Naomi took a seat next to Olive and the two began making small talk as the other students gradually trickled in.
Naomi was cool - she was Olive's age and as the two got to talking they realized Naomi had been the other Gretl (children's roles were double cast) in that production of The Sound of Music eleven years earlier.
"What have you been up to since then?" Olive asked. "Has your life changed dramatically since you were five?"
Naomi laughed. "Fortunately, yes," she replied. "Well, for starters I have all my teeth now, but I've since done two other productions here at the Hudson: a year after you and I worked together I was in Annie as Molly."
"Oh, I came to see that!" Olive said. Olive herself had been going to audition for the production, but as luck would have it, on the day she was supposed to audition she had to have an emergency appendectomy. She had been quite disappointed but ultimately, when her aunt, (Dad's sister) coincidentally named Annie, had invited her to see the show she couldn't refuse - and she had really enjoyed it.
Naomi smiled. "And then last year, I was in Carousel as Louise. Mostly I've done school productions, but I've taken quite a few classes here. This is the first one I've taken with a Broadway actress, though. What's that like - having Broadway actors for your parents? My parents are just accountants."
"Well, that's all I've ever known. But it is fun - I've been able to sit in on some of their rehearsals. There's a lot of singing around our house too," she laughed and Naomi joined in.
Eventually, the other six students arrived and took seats by Naomi and Olive. Rachel soon joined the group.
"Good morning, everybody! My name is Rachel Berry St. James - Broadway actress and Tony Award winner. I am so thrilled to be teaching my first ever theatre workshop - and at the Hudson Theatre, a theatre near and dear to my family. My sister-in-law, Annie, has been working in the box office for over fifteen years - she was also most recently seen in the Hudson's production of Carousel as Carrie Pipperidge. My husband Jesse and I have seen numerous productions here - including several with our daughter Olive - who is also a Hudson alumnus herself," Rachel turned to Olive who smiled and waved awkwardly at her peers.
"Now I would love for everybody to go around - say your name, age, and…a fun fact about yourself. And, no, Olive, you can't use your mother being Broadway actress Rachel Berry St. James as your fun fact." Rachel turned to Olive who feigned disappointment while the other students chuckled.
"Well, I guess I'll start," Olive said when the laughter had died down. "I'm Olive St. James, I'm 16, and my fun fact is that my father is Broadway actor Jesse St. James," she turned to her mother and smiled as the other students laughed again. Rachel rolled her eyes but couldn't help but grin a little at her daughter's sass. It was no wonder where she got that from…Broadway actor Jesse St. James, of course.
"I'm Naomi Phillips," Naomi said. "I'm 16 and my fun fact is that I won a breath-holding contest when I was 7." Naomi turned to the girl sitting next to her - she appeared to be the same age as Olive and Naomi. She was wearing designer clothes, a lot of makeup, and seemed very sure of herself.
"I'm Kendall Rogers," the girl said confidently. "I'm 16 and my fun fact is that I won my school's talent show two years in a row. Also, let me just say, it is an honor to be your student Mrs. St. James - I'm a huge fan!"
"Why, thank you Kendall," Rachel smiled at the girl who smiled sweetly back. Olive rolled her eyes - this was disgusting. Kendall was sucking up to Mom - only Olive could do that!
Kendall turned to the girl sitting next to her, a girl who looked like she had no idea where she was or what was going on.
"Umm…hi! My name is Greta Baldwin. I'm 15 years old and I'm so excited to learn about acting!" Greta smiled as her voice squeaked out the word "acting."
"Well, I'm excited to have you here, Greta. Do you have a fun fact you'd like to share about yourself?"
"Oh…umm," Greta paused, thinking hard. Olive could tell her one brain cell was working overtime. "I have a dog named Gordon. He's a golden retriever."
"Very nice," Rachel said. The next three students, all girls, introduced themselves. They were Ashley Jackson, Lily Chou, and Genevieve McAllister. Ashley and Lily were 15, and Genevieve was 14. Olive thought they all seemed nice and passionate about the theatre. Everyone then turned to the final member of the group, the only male student.
"Um…I'm David Jones. I'm 14 and…I'm a boy," everybody laughed at reference from The Sound of Music except for Greta who had that lost look in her eyes again.
"Well it is so nice to meet you all," Rachel said. "We are going to have so much fun this week. I have your solo songs, individual monologues, and pair scenes picked out already. We can begin work on the monologues and pair scenes and then this afternoon we will begin solo rehearsals and I will also have auditions for the female solo in the group number. As for the male solo - congratulations, David!" Rachel started clapping and everyone else joined in.
"Um…I'd like to thank the Academy," David started, holding his water bottle like a trophy. Everyone laughed except for Greta, naturally, who turned to Naomi.
"The Academy of what?" She whispered. Naomi just looked at Olive who shook her head.
"And the group number will be…'Show People' from Curtains!" Rachel exclaimed. The students audibly reacted with excitement, especially Olive. 'Show People' was a favorite show tune around the St. James house - Olive had been singing it with her parents since she could talk and recently, Clementine had also started joining in. Olive was a shoo-in for the solo.