"Are you sure there's nothing available?" Mrs. Lovett asked the man in the box office.
"We are completely sold-out for the next three nights," he confirmed.
"Alright then," Mrs. Lovett said, leading the children away. "You two seem to be very popular here."
Wednesday sighed and sat down on one of the front steps of the Lunt-Fontanne theatre. She refused to accept this 'sold-out' thing. She was an Addams, for goodness' sake!
Around the corner, the stage door opened and a young woman buried in mounds of various wires and cables stepped out. She threw down the pile, selected a cable, and began running it along the base of the building's concrete wall. She reached the front steps of the Lunt-Fontanne and noticed the peculiar trio.
"You three are awfully early. The show doesn't start for another two-and-a-half hours," she said.
"We were trying to get tickets, but they're sold out so now we're trying to figure out what to do," Pugsley responded.
"That's too bad. The show has been doing very well lately."
"The children were hoping to find their parents here," Mrs. Lovett explained.
The woman gazed skeptically at Mrs. Lovett, then at the children, then back to Mrs. Lovett. "Where are you three staying? If I see them, I'll tell them to stop by."
A sudden realization struck the three. The children looked up at Mrs. Lovett, but she simply looked down at the sidewalk and shrugged. "We're not from around here. We haven't got a place to stay, or any local currency, for that matter."
The woman instantly felt a pinch of pity for them. "My name is Sally Weatherfeld," she said, offering a hand. "May I ask your names?"
"Wednesday Addams."
"Pugsley Addams."
"Nellie Lovett."
"Oh; and this is Thing," Pugsley said, holding out the box for Sally to see.
Sally was silent for a moment. She understood now why they had come. But could it be true, or was this merely a practical joke?
"Listen; I'll get you in to see the show tonight. I'll explain the situation to Jeff, the man in the back that works the sound. He'll understand. You three can sit back there with him, but you have got to promise not to touch anything."
*PAGE BREAK*
"A real Addams Family?" Jeff asked.
"Yes! At first I thought it was Adam and Krysta, but when you look closely, these are different people. They're like a mixture of the sketches and the actors; it's creepy. They've even got the hand, too. Then there's this woman they're with—Nellie Lovett, who, if I remember correctly, appeared in Sweeney Todd a few times—"
"Slow down; you say these characters were just chilling on the streets of New York? By themselves?"
"Correct. Apparently the children are looking for their parents, which means there are more of them! There's probably a real, alive Sweeney Todd out there, too!" A look of genuine concern crossed Sally's face.
"Well then, bring them in to see the show; maybe that'll help the situation," Jeff stated.
"Thank you, I knew you'd understand."
Sally motioned to one of the ushers to send in the characters.
"Alright; when the show is over, meet me backstage," she instructed, once the three were safely inside the sound booth. "Jeff, would you mind helping them in?"
"No problem."
"Thanks. Have fun!" she said, before darting backstage to finish her work.
*PAGE BREAK*
The cast took one final bow and the house lights came on. Wednesday and Pugsley were left in awe. By the time Wednesday got up the nerve to speak, the house of judging theatergoers had nearly cleared out entirely.
"Well it's not every day you stumble upon a musical that basically presents your entire life."
Pugsley nodded in agreement.
"This makes me nervous. If your family's life story has made it on stage, and that Phantom evidently has his own musical as well, what am I?"
"You're from Sweeney Todd," Jeff interrupted.
"Mr. Todd? Have you seen him?" she asked, becoming suddenly hopeful.
"No. Sweeney Todd is the name of a musical. You're a main character, and in the end—never mind. I'm supposed to take you three backstage to meet with Sally."Jeff stepped out of the sound booth, followed by his guests, and led them through the rows of seats, across the stage, and behind the curtain. "I'm not sure where she wanted to meet you. Just wait over there and she'll come find you," he instructed, pointing down a long hallway before returning to power down his lair of technology.
The trio followed his instructions. They stepped into a maze of props, wires, scenery, and a crazy old woman with tangled gray hair singing about fan mail to a camcorder before eventually coming to a more open area.
They looked around for signs of their host. Busy crew members darted through the obstacles without trouble, trying to break down and store the set for the evening. Off to a far end, with her back toward the commotion, stood a pale woman in a black dress with waist-length black hair. She appeared to be talking to one of the crew members.
The children exchanged a relieved glance.
"Mother!" Pugsley called, as he shoved Thing's box into Mrs. Lovett's arms and joined Wednesday in running toward the woman. Both children engulfed her in a massive, loving embrace.
The woman let out a small shriek and the crew member reacted quickly, prying the children from the star.
Wednesday stepped back in horror. Mrs. Lovett hurried to the scene and quickly collected the children.
"Please remove your children from our stage!" the crew member barked at Mrs. Lovett.
"I'm so sorry, sir. But these are not my children; we're looking for Morticia and Gomez Addams—"
"Well you're looking in the wrong place! Try looking in the land of Fiction. You'll find them there."
"What is going on here?" Sally asked frantically, running into the scene. She gasped when she noticed the Broadway superstar and the evidently confused characters. "Oh my god, Miss Neuwirth, I'm so sorry! They didn't cause too much damage, did they? They're just really lost and confused and trying to —never mind—just please don't sue them or anything—"
"It's alright," she said, forcing a smile. "Fans can be difficult. Paul, please don't say anything to management. I'm going to go get out of costume now."
The crew member escorted the actress back to her dressing room.
"What on Earth were you guys thinking?" Sally exploded. "That was Bebe-freaking-Neuwirth! She's, like, a Broadway legend, and I don't know what you did, but whatever it was, it was not cool!
"We're sorry, Sally, it's just that she looked exactly like our mother from the back—it was Pugsley who decided to hug her—"
"Wait—you hugged her? My god, do you know how much trouble you could have gotten into? Some of these people have bodyguards! They could have called security! You could have gotten sued! You could have been arrested!"
"Calm down. At least she was nice about it," Pugsley reassured.
"At least. But you guys have to understand that not everyone is going to believe you. Everyone just thinks you're a publicity thing to promote the local shows—except for you, Mrs. Lovett, because Sweeney Todd is no longer on Broadway. But if what you say is true and there are more of you running around the city, this could be dangerous. I'm just going to take you back to my apartment and we'll make a few phone calls. Don't worry, we'll get you guys reunited and back where you belong!"