Exit Stage Left
By Chris James
Chapter Three
Corky was completely off the wall when Dennis returned to school on the third of January.
"Where have you been?" He asked.
"Learning to ski, enjoying the holiday," Dennis said. "Is something wrong?"
"Naw, we rehearsed the directing scene in my basement. That went well, I'll be ready. Have you seen the bulletin board outside Brady's office?"
"No... what's on it?" Dennis asked.
Corky smiled. "Go see for yourself."
The crew assignments were posted for the final two shows of the semester. Dennis didn't see his name on the crew list for Antigone, but he found it near the top for Romeo and Juliet... he was the assistant stage manager.
Oh... My... God, Dennis thought... Oh My God.
"Congrats, Dennis," Marsha called from the costume shop across the hall. Dennis stumbled in and sat down on a stool at the cutting table.
"I am... stunned," Dennis said.
"Naw, sweetie, don't be like that... you earned it."
"I don't know the first thing about... "
"You will, and very quickly. This is a high rotation school; you'll be a number two in everything before they let you take command. Katherine will be a damn fine stage manager, this will be her swan song here so she'll be demanding," Marsha said.
"But this is still my first year, I didn't expect this. Well look at you, you're already doing costumes," Dennis said.
"Needle and thread, either you have the skill or you don't... not much they can teach me here," Marsha said. "You better go find Miss K, bet she's already looking for you."
Katherine Wilson, the incredible Miss K, was rumored to be related to the Beach Boys brothers, but she would deny that. Romeo and Juliet would be the school's masterpiece showcase for the statewide competition. The best student actors, most of them seniors, would be cast. Even Bobby would have a role; it was an all out push for the trophy.
Dennis sat staring off into space; this was going to kill him. Academically he was doing fine, but he'd better accelerate his work schedule to get way out ahead. He would still be asked to build scenery in labs and work on lighting for the dance shows. All that on top of attending meetings and every rehearsal to which he was now bound by the responsibility of being the ASM. He could sleep during the summer.
He didn't make it past the first period English class before Katherine cornered him in the hallway. They had never spoken before, but now she had a lot to say.
"Dennis... nice to meet you. I suppose you know by now, so let's make time to share our schedules so I can find you when needed... OK?"
"Sure... lunch or lab time?" Dennis asked.
"Let's take lab time; we can do that for a while to organize ourselves before they begin the big rehearsal push. I'll see you at three-thirty," Katherine said, and she was off.
Dennis would bet that Katherine had spent the entire week long vacation in planning, and he was right. She handed him a script with a four inch white margin on every page. Her copy would soon contain the stage directions for the actors, lighting cues that the director and designer wanted, and cues for sound or scenic changes. Her master book would be used during the performances as she sat following the show line by line and handed out cues over the headsets.
"OK, let's talk about Mr. Weeks our director," K said.
"I don't know him except on sight," Dennis said.
"A brilliant Shakespearean scholar. He's a better director than teacher; I had him for Acting Two. He did Taming of the Shrew my sophomore year, made some casting mistakes, but the production was great. I expect he will drive us both crazy this semester."
K smiled. "Look, I know this is all new to you... "
"I don't even know how I got the position," Dennis said.
"Brady has some input because you're one of his tech students. No doubt Corky had his say and so did I, but Weeks made the decision. Stage management is in that gray area between technical and acting, and ASM can come from either pool. Weeks did the math, he looked at your grades first," K said.
"How do you know all this?" Dennis asked.
"My spies tell me everything," K said, and Dennis believed her.
Dennis went home and read the script, staying up until three in the morning to finish it. Most kids his age wouldn't read Shakespeare, but they were missing out. Romeo and Juliet was timeless, the very definition of a love story that turns to tragedy.
The play would be grand, and that meant grand scenery as well. Dennis had no idea how Brady would pull it off in eight weeks, but Corky did.
"Auditions for the show are later this week, and we'll begin the scenery almost immediately once Brady finishes the drawings for me."
"What about Antigone? Are you splitting the crews?" Dennis asked.
Corky pulled out the drawings for Antigone and showed Dennis what was going to happen. The set looked interesting, and there was only one of them.
"Unit set, one bunch of Greek columns, some rocks and stones... voila, Antigone. Better yet, Lynch is directing this one himself," Corky said.
"Oh... so one set for everything and Lynch," Dennis said, but he didn't get it.
"The budget for R and J just went up by sixty percent. Lynch doesn't have to pay one of his faculty members for rehearsal time, most of the set for Antigone is down in the basement and all we need are costumes and some paint. They really want that trophy."
Corky pulled out some other drawings and spread them on the drafting table. "Brady is still working on this. I just got these this morning so don't tell anyone you've seen it. Here's our Romeo and Juliet... I think Brady finally has something here."
The floor of the set thrust out through the proscenium and covered the orchestra pit; it looked like a flared slope. From mid-stage to the very front was a good thirty feet of clear space almost forty feet wide... a raked basketball court. But the proscenium was wrapped with a massive set of columns backed by a stone wall covered in vines.
At mid-stage on the slope Brady had drawn a large circle, like a bump projecting towards the back wall.
"Whatever is that for?" Dennis asked.
"You know the show?" Corky asked.
"I read the script last night, does that circle rotate?"
"Good going, it's a turntable. The raked stage is wide open for scenes with all that dancing and fighting. Set pieces slide in from the sides and fly in overhead; it's going to be fun."
And with that comment he began turning pages, one drawing after another until Dennis was freaking out over the shear volume. But Corky seemed to understand.
"Lots of stuff to make, but you'll only be of limited help to me," Corky said.
"I'm sorry... " Dennis began.
"No... don't apologize. I live for pressure like this," Corky laughed. "This is gonna be the best thing we ever did, and you'll own a piece of it."
The first thing Dennis did that night was tell his parents what was coming; they were going to lose their son for a while. Henry nodded and asked why he was doing this.
"If we win the competition then my name will be in the newspapers and on television, the governor hands out the trophy," Dennis said. "But this is more about my resume for the future, Dad. I'll have a certificate in my permanent file that will be sent to all the colleges I apply to, that counts for a lot."
Dennis knew this was the way to approach his father; credibility was everything in the banking business. His mother would worry about him missing meals, the lack of sleep, all the physical comforts a growing child might need.
"And what about your grades?" Henry asked.
"I'm already half a semester ahead, I got that covered."
"You will be here for your birthday next week, won't you?" Dennis' mother asked.
Birthday? Damn, he'd almost forgotten. Dennis smiled. "I wouldn't miss that."
"Well you'll have to take a day off from all this nonsense next week so we can let you take the driving test," Henry said.
"I certainly wouldn't miss that," Dennis said.
That learner's permit was nearly six months old and it sat on his dresser next to the certificate from the driving school, he was ready to get the real thing. Turning sixteen was something he'd waited a lifetime to accomplish, or so it seemed.
"Then I don't have any real objections to you spending all hours of the day and night at the school, just make sure we always know where you are," Henry said.
"Yes, Dad."
The driving test, there was a quandary. His father drove a Mercedes sedan as befit a banker, Dennis would hate to take the test in that. His mother's car was a boxy SUV which his father said was a safe car, but Dennis had learned to drive in it. He would have to make a choice.
The lab students dragged the scenery for Antigone out of the basement and set it in the wings backstage. Some of the pieces needed to be reworked and several walls built to join it all together. Brady went over it all and Lynch stopped by to take a look. Corky took some notes and assigned several students to the work.
The material orders for R and J began to arrive and the resulting stack of lumber almost filled the storeroom. Corky inspected the material before signing the delivery ticket, then he went back to work on the plans. Brady was good at pretty drawings; his detail stuff left much to be desired. Just more work for Corky.
Dennis worked on his birthday, scraping and repainting wooden columns to look like stone. He was splattered in paint when Marsha came by to drag him down to the costume shop. There he was faced with a crowd of his peers and a birthday cake, Dennis smiled when he saw his sixteen year old self in the mirror. He looked very much like a leopard.
Miss K knew he would miss a read thru of the script that evening, and Bobby knew he had a family dinner to endure. Both kissed him and said they would see him the following day, only Bobby's kiss seemed to take his breath away.
Dennis had eaten spaghetti every year on his birthday since he was a baby, this time was no exception. There were a few small gifts from his brother and sisters, kid things that Dennis always treasured. He had grown up paying close attention to his siblings and now he had no time to play or sit and watch movies on Saturday afternoon. But Mike was twelve and beginning to take on that role with Jillian and Molly, little girls who were eight and six respectively.
But something was afoot, the little ones squirmed and giggled, his parents showing only the great stone faces that hid their emotions. What had they done now?
His father finally put down his dinner fork and smiled. "Come with me, Dennis."
They walked through the living room and into the hall with the connecting door to the garage. Henry opened the door and stood aside. A car... they had bought him a car for his birthday... Dennis was floored.
Granted it wasn't new, but it looked beautiful under the lights in the garage... a Volkswagen hatchback. Dennis hugged both parents and then went to sit in the car. Yes, he could take the test in this with ease. And two days later he did, passing with flying colors.
The school was only twelve miles from the house, but because his license was provisional he'd have to carry a note from Lynch if he drove home after eleven at night. But just having a car would take the pressure off his mother; she was almost as happy with his little car as Dennis.
The read thru of the script turned into movement and K took notes for every scene. Dennis had taken the basic floor plan of the set and taped off the floor in the rehearsal hall with an outline. The mid-stage level of the raked set was about four feet off the floor so there would be steps to enter and exit back there, he marked those as well.
Mr. Weeks had a table set up facing the rehearsal space with a place for Katherine and Dennis at one end. The show was ten weeks out when he began blocking, Antigone was being polished on the main stage and its set was going up. The technical department was buzzing with activity.
Twinkle Toes Hall was filled with the sound of shouts; the sword fighting classes had begun. The R and J cast were in two parts, the actors and the dancers. Of the dancers several were chosen to sword fight because they had the grace and skill for the challenge. The major leads, including Romeo, would have to learn how to use a blade.
Weeks had brought in his ringer, a master who had staged fights on the silver screen. Nathan Forester even looked the part of a swashbuckling swordsman with long swept back hair and a goatee. The last thing he'd staged was a remake of The Three Musketeers, and Dennis remembered the fight scenes in that film were incredible.
The cast began with sticks, three foot dowels used to learn movement. The thrust and parry stage of their rehearsal took days. Weeks and Forester worked out the two major fight scenes with little men on a piece of plywood shaped like the set and K wrote it all down.
The main fight scene included Bobby and five others who were given the showoff fights to perform. The battle between Tybalt and the ill fated Mercutio would be surrounded by six other pairs in combat. Fourteen performers slashing at one another, a loud and exciting visage for the audience.
The smaller fight scene between Romeo and Paris would also be carefully orchestrated, but first Forester had to teach them all how to use a sword. At the end of the first week they were given a demonstration of how a good fight scene ought to look, for this Forester brought along a partner.
Everyone gathered on one side of the rehearsal hall, cast, crew... just about everyone at the school. The partner was a young man who was introduced as Neil Betts, a member of the actor's guild and a stunt double for several of the actors from the Musketeers film. The swords they would use were blunted, but deadly, and Forester explained that choreography is what made the fight look real.
For five minutes the two of them went through the dance, swords clashing as they moved back and forth across the floor in combat. It was the most realistic thing any of the students had seen, and the swordsmen were given an ovation when they finished. Dennis had no idea how they could pull off something like that in such a short time, but they would try.
Antigone opened to a warm reception by the audience. The school had a following in the community so there were never many empty seats in the house during a performance. Lynch had a regular batch of tickets that were given to local nursing homes and social clubs, those parts of the community always attended. Dennis sat with his mother in the tenth row on opening night even though he knew the R and J rehearsal was running next door.
The play had been cast with the youngest actors, sophomores and juniors, who were given their first chance at a leading role. The script was filled with flowery language and long descriptive passages, a lot for actors to memorize. Dennis was of the opinion that Sophocles was a wordy fellow and he almost nodded off during the play.
The most interesting thing about the ancient Greek play was the use of a chorus. This was a device the writers and poets used at the time to show the audience what emotions were being evoked by the actors. Dennis thought this was very much like modern television performances which used a laugh track, only in this case it would be a crying track.
He took his mother out to the Pancake Platter afterwards, telling her this is where all the students hung out after a rehearsal or a show. She seemed pleased to be getting a glimpse of his life away from home. The Antigone crew showed up, most of the cast did not; they went off to a cast party.
It was one of the last free moments Dennis could remember as they plunged ahead into the staging and rehearsals of Romeo and Juliet. He would go home to sleep and change clothes; he could shower in the dressing room at school. The only good thing about being at school was that Bobby was there too.
But their time was growing short; Bobby would be off to San Francisco and a small touring company for the summer. His college choices were all in the east, anywhere close to New York and the lights of Broadway. Dennis knew he would feel miserable when Bobby left, but then this was only his first boyfriend, he hoped there would be others.
The school would always remember when the swords arrived for the show and were handed out to the actors. Weeks told the boys to wear them proudly, and try not to poke one another. A nice thought, but no one listened. The clash of wooden sticks gave way to swordplay in the hallways. Dennis arrived one morning to see the custodian staring up at the ceiling in the back hall.
"What do you suppose those are from?" The man asked.
Dennis looked up at a trail of holes in the ceiling tiles that ran down the hall, he went to find Katherine. The cast was read the riot act about destruction of school property and Dennis drove down to the nearest building supply outlet to purchase three cartons of ceiling tiles before Lynch discovered the holes.
Forester came in several afternoons a week to continue the sword play lessons. Dennis sat in and saw that things were looking up; the fights were starting to look real. The slow motion one... two... three of the stick fight choreography was now a one-two-three quick time clash of metal for most of the actors. But the dancers looked especially good.
Bobby was paired with Quinn, a junior who was known for his athletic ability. Their fight was aggressive and yet completely under control. They were slated to fight by the fountain in the middle of the stage on the turntable and leap up and down on the stones. Errol Flynn would have been proud of the way that scene looked Forester said. A few of them even knew the actor's name, the rest just shrugged.
Corky and crew had been at it for three weeks, the scream of saws cutting wood drifted across campus all day. And finally all the tech students were assembled to move the R and J set in place, the slope de jour Corky called it. Fifty-eight framed units, most of them four by eight feet were carried onto the stage from the shop area. These were bolted together and the turntable assembled.
Thanks to careful planning, it all fit together and Weeks was delighted. The tops of each unit had been soundproofed with a layer of foam core and compressed cardboard. The layering added a slight give to the surface which the dancers would like. To complete the look they glued a heavy canvas cover over the whole thing and painted it a matte gray base coat.
The first time the actors used the slope there were murmurs of delight, Corky was pleased enough to take a bow, and then quickly returned to work. There were eight to ten students building scenery most days, Dennis felt guilty and spent almost all of his free time in the shop as well. And one by one the various elements of the scenery appeared for use in rehearsal.
The town square, the hall where the party was held, the bedroom, the balcony, the friar's chamber beneath the church, the tomb... on and on pieces were finished and placed. They rigged the hanging units one afternoon and began to place the lighting instruments. The stage was bedlam from morning until rehearsal time.
Dennis was beginning to enjoy rehearsals, now that he understood his place in them. Corky had drawn temporary marks on the raked stage where the scenery would be placed. Dennis had to make sure the actors understood the marks and didn't overrun them. It was important to be aware of the obstacles, and that was never more apparent then when one of the actors fell off the back of the set.
The work lights were up full, it was only a matter of someone forgetting their place in a scene. A simple oops and the boy was gone with a thud upon landing. A twisted ankle, a bruise or two but the boy was fine. Corky nailed a temporary railing across the back of the set.
Dennis came in for a Wednesday afternoon rehearsal to see the town square set in place. Even unpainted it looked wonderful. The tall columns of the Prince's palace on stage left, the fountain in the middle on the turntable, and the street coming in from stage right, Weeks would be ecstatic.
The fight scene ran almost twelve minutes with all the shouted lines, Weeks ran it several times that afternoon and would have run it one more until Tybalt got stabbed. He was fighting Mercutio, and they seemed to get a move mixed up. That brought a hasty conclusion to everything.
Katherine sat the boy down and removed his padded chest protector, there was no wound but there would be a large bruise at the point of impact. The boy playing Mercutio stood on the sidelines, a frown on his face.
"How did this happen?" Weeks asked.
"He moved inside instead of outside just as I parried," Adam said, he was their Mercutio. "It's the move I'm supposed to make when he slides his sword under my arm for the kill. What were you thinking, Steve?"
Steve, the wounded Tybalt, shook his head. "I was thinking ahead... too far ahead. Forester warned us about that."
"OK, this is all going a bit too fast," Weeks said. "You may feel you're ready to go all out, but slow it down. Rehearsal is dismissed for the evening. Steve, will you call your parents? I would like you to go to the emergency room for an X-ray."
"That won't be needed, Mr. Weeks... "Steve said.
"Schools have insurance companies, there will be questions and getting a professional medical opinion will be necessary."
"Yes, sir."
Forester had cautioned them about going too fast, Dennis remembered the speech. The choreography had the actors taking wide swings, fewer thrusts. They each wore padded vests which would also be worn under their costumes. Any kind of swordplay was risky and that is why Forester had provided them with dull fencing blades.
The boys had grumbled that these weren't real swords, but that wasn't the issue, these had no point. All the individual fights had the boys bashing swords together, hacking away at one another. If these had been real blades they would be nicked and possibly broken by now, amateurs couldn't handle the real thing.
These blades would endure the bashing and were safer with a blunted point. Weeks had been worried enough, now they had an accident. Dennis was going over his notes when Bobby plopped down in the chair bedside him.
"You know Adam did that on purpose, don't you?" Bobby said.
"What? You're kidding," Dennis replied.
"Adam was dating Rhonda before she was cast as Juliet. Richard likes her now, but only because he's playing Romeo. Rhonda has the hots for Steve and when they went out last Saturday night Adam found out about it."
Dennis groaned. "What is this, a fucking soap opera? Are you saying he stabbed Steve on purpose?"
"Yeah, I think so. Adam is the better swordsman; Steve has no idea what he did wrong. Quinn and I have the same routine as they do so I'm going to practice with Adam tomorrow until Steve is better. Keep an eye on him, I'll give you the nod where it happened and you'll see it was supposed to be a right, right, parry all on the outside. He just lied to Weeks."
"I need to tell Katherine," Dennis said. "We have to solve this... this stupid jealously."
Bobby leaned over and kissed Dennis' ear. "A lot easier being gay isn't it," He whispered. Dennis could only agree.
Katherine was aware of the love swap going on in the cast, but she couldn't believe Adam could be such a fool.
"Tomorrow, Miss K... Bobby will show us tomorrow and we'll fix this damn thing," Dennis said.
And Bobby fixed it, at the point of a sword. No one could hear what Bobby said to the boy, all they could see was the clash of arms and Adam falling down... not once but three times. He got up angry and Bobby taunted him again and again. Finally Bobby leaned down and pulled the sword from Adam's hand, and then they heard the words.
"You're a little screw up," Bobby said. "You fuck up once more and I'm going to have Weeks kick you out of the cast. You want jealous? I know all your lines, Adam... I could replace you in a heartbeat."
The anger on Adam's face was gone, now he was afraid. Bobby was the best swordsman of them all, it was no idle threat. Then Bobby reached out and gave Adam a hand to his feet. The boy looked stunned when Bobby put his arm out and shook hands. A few more words were exchanged and then Adam walked off to the dressing room.
Katherine gave Dennis a look. "I guess our problem is over... for the moment."
"Adam needs a girlfriend," Dennis said.
Miss K nodded. "I'll put that on my list of things to do."
The social order of most teenagers in high school was blurred here. Cabot was a beehive filled with busy little bees. The school was all about dramatics. But there was no room for the drama of everyday life, it would disrupt the focus. Dennis wouldn't say it was all smooth sailing after that incident, but there were fewer ripples in the pond.
They reached the halfway mark in the production schedule. The actors had long been off the book, meaning they had their lines memorized. Now there was room for Weeks to make the play come alive, to tune the actors to their roles and build a cohesive drama.
New technical elements arrived with every rehearsal, and Dennis sat down one evening to watch the party scene. The costume ball in the house of Capulet is like a scene within a scene for what it is supposed to accomplish. Moving in and about the general crowd scene are the two ill fated lovers who are about to discover their attraction.
This was accomplished by the use of pillars, a row onstage set in a semicircle about the turntable to delineate an entrance to the hall, and a suggested broken set both left and right down by the proscenium opening. With such a broad space to fill, a three tiered fountain was set dead center about which the cast would dance. The scene was about people in beautiful clothing filling the space.
Denise Montgomery had designed the costumes and Dennis had seen all the drawings. Marsha and three others had been at work in the costume shop for weeks, and fortunately they didn't have to make everything from scratch.
Just as the scene shop had a storeroom filled with old shows, the costume bank filled an old classroom space on the second floor. The period of time represented by R and J allowed them to pull old costumes from several shows and rework them. Only the costumes of the lead actors were made to order, the crowd would wear retreads.
Dennis knew little about costumes, although Marsha often talked to him about them as she worked.
"Imagine having to wear this stuff all the time, I would die," Marsha said. Marsha who never appeared at school in anything but jeans and a T-shirt. Over this she would wear a smock with a dozen pockets filled with the tools of her trade.
"I wouldn't like wearing those stockings... tights, whatever they are," Dennis said.
Marsha gave him an evil leer. "I think all boys would look cute with a cod piece, very practical."
"Cod piece... oh you mean... hell, no," Dennis replied.
Marsha laughed. "Isn't it funny how women covered up everything and the guys had it all hanging out there stuffed in a pouch right up front."
"The women certainly had their breasts trussed up and available for inspection."
"That's true. Juliet's nightclothes don't leave much to the imagination," Marsha said.
"They were naked in the movie... both movies," Dennis said.
"Not in a high school play. Which film did you like best?" She asked.
"Oh Jeez, they were so different. I mean Leo and Claire really had the chemistry going, but the Zeffirelli version... I guess that was my favorite," Dennis said.
"Why, Mr. King... I do believe you're a romantic," Marsha laughed.
"Yeah, maybe so. It was just so real. I didn't even know about that film until Bobby told me about it."
"Dennis, when are you going to come out?"
Dennis raised his eyebrows; he'd been expecting the question. More than the others, Marsha had seen him with Bobby in the wings during performances. She respected his privacy, and other than a smile this was the first time the subject had come up.
"Do you think I need to openly commit myself?" Dennis asked.
"I thought you already had," She said.
He didn't want to talk about it. The end of R and J would mean the end of his relationship with Bobby; there were two tragedies in the works this semester, he owned a place in both of them. But like most of the Cabot students, Dennis was looking around for something to do this summer, staying busy would help him deal with Bobby's absence.
They finally reached a point where the scenery was all built, now they had a week to make it look real. Corky and Brady had gone over the elevation drawings to discuss the colors. It was a meeting to which Dennis was invited. Neil and Tommy were there for lighting, Denise and Marsha to represent the costume shop and Pam was their prop mistress.
The color scheme had been chosen long ago, it had formed the basis for many of the costume colors. But this was a fine tuning session; a final chance to make changes before a hundred gallons of paint was opened and applied.
Everything in the show was an earth tone; Brady had been going for a natural and realistic look. Verona, Italy, was the color of sandstone, beige with red tile roofs. The exteriors were sometimes painted in mustard yellows, but there was also red clay brick. Their set would mimic these shades and the flat set pieces would be textured.
Lighting would often expose the painter's fakery of shade and texture, Neil was going to be careful. His objective was to light the people and only illuminate the scenery around them. Tommy was there to make sure his protégé did it right. The choice of colors for the lights had been done with the costumes in mind; every detail of their work would strengthen the whole look.
Denise had carried the concept into her costumes. Colors were a deep shade instead of bright, and thus red became wine or burgundy. But the dresses of the ladies were decorated with pearls and baubles, seams were piped with silver and gold. It would all come together in just seven days... and three days later there would be an audience.
The name of the show was already up on the marquee above the box office windows, the posters spread around town and across the valley. KLXO radio was running a public service spot on the show and tickets were going fast. The Times and the Sacramento Bee had run stories with photos of the students learning to swordfight, the reporters declaring their battles to be breathtaking.
Within forty-eight hours of that production meeting the scenery was all base coated and being decorated, the last thing they would paint was the floor. The fire marshal came through for his inspection, took his little samples and declared them fit, Corky was relieved.
Rehearsals ran long, Weeks giving the show his final touches, adding a prop here and there. Then they had hat day, the sole piece of costume each actor could wear and learn to use. Hats were swept off as ladies curtsied, the ladies learned to move their heads while wearing a barbet or wimple, there were several women with veils and others with ribbons in their hair.
Neil got his chance to light a rehearsal. Brady wasn't much of a lighting designer; he always depended upon his students who seemed to have the greater knowledge. As a junior this was Neil's first turn at command, he had been Tommy Dean's number two for long enough.
The first costume parade was held the Monday of opening week. The cast spent two hours getting into them, and Marsha toured the dressing rooms with needles and safety pins. The halls were filled with laughter as the boys donned their tights, cod pieces and short tunics... it was all hanging out there.
Dennis noted the male dancers seemed to ignore the costume challenges, the other boys whined a lot. Corky roamed the halls with an armload of pine cones wearing a jester's hat.
"Stuff your basket, sir?" He called to each and every boy in a cod piece, it was hilarious.
"It's like wearing a jock on the outside," Romeo groaned.
"Hey, I've seen you in a jock... that isn't funny," Tybalt laughed.
"So cousin, want some of my meat, sir," Benvolio asked Romeo.
"Nay cousin, methinks it would serve Mercutio better," Romeo said.
"Fie on you, sir... what you carry is but a pittance, a mere suggestion of a sausage," Mercutio laughed and so did everyone in the hall. The cast slid easily into character, it made talking to them almost impossible Dennis decided.
Clothing made the characters come alive, they finally felt the part. The rehearsals were garnering attention now; other students from the school were attending. Katherine sat with Weeks at the production table for the final time, tomorrow she would move to her station behind the stage right proscenium and Dennis would take up his station on the opposite side.
This would be the last full view Katherine and Dennis would have of the show, from here on in it belonged to them. Dress rehearsal was the usual hand off point, the authority passing from director to stage manager. Weeks would become just another member of the audience.
The stage crew had a tough job with this show; some of the scenic elements were a bear. Bears were cute but if you didn't treat them right they would eat you. Some of the units that slid onto the turntable were big and heavy, loading them backstage was difficult.
Corky didn't relinquish control as often happened; he would run the stage behind the scenes. He wasn't alone; he had handpicked twelve other students to do his bidding. There were two crew members stationed on the fly rail above stage right, their job was to raise and lower the scenery hanging above the set.
By tradition Katherine would run the main act curtain herself. There was a secondary curtain controlled from above, but the stage manager could pull this one up and down from her position. She wanted to control the curtain; this was her last show at Cabot. Dennis would be given the honor of pouring the bottle of champagne over her head on closing night; some traditions were too much fun to miss.
Actors in costume, standing on a painted set with the proper lighting, it made for a complete show. There were notes taken, there were always notes. Every department, be it scenic or costume or lights would have notes all the way up until opening night. Then it would be too late and they would put the notes away.
From the audience's perspective everything would be complete, from a technical viewpoint there was always one more thing. Corky would inspect the scenery every day, Neil would test his lights. But the major load would fall on Denise and Marsha to inspect and keep the costumes clean, the never-ending chore.
Make up added the final dimension in the last two rehearsals. Some actors had enough experience to do their own, most did not. Stage lights were harsh and unnatural, the face, neck and hands needed to have some color. A dab of color on the eyelids, some lines to accentuate the shape of the eyes and most of the actors were done.
Principal Lynch had avoided seeing most of the rehearsals, but he was there for the final dress rehearsal. The movements on stage for actors and scenery were familiar now, it was only a matter of running the show flawlessly... which would never happen.
The folklore of theatre dictated that something must go wrong during a final dress rehearsal, hopefully something small. It was said a flaw today meant a perfect opening the following night, and so both Katherine and Dennis looked for it... and found it.
"Lights... cue ninety-six... go," Katherine said over the headsets. The lights came up in the tomb scene. "What the hell?" Katherine said, and Dennis sat up straighter.
Out on the stage the two biers sat surrounded with the walls of the Capulet tomb. Tybalt was laid out on one, Juliet the other. Only the audience knew she was really sleeping under the influence of a powerful drug given to her by Friar Lawrence. Her apparent death was all part of the plan to reunite her with Romeo, and then they could make their escape together.
The shroud that was supposed to cover Tybalt was lying on the floor instead of being draped across his body, someone had goofed. Props provided the shroud and the stage crew was to make sure it was in place before the scene began, it obviously wasn't. Dennis turned and motioned to Corky who was standing in the wings by the shop doors preparing the next scene. Corky hurried over.
"Did you guys miss the shroud?" Dennis asked.
Corky looked out on stage and shook his head. "Freddy said that Steve was getting up between scenes and talking to Juliet... um, Rhonda. What an ass."
Dennis relayed that to Katherine over the headset and the scene went on. Corky went back to his duties until the scene ended and the action moved outside the tomb for Romeo's fight with Paris. Dennis could tell Katherine was pissed off, Steve would hear about it after the final curtain.
Dennis watched as Romeo drank his poison and succumbed to the deadly effects, the stage remained silent for moments, and then Friar Lawrence entered having been fetched by Balthazar, Romeo's servant. He sees Romeo and Paris, both now dead and delivers his lines of woe. Of all the scenes in the play Dennis thought this one had the most tension, the audience knows Juliet will soon awaken and see the bodies.
Juliet stirs from her slumber. The Friar speaks but a few lines to her and hears the watchmen making their rounds; he must escape or be caught. Juliet sees the body of Romeo at the foot of her bier and finds the vial of his poison. The theatre is completely silent, everyone focused on her lines.
"What's here? A cup, closed in my true love's hand? Poison, I see, hath been his timeless end. Oh churl, drunk all, and left no friendly drop to help me after?
"I will kiss thy lips... haply some poison yet doth hang on them to make me die... "
She kisses him and sits back. "Thy lips are warm." And then there is a noise and voices off stage, the watchmen are coming.
Juliet looks at the entrance and then back at Romeo. "Yea, a noise, then I shall be brief." She pulls the dagger from Romeo's belt. "Oh happy dagger... this is thy sheath." And she stabs herself with a gasp. "There rust... and let me die." And she falls across Romeo's body.
It's a moment that Dennis always felt the emotions well up inside. During the first read of the script he had cried, swept away by the tragedy of these senseless deaths. Now he only admired the action on stage. Rhonda had the audience in the palm of her hand and would crush them with her death.
The scene held silent just for a minute.
"Lights, cue one oh four... go," Katherine said in Dennis' earpiece.
The watchmen enter, as do the other actors to play out the scene. The Prince makes his entrance and questions what he sees. Friar Lawrence tells the tale of what has happened and the houses of Montague and Capulet wail with grief before freezing in place.
"Lights, cue one oh five... go," Katherine said, and the lights dim on the actors in their freeze.
The Prince moves down stage, walking out of the tomb set.
"Lights, cue one oh six... go," Katherine said, and the steps before the palace are gently lit.
The Prince slowly mounts the three steps and stands before his palace doors. Here he turns to face the audience and delivers the most famous lines in the play:
"A glooming peace this morning with it brings, the sun, for sorrow, will not show his head." He turns and gestures to the actors frozen in their tableau of grief.
"Go hence, to have more talk of these sad things: some shall be pardoned and some punished."
He turns back to the house and looks out over the audience. "For never was a story of more woe... than this of Juliet... and her Romeo."
With that he turns to the palace doors, walks through them, and they slam behind him with a deep thud that reverberates throughout the theatre. Dennis heard a sigh over the headsets, Katherine is relieved.
"Lights, cue one oh seven... go." And the stage fades to black.
On stage the cast exits and the tomb set is removed, the town square walls flown in for curtain call and the cue comes within thirty seconds of the palace doors closing.
"Lights, cue one oh eight... go."
The lights come up on a bare stage and the cast files on in order of importance to take their bows. The sound of dozens out in the house applauding reaches the stage and the crews join in. Curtain call is the cast's moment of glory and they revel in it.
Secondary leads follow the dancers, then the main leads, ending with Romeo who bows and then holds out a hand towards Juliet as she enters. The applause holds forth as she curtsies and then she and Romeo take a bow together. The entire company stands forth and bows, and then steps back.
"Lights, cue one oh nine... go," Katherine called out, and she pulled the curtain down as the lights faded back to the warm wash across the proscenium.
"Wonderful... thank you all," Katherine sang out.
"Stage left out," Dennis said.
"Lights out," Neil said and they all went off headsets.
Katherine pulled the main drape back up and the work lights popped on overhead. The cast moved down the steps to the side and took a seat in the house; it was time for the director's final notes and comments. But first Dr. Lynch stood before them.
"I just want to say thank you," Lynch said. "It was wonderful, and tomorrow night you will receive the praise you deserve from a grateful audience. Between us, I see a trophy in the offering... "
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