this." Lucy said indicating the spot on the paper where she
was reading. Ethel stood up and peered over Lucy's shoulder.
"You wouldn't be indicating that little blurb about that audition would you?" Ethel asked
eyeing her suspiciously.
"Weeelllll." Lucy said. Ethel shook her head
"Lucy, you know you won't get away with this right?" Lucy stood up and walked to the
mantle and seized the silver cigarette box, pulling one out and lighting up.
"Oh, please Ethel. He owes me! I mean honestly. He takes off with his band to Los
Angeles, for two weeks, taking Fred with him mind you, and leaves us here alone and
bored, what does he expect me to do? The audition is tomorrow night at 7:00, Ricky
doesn't call until 9. You can watch little Ricky, I'll go to the audition, and come back
way before then. And if he does happen to call, you can cover for me, just tell him that I
went out to pick up some grocery's or something." Ethel shook her head,
"I just don't know Lucy. You know I can't keep a secret. What if he does call before 9?"
"Well, then, just tell him the minimum amount of truth" Ethel tilted her head curiously.
"How do you expect I do that?"
"Well, the audition is going to be held at the Rainbow Diner right? You can tell him I
went there. He did leave me some money in case I didn't feel like cooking. I could have
easily gone down there to pick up some take-out." Lucy said with a smirk
"OOOH" Ethel said "Okay, fine. But I'm warning you, if Ricky finds out he is not going
to be happy."
The next day Lucy hopped into the shower at 5:30 and began "practicing" for her
audition.
"Lucy?" Ethel said. "I think you need to replace your radio battery's, the sound is a little
crackly."
Lucy rolled her eyes.
"Ethel, that's me silly! The radio's not on! Hah hah, you're such a joker."
"Ah" Ethel rolled her eyes and walked back into the living room trying hard to suppress
laughter.
At 6:00, Lucy sauntered into the living room wearing her best outfit, her hair up
in rollers.
"How do I look?" she asked twirling around for Ethel to see.
"Hey, nice hair-do, but that outfit is dismal!" she said laughing.
Lucy rolled her eyes and smacked Ethel playfully on the shoulder. "Come on seriously!"
she said
"Okay, seriously" Ethel said between giggles "I really do like that outfit, I don't believe
I've seen it before, when did you get it?"
Lucy gave Ethel a proud smile. "Ricky let me pick it out before he left I swear, as big a
fuss that he makes about me not going on tours with him, he sure does feel bad when the
time comes to leave." She said.
"Ah, yes. The only thing Fred gave me before he left was a large pile of laundry to do
and a television set to have repaired."
"What happened to your set Ethel?" Lucy asked curiously.
"Aww, Fred got mad when they cancelled one of his programs. So he threw his shoe at
it."
Lucy laughed. "Well, that's one way to solve your problems."
Ethel shook her head.
"It's not funny, sets are expensive to repair and you know how Fred is about money. He's
going to have a fit when he comes home and sees the bill." Lucy nodded.
"I have to go finish my hair, and then I'm going to head out because I want to make sure
I get an audition, they're on a first come first serve basis." Lucy said before heading
back towards the bathroom. When she was ready she went into little Ricky's room,
kissed him goodbye, seized her coat from the closet and headed towards the door.
"Bye Ethel!" she said "remember the plan!" Ethel nodded.
"Yeah, yeah yeah. Good Luck."
Lucy drove the fifteen minutes to the Rainbow Diner and walked in.
"Can I get you a table Miss?" the hostess asked.
"No, I'm here for the audition." She said, the hostess nodded and directed her to a table in
the far back.
"That is where all the auditioners are meeting. You can sign in with the man wearing the
yellow tie with polka dots." Lucy nodded and casually walked over to the table, trying to
make as if she had been doing this for years and was not nervous in the slightest.
"Name?" the man with the polka-dotted tie asked.
"Lucille Ric… um McGillicutty." She said remembering that these people might just
know her husband. "I'm here to audition."
"Yes, and so is everyone else here" the man said gesturing towards the large table that
easily held over a hundred people. "And these are just the people who made it past
questioning so far. They'll be lots more where they came from." Lucy gulped.
"Questioning?"
"Yes, I have a few questions to ask you about prior experience and what not."
"Oh!! My experience" she said shuffling her feet nervously. Ever since she had made that
bet with Ricky and the Mertzes' that she couldn't go for a day without lying, and had
almost "ended up getting slain by a knife thrower" she had tried to limit herself to white
lies. But as she stood there waiting for the man with the polka-dots to ask his questions,
she recalled that same day, she had been so close to auditioning that she could almost
taste it, then she had to go and tell the truth and she was almost immediately weeded out.
She decided that a few little lies wouldn't hurt, and besides she did have some acting
experience, hadn't she played that flower in her school dance?
"No harm in stretching the truth a little" she said to herself.
"Okay," the man said "how long have you been in the business?"
"What business?" Lucy asked confusedly
"Um, performing arts Ms. McGillicutty."
"OOOOH, right that." She said nervously. "Yeah, well. I started out my career dancing
the part of a flower in one of my school dances, and I have appeared in numerous
performances at the Tropicana. Oh, and I've also rehearsed for a television commercial.
"Which one?
"Doesn't matter, never got a chance to film it."
"Why not?"
"Um, technical difficulties."
"Oh, so, you said you perform at the Tropicana huh? Isn't that Ricky Ricardo's joint?
You got personal contact with him?" Lucy's eyes darted nervously.
"Yeah, he lets me perform there from time to time. I've done some ballet for him, and I
was a clown once as well."
"That's some good experience there Ms. McGillicutty, what pictures have you starred
in?"
"Oh, um, well…" Lucy rambled trying to come up with a good lie. If she started naming
picture's she'd appeared in it would be a good bet that the man would check out the films
and find out that she was nothing but a liar.
"Well, I haven't starred in any pictures per-say, but I've gotten many offers to do so."
"And why haven't you accepted any?" Polka-dot guy asked.
"Well, none of them really floated my boat. But just recently Mr. John Wayne asked me
to come to an audition for him and I told him that I was going to this here audition today
and that I would get back to him."
"Okay, so basically you're saying that your experience is limited to school plays and the
Tropicana, but you're high in demand so I should jump while you're still free." Lucy
nodded.
"Basically, but seriously. You can talk to my elementary school dance instructer, I was
the best flower they ever had."
"Do you have any other references, do you perhaps, mind if we gave Mr. Ricardo a call?"
Lucy's eyes widened.
"Oh, well, um. You see he's kind of on a tour with his band in Los Angeles and he would
be hard to get a hold of. I really don't think he would have any time to talk at the
moment. Yes, very busy man, very busy indeed."
"Oh, not a problem, when does he return, do you know?" Lucy considered lying and
making his return date later but she did want to sound realistic and she figured that they
would have casted by then anyway.
"Oh, not for another two weeks. Like I said, you might try giving my elementary school
dance instructer a call."
"Oh no, that's not a problem Ms. McGillicutty. We won't be making our casting
decisions for at least a month so we'll have plenty of time to contact him after he
returns." Lucy gulped.
"Well, uh. When you do call him, I go by a stage name so he won't know who Lucille
McGillicutty is. My stage name is…" she racked her brain trying to remember one of
Ricky's female dancer's names and finally came up with one. "Vivien Frawley."
"Okay then Ms. McGillicutty, uh, Ms. Frawley, whichever. Have a seat. You made it
through phase one. Just fill out these forms and we'll call you back in a few weeks after
we've contacted your references."
Lucy sat down, half of her ecstatic, the other half nervous. She just hoped that Ricky
didn't catch on.
"How did it go?" Ethel asked as Lucy drifted into the room.
"Well, I made it past phase one." Lucy said plopping down next to Ethel on the couch
and grabbing a handful of mixed nuts.
"Well, what's phase one?" Ethel asked anxiously.
"The questioning. Ricky call?"
"No. What do you mean questioning?" Ethel asked
"The basic questions about experience. I mainly told the truth but with a twist. I told him
I had performed as a flower in a school dance, and that I've performed at the Tropicana,
and that people have asked me to be in pictures and that I have rehearsed for a television
commercial " Ethel nodded.
"No lies in there."
"But I also told him that John Wayne had just recently asked me to be in one of his
pictures, and the reason I have not been in any pictures previously is because none of
them were my cup of tea. Oh, and the guy wants to call Ricky and ask him to give a
reference of me." Ethel's mouth dropped.
"What are you going to do? He'll find out!"
"No he won't, I told the guy my real name was Lucille McGilicutty, but that my stage
name is Vivien Frawley, and that's who he's going refer to me as when he's talking to
Ricky."
"Vivien Frawley…" Ethel racked her brain for a few moments before she remembered
where she had heard that name before. "isn't she one of the dancers at the Tropicana?"
Lucy nodded
"Yes, one of the better ones, Ricky is sure to give her a good reference."
There was not much more for Lucy to do but wait now, and of course practice for the
audition that she was confident she was going to get. The rest of the two weeks passed
by, Lucy singing and reading over Ricky's old scripts until even Ethel had to admit that
she was getting good. She had to admit, if everything worked out with Ricky and the
reference, Ethel figured Lucy would have a good chance of actually getting the role.
"And, to think," Ethel said to herself as she listened to Lucy sing in the shower. "once
Lucy makes it big, she can put in a good word for me, after all, I have starred in a few
things in my time." She smirked as she twirled around the room, singing.
"Hey Ethel, I think you need to change the battery's in that radio." Lucy said poking her
head out from the shower and laughing.
"Hah hah! Very funny" She said, her cheeks reddening as she sat back on the couch.
Three hours later, Lucy was dressed and awaiting Ricky and Fred's return. Five minutes
later, just as Lucy and Ethel had finished laying out the meal on the living room table the
two boys swept into the room.
"Hiya Lucy!" Ricky said going to her and giving her a kiss. "Mmm this looks divine."
Fred walked over to Ethel with his hands in his pockets.
"Hey Ethel, did you get that TV fixed?"
The four of them sat down and began eating there meal.
"So, what did you two girls do when we were away?" Ricky asked.
"Oh, nothing much. Kept the house clean, took care of little Ricky. Girl stuff." Lucy said
"Did the laundry, brought the TV in for repairs, picked up the TV after the repairs. Girl
stuff." Ethel said slightly grumpily.
"Aww come on toots. It was for a good cause!"
"Oh, good then you won't mind the bill then." Ethel said winking at Lucy.
"Well, uh, how much?" Fred asked cautiously
"One hundred and fifty dollars"
"ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLARS????!!!!!!!" Fred fumed.
"But it was for a good cause." Lucy and Ethel said in unison, as Ethel placed a hand on
Fred's shoulder to calm him down.
"Yeah yeah yeah" he grumbled.
Two days later, As Ricky and Lucy sat in front of the television, the telephone call came.
Ricky answered.
"Hello"
"Hello, Mr. Ricardo. This is Mr. William Vance from Extal Productions. I'm calling
because we were interested in giving one of your dancers an audition for our picture. Her
name is Lu…I mean… Vivien Frawley and I was wondering if you could give us your
opinion on her."
Lucy turned slightly in her chair to hear the conversation, but to make it look like she was
still watching the television.
"Oh, Vivien, she's great. Best dancer I have at the club. She'll make a fine actress."
Lucy grinned triumphantly as she heard Ricky list all of Vivien's fine quality's. Fifteen
minutes later, Ricky hung up the phone.
"Who was that?" Lucy asked.
"That was a Mr. Vance from Extal productions. You know that backup dancer I have
down at the club?, Vivien Frawley. Well, she apparently is the type of girl they are
looking for and they just called me to tell them about her a little bit. They say she
definitely has what they're looking for. How bout that?"
Lucy had to bite lip to keep from shouting out in excitement.
"Oh, that's nice dear." She said and turned her head back to the television program.
The next morning after breakfast, Ricky left for the club. Lucy scooped up little Ricky
and went down to Fred and Ethel's apartment.
"Hey Luce, what's up?" Ethel asked.
"I forgot to give you a key piece of information in this little scheme. See I couldn't let
Mr. Vance know that me and Ricky live together so I put down your number as mine. I
hope you don't mind if me and little Ricky hang out here all day… and the next…etcetera
until Mr. Vance calls."
Ethel shook her head and rolled her eyes.
"Not at all. Please, make yourself at home. Next thing I suppose you'll be receiving
visitors here as well right?"
Lucy laughed.
"If I don't happen to be here when he calls for any reason, just tell him your my friend
visiting from Los Angeles and I will return his call as soon as I can." Ethel nodded.
An hour later, the telephone rang and Lucy picked it up.
"Hello?" she asked.
"Ms. McGillicutty?, Frawley…"
Lucy laughed
"Yes, this is us."
"This is Mr. William Vance from Extal Productions. We talked to Mr. Ricardo yesterday
and he gave us an excellent evaluation. We'd like to call you back for an audition. Can
we set up the time and date right now?
"Of course." Lucy said triumphantly
"How about tomorrow at noon, or do you have to perform?"
"No, noon tomorrow sounds fine."
"Fine then, I'll meet you at the Rainbow Diner and then we can move to our studio."
"That fine, thank you Mr. Vance, I'll see you tomorrow.
The two hung up and Lucy did a little twirl.
"I might just pull this off." She grinned.
That night, as Lucy sat darning Ricky's socks, he strolled in.
"Hi Ricky!" she said getting up and walking to him.
"Hiya hunny! You want to hear something so funny? I went down to the club today and
decided it would only be appropriate to congratulate Vivien on her audition…"
Lucy could see where this was going and backed off slightly.
"… only to hear her tell me that she had had no audition. Oh, and here's something even
funnier. Mr. Vance, you know, William Vance- of Extal Productions. He decided to make
a little appearance at the club today. Wanted to see Vivien perform. He said he didn't see
her and I pointed her out.. He said that wasn't the girl who had come in for the original
audition. Described her more as a "frowzy red-head." And I quote. I said I only knew one
frowzy red-head and she went by the name Lucille Ricardo. Here's the even funnier thin',
he then proceeded to tell me that this fore-mentioned frowzy red-head had originally
signed in as, Lucille McGillicutty. You dun't know anyone by that name do you?"
Lucy backed off even further.
"Nope, doesn't ring a bell."
"LUCCCCY, I think you have some 'splainin to do"
"Ohhhh"
"Did you go for an audition while I was gone? Tell me the truth."
"Weellll"
"LUCCCCCCYY."
"Alright, I'll 'splain. I really wanted to at least try and see how good I was. And I don't
think it's fair that you have girls in your club that you give good reviews for them to star
in pictures and you won't even support your own wife!"
Ricky looked at her crossly for a moment before smiling.
"Alright, hunny, okay, you're right. I guess I have been selfish all these years trying to
keep you as a house wife. I see where you have talent. Every time you snuck into my club
I secretly wished you were part of the act. You know I'm stubborn. Anyway, I worked
the whole thin out with Mr. Vance and he said you could still do the audition even though
you sort of lied to him."
"Oh Ricky!!!" Lucy said rapping her arms around him.
A month later, Lucy began filming for her first ever roll in a picture. Her co-stars? Mr.
John Wayne, Fred and Ethel Mertz, and, of course, Ricky Ricardo
Between shoots Lucy plopped on the couch, with her chin propped on her hands.
"You looked thoughtful, what's up?" Ricky said sitting down next to Lucy.
"Well, it just occurred to me. Now that you're supporting my acting career, I'm going to
have to come up with a new way to annoy you." Lucy said laughing.
"You're sayin, that all these years, all these little thin's you've been doing, had nothing to
do with wanting to act?"
"It was 20 desire to act, and 80 desire to annoy…"
Lucy laughed uncontrollably as Ricky began to mutter in Spanish.
There was a knock on the door.
"Come on in" Lucy said between giggles.
"Time to shoot." Mr. Vance said.
"Come on hunny" Ricky said putting an arm around her. "Lets' go live your 20
dream…"