Wednesday: Lines

Chloe sat on the couch with a script, making sure everyone followed the lines. They were doing fairly well. Sometimes there was a lengthy pause as someone tried to recall a line. Sometimes they stuttered or said it differently and sometimes they flat out didn't know it and had to be told the line, but they were getting through it and doing better than she had hoped with such short notice. Chloe wasn't watching them because she was following along with the script. Lois knew her lines perfectly. It surprised her. If Lois didn't have her heart in something, she didn't usually give it a lot of time or effort. The only problem was that it sounded like she was reading. Chloe was about to tell her that, when she saw what she was doing. Lois had her hand close to her face and was looking at it as she said her lines with Lana. It looked like she was just playing with her hand, but she was reading from her hand.

"It's such a cursed thing. I've never seen anything like it."

"Lois, it's curious, not cursed."

"Sorry, it got a little smudged."

"I wanted you to memorize your lines."

"The kids will never know the difference."

"Yes, they will. After the play is over, the kids are going to get to talk to and take pictures with the characters."

"What?" Lois said. "You didn't tell me that!"

"And Sleeping Beauty's hands can't look like newspapers. If you mess up your lines, make something up. It's called improvising. Besides, if your palms start to sweat, you lose your lines and then you'll be standing there with nothing to say and you're standing too far back. Come downstage right a little."

"Since when did you know all these technical terms?" Lois asked her.

"I've been studying up on it."

"Well, I haven't, so which way is that?"

"Right and left is always the actor's right and left, so move a little to the right and down is toward the audience. Stages used to be tilted, so it was literally up and down."

"Thank you for the theatre lesson," Lois said. "So what do you want me to do about my lines tonight?"

"Read your hand," Chloe said, slightly exasperated.

They got through the rest of the play.

"Good job to those who actually tried to learn them." Chloe said. "You'll all need to keep going over them. Remember we only have 2 more rehearsals before show time."

Thursday: Props

"Okay," Chloe announced. "We're only going to have two props, so this shouldn't be complicated. This is your sign, Jimmy. One side has the 16 years transition and the other has the 100. Make sure you show the right side and here's the famous spinning wheel. A legitimate one, thanks to Lex."

Lois spun the wheel and asked Chloe how it worked.

"I don't know, but your character doesn't know either, so it works out."

"How do I use it?" Lana asked.

"That's a good question. I hadn't thought about that. You won't really be making thread. Just give the wheel a slow spin and Lois will come right out."

Lois reached over and touched the spindle slowly and carefully.

"What are you doing?" Chloe asked.

"I just wanted to test it and make sure I really don't prick my finger. I don't see how Sleeping Beauty managed to prick her finder. It feels kind of dull to me."

"Let's run this play through from the top," Chloe said.

Friday: Costumes

"We now have costumes, again thanks to Lex," Chloe said, pointing to 5 boxes. "Who's going to be the first to put theirs on?"

"As big as this place is and we can't just find separate rooms?" Lois asked.

"I want to inspect the costumes one by one," she answered.

"I'll go first," Lex said.

Lex came back out pretty fast. It was a richly designed robe and a crown, not a real crown but it looked real.

"It looks like he took a tapestry off a castle wall and wrapped it around himself," Lois whispered to Clark, who was beside her.

Clark tried not to smile, smiling only encouraged her, but she was right and he looked even funnier with a crown on his bald head.

Lana went next. Her costume was fairly simple. It was a black dress with a big, black cloak. On one side there were sequins for when she was playing the evil fairy and reversed, it looked old and tattered for when she was the old woman.

"It looks nice," Chloe said. "You're not going to have gray hair, so the oldness will mostly be portrayed by your hunched posture and voice. Jimmy, do you want to go next?"

"No."

"You'll have to sooner or later. You might as well get it over with," Chloe told him.

He picked up his box with a grim look and walked off, as if he were off to an executioner's block.

"Poor Jimmy," Clark sympathized, after he was gone.

"He'll look manly," Chloe said.

"There's no such thing as a manly fairy," Lois said. "Have you ever seen that cartoon The Fairly OddParents? There's this Arnold Schwarzenegger-looking fairy in an army outfit, but the crown and wand keep him from looking completely masculine."

"It's taking him a long time," Lana commented.

"Jimmy?" Chloe hollered.

Lois snorted. "He probably decided to move and change his name."

Chloe went to see what Jimmy was doing. She came back, pulling him in against his will. The colors weren't so bad. They were blue and black but the silk material and wings made him look comical and a tad feminine.

Jimmy said determinedly, "I'm not wearing this."

"I think it looks attractive," Lana said.

"See I told you," Chloe said.

Jimmy looked at Lois. Lois was about to tell him her honest opinion, but when she saw Chloe's half-pleading, half-ordering look, she changed her mind and said, "I agree."

Jimmy still didn't look happy, but now he was at least willing to wear it.

Lois went next. Her dress was a nice one with colors of white and gold. It also had a high lace collar. "This thing is uncomfortable and itchy. No wonder it went out of fashion."

"You look nice," Chloe said. "It's worth some discomfort."

Lois rolled her eyes and for a split second, thought she caught Clark staring in a good way. If Clark Kent was looking at her like that, she must look pretty.

Clark was last. His costume consisted of a hat with a feather, a long-sleeved shirt, poufy shorts, tights, and slippers.

Lois let out a wolf whistle to tease him. "Nice legs, Smallville. You should wear tights more often."

Clark turned beet-red.

"Leave the poor man alone, Lois," Chloe said. "Okay, all the costumes look nice and seem to fit. Let's try rehearsing in them."

Rehearsal went well. There was a mistake here and there but nothing too bad, except Sleeping Beauty kept pulling at her collar, when she was supposed to be asleep and the prince kept trying to hide his legs.

"Nice job, everyone. Just make sure you continue to look over your lines and try to look comfortable in your costumes. Tomorrow is a big day. Get plenty of sleep. We'll all meet at the Talon at 10:00. Make sure you bring the spinning wheel and sign, Lex. I'm going to let everyone keep their costumes and you all can change into them at the hospital. We'll all ride over in Jimmy's 6-passenger car. Any questions?"

Everyone was silent and unenthusiastic.

"See you tomorrow then."