A/N The song 'Homecoming Queen' by Kelsea Ballerini is playing on my mix. It reminds me of Cordelia. :)
Noises Off is a real play and movie and one of my favorites. There was a production of it in 1999, which it currently is in this story, for a couple of years, but it was in London, not New York. But it's a popular play for both professional theater companies and community theaters.
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"Cor, I think I've found an audition for you, but it's not a movie or a tv show, it's a play."
"Off or on Broadway?"
"Off, but it's a start and if the play itself works, it could last a long time. Apparently a lot of theaters have done it and it usually runs for a couple of years at a time.
"Good and it'll get me in the door and steady work would be also be good and a relief. What's it called?"
"Noises Off, it's described as a play within a play. The characters are trying to practice for an actual play, Noise On, but the behind the scenes action is where all the drama is taking place. The actors keep trying to hide the drama while carrying on with their practice and failing because there's so much drama."
"What role would I be auditioning for?"
"They're having an open call for two roles that will be played by one actress, Vickie, the name of the character in the actual play, who is played by Brooke, the actress playing the role. You'd have to switch back and forth between Vickie and Brooke. Vickie is described as a girl one of the other characters is trying to seduce, who works for the tax authorities. Brooke is described as a young, inexperienced actress from London. She pays no attention to any of the others, either in the performance or backstage, and persists in her role as scripted regardless of any interruption or mayhem that's going on. She's always losing her contact lenses, without which she's blind. Part of the Lloyd–Poppy–Brooke love triangle. Lloyd is the director and involved with both Poppy and Brook."
"This doesn't involve actually being seduced, does it?"
"Not even kissing." He assured her. "It's all about the comedy. Although the Noises On part is described as a farce in which girls run around in their underwear and men keep dropping their pants, just the pants, not the underwear, but it's set several decades ago, so they all wear a lot more than you do nowadays. And a lot more than your bikini covers."
"It would be ambitious trying to play two different roles and ones that seem really different from each other. Not to mention, switching back and forth between them, but if I can make it work, it'll help prove I can be versatile. Would you help me learn my lines?"
"Cor, you know you don't even have to ask. I picked up a version that was made into a movie in 1992 so you could get an idea about the play and the characters. There'd be differences with the play, I'm sure, but it'll give you an idea of what's expected for the roles you're auditioning for."
"I'll pop some popcorn." Two hours later, Cordelia switched the movie off and turned to look at Xander.
"Physically she's built like you." He said. "Tall and curvy, but dumb as a post, which you're definitely not. Still, you can prove you can act if you can pull off acting dumb. Aside from the lack of brains, she seems like a sweet girl that, that Lloyd guy is taking advantage of. Fortunately, he seems to straighten up by the end of the movie."
"And you're right, what she's wearing is more than I wear under my clothes. More than what some of the clients want me to wear on modeling gigs too. I like this option a lot more, I'll do it, I'll audition for the role, roles." Cordelia decided.
"The open call is in three days and we should get there early, hundreds, maybe even thousands of wanna bes might show up."
"Then we spend the next few day memorizing lines and practicing scenes. That's the best way for me to nail it."
"Good, let's get a good night's sleep and get started in the morning."
The next days were all about Cordelia memorizing several of the scenes for the roles she was auditioning for. She worked on the lines and copied the actions on the movie.
"The actual actions will probably be different." She told Xander. "But that doesn't mean I can't show I can do physical acting too. The more I know, the better my chance of impressing them."
"True and you've done both in your acting classes, haven't you?"
"Yes, scene and stage are very different acting styles. Scene acting requires playing to the camera by acting like you don't even know it's there and stage acting is about the audience. You have to adjust your acting if the audience doesn't seem to be reacting how you'd prefer they react."
"It's harder work, sounds like."
"A lot of actors consider it true acting." Cordelia told him.
"Well then, let's go get you a true acting job, not to mention a real job. I'm still convinced modeling isn't just a giant scam and an excuse to treat people like crap."
"You won't get an argument from me." Cordelia answered as they headed out, hopeful that this was finally the chance she'd been working for,