Hear My Voice

This Wasn't in the Contract..?

      "Julia was right, this dress is heavy," I complain, remembering how the lead complained about the exquisite costumes a while ago. 

     I look at myself in the full length mirror of the dressing room I have come to know, clothed in Kaley's exquisite wedding dress. Every other costume has fit almost perfectly since Kaley and I are pretty much the average height and weight for girls our age. The only thing left to decide is the wedding gown (working on it), wig, and voice-over. Oh, and just all of the choreography and songs. 

     But no biggie, really.

     "I think it is just about right, dearie," the dresser comments, the pins remaining in her mouth a relieving sign that no alterations are to be made. Which is actually a relief since I cannot bear the thought of someone ripping through the seams of this masterpiece.

     Since I am the actual Christine dresser, Holland had Meg's dresser, Edna Archer, step into my shoes and make sure everything fits properly and all of that important nonsense. Which I truly do not mind since she smells like Peppermint tea and calls me things like 'dearie' and 'sweetie', which sounds warming in her strong English accent. She cannot be more than forty-five, but she tells me stories about her young life back in Southampton, England that make her sound like she knows what she is talking about. She describes visiting the Stonehenge sight numerous times, since it was only a few hours away, and how it never seizes to amaze her. Even now, thirty years later. She could be as wise as an eighty year old, which makes me wonder why she chose to become a dresser instead of a historian. When I ask her this, the answer is simple;

     "I enjoy teaching people things they would never expect to learn on an average day. If I were to become a historian, the people I talk to would foresee the information I educate them with because they are at a museum and that is what people do at museums. However, I will use the present as an example, you were not expecting to be informed about history just now, no?"

     I shake my head side-to-side in a simplistic response.

     "That is what gives me a subtle thrill, the innocence. The unexpected passerby just being enthralled by new facts. Everybody should learn at least one new thing a day, and I intend on fulfilling that duty for the sake of others. You did not expect me to teach you about Stonehenge, and yet, you learned it anyways. Whether you wanted to or not, you have just increased your reservoir of knowledge," Edna explains, her eyes wide behind the thin framed glasses perched atop her nose. Her slightly graying hair is in an impeccable bun, not a hair out of place. 

     "Why here, though? Why spread your knowledge as a dresser on Broadway?" I ask curiously, stepping out of the white gown carefully and handing it to the dresser. I can now check wedding gown off of my 'to-do list'.

     She grabs a hanger and starts to hang the elaborate costume before explaining, "I was a friend of Maria Bjornson when she first started working on 'The Phantom of the Opera'.  That was when I was working as a tour guide for the Stonehenge site. She went there for inspiration, since her designs were often influenced by architectural fascinations. She liked how passionate I was, and asked me to be her 'assistant' of sorts. The pay was better than my current job so I accepted it. Originally I was appointed as the manager for the West End, but I moved to the United States about five years ago since I wanted to witness more cultural diffusion. They allowed me a job on Broadway, but the only open position was a dresser for the ballet girls and Meg Giry. I accepted it, and I must say it has been the most spectacular experience."

     I nod thoughtfully, digesting what the older woman has just told me. New experiences prompt new knowledge, and that is the predicament I currently reside in. Perhaps knowing what it feels like to be in the spotlight, on the stage and in front of eager eyes, will influence me to greater design levels. In my college classes my designs were not extraordinary and nothing like the great works of Maria Bjornson. But she had a certain design aesthetic, I just need to find mine.