A/N: I recall last time I posted my second chapter two days after the first. So, here ya go =3= Chapter two!
Axis Powers Hetalia belongs to Hidekaz Himaruya.
West Side Story belongs to Arthur Laurents, Stephen Sondheim and Leonard Bernstein.
"O Del Mio Amato Ben" belongs to Stefano and Alberto Donaudy.
Zip. Zip. Zip. Zip.
The hood on her sweater tightened up as Lovina fiddled with the strings anxiously. The sign-up sheet had said 3:40. It was now 3:45. She scowled, yanking particularly hard one side. Class was let out at 3:30, and at a brisk walk, it was only a twenty minute walk back to her grandfather's house. She could have been five minutes away from flopping into the armchair. Five minutes away from her nap – though it was unlikely that she would have been able to sleep, thanks to the butterflies in her stomach. Lovina had carefully chosen her audition slot, the very first time on the very last day. She figured that after seeing so many people, whoever was in charge probably had casted some parts already and would be less inclined to pick her for anything. And the sooner this was over, the sooner she got home.
She absentmindedly fanned a thumb across the pages of her vocal book. There had been quite a lot of digging to find it, even if a quarter of her belongings were still stashed away in boxes. Lovina had practiced only once, just to see if she remembered anything. But Grandpa Roma had come running, so she was forced to showcase her "strong lungs" to an enraptured audience.
Recalling his ecstatic applause, Lovina breathed out a half-groan, half-sigh. She had no idea what today's' reception was going to be like. Of course Grandpa Roma thought it was brilliant; he was obligated to say so as family. But these people, they were going to actually judge. That's why they were called a judging panel. Not that Lovina wanted to be in the stupid musical in the first place, but for some reason, she didn't want to sound terrible, either...the restless hoodie string froze momentarily as she tried to justify herself. She had received training. She was a good singer. Even Feliciana had nothing on this. So naturally, these panel idiots would have to be impressed!
Suddenly, the door flew open and banged against the wall, which startled her to the point of yelping and dropping the song book. Four people hurried inside, but she didn't recognize a single face. Lovina felt all that confidence instantly drain out of her.
The first person she noticed was a tall senior with ash blond hair and very, very thick eyebrows. It was as if a pair of plump caterpillars had decided to take residence on this poor boy's forehead. Underneath these monstrosities were pale green eyes that darted around the room with a determined, slightly manic apprehension to them. When he opened his mouth, Lovina was surprised to hear a British accent.
"Oh. You must be Lovina. I'm Arthur Kirkland, the director of this show...Really sorry about the lateness. Some issues cropped up." He turned to shoot a look at one of his companions. "Or else we would have been on time!"
Another boy, taller than him, shrugged shamelessly and adjusted his glasses. "You know how the after-school crush is like. And there was a lot of snowfall today, so the floor was absolutely disgusting."
Arthur rolled his eyes, but began to introduce the rest. HK Wang was a slight Asian boy, probably a sophomore, sporting a trendy haircut and outfit. His dark brown eyes gleamed with some inner amusement, the only thing betraying his excellent poker face. Maddie Williams was a sweet looking girl with blonde hair and baby blue doe eyes. They widened as she smiled awkwardly at Lovina, her arms wrapped around several books and a clipboard. The uppity brunet who had refused to ingratiate himself with the sweaty packs of students in the hallways was Roderich Edelstein.
"Assistant director, stage manager, and musical director," Arthur stated, pointing at each of them in turn.
Lovina stood awkwardly to one side as they busied themselves with setting up desks and chairs. Roderich had produced an electric keyboard out of nowhere and was now plugging it in. She still wasn't sure whether the audition process had actually started yet. Finally, Arthur, HK, and Maddie (at the same time, to Lovina's horror) whipped out a sheet of paper and a pen, then looked up at her with rapt attention.
Arthur gestured to the slips of paper stacked in front of him. "Would you like to show us your song or your cold read first?"
Lovina just stared at him.
"Hey, here's a thought," HK said. "We've been doing this for five days so we know how things happen. But new people don't. And it might be useful to let them know what's going on." He looked directly at her. "Have you ever auditioned for anything before?"
She shook her head.
"Do you know what West Side Story is about?"
"Not...really?"
"Oh, well, maybe that's a good place to start."
Arthur coughed sheepishly. "Alright. Lovina, you do know Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, right?"
At this, she frowned, feeling insulted. "Who doesn't?"
"Okay, fine. Basically, West Side Story is an adaptation of Romeo and Juliet. Set in 1950s New York City." Arthur put down his pen. "We open with two opposing gangs, the Jets and the Sharks. The Sharks are comprised of immigrants from Puerto Rico, so the Jets are wary of them taking their territory. The Jets are comprised of working class white boys. Juvenile delinquents, if you may. So this is a race battle too. The Puerto Ricans are severely discriminated against, and the Jets aren't making it any easier for them."
The more he explained the details of the story, the more animated Arthur became. He shifted in his seat, leaning forward on his chair's first two legs.
"Finally, the Jets challenge the Sharks to an all-out rumble, a fight, to determine who is the true ruler of the streets. However, a former Jet, Tony, meets Maria, the sister of the Sharks' leader, Bernardo. It's love at first sight for them - doomed love. Bernardo instantly takes a dislike to Tony." Arthur took a deep breath. "Maria begs Tony to stop the rumble, but when he gets there, his best friend and leader of the Jets, Riff, is mortally wounded by Bernardo. Tony, in a blind fit of rage, kills Bernardo. Meanwhile, Maria has confided her newfound love to her sister-in-law, the sensual Anita. Anita initially agrees to help them, but the death of Bernardo and more harrassment from the Jets causes her to tell Tony that Chino, Maria's Shark intended, has murdered her in jealousy. Tony runs to Shark territory, begging Chino to kill him too. As Maria appears, completely unharmed, Chino complies with the request. Tony dies in Maria's arms. The show ends with the Jets and Sharks reconciling over this bitter price."
"And that's it in a nutshell," Maddie said, smiling at Lovina.
"A pretty big nutshell," HK remarked. "Thanks for writing the program notes before we've even finished casting, Arthur."
The older boy did nothing except to pick up his pen and roll his eyes.
"Now," Roderich continued, gesturing at the slips of paper again. "A cold read is when we give you a short scene to look over. You don't need to memorize it. We'll have somebody read the other part with you. Don't worry too much about it. So, would you rather begin with singing or the cold read?"
"Um. Singing?"
Roderich turned the keyboard on. "How long have you been singing?"
"...Five years? Around?"
"Oh, interesting. That's quite a while."
"What kind of training? Do you know your voice type?" Arthur demanded.
"Classical. Mezzo to soprano," Lovina answered stiffly.
He blinked. "Sounds like you know your stuff." He started scribbling on his paper. Lovina was horrified to see that Maddie and HK were jotting down notes as well. Luckily for her, Roderich caught her attention.
"Let's test your voice range. Okay, Lovina?"
He might have a stern face, but his calm made him significantly less intimidating than Arthur. Lovina was well aware of the latter's furious scribbling as Roderich led her up and down the keys.
"Wow. High C. Very impressive. You can definitely do more than just mezzo. I'd say you're a legit soprano." He saw the book in Lovina's hands. "What are you going to sing for us?"
"Uh..." She gazed down at her songbook. That was a really good question. "It's, um. This Italian song. Is it okay if I haven't memorized it?" she asked quickly, realizing she would be completely sunk if they said no.
Roderich glanced at the others before shrugging. "Whatever, why not. You're literally the first soprano we've seen. Would you like a starting note?"
"E flat?"
He paused, fingers suspended in the air over the keyboard. "Sounds like you're not sure."
Lovina gritted her teeth, feeling a blush spreading across her face. "Yes. It's an E flat. E4. The song's A-flat major."
Roderich played her the offending E flat, and the key chord. Then he waited.
Lovina took a deep breath, willing her face to cool down, and began.
O del mio amato ben, perduto incanto!
Lungi e dagli occhi miei chi m'era gloria e vanto!
Or perle mute stanze sempre lo cerco e chiamo,
Con pieno il cor di speranze...
Ma cerco invan, chiamo incan!
E il pianger m'e si caro, che di pianto sol nutro il cor.
She wanted to shut her eyes from the four faces staring at her in fascination. It was clear that nobody else had been like her in the previous auditions. On one level, she was pleased with being different, but on another, standing out had not been the goal. Now they would actually remember her.
Mi sembra, senza lui, triste ogni loco.
Notte mi sembra il giorno; mi sembra gelo il foco.
Se pur talvolta spero di darmi ad altra cura,
Sol mi tormeta un pensiero:
Ma, senza lui, che faro?
Mi par cosi la vita vana cosa senza il mio ben.
The song wasn't very long, and Lovina finished to a silent panel. Maddie and Roderich looked mildly surprised, their glasses glinting slightly in the light. HK turned to Arthur and suddenly let out a short bark of laughter. The eponymous director was staring at Lovina incredulously, not having moved from the first note to the last, his arms still folded tensely against his chest. Flushing another deep red, Lovina glared at him, grabbed her backpack and ran the hell out of there.
As soon as she left, laughter broke the silence.
"Oh my god, a legit soprano. Who would have thought this high school had a legit soprano?"
"I've never seen a face that red."
"So, like. Maybe this means that prayers and sacrificial offerings to Thespis do work after all. Arthur?"
Arthur grinned and slapped the table. "We finally found her. Goddamn, yes."
"We finally found our Maria."
A/N: I prefer to have my sopranos more classically trained, so sue me. =D Also, the song is written by two Sicilian brothers, so it's a perfect match if you ask me.
Translation, according to my song book:
Oh lost spell of my dearly beloved!
Far it is from my eyes that which was my glory and virtue!
Now throughout the silent rooms always I try to find him and cry out
With my heart full of hopes...
But I search in vain, I call out in vain!
Crying is so beloved that only by crying do I console my heart.
To me, it seems, without him every place seems sad.
Night to me feels like day; to me, ice seems like fire.
Sometimes I hope to follow another direction,
I am tortured by one thought:
Without him, what will I do?
To me, life has no point without my beloved.
I'm super excited about the next chapter, by the way. It's going to be so much fun writing it :3
