Gwen was preparing for auditions at Inkwell Community Theater by singing and dancing. After practicing vocal warmups, she leaves the cottage with her best friends tagging along. Mugman planned to audition for the lead role
"Thanks for letting me audition with you Gwen! I've waited a long time for this!" Mugman said.
"No problem guys. Just remember, be on your best behavior. Sally is very serious when it comes to acting and professionalism." Gwen warned from her experience with Sally's classes.
"Eh, I ain't too worried about it." Cuphead answered as he was fiddling with his yo-yo.
"You never worry about anything at all Cuphead." Gwen pointed out.
"Yep, pretty much." Cuphead agreed.
"Didn't Rose say she was coming to help you with your audition?" Mugman asked.
"Yes, but she said she's gonna meet us at the theater after work." Gwen explained.
"Oh right." Mugman said.
"What does she do again?" Cuphead asked.
"She's a schoolteacher. She teaches kindergarten. Plus, she's the best at playing piano. Better than I am, but that's okay." Gwen explained.
"Wow, so she's a schoolteacher, piano player and she's gonna be a mom soon?" Mugman asked.
"Yep. She is. But not for a while." Gwen answered.
They arrive outside Inkwell Community Theater and lineup with the other residents auditioning. Mugman bragged how it'll be his stage debut until Cuphead asked about his stage fright problem while playing with his yo-yo.
"Oh, I have a little trick for that." Mugman answered.
"Oh, really Mugsy? And what is that exactly?" Gwen asked.
"It's a surprise! You'll see Gweny!" Mugman told her with a smile.
Just then, the doors open and everyone was entering the theater.
"Ooh! It's time!"
Mugman said and dragged his brother inside the theater. Gwen and the cups take their seats in the front row. Unknown to Gwen, the Devil and Henchman magically appeared in the back row. The Devil also planned to audition for the play, hoping to get the lead role.
"Ah. Just look at these amateurs Henchman. That lead role is mine." The Devil said sinisterly.
Just then, a loud banging was heard at the door, and Sally Stageplay entered, foaming at the mouth and acting crazy as she crawled on stage. Everyone gasped as she continued acting crazy.
"That's Sally Stageplay? What on earth is wrong with her?" The Devil asked.
"She's got rabies!" Telephone yelled.
"YES! YES!" Snarled Sally.
Then, she shook her head and calmly said,
"No!"
Everyone in the audience gasped while Gwen smiled, knowing her teacher loved to put on a show before making announcements.
"Then why were you foaming at the mouth? Why?" Telephone asked.
"Because…"
Sally said as she wiped the foam from her mouth.
"Acting!" Sally finished.
"Oooh!" The audience exclaimed.
"Welcome to the theater!" Sally announced and the audience cheered.
"Wait, so acting is just lying? Wow! Turns out I've been acting my whole life! I should get in on this!" Cuphead said as Mugman gave him a puzzled look.
Gwen sighed, shook her head and quietly says,
"He doesn't even know the difference between acting and lying."
"I, Sally Stageplay, your brave, fearless, humble director, have gathered you here today to cast the theatrical masterpiece that is: Cup Rogers vs. the Meteor! First up, Cup Rogers."
"That's the part I want!" Mugman and the Devil both said at once.
"And the role of the evil Catman." Sally continued.
"I don't want that part." The Devil admitted.
"Uh, but what if you don't get Cup Rogers, boss?" Henchman asked.
The Devil groaned and said,
"Henchman, the way to get the audience to adore you is to play the hero. And I need to be adored!"
"Uh, I adore you boss." Henchman said and smiled.
The Devil pushed Henchman away and said,
"Not you! Strangers! Especially my beautiful flower!" The Devil said.
"And finally, the damsel in distress: Wanda Darling." Sally Stageplay finished.
Gwen's eyes popped, hoping to get the part of Wanda.
"Now, the character of Cup Rogers. He's brave, relentless and kicks bad guy butt! A hero down to the very marrow!" Sally said as she made heroic poses with a wind blowing in her hair.
"To the very marrow." Mugman said with tears in his eyes.
"Huh? What was that? What?" Cuphead asked, suddenly interested.
"He jumps through flaming hoops!" Sally continued.
"Flaming hoops?" Cuphead asked.
"Dodges death at every turn!" Sally said, making gun poses.
"Dodges death?" Cuphead asked.
"And last, but certainly not least, he flies with a jet pack."
Sally continued as she is put in a harness and lifted off the stage. Cuphead could barely contain his excitement.
"Cup Rogers is the most daring role in the history of the stage." Sally finished and was carried off the stage.
Cuphead fainted as everyone gets up from their seats to get ready for their auditions.
"Well, that settles it. Cup Rogers is the role I was born to play!" Cuphead said and runs off to get ready.
Mugman gasped and sadly follows,
"This was supposed to be my thing."
Gwen shook her head and followed the cups to backstage to get ready. Mugman and Gwen grab scripts and look over their lines while Cuphead is playing with a ray gun prop.
"Hmph! Some kind of brother you are." Mugman scolded.
"Some kind of actor you are. Not up for a little friendly competition?" Cuphead asked and snatches the script from Mugman and ran off.
"Hey! My script!" Mugman yelled and chased after him.
Meanwhile Gwen was sitting in a chair, studying her lines as she noticed her friends were fighting over the script.
"Don't get involved Gwendolyn."
She said to herself. All of a sudden, she heard a familiar voice reading lines from the script. Her eyes popped and saw the Devil rehearsing for the auditions.
"Oh no. Not him again."
Gwen quietly said to herself and hid her face behind the script to avoid being seen. Then, she heard Cuphead bumping into the Devil and realized they were both here.
"You! What are you doing here?!" They both asked at once.
"Ugh, gonna be curtain boy or something?" The Devil asked tauntingly.
Cuphead scoffed and said,
"You're looking at the next Cup Rogers."
The Devil chortled and said,
"Cup Rogers is my role!" The Devil argued.
"Nope, it's mine!" Cuphead argued back.
They both kept arguing over the role of Cup Rogers until Mugman yelled,
"Would you two stop it?! Okay, it's obvious all three of us wanna play Cup Rogers. But only one of us can. So, let's keep it professional, and may the best actor win. Agreed? Good."
Mugman assumed they both agreed and walked away to get ready.
"You're going down!" Cuphead and the Devil whispered to each other.
"Oh boy. This ain't gonna end well."
Gwen said worryingly. Just then, she noticed her sister Rose arriving backstage with piano sheet music.
"Rose, thank goodness you're here! I hope you didn't have any trouble getting here." Gwen said as she embraced her while being careful with her pregnant belly.
"Relax Gwen, you know I wouldn't miss being your accompanist for your audition. I even play piano to my students when we have singing lessons. Besides, I had no problem getting here at all. Elder Kettle was kind enough to drive me." Rose said.
Just then Rose noticed the Devil and Cuphead arguing and asked,
"Okay, what's he doing here?"
Gwen facepalmed and said,
"He and the cups are auditioning for the lead role. But Cuphead and Ol' Buttscratch, Mr. Stupid, the Big Doofus and King of the Underachiever are at war with each other for the part. So, trust me when I say, don't get involved."
Rose laughed at the insults Gwen called the Devil.
"Really good ones sis! Were those insults off of something or did you make those up?" Rose asked.
"I made those up!" Gwen admitted.
Rose laughed and said,
"I see Cuphead's rubbing off on you."
"Eh, a little bit." Gwen admitted.
Just then, they heard Sally Stageplay yell,
"Let the auditions begin!"
"Oh! It's time! Let's get ready!" Gwen whispered.
"Okay sis!" Rose whispered and both run off to get ready.
Cuphead goes first and is seen carrying a ladder, thrusts it up and puts a glass of water on the floor. He climbs up the ladder and is about to jump off. Sally watched with fascination as Cuphead jumps off and prepares to land in the glass of water. But suddenly, the glass of water glowed and was pulled offstage, thus causing Cuphead to crash through the stage floor.
"NEXT!"
Sally yelled after dodging broken floor pieces.
It is revealed the Devil used telekinesis to take the glass of water away as he said,
"It's showtime!"
The Devil disappeared to get ready.
Meanwhile, Gwen and Rose watched from backstage, winced at Cuphead's pain as Gwen asked,
"See why I said don't get involved?"
"Yeah, I definitely see your point now." Rose admitted after what she just witnessed.
The Devil appeared onstage in a pink, jazzy dance outfit. Jazz music played as the Devil made his little imps magically appear as his background dancers. Just then, a circular platform rose up from the stage as the Devil showed off his dance moves, impressing Sally. For the big finish, the Devil slides down the platform in style, only to slip clumsily on recently spilled oil, causing him to fall offstage and crashing into Sally.
Backstage, Cuphead is revealed to have spilled the oil to sabotage the Devil's audition as payback.
"Whoopsies!" Cuphead said innocently and smirked.
Gwen and Rose stifle their laughter.
"Oh man! Did you see the look on the Devil's face?" Gwen whispered, trying to hold her laughter.
"I know!" Rose agreed.
An angry Sally yelled,
"NEXT!"
Backstage, the Devil cleans himself off with the curtain and angrily said,
"Stupid cup! Great, now we're both out of the running!"
"Ha! Gwen's up next and she's not even auditioning for the lead role!" Cuphead taunted.
The Devil's eyes popped.
"What?! My beautiful flower is auditioning for the female part?! Why didn't anybody tell me?! She's my damsel in distress!" The Devil yelled and looked for Gwen on stage.
Gwen and Rose roll a piano on the stage and Gwen gets ready to perform. Rose started playing the opening song notes to the Cole Porter song Anything Goes. The spotlight shines on Gwen, wearing a ship captain's outfit and she sings the intro of the song. Meanwhile, the Devil is smitten by Gwen's beauty and her singing voice as she moves into the first verse. Afterwards, she started to dance, which started to reel Sally in. Gwen sung the second verse and kept dancing and went into the dance solo when all of a sudden, the Devil in a sailor's outfit joins her on stage and danced with her. Gwen pretends not to be surprised as she continued to dance with him. With quick thinking, Gwen trips the Devil and is thrown back stage as she finished up the final line,
"And though I'm not a great romancer, I know that you're bound to answer when I propose, anything goes! Anything, anything, anything goes!"
Gwen belted out the last note as Rose finishes up the song and Gwen held the finishing pose. Sally applauded her and yelled,
"Bravo! Bravo my dear!"
Gwen smiled and took a bow. Rose gets up from the piano and bowed too.
"Could you ladies hangout backstage for a while?" Sally asked the sisters.
"Yes, ma'am." Gwen answered and walked backstage with Rose. They both notice the Devil crashed into the wall. Gwen leaned down and asked,
"Did you have a nice trip?"
Both girls laughed and walked away.
The Devil grumbled angrily and said,
"Ugh! Now I'll never get that lead role with her as my damsel in distress!"
"Eh, I ain't too worried about Mugman. He's got…" Cuphead said until he whispered,
"Stage fright."
Suddenly Mugman said from behind them,
"That may be true. But if you recall, I have a little trick for that. Hmph!"
And Mugman walked away.
Both Cuphead and the Devil looked at each other and said,
"A trick?"
Mugman poses on stage and is revealed to have a blindfold put on him as he recited the Friends, Romans, Countrymen speech. Sally is reeled in and says,
"He is.. perfect!"
The Devil and Cuphead peek from backstage and Cuphead asked,
"A blindfold? That's his big trick?"
"We'll never get the part now." The Devil answered.
"Well, if we can't be Cup Rogers…" Cuphead said.
"Then no one can."
The Devil finished and both got an idea. They both go to opposite sides of the stage and both pull two levers, releasing two sand bags on rope and swung down, only for Mugman to dodge them just in time when he bowed and both hit Cuphead and the Devil.
"Bravo!" Sally applauded Mugman.
"Aw, thank you. Did I get the part?" Mugman asked.
Suddenly, Cuphead and the Devil swung down and crush Mugman in the middle. Feeling fed up, Sally yelled,
"That is it!"
Sally climbs on stage and yelled,
"You three are an insult to acting and an abomination to the theater!"
Sally grabbed the three and kicked them out rudely into the garbage cans out back and slammed the door. Gwen and Rose watched in shock.
"Wow, I've never seen a theater teacher so angry!" Rose said.
"I have. That's why you never wanna get on her bad side." Gwen warned.
Sally comes backstage up to the sisters and said,
"Sorry you had to see that ladies, but anyway, you both have displayed professionalism and honor to acting and the theater. That is why I've decided to give you the Wanda Darling part Gwen! My faithful student!"
Gwen was speechless.
"Really? Seriously?" Gwen asked.
"You've earned it my dear. I taught you well." Sally answered.
Gwen hugged Sally, to Rose's shock.
"Ahem!" Sally cleared her throat.
"Oh! Sorry ma'am, I just got too excited." Gwen apologized.
"As for you Rose, how would you like to be my accompanist for the show? You have displayed beautiful piano playing skills." Sally offered Rose.
"You… want me to play for your show ma'am?" Rose asked.
"Of course, dear!" Sally answered.
"I accept!" Rose agreed and both sisters held each other's hands and squeal with delight.
On opening night, Edgar, Margarine and William have front row seats for the show. Rose played the background music as the curtain opens with Gwen in a space costume, sitting by a crater prop and tied up.
"Oh no! I've been kidnapped by the evil Catman and he plans to launch the meteor! Who'll save us now?" Gwen dramatically said.
Just then, Sally dressed as Cup Rogers steps out of the prop spaceship.
"Do not fear dear Wanda! Cup Rogers shall save the day!" Sally dramatically said, holding the space gun prop.
"Oh, thank goodness! It's you Cup Rogers!" Gwen answered back.
"Not so fast evil Catman!" Sally yelled and ran backstage, quickly changed into a cat outfit and sat in a ray gun prop and used her evil voice.
"Nice try Cup Rogers, but you are too late! I've already launched my meteor!"
When nothing happens, Sally quietly scolded the Devil backstage,
"I said, I've already launched my meteor!"
The Devil sighed as he is made stage tech as punishment. He ignites his finger, lights the meteor prop fuse and pulls the rope as it flies across the stage, wowing the audience and applauds. The Devil peeks out and is in tears,
"Oh! The strangers. They adore me!"
Suddenly, the curtain closes by Cuphead.
"Nice work, curtain boy!" The Devil said sarcastically.
"That's curtain boy understudy. I had to fill in last minute for the, uh, actual curtain boy." Cuphead corrected him.
It is revealed that Mugman was frozen in terror from stage fright.
"Don't tell me he has stage fright. He's not even on stage!" The Devil argued.
"What? You never heard of backstage fright?" Cuphead joked, to the Devil's unamusement.
The show was over and Sally, Gwen and Rose all took their bows and received a well-deserved applause. After the show, William presented Rose a bouquet of roses as the parents present Gwen a mixed flower bouquet. Sally goes up to Edgar and Margarine and said,
"Ah, Mr. and Mrs. Emmons! May I just say that you both are very lucky to have such wonderful, beautiful and talented daughters?"
Edgar and Margarine smiled as Edgar said,
"Why thank you Mrs. Stageplay. We raised them well."
"Yeah, they're both such sweet girls." Margarine added.
"I even noticed one of them is going to be a mother soon!" Sally said, noticing Rose's pregnant belly.
"Yeah, but not for a while. Still got a long way to go." Rose answered as William held her.
Afterwards, the human family all go out for dinner at the fancy restaurant. When dinner was over, they all head home back to the human world and Gwen back to the cottage.
The next day, Gwen and Rose were out walking in the woods when a group of the Devil's imps approached them and one of them asked,
"Uh Miss Emmons? Mrs. Smith? We present to both of you an invitation to perform for us in the underworld without the boss knowing tonight. Our boss sucks, but you two impressed us. So, what do you both say? We'll even make it worth your while."
The imp presented Gwen and Rose two stacks of cash. Rose and Gwen looked at each other, smiled and Gwen said,
"Sure guys!"
Both girls grab a stack of money and both squeal with delight. That night, Gwen is once again singing and dancing to the song Anything Goes as Rose played the piano on stage in Hell. Rose played the song with no problem as she felt proud of herself for overcoming her traumatizing near-death experience in Hell.
The imps cheer the sisters on after the show and both sisters take their bows. Just then, the hear the Devil yell,
"What's going on in here?!"
The imps gasped and Rose and Gwen are both shocked.
"Don't worry Rose, I have a trick with the inkwell! And the imps have a trick too!" Gwen assured Rose.
Gwen held her sister and painted themselves invisible while the imps put on their glasses with eyes painted on them and pretend to sleep in their seats.
"Shh!" Gwen warned Rose.
The Devil and Henchman come into the theater and looked around, only to see his imps snoring in their seats.
"Uh, that's odd. I could've sworn I heard singing and music." Henchman said, looking around.
"Me too! I could've sworn I heard my beautiful flower's angelic voice." The Devil agreed, looking around. He noticed his imps were snoring like they did during his last performance.
"Ugh, those cultural numbskulls are still sleepin' huh?! Come on Henchman!"
The Devil grumbled and walked out of his personal theater with Henchman. After they leave, the imps wake up, the sisters wipe off the invisible paint and sing one more song after the imps ask for an encore. Gwen whispered to Rose the last song and she agreed to play. After performing the song Heaven Hop, a winged imp warns them of the Devil and Henchman coming back and the imps and sisters resume their trick. The Devil enters and furiously yelled,
"What is going on in here you idiots?!"
The imps pretend to wake up and look at their boss in confusion while both sisters quietly held hands and snuck away to the throne room, into the elevator and return home while the imps kept their boss and Henchman distracted.
The girls reach the surface and send the elevator back to Hell. Both girls laughed as they remove the invisibility paint and are standing in the front yard of the cottage.
"Oh man that was awesome! Did you see the look on the Devil's face?" Gwen said as she laughed.
"I know! Who knew his little imps are really such nice guys?" Rose answered.
"I told you they're really nice guys and funny too. Anyway, I gotta get home. I'll see you tomorrow?" Gwen asked.
"Yeah me too. See ya!"
Rose said as she steps through the door portal back to her house. Gwen walked inside the cottage and went to bed.