Gosh, I ALWAYS say "Thanks for the reviews!" so why waste the space? How about... "Thanks for all of the constructive critisism! But it's a shame I can't spell 'critisism' correctly!"
Disclaimer- I don't own Wicked, The Ford's Center of Performing Arts, Joe Mantello, Carol de Giere, The Oriental Theater, Megan Hilty and Kristin Chenoweth (I only own their personalities), Joel Grey
I flipped open my cell phone, hoping to find any trace of Troy Bolton that I could. After afivehour flight and an hour's wait in Illinois' national airport, I finally got to sit down in the town car that had been waiting for me. In aspan ofsix hours my thoughts jerked to Troy Bolton a total of... one million times. I found one text message, letting my hopes soar. But it was only Ryan.
Good luck! And thank ME 1st when u become famous!
I suddenly missed home. And I grew with such fear of being rejected, that I almost unbuckled my seatbelt and demanded that the black town car should be turned around and take me back to the airport. But I needed to do this, not as much as I wanted to. All of the times I had told Ryan to quit the Broadway crap, I loved him more and more for never stopping. And because of him, I was actually on my way to meet with Wicked's creative team and starring actresses. It was still so surreal.
I just might blow it. Specially if I throw up.
I winced at the sight of the message that I had sent back to my brother. The more I thought about it, the more I came to realize that it was true. And the more I came to realize that it was true, the tighter the knot in my stomach twisted. I wished Troy was there to make me laugh, because the second Ryan replied back, the town car keys were being pulled out of the ignition, a door was being swung open, and a hand was being extended into the car for me to take.
Wish me luck. In front of the center...
The Ford's Center of Performing Arts looked a lotbigger than I had imagined it to be on the outside. But the two looming Wicked billboards plastered outside had me hooked. I quickly went over the pointers Joe Mantello had once given in an interview to webmaster, Carol de Giere: The biggest mistake people make while auditioning is not being relaxed...
But I was far from relaxed. I didn't even know what I was supposed to do! All I knew was that I was supposed to come to Chicago and meet up with the creative team. But another one of Mr. Mantello's pointers popped into my head: Don't take it personally. Come in, say hello, do your thing, walk out, and whatever happens, happens. It's a shame he wasn't speaking to me directly.
A creak, and the loud bang of the looming double doors grabbed the attention of the people lounging on the expanded stage of the Oriental Theater. A sudden explosion of laughter came from the two young women reading over a newspaper on stage. The town car chauffer next to me cleared his throat before calling out, "Excuse me, ladies? We were looking for Mr. Mantello. I'm not sure if you're aware of this, but..."
Someone suddenly rose from the front row of velvet seats. The room was so dim, and the lights on the stage shined so bright that I could only see the outline of the standing figure. "That's me." he said. "Are you Sharpay?"
The biggest mistake people make while auditioning is not being relaxed... don't take it personally... I choked up again and dumbly nodded my head. "Y-yeah." I stuttered. I suddenly felt like a freshman, trying out for a high school musical for the first time. It killed me. My chauffer bowed out, and I suddenly felt lonlier than before. I took a few more steps down the steep carpeted stairs to the stage.
But things took a turn for the better as the two blondes on stage suddenly came to life. One was waving her arms uncontrollably and the other was shouting her hellos. "We saw your tape!" She blared. "Where have you been hiding?" As I came closer, their faces became more familiar. The Kristin Chenoweth and the Megan Hilty were standing only a few yards away, telling me that I had talent. Wait until Ryan heard this one.
I've always had one picture of how all directors should look: A little stocky, glasses, and maybe the occasional beard, but Joe Mantello was quite the opposite. "We've been waiting." he extended a tanned arm.
"This is going to be so fun!" Megan slid off of the stage and headed in our direction. I looked down at my skirt and noticed how over-dressed I was. Megan Hilty and Kristin Chenoweth were clad in matching velvet sweatsuits, and I suddenly felt left out again. Until Megan wrapped me in a hug, bouncing on her toes in the process.
It was the ultimate welcome.
"Hey, Sharpay, check this out." Megan fanned a newspaper in front of my face as I settled into her dressing room. Kristin hung over me, reading over my shoulder. I had been there for only an hour, and I was already being treated as if we were all sisters. Well, we did look alike...
"Hey," Kristin pointed out. "Isn't that..."
"Joel Grey. The Wizard from like, 2004. Where'd you get this article?" I took it from her hands delicately as the sacred piece of history it really was. I looked to the picture of a small man with bushy white eyebrows and smiled.
"You really know your Wicked." Megan flipped the pink feather boa that was hanging from her coat hanger around her neck. In a matter of sixty minutes, I had come to the conclusion that Megan was the more outgoing, perky, positive one, all qualities of the one and only Glinda."And it's sorta freaking me out." She gave her wide, intimidating smile.
"You've most definitely passed the first part of Joe's 'audition'." Kristin was more contained and serious. "Getting along with us. Which is sort of difficult. Megan scared off all of the other auditionees with her bubbly-ness."
I was so wrapped up in the article in my hands and the playful argument going on over my head, that I almost missed my phone vibrating against my hip. In one swift movement, I brought my phone to my ear, immediatly hearing Ryan speak in a hushed, yet urgent tone.
"I'm not interrupting anything, am I?" He asked. I wished he would just get to the point. He sounded so bewildered.
I glanced up to Kristin and Megan, noticing that they had fallen silent. By the look on my face, they knew that it was something really bad, or really, really juciy. Simultaneously, they leaned into me, hoping to hear part of our conversation. "No, go ahead." I answered.
Ryan's voice fell even lower. "Troy..." I perked at the name.
"Yessss..." my voice quivered with excitement.
"Troy and Gabriella... they're..." I could imagine him squirming in his chair with uncomfort. "They're in his room, Sharpay."
That could mean anything. I didn't want any piece of news to bring me down while on my trip to Chicago. Besides, Troy hadn't said goodbye, and he didn't even have the courage to call me, so why cry over him? "And the door's locked."
One gasp came from both girls on either side of me. They didn't even know who Troy or Gabriella were! It was like they were tuning into a soap opera they had never seen before, and it was becoming awfully annoying. "I'm sorry, Sharpay, I'm really sorry..." Ryan started.
I suddeny felt split down the middle. One part of me was reassuring me that it was nothing. Maybe she was helping him with studying or something and her thumb accidentally pressed down on the lock. But another part of me was poking at me, telling me that some not-so-innocent things were going on on the other side of the door. I truly didn't know which side of the story to believe.
But I couldn't let a personal problem get in the way of what I had come to do. "Look, Ryan," I carelessy looked down at my fingernails, hoping I would look calm to Megan and Kristin, while on the inside, I was just a jumble of nerves, "I've got to go. Joe's calling us into another meeting." I lied. I didn't wait for a reply before snapping my phone shut and turning it off.
"Gee, I'm really sorry, Sharpay." Megan gave me a sad smile. "He must've been pretty special..."
"He wasn't even mine to begin with." I explained. "So why cry over milk that never spilled?"
Puh-leeze, READ AND REVIEW!
