Disclaimer: All of the newsies, plus Medda Larkson, Brian Denton, and Weasel, belong to Disney. Charles Dickens wrote "A Christmas Carol", and I'm using the dramatization by Michael Paller. I own Springs, Ariana, Tessie, Taylor, Cindy, Ace, Seraph, Cerise, Jade, the Darte twins, Bethany, Bliss, Fish, Mikko, and Curls.
THANKS to Stretch for all of her reviews---they keep me writing! To any other readers: follow Stretch's excellent example and REVIEW!
Seraph's POV:
If you thought our first rehearsal on Tuesday was bad, you should have been there for the rest of the week. Every morning we dealt with a different ghost. Medda's dresses got shorter and lacier (and uglier), and Denton ran around the stage shouting things like, "Let your inner ghost inspire you!" and "Remember the bow ties! Remember the Whisper-Stopper!" In short, it was complete and total chaos. But the funniest rehearsal was Thursday's...
Bumlet's POV:
On Thursday, we started a read-through of Act Two, which means I finally got to practice my lines.
"All right, Jack, you start," Medda said.
"We left Ebenezer Scrooge in bed, vainly trying to recall and mend his unpleasant past, and wondering what variety of spirits await him in the present and future. Now, being prepared for almost anything, he was by no means prepared for nothing." Jack paused. "The bell tolled one again. And no shape appeared. Five minutes." Another pause. "Ten minutes." Yet another pause. "A quarter of an hour went by." Pause---this was getting really boring. Just hurry up and get to my lines! "Yet nothing came."
Finally, my turn. "Enter, Ebenezer Scrooge! Come in and know me better, man! I am the Ghost of Christmas Present. Look upon me. You have never seen the like of me before!"
"No, no, no," Denton shouted. "All wrong!"
Medda frowned. "But what was wrong with it, Denty dearest? I thought it was excellent---"
"Well, it was excellent for a human," Denton conceded, "but it was all wrong for a ghost. There needs to be more suspense...more mystery...more drama...more pregnant pauses." If I hear anything more about pausing, I'm going to throw up.
"True, true," Medda agreed. "You have such a good eye for detail, Denty, darling."
Denton blushed. "Well, I don't like to brag, but..." I could see Mush pretending to gag and Seraph trying not to laugh at Denton's obvious crush on Medda.
"Um...I'll just try my lines again, then," I said, pulling Medda and Denton out of their star-crossed staring contest and back to the real world.
"Oh, of course, darling," Medda said. "And remember, make it suspenseful. Just like Denty said."
I rolled my eyes. "Enter...Ebenezer Scrooge! Come in...and know me better man! I...am the Ghost...of Christmas Present..."
"If he keeps talking like this, we'll be rehearsing his lines till Christmas," Seraph interrupted. "Does he really need to pause that often?"
"Well, I suppose not," Medda said reluctantly. "Next line, please."
"Never," Specs (as Scrooge) said.
"You have never walked forth with the younger members of my family, my brothers born in these later years?" I asked.
"I'm afraid I have not. Have you many brothers, Spirit?" Specs wondered.
"More than eighteen hundred," I replied.
"Wow, that's a lot!" Specs exclaimed, breaking completely out of character.
"Specsy, darling, that's not in the script," Medda said, rushing over and pointing to his line. "You're supposed to say, 'A tremendous family to provide for,'."
"I know..." Specs began, "but eighteen hundred brothers? That's a lot!"
"It just means that there's one spirit for every Christmas," Seraph said impatiently. "Could we move on now?"
"Of course, darling, what would we do without you?" Medda asked, sounding a little exasperated (either with Specs or with Seraph, I'm not sure). "How about we start with your first line?"
"Wherever has gotten your precious father, then? And your brother, Tiny Tim? And Martha wasn't as late last Christmas by half-an-hour," Seraph (Mrs. Cratchit) said.
"Here's Martha, mother!" Jade (Martha) shouted.
"Here's Martha!" Cerise (Belinda) echoed. "There's such a goose, Martha! Hey, wait...do they eat goose for Christmas dinner?" Cerise asked, a look of disgust covering her face.
"Why, of course, darling. Goose has been a traditional Christmas meal for centuries, beginning in the..."
"Yeah, but I'm a vegetarian," Cerise said. "Couldn't we have it be a salad or a tofu burger or something?"
"Yeah, we should change that line," Spot agreed, placing his arm around Cerise's waist. "It goes completely against Cerise's and my beliefs about animal rights, doesn't it honey?" Last time I ate at Seraph's house, Spot finished off a steak with absolutely no qualms about animal rights.
"Well, I suppose," Medda began, but Seraph interrupted.
"No way!" she exclaimed. "We are not changing the dialogue just because one cast member is a vegetarian! Tofu wasn't invented in the nineteenth century, and no one's going to get excited about a Christmas SALAD!"
"Girls, girls, CALM DOWN!" Medda shouted, stepping (bravely) in front of Seraph. "We'll worry about the props LATER! Oh, let's just skip to Fred's first line."
"Yay!" Mush exclaimed, which helped to relieve some of tension in the auditorium.
"All right, Mushy darling, go ahead," Medda prompted.
"Everyone have theirs? Good. Now, place it on the end of your nose, like this. Ready? Now repeat after me: '...should be boiled in his own pudding...'" (A/N: Fred is holding a carrot on the end of his nose, imitating Scrooge.)
"All right, now, all the others---that's Felicia, Leticia, and Mr..... Um...Blink," Medda directed.
" '...should be boiled in his own pudding...'" Mrs. Fred, Mrs. Fred's sister, and Topper repeated.
"What's that mean?" Blink asked. " 'Boiled in his own pudding.' People aren't made out of pudding."
"It just means to boil them to death," Seraph interjected quickly, before Medda could say anything. "Come on, keep going!"
"All right, all right, calm down, Seraph," Mush said. " '...and be buried with a stake of holly through his heart. He should!'"
Once again, the other three repeated Mush. But, just as they were finishing, a loud siren split the air.
"Fire drill!" Mush, Seraph, and I cried in unison. Together, we dashed out the auditorium doors, through the double doors at the entrance, and down the sidewalk to the football field.
"Can you believe Cerise?" Seraph asked, obviously still very upset about their argument. "If Dickens had wanted the Cratchits to have a Christmas salad, he would have written that!"
"Don't worry about it, Seraph," Mush said. "Medda won't change the line!"
"I don't know," Seraph replied doubtfully. "Anything Spot says, Medda will do."
"No she won't! He's just a junior, and she's a teacher! Besides, I think Medda's pretty caught up with Denton now," I said mischievously. Did you see how they were looking at each other, Mush?"
"Uh...what?" Mush asked in a dazed voice.
"All right, Mush, what girl are you staring at now?" Seraph wondered.
"Ariana," Mush said dreamily. "Isn't she gorgeous? And isn't her name beautiful?"
"That's what you say about every new girl," Seraph reminded Mush. "And how many actually go out with you?"
"Uh..." I pretended to count on my fingers, "none!"
"Exactly," Seraph said. "Give it up, Mush. She's already flirting with Snoddy."
"Oh yeah?" Mush asked. "Well, I'm going to go talk to her."