CHAPTER 8: April—Kristy
It was Good Friday, which was also opening night for Inherit the Wind. (Bus Stop would be the following weekend.) Jason and I pulled into the parking lot, and got out of the truck. "All set?" I asked him.
"Aye," he answered. "And I've been practicing the Southern accent nonstop. I just hope I can get through the weekend without needing a lozenge or something."
I nodded in agreement. "And I hope I don't lose my voice, or also need one, from screaming so loud."
As we made our way inside, I couldn't help noticing that he wasn't as enthusiastic as I thought he'd be, even though he did smile at my comment. "Is something wrong?"
"Oh, I'm all right," he answered. "It's just that Claudia and I called it quits about a week ago."
"I'm sorry, Jason," I said, patting his arm. Now that I think about it, I should've seen this coming, because I'd noticed that they weren't as lovey-dovey as they used to be.
"That's all right, Kristy," he said. "Honestly, we've both been kind of busy with our baby-sitting, and we knew it was over. But we're still friends, so everything's okay."
While he was speaking, I was remembering something: when I'd broken up with Cary Retlin about a couple of years ago, and I'd had a similar conversation with Emily.
"That's good to know," I said as we made our way inside. "Well, break a leg, Jason."
"Thanks," he grinned. "You, too."
Almost as soon as I got backstage, I went into the dressing room and changed into my costume. Since I was playing Sarah Brady, my costume was much fancier than the other girls'. (I think the script described her as being a "Second Lady" to the nation's "Second Man"; basically, she'd be dressing like a vice-president's wife.) Also, I normally don't like wearing dresses, but there are times it has to be done.
Anyway, my costume was a black dress with white ruffles around the skirt. I'm told that it was used for Eliza's Ascot costume when SHS did My Fair Lady ten years ago, which was their last musical; since then, they've been doing plays. I'd heard a couple of stories from the director about that one, because he'd been a senior that year, and he was in it as Freddy Eynsford-Hill. One was that when they were rehearsing the "Ascot Gavotte" number, as soon as they sang, "Look, it has begun!", somebody's cell phone rang. I don't remember if the director told me what the ringtone had been, or if there was a certain one, but I think it would've been cool if it was "I Was Made For Lovin' You" by KISS. And I also heard that some of his friends, who had played the Cockney Quartet, were acting really silly backstage and saying, "Haven't your lips longed for my ki-iss/Show me no-o-ow!...Ladies and gentlemen, the Cockneys."
Well, the show got off to a pretty good start, and out of the corner of my eye, I saw that the auditorium was packed. I guess more people were familiar with this play than I thought.
Between scenes in Act One, I changed into a light blue dress with a white straw hat for the remainder of the act. At intermission, I changed costumes again, putting on another old My Fair Lady costume: a pink dress with matching bonnet, which I'm told their Eliza had worn for the "Show Me" number and the Covent Garden scene in Act Two. You know, where Eliza returns to her old haunt, and nobody recognizes her.
Okay, on to Act Two. If you were to ask me what the highlight of the show was, I'd tell you that it was Jason saying the "I believe in the truth of the book of Genesis..." speech, and then he starts rattling off all the books of the Old Testament as the other characters walk offstage, laughing. While he was speaking, I looked out of the corner of my eye as I made my way over to Jason, and saw Karen and Andrew sitting there, just awestruck.
Toward the end of Act Two, which was also toward the end of the play, Jason was saying the "From the hallowed hills..." line, and according to the script, Brady collapses. (The director told Jason to just go down on his hands and knees for that one.) When that happened, I noticed that Karen looked like she needed to be pried out of her chair with a crowbar, because it looked so real to her. I'm pretty sure she knew that he was just acting.
At least I hope she did.
After the show, we met the audience. "Jason, that was fantastic!" Karen exclaimed as she hugged him. "That looked so real, it was almost scary!"
"I hope I didn't scare you too much," he said.
"Oh, you didn't, really," she answered as she turned to me.
While I watched this, I couldn't help wondering what Dad would've thought of this show if he were alive, or if he would've showed up. I also discovered that I was feeling something I never once thought I'd feel: forgiveness. Somehow, watching Karen and Andrew congratulating Jason, as well as Mom and Watson telling me what a great show it had been, and how superb I was, helped me find it within myself to forgive Dad for all he'd done. I was also wondering if he felt the same way.
I don't know. All I knew was that Dad was watching over us, and even though he'd left us, something inside me was telling me that he was proud of us, and he loved us, no matter what.
