A/N: Okay, we are OUT of September (finally!) and are now in October.
Chapter's a bit short but I'll have another one coming next week. M
Production for The Other Side of Time was well underway. The director, Geoffrey Olson, was in charge of overseeing the progress of the set designers, costumers and various technical aspects (lighting, sound, etc.) And on top of all this, he had to work with his actors.
The individuals pretty much had their parts down pat, Jenna and Billy and the others rehearsing for hours in their free time. But the real challenge was having all the parts coming together and interacting. It's one thing to read your role to yourself. It's another animal entirely when you are face to face with your co-star.
Geoffrey mainly concerned himself with the directing of the actors, as that was more hands-on. He freely delegated tasks to his production assistant, Alice. Freshmen eagerly took such positions just to assimilate themselves with the upperclassmen and be a part of something. She was the link between the big boss and pretty much all of the crewmembers.
It was a lot of work for Alice, mostly having to problem solve right on the spot. If there was a major creative decision, then she would seek out Geoffrey for approval. Once he gave the go-ahead, Alice dashed back to alert the staff. Again, it was a lot of work, but for Alice it was also very exciting. To be on the front lines, witnessing a school play come together from the ground up. When she joined, all they had at that point was a script and a main cast.
Alice found the story of the play pretty captivating, rather sophisticated for a high school production, in her opinion.
It's set in Paris after WWI. The story follows Kelly Wittenberg, a German girl whose father is an anarchist that got arrested for planning an attack on the Prime Minister of France. Her father was imprisoned on an island off the coast of Scotland, where it was rumored, he was executed. When her American mother committed suicide, she is left alone and forced to make her own way. Growing up, she didn't quite grasp the concept of terrorism, so she didn't see the implications of her father's actions. Years pass and she falls in love with a young man named Conrad, the son of a German ambassador. He becomes the target of Kelly's father's old friends when a peace treaty was to be forged between France and Germany. The climax comes when Kelly sacrifices herself to save Conrad, posing as the ambassador and son by turning on an oil lamp on the second floor of their home. That was the signal for the anarchists to blow up the building. A distraught Conrad visits Kelly at the infirmary when she was discovered alive in the rubble. The play concludes with the pretty straightforward message that love, not violence, can move humanity forward.
Alice walked up to the lighting crew, two boys with a sturdy build named Chris and Jeff. They were testing the movements of the arc lights that hung over the stage. They emitted a powerful shaft of bright light when at full force. But the iris could be adjusted and make for a narrower ray, such as when the audience's eyes are meant to be drawn to a particular detail secondary to the main action. That was the extent of their range.
The boys had very little to do other than making sure that everything was functional.
"H-h-how's it going?"
She got a little nervous around these two, both were cute and really nice. Being a year ahead, neither would probably be interested in a date. Not that Alice had that kind of courage anyway.
"Oh, it's cool," yawned Jeff. "Just hangin' out in the rafters like a couple of Quasimodo's."
"You're not that bad looking."
The moment it left her lips, she covered her mouth and turned bright red.
(WHAT IS THE MATTER WITH YOU?)
"Thanks...I think," grinned Chris. "Any words from Cecil B. Demille over there?"
Alice looked back where Geoffrey was talking with some of the supporting players.
"No, I don't think so."
"This is so boring," huffed Chris.
"Yeah, I mean I wish we could do more," added Jeff.
The petite girl noticed a wooden crate against the concrete wall in the very back of the stage, way past the last curtains.
"What's that?" Alice pointed.
"That?" asked Chris as he leaned over and saw what she meant. "Don't know. Let's find out."
She stepped back as the boy jumped onto one of the hanging ropes and slid down like he was Tarzan. Alice blushed at the brazenness of the handsome boy. He was already working high up all the time, but that display showed he didn't give two fucks about heights. She wished she had such guts.
There was an open toolbox nearby and there was a black crowbar.
Chris seized it and waited for Alice before attempting to open it.
He shoved the pointed edge of the metal stick and pushed down with all his might and the lid nearly flew off.
"Whoa!" they both exclaimed.
"I guess they didn't nail it down completely," he chuckled.
The two brushed past the cobwebs and saw some dusty treasures inside.
"What the..."
Alice pulled out a large transparent disc. But it wasn't clear, it was blue. She held it up in front of her and it made everything she saw, including Chris, tinted blue.
"There's more," Chris said.
Indeed, they found a green one, a red one, a yellow and even a purple disc.
"What do you think?" she asked.
"Wait!" he said, eyes wide. "I'll bet these are filters."
Alice was pretty sure what he meant but he pointed up toward the rafters for effect.
"That's so cool," she said. "We can change the color of the light."
"Yeah, let's try it out!"
Chase knocked on Lauen's door.
He actually got there minutes ago, but he was working up the nerve to announce he was there.
The door opened and her mom, Louise, answered.
"Hello, young man" she nodded. "Can I help you?"
He cleared his throat.
"Um, yes, ma'am."
It was impossible to not utter a propriety such as that without invoking the country twang.
"Is Lauren at home? I forgot to give her this at school."
He had a few papers in his hand with musical notes on them.
Louise relaxed, realizing the boy was a friend. That being said, the woman would have been more on her guard if he wasn't so polite and unsure of himself.
"Yes, she is. You can come inside if you'd like."
"Thank you," he nodded. "I would like that."
Standing in the foyer, his eyes were immediately drawn to the big piano. Lauren showed him a picture of it before, but it didn't do it justice. Some things you only get a sense of their size when seen in person.
"Lauren, honey!" she called to the upstairs. "Your friend..."
She paused and turned toward the boy.
"Chase," he whispered with a smile.
"Your friend Chase from school is here."
A series of thumps were audible from the upstairs.
"Coming!" came Lauren's voice in response.
There were more sounds of a commotion up there until Lauren descended the stairs and locked eyes with Chase.
It was only a social visit (not even!) and the teen had butterflies in his stomach. You would think he was standing in a tux holding a corsage.
"Hey, Chase" she smiled brightly.
"Hi," he replied with a frog in his throat. "I mean, hi."
(There, that's better.)
She bounded over to him, and he was frozen, completely forgetting the sheet music in his hand.
"What brings you here?" Lauren asked.
"Huh, oh!" He then hastily handed her the papers. "There you go! I...uh...printed them with the lyrics...th-this time."
Lauren flipped through them and smiled again.
(Please stop with that smile, I can't take it!)
"Great, thanks!"
Chase stood there, nodding awkwardly.
Louise was off to the side, smirking at what was happening right now.
"So," he began.
"So," she mimicked.
"I should go, I guess."
The teen certainly lived up to his name as Lauren was in pursuit of the teen before he broke out into a sprint.
"Wait, hold up!"
Chase stopped and turned.
"I'll enter us into the contest today now that I have this."
"Good," he nodded.
"Can I ask you something?"
"Okay, I..."
Lauren bit her lip, gazing briefly at the sheet music.
"Are you sure you don't want to sing this?" Lauren asked. "It just seems very personal and maybe..."
"Oh, no, I can't!" Chase blurted out. "Really, I don't even know if I can play in front of everybody."
Her face softened.
"Is that all? Chase, I can help you with that. We can get you over this stage fright."
"You think so?" he asked.
Lauren nodded.
"Alright, but I still want you to sing it. Okay?"
"If that's what you..."
"Of course!" he coughed. "I mean...nobody could sing it better."
Now Lauren was blushing and at a loss for words.
"Well, you have a great rest of your day..."
(GOODBYE FOREVER!)
And the musician took off running. Fortunately, he didn't have his guitar to slow him down this time.
Lauren wordlessly closed the door and turned to see her mother snickering to herself.
"What's so funny, mama?"
"Nothing," she managed in between her gasps for air. "You're just too precious."
"No, No, NO!"
Geoffrey pushed aside a metal folding chair with his foot as he charged toward Scott, one of the actors.
"It's all wrong! Scott, why are you using that inflection?"
"What do you mean?" asked the confused supporting actor.
"I mean the line when you say: You DON'T understand! Why all the emphasis on the word 'don't'?"
Scott shrugged and looked to Jenna for help.
"The problem is that you keep doing this," Geoffrey went on. "You'll have a line of dialogue, and you choose the strangest word to emphasize. A few scenes ago, you actually began a sentence with the word 'in' and you stressed the word 'in'! That makes literally no sense!"
He pointed to his PA.
"Alice!"
The girl ran up to the area.
"You're a writer, is there a way to begin an English sentence with the word 'in' and emphasize it?"
The freshman looked like a stunned deer.
"I...um...I'm not sure..."
"NO! Of course not!" Geoffrey interrupted. "And another thing..."
Suddenly the entire stage was bathed in a purple light.
"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE!?"
The director threw down his copy of the script and looked upward, shielding his eyes.
"Jeff, Chris, what the hell?"
The light went back to normal, and the two boys emerged from behind the offending arc light.
"What. Was. THAT?" Geoffrey demanded.
"Sorry, chief!" called out Jeff.
"We found these filters and we thought..."
"You thought about ruining my play?" he interrupted.
Chris just got quiet.
"This isn't a circus or a rock concert! No ridiculous lighting effects or gimmicks! We are doing this right, understand?"
Jeff and Chris looked at each other.
Alice looked up sympathetically at the pair.
"Sorry, man," said Chris.
"Yeah, sorry," said Jeff. "It won't happen again."
Geoffrey brushed back his hair and huffed past his players.
"That's enough for today. Everybody go home! We'll see you Thursday."
A/N: The story of the play was partially influenced by an old silent film, Imperial Violets (1924)
And that bit of "direction" from Geoffrey when he tears Scott a new one was inspired by a famous Orson Welles outtake when he was recording narration for a commercial.