CHAPTER SIX
(Chapter Title - The Acceptance Song)
Lily took a deep breath as she waited for her vocal audition. She sat on one of the wooden benches, listening to the downpour of rain on the tin roof. It had been raining since everyone got up and now, at 3:15, it seemed like the rain wouldn't let up.
"Number 12!" Ian said, looking out into the audience.
"That's me!" Lily said, looking at the number stuck to her shirt. She gathered up her music and walked up to the stage.
"Hello" Ian greeted Lily warmly and had her face a long table after handing her music to the accompanist, "can you tell us your full name, what part you're auditioning for and what song you're gonna sing."
Lily nodded, "I'm Lily Aldrin, I'm auditioning for Alyssa and I'll be singing Breathe from In the Heights."
"Whenever you're ready, sweetie" Ian said in a kind voice.
Lily took a shaky breath and looked at the accompanist to start.
"When I was a child, I stayed wide awake
Climbed to the highest place on every fire escape
Restless to climb
I got every scholarship, saved every dollar
The first to go to college
How do I tell them why I'm coming back home?" Lily sang, pouring her heart into each note.
Lily smiled as she received applause and a standing ovation.
"That was beautiful" Mae said, smiling, "you can go to the Mess Hall for the dance auditions."
"Thank you!" Lily said, carefully going down the stairs and ran to the Mess Hall, feeling the rain on her clothes and face.
"Number 13!" Ian called.
Marshall stepped onto the stage, smiling.
"I'm Marshall Ericksen, I'm auditioning for Principal Hawkins and I'll be singing The Letter from the musical A Year With Frog and Toad" Marshall said, handing his music to the accompanist.
"Whenever you're ready, Marshall" Ian said, smiling.
"I'm carrying a letter, a most important letter
A letter Frog has written to Toad
I'd love to stay and chat, stick around and chew the fat
But duty calls and I must hit the road
I'm the snail with the mail, I'll deliver without fail
Whether rain or sleet or snow
No snail has feet more fleet-ah
Why I'm practically a cheetah
I put the go in 'escargot!" Marshall sang, a big smile on his face the whole time.
Everyone at the table laughed and applauded.
"That was great! Go ahead and join the dancers in the Mess Hall" Ian said, wiping tears of laughter from his eyes, "number 14!"
Savanna came onto the stage, smiling, "hello."
"Hello my dear" Mae said, watching her hand the music to the accompanist, "tell us your full name, what part you're auditioning for and the song you'll be singing."
"I'm Savanna Walker, I'm auditioning for Shelby and I'm going to be singing Fight Song by Rachel Platten" Savanna said.
"I love that song" Ian said, "whenever you're ready, sweetie."
"This is my fight song
Take back my life song
Prove I'm alright song
My power's turned on
Starting right now I'll be strong
I'll play my fight song
And I really don't care if nobody else believes
'Cause I've still got a lot of fight left in me" Savanna sang.
Everyone at the table applauded.
"That was beautiful. Go to the Mess Hall for the dance audition" Ian said, smiling, "number 15!"
"That's me!" Robin said, stepping onto the stage, holding her phone in her hand, "the printer was jammed, but I have my song on my phone."
"That's fine. Tell us your full name, what part you're auditioning for and what song you're singing" Mae said.
Robin looked embarrassed, "none of you are from Canada, are you?"
"Nope" everyone answered in unison.
"Phew" Robin said, letting out a sigh of relief, "anyway, my name's Robin Scherbatsky, I'm auditioning for any female role and I'll be singing Let's Go To the Mall by Robin Sparkles."
The others looked at each other curiously as Robin got her track ready.
"Let's go to the mall everybody!
Come on Jessica
Come on Tori
Let's go to the mall
You won't be sorry
Put on your jelly bracelets
And your cool graffiti coat
At the mall, having fun is
What it's all about
I haven't done my homework yet
And you know how my parents get
I don't care, cause all my friends are gonna be there
Let's go to the mall today!
Everybody come and play
Throw every last care away
Let's go to the mall today" Robin sang.
The people at the head table smiled.
"That was cute. Go join the others in the Mess Hall for dance auditions" Mae said.
"Number 16!" Ian called.
Chandler came onto the stage.
"I'm Chandler Bing, I'm auditioning for any boy part and I'm singing Soul of a Man from the musical Kinky Boots" Chandler said before any of the others could say anything. He then handed his music to the accompanist.
"Whenever you're ready, Chandler" Mae said.
"'Cause I'll never be the soul of a man
Noble and wise
Like the soul of a man
Who lifted me high
Soul of a man, heroic and true
Like the soul of a man I looked up to
What else could I do?" Chandler sang with power and emotion in his voice.
The people at the table applauded and smiled.
"Bravo, Chandler" Ian said, "you can join your friends in the Mess Hall for the dance audition."
"Thank you" Chandler said, heading to the Mess Hall.
"That was the last one" Ian said to the others, "I'm gonna check on Ruby and get some lunch. Let me know if you guys need anything."
The others nodded and headed to the Mess Hall while Ian headed to his and Ruby's house - it was on the other side of the stables.
In the Mess Hall, the tables had been pushed aside and the chairs stacked to make room for the dance audition.
"We're going to do two dance numbers, since there's quite a bit of dancing in this musical" Carol said, "I'm going to divide you into groups. One group will dance to This Is Me from The Greatest Showman and the other group will dance to Wait For Me from Hadestown. I'm going to teach you a few simple steps, then you'll do the routine for me. Just do the best you can and smile. Numbers one through eighteen on one side and numbers nineteen through twenty-nine on the other."
Everyone divided into their two groups.
"Could I see Group One, please? You'll be dancing to This Is Me" Carol said, watching the group come onto the dance floor, "divide into four even lines and watch my body."
Once Carol showed everyone the routine, she turned on the music and watched the young people in front of her dance the best they could, smiles on their faces.
"Good! Group One, you can rest. Group Two, you're up" Carol said, watching the second group come onto the dance floor, "give yourselves plenty of room and watch my body."
Carol did the routine a few times, then turned on Wait For Me. She watched the second group of dancers, smiling at them.
Once everyone danced, Carol had small groups dance to It's Time To Dance from The Prom, letting them dance how they wanted.
One the dancing was done, Carol let the dancers have pizza for lunch.
"Once you're done eating, Mae will be doing small group singing with all of you" Carol said.
Everyone nodded and devoured the boxes of pizza, chatting with their friends.
After lunch, everyone headed into the sunshine, since it had stopped raining.
Mae stood on the stage at the Performance Space with Doug at the electronic keyboard.
"Hello everyone! I'm Mae the director and voice teacher. What I'm going to do now is have some small groups sing either One Short Day from Wicked, Do You Hear the People Sing from Les Miserables or Seasons of Love from RENT - your choice.
Once you're done with your groups, I'll just need to hear your monologues, then you can do what you want" Mae said.
Everyone had now sung in their small groups and now were saying their monologues in front of everyone.
Once everyone said their monologues, they scurried off to do their own things.
"So, that was torture" Robin said as she and some of her friends headed to the lake.
"Right and there were no pretty girls auditioning, other than you guys" Barney said.
Rachel and Robin rolled their eyes in unison.
"He's just as bad as Joey" Rachel said to Robin.
"Only Joey's nice about it" Robin replied.
"When did Ian say the cast list would be posted?" Marshall asked, carrying a unicorn floaty to the lake.
"The day after tomorrow, since tomorrow is call backs" Lily said, helping carry the floaty.
Everyone hung out at the lake for the rest of the day, laughing and enjoying each other's company.
"We should come here after dark and play some Truth or Dare" Ted said.
"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Ross asked, floating on a crocodile floaty.
"We could just go into our cabins and play Truth or Dare. We need some fun, since who knows when we'll see each other with the musical" Lily said, floating on the unicorn floaty with Marshall.
"True" Marshall said, caressing Lily's skin.
As the sun set, everyone headed to their cabins to shower and meet back in the SIX cabin for some fun and games.
It was near two in the morning when the guys left the SIX cabin and headed to the Hamilton cabin, thankful for the awesome day they had that day.