The Show Must Go On Part V
It would be late the following morning before most of them would wake up. A few had had no option but to stumble out of bed early and make their way to their previously arranged commitments. Jeff had managed to get up and walk back across town to his early shift at the Spotlight, where he stood, half asleep and yawning, much to Michelle's amusement. Skylar, now on the staff, had run in 20 minutes late, a chorus of car horns announcing his arrival as his bike was dumped without ceremony on the pavement. His shirt was on back to front, his hair mussed, and he could only apologise for his tardiness. It was quiet, so no harm had been done, and Michelle sent him off to pick up his bike, and then go and tidy himself up in the back. Now as the morning wore on, he was fully alert, and had taken on the responsibility of prodding Jeff every so often to ensure he didn't nod off.
Mike had been sensible enough to leave the party early, and arrived at the rehearsal room of the City Ballet to find his boss waiting to speak to him. When he told Mike that he had heard all about his exploits over the past two days, he feared the worst, but instead he found himself being warmly congratulated. It turned out that everyone in the corps knew about it, and people kept coming over to pat him on the back - and ask him if he had seen the New York Times. He wondered why at first, and then he recalled what Bette had done. He knew that he would have to check out a copy of the paper eventually, but he wasn't sure if he was ready to do so quite yet. In any case, the biggest impact of the story would be on the others…
Sebastian was woken up by Dave just after 9am. He panicked at first, thinking that he was going to be late arriving at the theatre, until his husband managed to get him to remember that he had been given the day off, and that he would only be called in if there was a major problem. This done, Dave guided his husband through to the kitchen and the breakfast that he had prepared him; okay, so it might have been a little overdone, but it was the thought that counted.
Sebastian did not see any of it. All that he saw was the carefully folded newspaper. His mouth was instantly dry, and his palms suddenly felt moist.
"Grace brought it down. She said that it was all as it should be," Dave said quietly, as he poured his husband a mug of coffee. He placed it in front of him, seeing that he was not even attempting to pick it up. "I can read it out to you, if you'd like…"
Sebastian nodded, taking a quick sip of coffee. He had never felt so nervous about anything in his life before. This was the real test; the thing that could make or break his entire future….
"Last night I witnessed something at a hit Broadway show that I have never seen before in all of my years working as a critic of the theatre in our city. Imagine if you can that you are the director of said production, and a key member of the cast calls in sick. You would, of course, call in the understudy, and they would take their place, right? Now imagine the scenario were it isn't just one key cast member that calls in sick, but the majority of them - oh, and the understudies are all sick too. Once you'd got over the initial nervous breakdown, you'd have no option but to cancel the performance, wouldn't you? That was dilemma that faced the director of Book of Mormon last night. Cancelling the show was exactly what he was proposing to do, until the one remaining standby Mormon told him that he could find him another cast. He's have to be crazy to agree to that idea, wouldn't he? After all, such a show would be doomed to fail, and fail spectacularly. As it turns out, that isn't necessarily the case. In fact, I would happily go on record and state that the performance at the Eugene O'Neill theater last night was nothing less than a triumph."
Sebastian had listened to the first few lines of the review with his head in his hands, fearing the worst. Now, as it appeared that it wasn't going to be all that bad, he lifted his head and let a half smile creep across his face. At that Dave grinned too, and read on.
"As ever, the cast members that play the roles of the Ugandans were wonderful, and they coped with having a complete new cast opposite them with aplomb. Those people were blessed in the fact that they had not been invited to the event at which their counterparts had contracted their illness. Two key members of that section of the cast had been invited, and it is to their replacements that I come first. David Thompson, playing the role of the General, was much younger than the actor that usually takes on this part, but that fact made his take on the role all the more compelling. His facial expressions, particularly during I Believe, were a delight to see, and his whole demeanour throughout the show was ideal. The part of Nabalungi was played by Jenny Garrison, one of the standby cast. The young lady in question is endowed with a wealth of talent which is being wasted in a green room. I would say here and now to any casting director; if you see her name on the audition list, grab her with both hands. The simple faith and belief that her character has in the whole story shines through in Ms. Garrison's portrayal, and she, alongside Elder Cunningham, produced some of the more sentimental notes in the show."
"Good," interjected Sebastian. "I'm glad that they singled her out for the praise that she so rightly deserves. If it hadn't been for her continued generosity and friendship, then I might have walked away from the show long before today. Hopefully all of this will get her the big break that she deserves."
"Now I move on to the Mormons. All bar one of the young men that took on those parts last night went to school together, alongside Mr Thompson, in Westerville, Ohio, and all of them were members of the show choir group at said school. The fact that they did so and are all clearly still good friends was reflected in the way that they acted as a group last night. They had a level of co-ordination that you sometimes struggle to find amongst the cast of a show that had worked together on a nightly basis for months. The fact is that they achieved all of it after less than 36 hours of rehearsal. They proved this fact in the opening number, and did so in every moment right up to the finale. As anyone that has seen the show will tell you, the majority of the Mormon's have no name check, and thus it would be hard for me to comment on the actions of each individual; I can state that all of them were of a standard that would be an asset to any chorus in a show. I will however, separate out a few names for particular praise. Thad Harwood's Elder Smith could certainly hold a note with perfect pitch; Flint Wilson's Elder Greene did seem more than a little obsessed with Jesus Christ; and the characters of Elder Grant and Elder Young, played by real life husbands Nick and Jeff Sterling-Duval (Yes, it was that Jeff Sterling-Duval) made all of us crease up with laughter at their missionary antics."
Dave paused as Sebastian shook his head. "Poor Flint! He will be going spare when he reads that. Just so long as his mother never finds out, or I have a feeling he will never forgive me!"
Dave chuckled, then returned to his reading. "We now move on to the head of the Ugandan Mission, Elder McKinley, played here by Mason McCarthy. He is the only one of the cast that was not at school with the others, but instead studies at NYADA with one of the others. He did however belong to his high school show choir, which just happened to also be in Ohio; the same choir that a certain Rachel Berry of Funny Girl and Hello Dolly! fame was a member of… Mr McCarthy's Elder McKinley is even more out and obvious than normal, and his flirting with Elder Price was outrageous. In Turn it Off!, McCarthy was given the perfect vehicle in which to show off his talents, and he did so, the song gaining him a standing ovation, which is unusual mid show. True, he does need to work on his dancing, but as I am reliably informed that he hadn't ever tapped a single step prior to this part. He was coached, along with the others by Michael Chang, recently appointed to the corps at the City Ballet, and a friend to all the cast. It is thanks to him that they were able to dance at all. The fact that Mr McCarthy was able to appear competent and hold all the others together in his big number's dance sequence is proof enough to me that his is a name that we should all look out for on Broadway marquees in the future, once he has completed school. Incidentally, did I mention that he has only just completed his freshman year…"
"Whilst Mr McCarthy's name will make such an appearance, the name of Trent F. Nixon will not, but it deserves to after his show stealing performance as Elder Cunningham. From the moment that he leaps onto the stage, at the wrong time, he was just perfection. He exhibited the right mix of cockiness and vulnerability, which are the traits that have always endeared the audience to the character. Alas for Broadway, Mr Nixon's career path will instead see him taking a minor role in the biggest farce known to man when he graduates from school next year destined for a job in our nation's capital. How else should we describe the political scene at the moment? Last, but by no means least, I come to the young man that had the idea to cast his friends, gathered in town after a reunion, in the parts that he felt best suited them."
Dave paused and said "I don't think I need to read the rest, do I?", earning him a glare from his husband. He laughed, then carried on.
"Sebastian Smythe was excellent as Elder Price, giving us all the dimensions of the man as he travels from proud, smug, arrogant and believing to the more humble man with no belief in God whatsoever. His face betrayed the emotions that his character was feeling minute by minute, and made us laugh and cry by turn. His voice is a powerful instrument too, and he, like Mr McCarthy before him, received a standing ovation for his performance of I Believe. I would be so bold as to say that his performance was equal to that of the originator of the role, Andrew Rannells; and if it was within my power, I would hand young Mr Smythe a Tony for his efforts. Like Mr. McCarthy, Mr Smythe still has to complete his schooling at NYADA, where he is just about to commence his Junior year; I would guarantee that we will be hearing his name much more frequently in two years time. He had faith in the ability of his friends, and they did not let him down. He also did not let the show he was such a minor part of down either. If you ever hear a rumour that the Mormons have gone sick again, and that the original alternate cast is playing the show instead, grab a seat by any means you have to. These boys know how to put on a show, and earn a 10/10 in my book."
Dave put the newspaper down and looked over at his husband, whose face was all smiles. "That was a much better review than I ever could have hoped for…so we need to get a scrapbook, I guess, and cut that review out of the paper and stick it in. My first ever Broadway review and it was a glowing one. I'm glad that Mason got a good write up too, because he was much less prepared than I was, and he still managed to leave the audience in stitches. If we are being truthful, he was the breakout star last night, not me…"
"Don't sell yourself short, Sebby! If it hadn't have been for you, then Mason would not have been on stage last night; none of them would have been, because there wouldn't have been a performance last night for them to appear in. It is all thanks to you, and don't ever forget that. By the way, the scrapbook is already in the middle drawer of the dresser over there. I got it last year so that I had somewhere to stick in the brief mentions of your performances in Shakespeare in the Park. Those were good reviews too…"
Sebastian got up, walked round the table and kissed his husband. He loved Dave so much, and he knew that the feeling was more than reciprocated. They would be there for each other in the bad times and the good for the rest of their lives, that much he knew. Still, he wouldn't mention his own little collection of clippings in which Dave's prowess on the football field was mentioned, at least not yet. After all, he had to be allowed to bask in the warm glow of his success for a couple of hours at least…
His reverie was disturbed by his phone ringing; he checked who was calling, and recognised the number at once. He mouthed the word 'Jules' to Dave, who smiled, then picked up the call.
Before he could speak, his brother spoke. "Hello, am I through to the plush residence of Broadway's newest star? I have a call for him from his poor, unfamous brother, if he can spare him the time…"
Sebastian chuckled, then replied, "It doesn't matter how famous I get, there will always be time in my day to talk to you, Jules. I take it that you have seen the New York Times?"
"Yeah, another horror story about Trump on the front page! Isn't it just terrifying?"
"Ha, ha! You know exactly what I am talking about and don't pretend otherwise!"
"Yeah, Mason and Trent must be so pleased with their copy, as must you be, little bro. According to Isabelle, it is all anyone is talking about at the offices of Vogue, and it has been suggested to her by Ms. Wintour that she said interview you, Jenny and Mason for the next issue, if you feel up to doing a spot of press. She figured that Trent would rather stick hot needles in his eyes, so she managed to get him out of it."
"Me, doing an interview for Vogue? Erm, what can I say but yes, please, Jules! Tell the beautiful Isabelle that for her it will be no problem at all. I'm free all day today if she wants me, and can come anytime…."
"So I'll tell her you're not keen then," scoffed Julian, before laughing. "I'm sure that she can find a few minutes to interview you today. Now, do you want to be the one that tells Mason? It might be better coming from you?"
"It will be my pleasure to let him know. Get Isabelle to call me in about an hour, and we can sort out the exact details between us…" When he rang off, Sebastian felt happier than he ever had before. His moment had come. A review was good, but an interview with Vogue? That was the sign of stardom…
For Mason, sitting in the kitchen of the house above, the whole of last night still seemed like a bit of a dream. Less than 48 hours ago, he had been sat in the same spot he was now, and then his phone had rung… Now he had a positive write up in the New York Times; his parents were hailing him as the next big thing; Madison kept bursting into tears of delight; Jane had been even more attentive than usual last night; and as for Alistair, Spencer and Roderick, they now had nicknamed him The Crown Prince of Broadway. As Spencer had put it, he wasn't the King yet, but one day…
He was so grateful to Ethan for organising everything to ensure that all of those people had been present to see him perform. When he had told him so, Ethan had just shrugged and said that it was nothing really - which was certainly not the case, as that plane had to have cost him a fortune. When he had mentioned it to Roderick, he had told him not to worry, and that he would explain why when they got home. Even though it had been after 2am when they arrived back, he had held his friend to that promise. Roderick had shown him something he had found on line; footage of a company jet, in the exact livery that Madison had described to him, and the exact model of plane. It was a jet that belonged to a multi-billion dollar, family owned firm, called Mackenzie Inc.
Mason had gasped when he had been shown the company balance sheet; he had never seen so many zeros in a row. Roderick had promptly told him that he had to keep quiet about the fact. "I don't think that even his fellow Warblers know just exactly who he is. The rumour is that the whole firm will end up going to the only son of the current head of the business…" Mason's head had hurt at the thought of being responsible for so much money, and he could see why Ethan kept silent about his true wealth…
His thoughts were disturbed by a tapping at the kitchen door, and he looked up to see Roderick standing there. "Excuse me sire, but the other Crown Prince would like a word…"
"If by that you mean Sebastian, then send him in; but please, stop it with the sire!" Mason replied, whilst trying not to laugh.
"He's quite right," said Sebastian as he walked past Roderick into the room. "The correct term is Your Majesty, serf!" Mason burst out laughing, and carried on doing so, as Roderick bowed, then scuttled out of the room backwards. "So how are you this fine morning, my friend? Recovered from last night yet?"
"I still can't believe it actually happened, Sebastian! I still am partially convinced it was a dream, like that glowing review we got in the paper. Carmen is going to love the two of us, isn't she…"
"You can bet on that. There is no doubt that you will be seconded to mentoring duties between your tap dancing classes next year. However, that is for next semester. Just now, you and I have to head uptown, as we have a meeting. They want to interview the two of us for Vogue…"
Once Mason had recovered from the shock, and had been bundled upstairs to change into a presentable outfit, the pair headed up to Isabelle's office. The interview went well, and it had morphed into a photoshoot, with the two of them wearing the latest suits from the Vogue closet. Mason still was convinced that he was going to wake up eventually, and as they posed for the camera, Sebastian wasn't too sure that he wasn't dreaming too…
The glowing review was being digested elsewhere in the city too. In a street in the West Village, various Warblers were waking up to discover that they had been named in the theatre pages of the New York Times, and having never expected it, it did feel a little bit strange to them if truth be told. On seeing his name, Flint immediately dreaded that someone, somewhere would tell his mother, and as a result he carefully checked the caller ID each and every time that his phone rang before picking up. So far it had only been friends. Firstly, it had been Izzy, who kept asking him to just say those two little words again, but he had declined each and every time she called. He had also had a call from Callum, with Alan, his fellow replacement Preppy Boy in the background, asking him if it really had been him that was named in the paper, and if Beats had been on stage with him. When he admitted that it had been and he was, he was more than happy to accept their congratulations on going from gay bar stripper to Broadway sensation so quickly. It had also made him laugh, as it just seemed such an unlikely journey to have made.
As for his cousin Leo, he was just a little bit in awe of the fact that his cousin had been in a Broadway show; he had been sworn to secrecy, and he had promised not to tell anyone ever. "If your mom ever does find out," Leo stated, "then you know that it won't be from me or Izzy. Look on the bright side, your mom is unlikely to even know what Youtube is…" Flint choked on his cereal at that, concerned that no-one had mentioned the possibility that it could be online. Leo chuckled, then continued "Looking even more on the bright side, it won't be on there for long; the people at Book of Mormon remove all the videos of the actual show from the site very fast." Flint could only hope that if there was footage of him performing, it would be taken down long before anyone could show it to his mother.
The unofficial video that was indeed posted on Youtube was not the only one that had captured their one off performance for posterity. The show had been filmed officially filmed too, so that it could be sent on to family and friends that had been too far away to attend the show live. A link was contained in an e-mail sent by Julian to his son Peter in California, just so that he could see his Uncle Bazzy making a fool of himself as he put it. The same link was sent to Jake and Unique, who would watch it that morning and howl with laughter at what they saw, particularly the performance from David. Mercedes would also receive it, and was warm in her praise, although she was hopeful that David wouldn't start swearing on a regular basis.
The link had also made its way across the oceans too; in France, François had opened it out of curiosity, but on seeing the face of his old friend Guillaume, he had yelled for his elder brother to come and watch it with him. To know that the disillusioned young man that they had befriended all those years ago was now a star on Broadway filled them both with delight and pride. He would certainly be receiving a call from them later in the day, in which they would praise and ridicule him in equal measure. After all, he did suit the part a little too well, and in his costume, he did remind them of the young men that would show up on the doorstep of their own homes from time to time; the kind of young men that if François happened to spy through the spyhole in the door whilst he was home alone, would make him strip off so that he could answer the door naked and nonchalant. They usually fled at once, apart from that one memorable time…
Trent would wake up to an e-mail from Burt, in which he would be told that his performance had been excellent, as had Rory's. There was love from Carole, and a message to them both from Rory's Nana, telling them how proud she was of them both, and that in her opinion, Trent had stolen the show with his adorable performance. Burt then went on to ask him to tell the others that they had all been fantastic, and he was proud of them. The separate message that he sent to Sebastian would be read by the young man in question later; he would tear up on reading that Burt Hummel thought that he was a star without a doubt, and that any real father would be so proud of what he had done. Knowing that Burt was proud of him was the icing on the cake of a very happy day.
In a far away version of New York, the show was also the hot topic of discussion amongst a group of four angels. For Wes, there was a deep sense of pride that his boys had put on a show that had wowed the critics of Broadway at such short notice. He had always felt that their losses at the show choir competitions had been down to misfortune, and this was the proof of that. Maybe it had been his obsession with rehearsals that had been their downfall, or the fact that they always performed acapella. The fact was though that none of that mattered now; for the sake of one of their own, they had given it their all, and had triumphed.
Finn had enjoyed the show immensely, and laughed loud and long as they had watched the previous night. The plot had been far better in his opinion than that of Funny Girl, not that he would ever say that to Rachel; and it had been less absurd than Kinky Boots in his opinion. He was also proud of what his old friend Mike had managed to achieve with the Warblers in such a short space of time. He had always been the most talented dancer amongst them, but now he had proven to the world that his talents did not just lie in performance; they also lay in direction.
As for Kurt and Blaine, they both had an enormous sense of pride in the performance that they had witnessed the night before. They had all exceeded their expectations; Mason hadn't just been good, he had been excellent; Trent was a hidden gem, always there in the background, but suddenly blossoming when he was thrust forward into the glare of the spotlight. As for Sebastian, he was the natural showman that they had always anticipated he would be from his first day at NYADA. They could not help but wonder where he would have cast them if they had not died, had he chosen them at all. Would Kurt have been his first choice for McKinley, with Trent gladly handing the role of Cunningham to Blaine? It was all academic of course, but they were both sure that they could have done it just as well - and as if to prove it, both of them kept singing the requisite songs…
Most of the family and friends that had been flown in by Ethan had also made their way back home that morning, but nor before they had praised their children to the hilt, or passed on warm congratulations to their old friends. Madison had elected to stay in the city for a few days for a proper catch up with her brother; she had cleared it with Cooper and Grace, who were only too pleased to let her stay with them. Mason was not just a lodger to them in many ways, and the same applied to Roderick. Alistair and Spencer had been invited to stay too, but they had somewhere that they needed to be back home that night, and so had headed back to Ohio, but not without promising to come and stay for a few days in the near future.
The various parents had also had to head back to their everyday lives, pleased though that they had witnessed their respective son's moment on Broadway. Mrs Harper had the e-mail link stored on her phone so that she could allow her husband to see the show that evening. Trent's parents had headed back home in the company of Séamus and Becca, all of them finding themselves humming little snippets of the songs in the show. As none of them had yet seen their new house in Washington, Trent and Rory had invited all of them to join them for lunch on Sunday, knowing that they would have to be back in the city by then. August was here, and the new academic year was starting; on top of that, Burt and Carole would be back from Ireland, and there would be a pile of political work that needed to be attended to as well. After all, every vote was going to count at this year's presidential election.
At the airport, farewells were said as they waited for clearance to board the company jet once more, for the return home in reverse sequence. For Mrs Duval, her farewells to Nick and Jeff had been made back in the city, and she was content just to relax in the airport lounge and just watch what was going on. She suddenly decided that it might be wise to visit the restroom before she boarded, and so she left her parents to talk to the Sterlings, and headed over to use the luxurious facilities that existed her in the private jet lounge. Having done so, she made her way back out, just in time to see Julian Smythe hugging his aunt - but then she heard what he was saying, thinking they were unobserved, and that gave her pause for thought. He had just said "I love you mom, so much" - or that was what it had sounded like. Now that she could see them side by side in daylight, she could see there were certain little resemblances between the two of them in facial features. That was impossible though; she was the sister of Sebastian's mother, and in any case, the first Mrs Smythe had died in an auto accident in Canada…
That made her pause again, but she dismissed the notion at once. Just because the two women lived in Canada, and one of them looked slightly like a young man that she wasn't even related to… She suddenly realised that she had company, and turned to see Sebastian's mother at her side. "Julian has always been close to his aunt. I call her my sister, but that is only through marriage. The truth is that after his mother died, Julian became very close to his aunt; she was like a mother to him. It was actually through my friendship with her that I met the man I would marry, and the rest is, as they say, history. She was so close to him, but then she had an argument with his father over some trivial matter, and it escalated; in the end, she moved away, and Julian lost touch with her, and so did I. We met again by chance when I moved to Montreal, and restarted our friendship. When I found Sebastian again, and heard that he and Julian had reunited too, well it seemed so appropriate to bring them back together again…"
Mrs Duval nodded, but was not entirely convinced by what she had just heard. For the start, there was the fact that they had lied about who the woman was to everyone, and there was what she had just overheard. Something funny was going on, she could sense it. Still, it would be easy enough when she got back home to find out if Mr Smythe's first wife had had a sister…