After weeks of rehearsals, costume fittings, photoshoots and publicity, the day had finally come for the show's opening night. The performance was completely sold out and families and friends of the performers as well as members of the local media would be on hand to watch, and as a steady stream of people entered Crouse Hall they were eager to see just how far the cast and crew had come over the course of the past month.

Among them were the members of New Directions, along with Shannon Beiste. When Kurt and Mercedes spread the word about their teachers being involved, everyone had agreed to come to opening night and support them. Everyone had pooled their money together, and Kurt bought the tickets, ending up with very good seats that included a wheelchair spot for Artie. So on the night, the kids all wore their best clothes: suits for the guys and dresses for the girls. Even Shannon looked very good, dressed in a black pantsuit with a red blouse underneath. After getting their tickets torn and receiving their programs, the group stood in the lobby outside the auditorium doors waiting for the ushers to let the audience in.

"Hey, you made it!" Blaine exclaimed as he saw the McKinley kids nearby, his family and assorted relatives standing with him. "New Directions, meet the Anderson clan. Mom, Dad, you know Kurt already, I'd like you to meet his friends in the glee club he's in. They're here to support their teachers who are playing the leads in the show." There were handshakes all around as the kids exchanged greetings with Blaine's family. All of a sudden, an all too familiar voice chimed in, and heads turned to see who it belonged to.

"Well, what do we have here," said Sue, actually dressed in something other than a tracksuit. "Shannon and the Singalongs."

"Coach Sylvester, what are you doing here?" Quinn asked. "If you're here to ruin this night for Mr. Schue and Miss Pillsbury..."

"Relax, Q," the Cheerio coach said, "I'm mainly here because this was one of my sister's favourite musicals and I owed it to myself to be here. I had no idea that those two were in the show until I saw the program, so for one night I'm not going to make a dig at William's ridiculous hair or at one of Irma's many shortcomings."

"That's Emma, Sue," said Shannon. "And Will has great hair. Enjoy the show by the way." Without a word, Sue turned and walked away as Shannon and the kids turned their attention back to Blaine and his family.

"What was that all about?" Blaine asked.

"Despite her being a despicable woman on the outside," said Mercedes, "I think that Ms. Sylvester actually likes Mr. Schue and Miss P, but she doesn't actually show it. Whatever, I'm here to have a good time." The rest of the group agreed.

As the audience was beginning to be let in, backstage was a hive of activity. In her dressing room, Emma quietly put on her makeup as Kathryn, the lady who played the Baroness, stood behind her and wove her long red hair into a French braid, leaving a bit of fringe in front.

"You have the most amazing hair," Kathryn said. "I can tell because it's been easy for me to style it for you, you obviously take good care of it." She tucked the braid underneath with hairpins and sprayed it to give it extra hold.

"Thanks," Emma replied as she put her tube of lipstick down on the counter and picked a piece of fluff of the plain white sleeveless cotton dress that she would be wearing under her costumes. A small belt was cinched across her waist with a transmitter pack clipped to the back, the cord running up the back of her dress and a small flesh-colored radio microphone hooked over her right ear, sitting just at her right temple. The production team had contracted an outside sound company from Columbus to help out, and they had provided the microphones and an extra sound console for the occasion.

"You know what?" Kathryn said. "You and Will work wonderfully together as the leads, you both have incredible chemistry. I would say that you two are crazy for each other in real life."

"You could say that," said Emma with a small smile as she got up and started to put on her first costume: a simple black dress with a white apron over it, Kathryn tying the apron's strings into a bow at the back.

Will put the guitar down in his dressing room, having finished his vocal warm-ups, and adjusted the microphone that was sitting over his right ear before running a brush through his curls, already dressed in his first costume. He was happy with the way the dress rehearsals had gone and was looking forward to this opening performance. David, the actor playing Max, sat down at the space next to him and began to slick back his dark hair into a 1930s style.

"So you run the glee club at McKinley High?" David asked. "And you were actually part of it when you were a student there? No wonder Paul picked you for the male lead, it's as if there was no competition – you're incredibly talented. Everyone could see that."

"Yes, yes, and thank you for the compliment," replied Will, putting down his brush and reaching for a compact of pressed powder, brushing it over his face. "I love being a teacher, the kids mean so much to me and I want to do everything possible to help them succeed. We actually made it to our first national show choir competition as a group in New York and finished in the top fifteen – we ended up twelfth."

"Twelfth out of fifty on your first try, that's amazing," said David. "Hopefully next time you end up going all the way, I've heard your glee club is really good."

"I hope we can make it back to nationals," Will said, "and it's good that we have some incredible people on our side like Emma and Shannon supporting us. They're like our two biggest cheerleaders."

"Well, from the way you interact with Emma as your leading lady," David said, "I can tell that there's more to that. I actually think that both of you are made for each other." Hearing that made Will blush slightly, even he knew David was right.

"Ready, Em?" Will asked quietly as he stood beside her in the wings on stage right, the set for the first scene already on stage. The call had come from the stage manager some time later for places, and on both sides of the stage the wings were filling up with cast members. Will wasn't set to come on for a couple of scenes, but naturally he wanted to be there to support his best friend.

"As ready as I'll ever be," replied Emma. Between the group rehearsals, she and Will had been practicing on their own at his apartment to go over their songs and dialogue. He accompanied her on piano for her solos, and when they were doing a song together they sang along to a CD copy of the movie soundtrack. They had also rehearsed their second act love scene many times, and even Emma knew that any girl would be lucky to have Will as their leading man – but somehow, her heart was telling her that he was definitely the one for her.

A hush fell over the assembled cast as the work lights dimmed and the stage went dark, Will giving Emma a quick kiss for luck. The orchestra began to play the overture, the familiar music filling the auditorium and raising the hairs on the arms of those gathered in the wings – it was finally time to show the audience how hard they had been working. The curtain rose, the lights on stage came up to reveal the set, and right on her cue Emma ran out for her entrance. She twirled around twice with her arms stretched out wide, then began to sing the famous title song.

The hills are alive with the sound of music
With songs they have sung for a thousand years
The hills fill my heart with the sound of music
My heart wants to sing every song it hears

My heart wants to beat like the wings of the birds
That rise from the lake to the trees
My heart wants to sigh like a chime that flies
From a church on a breeze
To laugh like a brook when it trips and falls
Over stones on its way
To sing through the night
Like a lark who is learning to pray

I go to the hills when my heart is lonely
I know I will hear what I've heard before
My heart will be blessed with the sound of music
And I'll sing once more...