Right after the vocal auditions wrapped up, only the adults were invited to stay for the second part of the tryouts for the show, which would be the acting audition, so the children trying out left soon after. Both Emma and Will thought that they had done well in the vocal performance portion, and hopefully the production team agreed. Will was busy sending a text message to Shannon, telling her that they were now doing part two of the auditions and the singing had gone great. The remaining adults quieted down as Paul, the director, spoke to them.

"Now we're going to move on to the acting portion of the auditions, which will let myself and the rest of the production team get a sense as to who would be right for each part when we also factor in the vocal auditions," he said as two people distributed script excerpts to everyone. "Each of you will now have excerpts from the show script, which for this production we will draw heavily from the 1965 film version. The excerpts are marked 1, 2, 3 and 4, I will be giving you the scene number when you come up on stage. Now, I will be calling pairs of one man and one woman at random, so if you came with a close friend or partner, you might be paired with someone else. So, let's get started. First up, would Emily Martin and Evan Grant please come up and do scene number 2." The two people who were called came up on stage and read the scene where Liesl sneaks out to meet with Rolf in the gazebo. They were pretty good, Emma and Will heard both their vocal auditions and Will thought that both the singing and acting parts were exceptionally done.

What scene do you hope you'll get, Emma?" Will whispered as he scanned the pages of the script parts he had been given.

"Hopefully scene 1, when Maria first meets the Captain," she replied. "How about you?"

"I think scene 4," said Will, "the confrontation between the Captain and Maria before they hear the children singing for the Baroness. Sounds like a good one."

"Well, if you can act as well as you can sing," said a lady on Will's other side, "then I definitely think you could get one of the big roles. Your solo was beautiful."

"Thank you very much," said Will.

"Will Schuester and Sarah Thomas," the director called after seven pairs before them did their scenes. "I'd like you to do scene number 4, the confrontation scene." Will had hoped to get this scene, so he turned to face his partner at center stage. The director gave the cue to start.

"I know you don't, but you've got to! Liesl's not a child." Sarah read before looking directly at Will.

"Not one word," said Will, changing the tone in his voice.

"Soon she'll be a woman and you won't even know her. Friedrich wants to be a man but you're not here to show..."

"Don't you dare tell me..."

"Brigitta could tell you about him. She notices everything. Kurt acts tough to hide the pain when you ignore him... the way you do all of them. Louisa, I don't know about yet. The little ones just want love. Please, love them all!"

"I don't care to hear more!" Will read.

"I am not finished yet, captain!" Sarah continued before Will finished the scene in the same tone of voice he had used that day when he found out Terri had lied about being pregnant.

"Oh, yes, you are, captain!" The rest of the auditioning adults applauded wildly.

"Well done, both of you," said the director. Will shook Sarah's hand to thank her for doing the scene with him and went back to his seat. Throughout the whole thing, Emma was smiling.

Eight pairs after Will and Sarah did their audition scene, the director called Emma to the stage along with a young man named Jake, the producer giving each of them a whistle. Will gave her a thumbs-up and hoped she got the scene she wanted to do. Sure enough, the director had asked them to do scene 1, so all Emma had to do now was to give it her best shot.

"Now, when I want you, this is what you will hear," Jake read, then put the whistle to his lips and blew a pattern on it.

"Oh, no, sir. I'm sorry, sir. I could never answer to a whistle. Whistles are for dogs and cats and other animals, but not for children and definitely not for me. It would be too... humiliating," read Emma with a hint of sincerity.

"Fraulein, were you this much trouble at the Abbey?"

"Oh, much more, sir."

"Hmm," Jake read before turning to walk away. Emma blew her whistle to get his attention, and he turned back to face her.

"Excuse me, sir. I don't know your signal."

"You can call me... Captain." With that, the scene ended to loud applause.

"Nicely done, thank you," said the director, and Emma went back to her seat.

"Emma, that was very well done," said Will. "You were terrific. If you don't get a part, then it will feel like a slushie to the face all over again." He had actually taken twelve slushies to the face once, but only because he asked for it and took it in good humor.

"I absolutely think they would be crazy not to cast you as the male lead," Emma confessed. "Sure I know that you're an incredibly gifted singer, but the way you acted that scene left me speechless." After all the adults had finished, the director addressed them once more.

"Thank you very much for coming once again," he said. "All of you did exceptionally well in both the singing and acting portions, and it's going to give us a lot to think about. In the next few days, we will make our final decisions, and the final cast list will be posted at the end of the week in the auditorium lobby along with the full rehearsal and performance schedule. I wish you all the very best of luck, and even if you don't get a part I hope you will come and see the production." With that, the group was dismissed. Getting up from their seats, Emma stretched her arms while Will fished in his jacket pocket for his sunglasses.

"Want to go get something to eat at Breadstix?" Will suggested. "All that auditioning has really made me hungry."

"I'd love to," replied Emma, and together they left the auditorium.

Days later, the two returned to the civic center where a large crowd of people were gathered around a bulletin board in the lobby. True to the director's word, the cast list for the show had been posted along with a full schedule of rehearsals and performances, and they could hear some people cheering the fact that they had gotten a part in the production.

"I told my therapist yesterday that I auditioned," said Emma, "she seemed pretty happy for me. She said if I got a part, she would definitely come see the show."

"That's great, Em," said Will, "I'm glad to hear that you've been making great progress. Now, let's go see if either of us made it." Taking her hand, they walked closer to the crowd standing around the bulletin board.

"Oh wow, I made the ensemble!" exclaimed one person near them. Another person didn't see his name on the list, but was happy that he had a good time trying out. Will managed to get closer to the board and started from the bottom of the list working his way up. He saw that his scene partner Sarah had gotten the part of Sister Margaretta, then continued to scan the list. He found his name near the top of the list and smiled, his eyes growing wide with excitement when he saw the name at the very top and rushed out of the mob to find Emma.

"Em, I made it," he said excitedly, "I'm playing Captain Von Trapp!" Emma smiled, even she knew he would get that part – both his singing and his acting auditions were phenomenal. She gave her friend a huge hug.

"That's terrific Will, I knew you'd get it," she said. "I guess the Captain now needs his leading lady. Did you see who got the part of Maria?"

"Go and see for yourself," Will replied, still smiling, and he watched as she braved the crowd. A few people let her pass until she stood at the bulletin board looking up at the list. All of a sudden, her hands flew to her mouth as she saw who would be playing opposite her best friend.

Maria: Emma Pillsbury