Note from teh G-girl:
Howdie! Sorry I missed the update yesterday. Anyway, here's the next chapter of our Chipmunks adventures in theatre! In this one, you'll get to meet the cast, including new friends and . . . . . . dun dun dun (ominous reverb . . .) new enemies.
Reviews Welcome!
The Glider Girl
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Casting List for Moulin Rouge!
Christian ... Simon Seville
Satine ... Jeanette Miller
The Duke ... Richard Cardon
Toulouse-Lautrec ... Theodore Seville
Harold Zidler ... Benjamin Frat
Nini Legs-In-The-Air ... Brittany Miller
China Doll ... Eleanor Miller
The Argentinean ... Alvin Seville
The Doctor ... Rhett Simons
Audrey ... Filmore Sanders
Satie ... Evan McGregor
The Green Fairy ... Candy Mendez
Le Chocolate ... Brett Coulette
Arabia ... Jess Harden
Marie ... Lilly Mongomary
Môme Fromage ... Bell Diva
Warner ... Alfred Denver
Le Petomane ... Jinnie Que
Christian's Father ... Fred Stevens
Man in the Moon ... Ted Coulette
Please meet in the auditorium after last period for rehearsal schedules and introductions.
The Drama Department
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"What!" Brittany screamed as loud as she possibly could, so that many people in the hall turned to stare at her with weird faces.
"What what?" Eleanor asked, as she and Theodore came up behind her. Lunch had just ended, and everyone was killing time in between now and the next period. At that moment nearly everyone was out in the hallway, grabbing the books they needed for their next class and making conversation that didn't require passing notes.
"I didn't get the part of Satine! Can you believe this!" Brittany exclaimed a little louder.
"No, I suppose you didn't . . ." Eleanor remarked blandly, eyeing the casting list. "China doll . . . does anybody know who or what China doll is?" she asked.
"Toulouse-Lautrec? Who is he?" Theodore asked, giving the blonde a confused look.
"He's the man who used to paint the posters used to advertise the cancan dancers at the Moulin Rouge. Why?" Simon asked, stopping to see why the small crowd had gathered in the hallway. He was pushed forward a little as Jeanette came up behind him and bumped into him, her nose in a book.
"Oh, sorry, Simon! I didn't realize you had stopped," Jeanette said, looking up as Simon retrieved some of her notebooks from the floor.
"It's ok, Jeanette. Um . . . here," he said, handing her things back to her. They looked at each other for a minute before realizing that everyone else was staring at them.
"What?" they asked simultaneously.
"Who would have thought the two of you would get cast in the leads for a school musical?" Alvin remarked skeptically, staring over Simon's shoulder at the notice.
"Huh?" Simon asked, and then he turned around saw his name at the top of the list. Right next to Jeanette's.
"Oh, Jeanette, isn't it just grand?" Eleanor said, hugging her sister. Jeanette returned the hug, somewhat dazed, and when Eleanor through Brittany a dirty look, coupled with Jeanette's simple but obvious delight, she couldn't help but wrap her arms around her sister as well.
"Congratulations, Simon! This is great!" Theodore remarked, putting a reassuring hand on his brother's shoulder.
"Yeah, great going, Si!" Alvin pitched in, pumping the bespectacled chipmunk's arm. Simon simply stared at the casting list, disbelief coursing through his veins. He was aware of Jeanette at his elbow as the bell rang and the others ran to class.
"Um . . . great job, Simon . . . I think that's great that you got one of the lead roles. I don't think I'll do too well. They probably got my name and Brittany's mixed up by mistake –" she said, looking at the floor, and then she felt one of Simon's fingers against her lips and she looked up. He was laughing.
"Don't worry Jeanette. Everything'll be fine," he said, and she breathed a sigh of relief. Before she could stop herself, she hugged him. Simon seemed a little taken aback, and she could just see him in her mind's eye, eyes wide and mouth hanging open, cheeks as red as hers, maybe redder. And then he hugged her back. She could have melted into the floor.
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It was four thirty, and Simon was just now escaping seventh period, much to his annoyance. One of the younger students, skipped ahead a few years, had an ego bigger than Einstein's, and as a result, he had mouthed off to the teacher, resulting in the whole class being held back in class for an hour. Simon had tried to explain the circumstances, but the teacher had given him a sympathetic look, saying, "I'm sorry Simon, but I cannot make any exceptions." However, he had let Simon and three other students out after thirty minutes, stating they were getting out early for good behavior. Whatever it was, Simon was thankful for it. No doubt the director, Mrs. Finstien, head of the Drama Department, would be very annoyed with him by the time he got to the auditorium.
Simon was running with the wind in his face, blowing hard and cold against him as he sprinted across the grounds that contained the outdoor cafeteria, his book bag banging up and down against his hip in a most painful fashion.
Then came a loud crunch and a lot of pain in his upper skull as he was knocked backwards onto the grass. Simon rubbed his head, eyes squeezed shut against the sudden throbbing, and he felt his left hand rummage around next to him for the notebook he had dropped. He opened his eyes to see Mr. Brandon, the English teacher standing in front of him with a pained look on his face as he rubbed the back of his neck.
"My apologies, Simon," he said, giving the chipmunk a hand, and Simon hauled himself to his feet.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Brandon, I wasn't looking, and I'm really late for rehearsals because Mr. Quint kept us late after class, and I really need to get to the auditorium before they give my part away, or else Jeanette will be very disappointed –"
Mr. Brandon waved a hand at Simon as he bent to pick up some of the books he had dropped.
"Hold your horses, Mr. Seville, I can't quite keep up with you, even at that speed. Now, you're late for …?"
"Rehearsals, sir. In the auditorium," Simon said, placing the few loose leaf papers that had fallen out back inside his bag, then snapping it shut, which upon reflection would have been a good idea to do before he had raced out of the classroom.
"Rehearsals?" Mr. Brandon asked with a teasing smile, and even though he was Simon's favorite teacher, the chipmunk felt himself turning red.
"Um . . . well you see, my siblings auditioned for the yearly senior play, and Theodore tricked me into auditioning . . . I hadn't really meant to, but –"
"Well, congratulations, in any case, Simon. What play are you going to be performing?" Mr. Brandon asked.
"Moulin Rouge," Simon muttered, looking at his feet. He heard the man snicker, but he felt no shame, surprisingly.
"And which part did you get?"
"Christian."
Mr. Brandon smiled fondly at his favorite student, who had removed his glasses and was now polishing them on the corner of his shirt, a sure sign the boy was more than a little embarrassed.
"That's definitely an achievement! Again, my congratulations. And your lovely leading lady is Jeanette Miller, I take it," Mr. Brandon said with a smile. It seemed rather like a lucky coincidence to him, if anything.
"Yes, sir," Simon said, looking up, growing even redder if possible. And then he remembered he needed to be in the auditorium.
"Um, sir, I really need to go –" Simon started to say, but Mr. Brandon pulled out a sheet of paper and a pen, which he began scribbling with.
"Here, I shall write you a note. You might get off easier with a credible excuse," the teacher said, handing Simon the note. Simon looked at it for a minute, and then with a hasty "Thank you, sir!" he resumed his mad sprint.
Mr. Brandon watched the student retreat and smiled to himself, shaking his head.
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Jeanette heard one of the giant double doors swing open with a large bang against the opposite wall. She was sitting on the stage in a circle with the other lucky participants. She looked up to see Simon's outline against the natural sunlight that stretched five feet and was then taken over by the darkness where the stage lights could not quite reach. He was breathing heavily, by the looks of it, and she watched him enter and close the door behind him, walking down the stairs between the seats, his face quite red, and she was not so sure that was from the wind outside.
"Simon, if you're going to assume the responsibility of our leading man, you shall have to make it a priority to be at rehearsals on time," the music instructor, Mrs. Beckens called from the first row.
"I know, I'm sorry. I have a note from Mr. Brandon –" Simon began, sliding between the stage and the seats in the first row, his arm stretched out to give the note to one of the three teachers sitting in the middle of the row.
"Very well, Mr. Seville," Mrs. Finstein said, having glanced at the note, "but please don't let it happen again," she added, looking at the boy with a raised eyebrow. Simon didn't see her snicker as he turned around and climbed onto the stage, sliding into the hole in the circle made by his two brothers.
"Now that we are all here, finally," the producer, Mr. Calahan, said with a grin that made Simon grow even redder, "I would like to start by introducing myself, your director, and music instructor, as well as your choreographer," he paused and looked around, "who is not here. But no matter!" And here he clapped his hands and almost immediately some one popped out from behind the curtains and handed him a neat stack of papers.
"I have a schedule for each one of you, including individual rehearsals for dance and voice. Please note that if you are going to miss rehearsals, phone before hand and we shall get someone to go over the dance steps you have missed with you. Now, today is not our first official rehearsal, nor was it intended to be," he said, winking at Simon, "but we shall also begin getting to know each other, now that everyone is here. As most of you know, I am Mr. Calahan, and I fund most of the productions at this school as well as being head coordinator of the youth programs. Most of you will also know Mrs. Finstein, our lovely director, and head of the drama department. The beauty to her left is Mrs. Beckens, and she will be our music instructor, your vocal coach in a sense. The choreographer, Ms. Bethany, is not here. You will, however probably see her at the first group rehearsal. Now," he added, clapping his hands together and rubbing them enthusiastically, "we shall go around every person in the circle, and you shall tell us not only your name, but what your hobbies are, because if we're going to be working on this production all year, we might as well get to know each other! Let's start with . . . you, the blonde to my right," he finished, pointing at a stout little girl with a braid and very dark tan.
"My name is Lilly Mongomary, and I play varsity soccer, center field," she said in a calm, bashful voice. The boy to her right cleared his throat.
"I'm Ted Coulette, and I collect hats. I've got the Indiana Jones hat from Raiders of the Lost Ark." Several nods of approval went with that one. Ted was dark haired and fair skinned, with a bit of a lisp, but his voice was very deep, so it was hardly noticeable.
"My name is Filmore Sanders, and I play the guitar," said the blue-eyed child sitting next to Ted. Alvin raised an eyebrow, the look on his face the one he wore at battle of the bands where he was scoping the competition in the room.
"My name is Benjamin Frat, and I'm the junior district foosball champion," said the next boy, a stout kid with hazel colored eyes and red skin.
"My name's Evan McGregor, and I draw," said the next brown haired boy. He looked at the ground when he said so, feeling a bit embarrassed because his talent did not sound all together impressive.
"My name's Brittany Miller," Brittany said with a confident grin, "and I'm the lead singer in the band The Chippettes." Simon rolled his eyes, and felt Alvin's elbow dig into his ribcage.
"I'm Fred Stevens, and I play hockey," said the next kid, a red head with a round face and a high-pitched voice.
"I'm Eleanor Miller, and I enjoy baking. I won a prize last year in a pie contest," the blonde chippette piped up eagerly, and Theodore licked his lips, remembering that specific pie with fondness.
"I'm Jeanette Miller, and I can play ten different tunes on the piano with my eyes closed," the soft voice of the oldest chippette reached Simon's ears and he blinked. He hadn't know Jeanette could do something so . . . coordinated!
"Bell Diva, and I wallpaper my bedroom in posters," said a girl in black capris, black army boots, and a black t-shirt with fingerless leather gloves, wearing a lot of eyeliner and black lipstick.
"I'm Jess Harden, and I paint," said the next girl, who was wearing a blue dress and what looked like a shoe buckle in her hair. The other boy, Evan, looked up at her, and she looked across the room at him. Then they both looked away.
"My name's Alfred Denver, and I'm on the wrestling team," said a broad shouldered boy with a dark expression and a glance at the boy sitting beside him. This boy, the shorter one, caught Simons eye in a very unpleasant manner. He was blonde, with golden highlights and a dark complexion that said he had access to an all day tanning solon. His eyes were bright, pale blue in direct contrast with Simon's, which were dark and electric. He had an air about him that suggested he was from a higher bred, wealthier family, and he was long and lanky with fine tuned muscles, and he sported designers clothing. He knew it was irrational, and it was better to give people the benefit of the doubt, but Simon did not like him. Instantly.
"My name is Richard Cardon, and my father owns the country club at Cardon Estates," he said in a low, menacing voice that dripped with self-importance. Simon bristled. He had heard of the Cardon family, a very prestigious, very snobby family who owned and ruled Cardon Estates. But that was a few neighborhoods away. Simon would've thought that a college preparatory school somewhere in Sweden would have been better suited to the Cardon family's taste.
"I'm Nicky Que," said a dark haired girl with skin as white as paper and a lot of freckles, "and I'm a member of an online role-playing community, where I reside as a level sixty-seven Dungeon Mage master." Simon chuckled at that, being a level thirty-two Wizard Warrior himself in his freshman year. He hadn't picked the game up (he couldn't even remember it's name) in years.
"I'm Alvin Seville, and I play the guitar better than Jimmy Page!" Alvin said in a confident voice, smiling as he looked around the room with pride. Theodore clapped his hand to his forehead and Simon once again found himself rolling his eyes.
"My name is Simon Seville, and my hobby is inventing," Simon said, feeling as though he had come up short, even though he did like to tinker and was very good at it. It sounded unimpressive to him, though, the way it had come out. But Jeanette flashed him a smile, so he grinned at the floor.
"My name is Theodore Seville, and I grow my own vegetables," the youngest Seville said with a certain amount of pride, for it was true that he had a prize winning garden outside in the back yard that tasted fresher and more delicious than any other vegetables Simon had ever eaten, and he'd been all the way around the world!
"I'm Brett Coulette, and I go sky-diving on the weekends," said the next boy, who had very dark skin and a wide mouth that seemed to curve up in a most pleasant manner.
"I'm Rhett Simons, not to be confused with Brett," said the next boy, a very bright looking kid with a flashy grin and glasses, "and I memorize movie scripts. Just as a hobby, you know," he added at the funny looks everyone was giving him.
The last girl was a black haired girl who had bleached most of it except for the roots a bright white, and she wore heavy makeup and a mini-skirt without the skirt, as well as a sleeveless tank top that suggested she was not wearing a bra.
"My name is Candy Mendez," she said in a high pitched, grating voice that made Simon want to flinch, "and I enjoy long walks on the beach, Italian food, and going to the movies." Most of the boys laughed, but Simon caught more than one girl making gagging noises and wrinkling their nose.
"Well, now that we all have gotten to know each other, everyone is dismissed for the day, pending our next rehearsal! Enjoy your weekend people, because it'll be the last free one you have for a very long time," Mr. Calahan said with a smile, and Simon sat for a moment absorbing all the new faces as the others rushed for the door. He picked himself up and apologized once more for his tardiness, assuring that it would not happen again, and then he followed his brothers to the exit.
On his way up the isle, he noticed Jeanette trip and stumble just in front of him, and he grabbed her arm to keep her from falling.
"Jeanette, are you –" he started to say, and then he caught the eye of another someone on the chippette's opposite side, helping her to rise.
"- all right, Ms. Miller?" asked the other boy, Richard. He gave Jeanette a concerned smile, then flashed Simon an icy stare. Simon stared right back, determined not to be intimidated.
"Yes, I'm fine, thank you, both of you," Jeanette said calmly, and she shook herself loose of both boys. Her parting look was aimed directly at Simon, however, as she rushed up to catch her sisters. Simon heard squeals of "Since when are you so popular, Jeanie?" and "Better watch out, one of 'em might trip you on purpose next time, try to sweep you off your feet!" All he could do was stare back at Richard though.
"I believe I already introduced myself, Richard Cardon. You're Simon Seville, correct?" he asked, holding his hand out in a mock gesture of etiquette.
"Yes," Simon responded coolly, shaking the hand stiffly.
"And you're playing the part of Christian, are you not?"
"Yes," Simon responded again, not liking the patronizing tone this boy carried on in.
"Ah. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised, really," he said, and he smiled in a cocky manner that made Simon bristle. "I've got the part of the "dear Duke" as it were. Be assured, we shall have quite a time bartering between the two of us," he added darkly. Simon didn't want to know if he meant the banter or . . . other things.
"I'm sure," was all he would say, and he felt Alvin tugging his arm. He didn't realize his hands were balled into fists until he was out the door into the cool autumn air.
"Jeez, Simon, try picking a fight with someone who looks like he could beat the crap outa you, why doncha!" Alvin hissed at him, but a small part of him couldn't hide his pride, and Simon could read it on his face. Theodore followed, the keys to the Chevy in his hand. He didn't say anything, just gave Simon a look that said, "Be careful!" Simon didn't know it then, but he would need that look for later. Much later.
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