Sarah looked around at the other auditioning people. There were around two hundred other people sitting in the auditorium. She guessed that some of them were supporters and staff, but mostly people auditioning. She honestly had not expected so many people to be present, and these were just the chorus auditions. When she studied ballet, dancers were chosen by instructors through the course of the year for parts. Since she had not danced on a professional level she had never been to an audition. She had never been to an audition in her life. This was an entirely new process to her.
Sarah had just months before moved to Seattle to live with her mother after graduating from a boarding school in Orlando. This was a fresh start for the girl who was not yet eighteen. She was uncertian about her life. Where she should go now. Sarah's mother had suggested auditioning for The Seattle Opera House. Though Sarah had no experience she thought it would be a new and interesting challenge, just to audition. The only thing she had on her resume was her extensive knowlege of all forms of dance, particularly ballet. She had almost never sung in her life, yet here she was ready to sing in a room full of proffesionals to be cast in an operetta. It was a longshot, at best.
It was nearly noon and a few people were still filling out papers. She could tell it was going to be a long process. She looked down nervously at her music and read it over once more as if it would change a thing. Sarah needed a job and this was perhaps the most interesting thing she could think of.
"If I can have all of your attention, we can get started." As the tall lean man spoke these words from the stage the crowd quickly silenced their chatter. "Hi! My name is Jacob I am the director of "Pirates of Penzance." I'd greatly appreciate it if we could have your full attention, as we'd like to get through this as quickly as possible. Please make sure you have all of your music with you before your name is called. You will know when that is because we will be calling you all up here alphabetically..."
Alphabetically? Sarah had not thought about that. Her last name was Aster. That meant she'd be one of the first ones to be called up. The thought completely horrified her.
She pondered her situation. 'What if I mess up?' She thought. 'What if I embarrass myself?' She wrestled with her thoughts until she murmured "I can't do this." She stood up to walk out.
"Sarah Aster." The man's voice rang loud and clear across the entire auditorium.
Fate had dealt her a cruel hand. She was in fact the first person called up. She screamed inside her head for she knew it was to late to leave now.
Sarah turned and walked to the stage. She smiled but inside her head over flowed with nervous thoughts. Silently she chanted to herself: 'You can do it. You can do it. You can do it.' She handed her music to the piano player and turned back to the house.
Sarah sang the song with a few unnoticeable mistakes but she was sure she had murdered the song. In reality she had actually done quite well. She did lack training, and strength but it was obvious through the passion in her voice that she was a very gifted person and with some training and experience she would do very well.
She left the stage certain that there was no place for her at the opera but she decided to stay as it would be rude to leave. She sat back down practicly shaking, her entire body rushed with endorphans. She had done it, but it was one of the most nerve wrecking things she had ever done. She sat aloof from everyone and took everything in. This was not only her first audition but the first time she had ever been in the Opera House it was amazingingly vast and beautiful. The whole building had a gothic feel to it. It was almost creepy.
Then she could swear she heard something over the sound of an auditioner's "Summertime."
"Sarah." She turned behind her to find no one there. She settled back into her chair and ignored the sound when she could not find from where it came.
"Sarah." The voice spoke again. The voice was obviously male and oddly beautiful. Once again she turned and found nothing and no one. She looked all around. Seeing nothing she once again turned back towards the stage. No one in the auditorioum had heard it for no one moved an inch or responded to the sound. Sarah must have been dreaming it.
"Sarah." There was no denying it. There was someone calling to her. She could in some strange way sense the direction from where it came. She looked up at the second tier where the private boxes were and saw something. A figure of some sort, but she only saw it for a second, then it was gone, it was too dark to guess who or what it was but there was something there. It made Sarah's stoumach jump just a little. Then through some sort of curiosity or other emotion she stood and walked out of the auditorium.
She had to know who it was that called to her. She began to walk up the stairs to the second tier and again she heard the voice. "Sarah, come to me!" What was she doing? She suddenly started feeling rational. She was following some faceless voice by herself into a part of the opera house she had never been. She suddenly felt very foolish, she turned to walk back down the stairs, but found her legs unable to move. Sarah was frieghtened by this. She was not sure why but she could not make herelf move. Perhaps she was stuck in her own fear.
"Come to me! My angel!" The voice insisted and Sarah found herself climbing up the stairs towards the sound. She could not stop herself, she had to know who or what was saying this. She could not manage to turn around but she did manage to stop her self. She thrust herself down onto the stairs and began to cry. She was so scared. She might have been afraid of herself. She felt weak and powerless, she strugled to regain her compsure to walk down the stairs.
She stood ready to return to her seat and then she walked right up the stairs as if her body were ignoring her mind completely. This time a strange sensation filled Sarah with joy. It was like there was music in her mind. No, there was music! It calmed her nerves as she walked towards the box from which the sound came.
She walked to the curtian that covered the box and stopped. She could see the curtian move, there was someone behind it. There had to be! Sarah's heart pounded in her ears as she placed her hand on the curtian. She could feel the sweat on her face turn cold. The suspense was unbearable. In her mind she counted to the and pulled back the curtian.
There, before her was two empty chairs and below was the stage where she could see an audition in progress, but no one was there. Nothing, no sign of anyone. Sarah felt extremely foolish. Everything she had just experienced seemed so real yet she knew it was not. She had let her childish imagination get the better of her. It must of been the Opera House that had done it to her. It had started with Sarah noticing how creepy the archetecture seemed and it grew from there. Sarah sighed and laughed at herself. She closed the curtian and returned to her seat.
The end of the auditions had finally come at 5 PM. All though Sarah had been there for almost six hours, she was not bored. The auditions were rather entertaining. There were a few people who's voices were greatly lacking in the talent department. All the others were great singers, and union members, which made Sarah even less hopeful of being involved in the production.
She wondered how they were going to cast the play with so many good people. It would be very hard to chose.
"Thank you all for coming." said Jacob the director in a completely exhausted voice. "We'll try to get back to all of you sometime this week. We will discuss what we've seen, and heard today and decide upon a cast. We'll try our best to call all of you and let you know weather or not you made it... Alright I guess I'll see some of you in a few weeks and the rest of you... hope you'll do better next time."
'Hope you'll do better next time.' That sounded awfully snobby to Sarah. Perhaps this theatre stuff wasn't cut out for her anyway. Well she'd know for sure next week.