Stars In Their Eyes
AN: Here's Chapter Eleven :) So the idea for this chapter comes from me having seen my local production of "Stars In Their Eyes," and wanting to see it again. However, there were a few problems with that, so I decided instead to write this. That way, I get the fun and enjoyment of the show and also still get plenty of sleep tonight. The finale wasn't yet written in the year that this story takes place, but hey, it's an AU. Also, I don't own any of the songs or classical pieces mentioned in this chapter. Enjoy! SJS
Previously:
Fortunately, Mr. Andrews and Mr. Stone were able to assist, and led their staterooms, where they both fell into a very deep sleep.
It took Olivia and Sapphire till eight o'clock the morning of the 23rd of December to sleep off that four course meal, because there had been rather a lot of food to consume.
When they did wake up, they both grinned to themselves, knowing there were only 40 hours to go until the very beginning of Christmas Day. Sapphire, who was religious, hummed "Joy To The World," as she got up to find something cozy to wear for the day. That particular song made her smile, because although it was sung at Christmas, it was actually about the Second Coming of Christ.
In the end, Sapphire chose a long black top with silver sequins that changed to red when rubbed in a certain direction, and a long black skirt with slits up the sides, though due to the fact it was winter, she wore a pair of tights. After pulling on a pair of knee-high boots she pulled up the covers on her bed, and left whistling "Hark The Herald Angels Sing."
Also, as she went along, she felt quite excited and giddy. Some months ago in this alternative universe, her Uncle Thomas suggested that she have a go at Titanic's Stars In Their Eyes. Sapphire was,according to her family, a very good singer, so she signed up right away. Philip and Felix had also signed up, and so one was singing on their own, two were doing a duet, and all three were doing a trio, plus being a part of the big finale at the end.
Sapphire arrived in the Parisian Café for breakfast, and decided to order a bowl of yogurt and fruit to eat, because she didn't want to overeat and end up being sick.
"An excellent choice for an excellent reason," the waiter, a thirty-one year old man named Alistair, said as he wrote down her order, and left.
"Good morning, Sapphire," Olivia smiled as she plopped down beside her. Olivia always wore some fabulous outfit, and today was no exception. She wore a light blue jumper, thick black pants, and white sneakers, but she looked fabulous.
"Good morning to you, too," Sapphire smiled back as she lightly spooned some yogurt into her mouth. "Excellent service, I must say," she said thickly.
Olivia grinned. "You'll do just fine, and you won't be singing on your own. You'll have Philip and your brother, not to mention the undying support of several passengers who come to see the show."
Sapphire smiled at her. "Thanks, Olivia." She said.
Soon after breakfast, Sapphire was just to going to do some practice for her song, when she was nearly bowled over by two young children with dark brown hair and blue eyes who came running towards her.
"Hey!" she yelled as they raced past, once again yelling about an angel. Sapphire could see that they were headed for the two Christmas trees, and she managed to outrun and catch them before they could do anything stupid, such as trying to climb said Christmas trees.
She shook her head at them. "Don't be so naughty," she lightly scolded them, just as Sylvia came up with her husband, and at a glance, both parents could work out what their children had been trying to do.
Charles also shook his head, and turned to his wife. "You know, Sylvia dear, perhaps we should put these two terrors in the brig for a while until they promise to not be quite so naughty," he said coolly. Now you think that the children would have realised that he was actually joking, what with him being an officer and all, but they didn't. He had never used that particular threat, and thus sent both his son and daughter into a mode of panic.
"Please don't, Officer Lighttoller. They're only children letting off steam," Sapphire said, her face had gone white.
Charles and Sylvia looked at her face, and wondered if she was ill.
"I was only joking," Charles said placatingly.
"Hmm," Sapphire said, pursing her lips. "Well, I have practice for the show tonight." She turned to the two seven year olds, and said, "Behave, you two," before she went to find her fellow performers in the auditorium at quarter to ten. Practice started at ten o'clock,and the show started at half past seven, which allowed enough time to practice, and then perform to several hundreds of people.
There were twenty acts, not including the big finale at the end, and the show was split into three parts. Sapphire was doing the opening number to the show, which was also the opening number to Joseph and the Techni-Coloured Dreamcoat. It seemed appropriate to do it like that. Later on, Sapphire and Phillip would be doing Anything You Can Do, I Can Do Better, and then all three would do The Ballad of Russel and Julie, which was a song about reviving Doctor Who.
They rehearsed all morning and afternoon, and tried on all their costumes, which was great fun. They stopped to have a light lunch at one o'clock, and finished up their rehearsing at three thirty.
"Gosh, only four hours to go," Sapphire said brightly, but the others could see she was also nervous. Most of them were feeling quite the same way, and they knew how she was feeling.
"Yeah, sis, it'll be a great night," Felix smiled as he hummed their song to himself and played on the piano.
"You'll do just fine," Phillip told her with an encouraging smile, and Sapphire smiled back.
At six thirty, the stewards brought over a light dinner of salad, and they all ate with feelings of nerves and excitement in their stomachs. As seven thirty drew nearer, they all heard the sounds of people coming into the auditorium, and they sent each other encouraging hugs and smiles.
To the amusement of the crowd of fifteen hundred and twenty-seven people, James Paul Moody, the Titanic's Sixth Officer, was chosen to be the MC for that night. He wasn't wearing his uniform, either. Captain Smith had allowed him to wear a dark blue top with white polka dots, black jeans, and smart black shoes, along with a smart bow tie, 'cause bow ties are cool.
"Good evening everyone!" He said jovially, and everyone cheered. "Are you all having a good time?"
More cheers followed this speech, and he laughed. "We have a fabulous line-up for you tonight, and to start with, all the way from New Zealand laddies and gentlemen, our youngest performer, Miss Sapphire Stone!"
Sapphire stepped out as he introduced her, and she was dressed like someone who had spent some time in the dessert. Fortunately, the auditorium was warm so that she didn't freeze to death. She also held a Bible in her right hand, and she smiled at the audience as the music began.
"Some folks dream of the wonders they'll do, before their time on this planet is through. Some just don't have anything planned, they hide their hopes and their heads in the sand. But I don't say who is wrong, who is right. And if by chance you are here for the night, then all I need is an hour or two, to tell the tale of a dreamer like you. We all dream a lot, some are lucky, some are not. But if you think it, want it, dream it, then it's real, you are what you feel. But all that I say, can be told another way, in the story of a boy whose dream came true, and he could be you," she sang, and the auditorium exploded into cheers, among them were Olivia, Thomas Andrews, Alice, and Sapphire's parents.
Sapphire blew them all a kiss and waved, before she left to go backstage. James once again appeared on stage, and after congratulating Sapphire on a job well done, introduced six acts after that. The audience found themselves crying as a young eighteen year old girl sang "We'll Meet Again," by Vera Lynn, howling with laughter as Molly Brown did a very funny version of "Santa Baby," and marveling at Madeline Astor's dancing with Caledon Hockley to "In The Mood." A handful of German women did a medley from "The Sound of Music," and a handful of English men did a medley from "Oliver!" The last act was a ventriloquist called Paul Zerdin, who delighted the crowd with his talents and his young friend Sam.
After Paul had finished, there was a fifteen minute interval, in which the crowd made sure to use the bathrooms and order drinks.
"This show is fabulous," Olivia told her "father," who smiled brightly.
"Your cousin is very talented," he told her, and the others had to agree. Olivia smiled back, and soon enough, the show started up again.
The President of the White Star Line, a charming man by the name of Thomas Cadogan, along with his wife Linda, wowed the crowd once again as he sang "The Devil Went Down To Georgia," and she played the violin. Act two was a surprise as Helga Dahl sang Nora Jones "I Don't Know Why," before she and Fabrizio sang "So This Is Love" from Disney's Cinderella. Next, Tommy and a girl called Cheyenne sang "The Phantom of The Opera," and a guy named Steven sang Ed Sheeran's "Perfect." Then came Philip and Sapphire trying to prove to the other and the audience who was the better of the two by singing "Anything You Can Do, I Can Do Better." This was lastly followed by Ant and Dec doing a Shakespeare act with their good friend Stephen Mulhern, which had everyone laughing at the cleverness of it all.
Thus ended the second part of the show, and everyone backstage were getting incredibly hot and thirsty. Some stood in front of giant fans that blew cool air around, and Sapphire wiped the sweat from her brow.
"Boy, it sure is hot in here," she gasped out, as one of the stagehands passed out bottles of water. Everyone else thoroughly agreed with her, as they guzzled down on heaps of water, apart from the acts who were going on soon enough. They didn't want the audience to have to wait for them to get out of the bathroom, because that would have been embarrassing.
James smiled at the crowd once more, and informed them that it was the final part of the show. They all clapped again as the next five acts came and went. A young woman called Heidi did a waltz, then Sapphire's favorite comedian, Michael McIntyre, told an amusing story about "The Man Drawer," followed by a story about spices in the cupboard, how salt and pepper were commonly used, but ones such as cumin and five spice were not, and how John West Tuna had been in there so long he married a can of tinned salmon.
An Englishman by the name of Andrew sang the titular song from "Sunset Boulevard," and then a few of the guys did a synchronized swimming act to the tune of "The Blue Danube," which delighted the crowd. Then Sapphire, Philip, and Felix did their trio of "The Ballad of Russel and Julie."
When their act was over, James came out again. "Now, laddies and gentlemen, it's seldom that we get one of our own staff singing, but tonight one of our maids, Miss Violet Jessop, has decided to perform Judy Garlands "Over The Rainbow."
Violet's voice was sweet, and as she finished, the crowd stood and gave her a standing ovation. She was pleased and thanked them all, before waving "Goodbye."
When she had left, James came out one more time. "Now, have you all enjoyed yourselves this evening?" He asked, and everyone clapped and cheered. He gave them all a warm smile that could melt a marble statue, and then said, "What I didn't tell you earlier was that the act that you just saw was in fact, our last act."
The audience groaned in disappointment, feeling like it wasn't right somehow. James smiled again, and said, "But here at White Star Line, on our ships when we do this show, we always end with a big finale. I believe they are all ready to go, so laddies and gentlemen, could you please welcome for the final time back to our stage the fabulous acts for the 2014 Titanic's Stars In Their Eyes!"
Sapphire came out as the opening bars to This Is Me began to play. Everyone smiled as they all sang, because not only were they good, but the song was a good choice.
"...When the sharpest words wanna cut me down, I'm gonna send a flood, gonna drown them out, I'm gonna send a flood, Gonna drown them out, Oh, This is me," they all finished together, and the entire audience stood and cheered as the acts all took a big bow. With the acts being the first to leave, they made their way up past cheering people, and the acts all waved.
"What a fabulous day it's been," Sapphire yawned, and everyone agreed.
"Yes, and when we wake again, it'll be Christmas Eve," Philip grinned at her.
"The finale was good fun," Violet remarked, and they all went off to bed.
AN: Hope you all really enjoyed this as much as I enjoyed writing it. It was fun coming up with songs. So, only a handful of chapters to go now.
SJS