"I gotta go," Miyana said, slipping her shirt over her head.
It was one of her favorites: a thin, gray sweater with cutouts on the shoulders. Matched with dark purple skinny jeans, and well-worn black Chuck Taylors, it was an outfit that made the young actress feel both comfortable and confident; something she needed that day.
Mia was headed to the first day of rehearsals for her first Broadway show: a revival of the popular show 'Mamma Mia.' Nearly a month of auditions and callbacks had led to a phone call from her agent who told her that she had booked a part. To say she was ecstatic would be exactly right; Miyana Castle was over the moon. Performing on Broadway had been her dream since she was seven and had seen a performance of 'Phantom of the Opera' and had vowed to her parents, grandparents, siblings, and friends that she would be up on that stage someday. And 'someday' started today.
"Be good," she says, stooping down to rub Goose between the ears. The bulldog simply stares back at her, oblivious to what she is saying. She kisses him on the forehead before standing and grabbing her keys and backpack and leaving her apartment.
Her walk to the train is spent lost in her thoughts but is broken when she has to swipe her pass more than once to get through the turnstiles. The businessman in line behind her groans in annoyance, and if she hadn't been dealing with first day nerves, Miyana might have moved slower just to annoy the guy even more. But since she was, she mumbled an apology and went on her way.
The train was still packed, even towards the end of the morning rush, but she manages to find a spot near the back. Mia tucks herself into a corner of a bench next to a father and his daughter. The girls' dark, natural curls are held back from her face with two butterfly clips, and the navy blue polo of her school uniform peeks out from under a pink 'Disneyland' sweatshirt. She's telling her dad about an upcoming choir concert, and Miyana can't help but listen in.
The family gets off two stops later, the little girl still chattering away to her dad, and Miyana takes this opportunity to move further onto the seat, busying herself with answering emails and looking through social media, and soon her stop is called.
Walking through the early fall sun, Mia glances up from her cell phone to the street around her, trying to find the address of the rehearsal space she's supposed to go to. She finally finds it, and pulls open the door, setting her sunglasses on top of her head.
Voices are echoing down the stairs, from the large room above, and after a breath, Mia takes the stairs to join her new cast.
[] []
"Hello! Welcome! We love you!"
Despite two decades of being in the presence of crazy, random theater people, the running hug Miyana gets still surprises her.
"Hi." Mia laughs, suddenly quite awkward.
Her apparent cast mate pulls back, and Mia can get a good look at him. The first thing she sees is his piercing blue eyes, and his giant smile right after. He's got curly, medium brown hair and a beard covering his face. He's short too, a few inches smaller than her own 5'8".
He extends a hand, still smiling, and Miyana shakes it. "I'm TJ. I'm playing Bill."
"I'm Miyana. I'm playing Ali."
With introduction made, TJ leads his costar over to a table where three people sit, binders and clipboards full of paper in front of them as well as a cup of coffee. She recognizes them from her audition where they talked briefly.
"Miyana, these are our stage managers: Stephanie, Nicole, and Gregory," he introduces.
"Mia," she corrects, shaking hands.
"Well it's great to see you again, Mia," Stephanie smiles, marking off her name of the sign-in sheet on her clipboard.
"Yeah, you too," Mia says, returning the smile
"We have presents for you," Nicole announces, reaching into the cardboard boxes at her feet to pull out a black baseball cap and a purple t-shirt, both with the 'Mamma Mia' logo on them. She passes them over, snapping the gum in her mouth.
"Thanks," Mia replies, slipping the cap onto her head. "How do I look?" she asks, turning to her new friend.
"Great," TJ replies, pulling his hat out of his back pocket and slides it on, turning it backward. They both laugh and quickly snap a picture to commemorate the day.
The two make a round of the room; Miyana gets introduced to more and more people. Some she recognizes from her audition – like the director, Adam, and the choreographers, Zack and Anne – others not so much. Producers, Set Designers, even members of the cast who were milling about waiting for their first rehearsal to start (including the girl who would be the Swing for her part: Lauren); all the new names and faces were making her head spin a bit. She's looking at a model of the set and sketches of their costumes, when TJ grabs her arm.
"I have one more person I want you to meet," TJ smiles, leading her over to possibly the only person in the room she hasn't met yet. "Mia, this is Eric. . ."
Miyana doesn't hear the rest of the introduction; she already knows who the person is standing in front of her is.
"You – you're Eric Sullivan," she stammers, completely star struck.
"I am," Eric nods, smiling. He's cute, in a Boy Band sort of way: large brown Doe eyes, shaggy brown hair that is constantly threatening to fall into his eyes and a sweet smile that, had he been in a boy band, would make any adolescent girl go weak at the knees just by looking at it.
"Oh my gosh." Mia shakes her head, trying to form a coherent sentence. "I saw you in Midsummers Nights' Dream last summer; you were amazing."
"Thank you. Yeah, that part was pretty fun. First time in a long time I'd done it. I'm glad you liked it. "
Luckily, two familiar faces entered the rehearsal space at just that second, saving Miyana from becoming even more of a babbling mess, laughing and talking over each other, filling the already full room with even more noise.
Allie with her striking red hair, bright blue eyes and freckles covering her cheeks and nose, and Brynn with warm brown skin, dark eyes and black hair worn in its natural curls; both full of joy and enthusiasm and sass.
Miyana excuses herself from the boys and strides up to the duo as they check-in at the front table.
"Hey!" she says.
"Hey!" Allie replies, hugging her quickly before turning away to listen to the Stage Managers and to receive her shirt and hat. "Pretty crazy, huh?" she asks, stepping off to the side and looking around the room.
"Very," Mia agrees.
"Isn't this awesome!?" Brynn cheers, joining the other two, obviously quite excited for their first day.
The three had first met at their auditions when they were put together to read scenes, and almost instantly bonded. Their fast friendship came out in their reading and had quickly impressed the casting directors and producers. And when cast announcements came out Allie, Miyana and Brynn's names were listed to play Sophie, Ali and Lisa respectively.
"Come on." Miyana leads Brynn and Allie over to where TJ and Eric are standing and introduces the girls to their cast mates. Allie and Brynn are just as star struck as Miyana was after getting introduced to the two men in front of them, but not for their theater credits, but because of a web series the two had done a few years back.
"I can't believe you've never seen it! It is totally something you would love," Allie scolds Miyana after the redhead had learned her friend hadn't seen the web series in question.
"Tell you what," Miyana offers, "If we survive rehearsals, I'll watch it."
"I'm holding you to that," Allie accepts, pointing a finger in Mia's direction.
"Alright! Let's get started!" At Adam's order, there was a flurry of noise and movement as the entire cast and crew came together to begin their Table Read.
[] []
Three tables were set up in the middle of the room in a horseshoe pattern. At each spot marked with a nameplate sat an unopened water bottle and a black binder with the script inside, the play's logo embossed on the front. The main cast and crew sat around the horseshoe, with the ensemble, understudies, swings and the rest of the crew sitting at tables behind them.
In turn every person introduced themselves and the character they would be playing, the people making their Broadway debuts (including Miyana) were recognized and applauded by their cast, and the producers and the director gave speeches about how excited they were to be doing this project and to be with this cast; there may or may not have been tears shed.
The producers made it clear that they were not reinventing the wheel. That they were not changing the essence of 'Mamma Mia'; it's what made it such a popular, loved and successful play. They were going to add their flavor and make it their own, change a few things here and there, as most revival companies do with their material, but the original recipe would remain the same.
"Alright guys," Adam began, "this is a read through, just read. But if you know the songs: Sing out! And if you don't, well, we'll sing for you."
And with that, the three-piece band (drums, piano, and guitar) begins the overture and their first rehearsal starts.
When Allie sings the first words of 'I Have a Dream,' chills run up and down Miyana's spine, and goose bumps erupt on her arms and stay through the rest of the read through. There's an energy in the room that Miyana wants to keep forever (or at least remember forever).
Everyone claps and cheers once Kat finishes 'Winner Takes it All' and by the time they hit the Finale and Mega Mix, their serious Table Read has turned into one giant party.