Wish: A Hamilton Fanfiction

Chapter 14: The Richard Rodgers Theatre

"You ready?" Mariah asked. 

We were standing outside the door of our rehearsal space, shaking with nerves and excitement. We'd gravitated together this morning, Noelle, Mariah and I, our lives even more upside down than before. Today was one of the biggest days of our lives. It seemed like that was every day now, everything we did a milestone that marked us as better than before.

And everything we ran made me more and more certain of what I wanted to do. My family had tried to deter me from pursuing an acting career but they could keep trying. I felt so strongly about becoming an actor, and I'd do whatever it took to claw my way into the industry. If only my parents supported me.

But it didn't matter anymore. I was alone in New York and I was so much stronger than when I arrived. I was learning how to survive in the Broadway world from the best of the best. I knew my parents had only sent me here to show me how hard it would be, what the world of New York really was, how I should do something that would guarantee me a job instead.

I loved it.

I loved every waking minute, the way New York felt, walking everywhere and taking the subway. I completely embraced the hard, after all no great anything had been created out of easy times. The world was maybe scary but it was amazing. 

Hopefully this would help me, and I knew it would, I was resume-building just like I was breathing. Training with an original Broadway cast could only carry me higher. And opening night would be the craziest thing that had ever happened to me. 

Because I'd hit rock bottom already and the only way to go now? Up.

More and more people started arriving and we all gathered in a big bunch outside. 

"Alright, people. This is it!" Lin said. "We're officially beginning tech rehearsals starting today! In a few moments we're going to be at the Richard Rodgers and we'll start preparing for our opening night of youth performances, which should be in about two weeks. Details have gone out to families already and up online, and though we haven't been keeping you updated about ticket sales, we did start selling tickets and I think we have just over half of them left to sell."

Silence fell over us as we tried to comprehend what he was saying. We'd already sold that many tickets? I knew from research there were 758 seats in our part of the theater. Half of that would be...of course I'd never been good at math.

"A little under 379 tickets," Noelle whispered, her elbow brushing mine, as if she knew what I was thinking. Wow, that was...a lot. If you thought about it, that was a little under 379 people who wanted to come see us. What? How?

I realized I hadn't been on Twitter in a while, really since I'd came to New York. The Hamilton Twitter account and the accounts of the OBC members would be an easy way to spread the word. No wonder tickets were going out like that. Somehow, I was excited.

We all began walking, all of us talking and laughing, linked together. I held Noelle's hand in my left and Mariah's in my right, but I wished for something else.

I wished that I could be holding the hand of a different person. Someone who I could see laughing with her friends. She glanced up and smiled at me. I felt my heart skip a beat in my chest. Mariah followed my gaze and just shook her head. "Seriously, we can all tell that she likes you. Just make a move already!" 

Was I really that obvious? "No way, that's not something I can just do! Plus it's...different. Not like you and Carson." I didn't know why I was so nervous, but she was so amazing that maybe she just wouldn't want me. 

I was tempted to check Twitter while walking but New York streets moved too fast to not be paying attention. I talked to everyone, including her, heat creeping up my face the entire time.

And then it really happened. All of a sudden the Richard Rodgers theater was in front of us all. The talking stopped completely and we clung on to one another. We were all starstruck to be standing in front of the theater that would be our home for a while. I could tell everyone who had been on the stage inside before was transported back to their debuts in a show that really made them gain fame. I couldn't hear who told us to go inside, but we all rushed in like kids into a candy store. And the stage was enormous but it was breathtaking and we were so lucky to be there and I had no words for the moment and I was so awestruck that I barely noticed Mariah was holding Carson's hand next to me and Noelle was whispering to Charlie and somehow I'd ended up next to Claire and my brain was short-circuiting and wow, I was so lucky to be able to share this moment with these amazing people.

A stagehand intern gave us a quick tour, each moment better than the last. I was really backstage at the place an amazing show had been put on for years. And we were about to be next in that legacy. "Okay everyone, here's someone for you to meet. This is Paul Tazewell, the original costume designer, and though he won't be here often, he's going to help take measurements and maybe change the costumes a little bit."

Then he walked out. His work was so incredible, the symbolism he used, all of it. Noelle was absolutely freaking out next to me; I think we all were. "Thank you, Tommy, which one of you is Alexander?" Carson raised his hand slightly. "Alright, we'll measure you and Burr first, come with me," Paul said, taking Carson and Charlie with him. Glancing around I noticed Lin was nowhere in sight, leaving me to tell everyone what to do. At first that annoyed me but now I was excited to be in the leadership position.

"So, today's mostly going to be just a work day, obviously measurements are being taken since we haven't officially done that yet; the measurements you took from home are most likely not accurate anymore, and Paul seems like he's thinking about changing the costumes around maybe? Anyway, today will just be rehearsing things with others and cast members are here to help us out, so please make sure you're utilizing them." I stepped down, pretty surprised I'd been able to make that speech so easily.

I decided we'd run the coat switch when Carson and Charlie got back, but in the meantime I'd take whatever help anyone could give me. In between getting measured (the assistants were really nice) and trying to fix basically everything about my performance, I finally looked at the official Hamilton social media to start figuring out how the hell we were selling so many tickets. 

My phone almost slipped out of my hand. That was a pretty unexpected response.

a/n

updated :)

wow they've made it finally! and sorry about the rant at the beginning, it adds dimension to zoey but um it totally totally isn't me ranting about my parents not supporting me wanting to have an acting career 

andddd i tried promoting my music, but the song sucks, the album will be better

that's all for today, ily