~Melody~ [Chim]

Chapter Three: Showbiz

The loudspeaker was so loud I could feel the floor vibrate. The over excessive fanfare trilled onto a crescendo and finished on an over excessively high note. As it finished, a youngish looking man stepped on from behind the curtain, smiling and waving. Showbiz. I noticed people had erupted into applause for this man, and joined in with polite clapping, mildly bemused by the spectacle.

"Thank you, thank you!" the over excessive man exclaimed, bowing and beaming rather a lot. Finally, the applause died down and he began to speak. "Thank you and good morning to you all, the Bradford Summer Drama School, class of 2015! For those who are new to us this year, a very warm welcome and I hope you enjoy your stay," his voice grew louder "and to our regulars, how are ya doing?!" he chuckled, waving towards Nadine and Kimberley's clique. Kimberley smiled, and Nadine wiggled her fingers, smiling back. Nicola whispered to me "Arse kisser" and my lips twitched. That much was true, Nadine did seem to be sucking up to him. But all the others near her gazed at her with admiration, not dislike. Guess they were a bit dim.

The man continued: "My name is Stan and I shall be your team coordinator for your stay, if you have any issues, please come to me and I will do my best to resolve them," more smiles "But first things first, I bet you're all desperate to find out what this year's school will be like!" All I want to know is how much I can see Kimberley and how much I can avoid Nadine "For the first three days you will be divided into groups and will complete different workshops. Acting, singing, dancing, recording, stage design, hair and makeup and costume design. Acting singing and dancing are the only compulsory ones, you can then pick from the others on the third day or go back to another workshop and perfect those minute details," he said, winking at Nadine. I looked at Nicola, was rather inconspicuously glaring at Nadine full throttle. Stan seemed unaware of the drop in temperature and continued cheerily "after the three days of workshops, we will begin work on our production! Auditions will be held for the principal roles and anybody who wants to be in the chorus can sign up then as well. There is also an opportunity to sign up for set design, costumes, hair and makeup and lights and sound" I glanced at Nicola who was now looking excited at the prospect of a production. I could tell she was desperate to find out what it was.

She didn't have to wait long. "Aaaand, this years production shall be....." A dramatic pause, more showbiz 

"Wicked!"

His words were met with more applause, and a few people shrieked (I suspected Nadine) and even Nicola let out a squeak. I sat there in shock. Wicked? Panic set in, it was one of the few musicals I knew little about. Les Mis and Miss Saigon were my specialties, not the Wizard of Oz prequel.

What part would I have?

Could I get a part?

What part would Kimberley have? I could imagine her as the good witch, a floating bubble of grace and elegance. But then an ugly green witch popped up on my image. Nadine playing the bad witch, the beautiful scenes between her and Kimberley, them sharing the stage. The green monster settled in my belly and I suddenly felt competitive. I was going on that stage with her.

Again, Stan waited until the applause had died down before beginning to talk again. "Now we've got the exciting part out of the way, it's time to meet your workshop directors! In charge of stage design we have Gary"

A middle aged man who could only be referred to as a bloke stepped out from behind the curtain to polite applause. I could practically smell the scent of Tetley from where I was sitting.

"On hair and makeup we have Kate"

A pale young woman with cropped and bleached hair and a side fringe stepped out. She was very punk looking, with a stretcher in the ear I could see, a black jumper and leggings, with a red shirt tied round her waist and doc martens sloppily laced clad her feet.

"Doing costume design we have the luuuurvely Davina"

Davina was a tall woman who reminded me of an owl. She was fairly old, with greying brown hair in a bob, glasses and eyes that seemed to bulge. She was wearing a t-shirt with a blazer over the top and a long skirt. At least she had coordinated colours.

"The music director is Steve"

Steve was a young plump fellow with stubble and kind looking eyes. I saw Stan eyeing him up from behind and I sympathised with Stan. Know the gay feels man.

"This year we have a new dance teacher, please give a warm welcome to Kristy!"

Kristy received very warm applause from the male sections, and I could see why. She was quite hot, with straight dirty blonde hair and excellent facial structure. She was straight up and down though, which wasn't my type. Kimberley was more my type...

"And we would also like to welcome a new singing coach this year, let'shave a round of applause for Janet!"

Janet was a older woman with square glasses and short hair, she had a quirkiness about her, but I couldn't quite pin down what made her quirky.

"And of course, your drama coach shall be yours truly" Stan finished, gesturing to himself with grandeur - I was honestly surprised he didn't finish with jazz hands. He received yet more applause and then the crowd settled. The next topic on everyone's minds -well certainly mine - was the groups. 

Stan obviously had this thought too - are gays telepathic? - as he cleared his throat. "Ahem, sorry. Now we must sort the groups. As some of you know, we sort the groups differently each year. And this year we are sorting the groups by surname, alphabetically." The level of panic from finding out the production bubbled up again. Me and Nicola had both taken our father's surnames, mine Tweedy her Roberts. I prayed that surnames beginning with S wasn't the divider. I wasn't the only person concerned, anxious murmurs had broken out all over the room. I glanced at Kimberley and noticed she looked worried. Nadine looked irritated and shushed a few younger people near her. Stan went on "after you find out which group you're in, collect a map and go to your designated room. You will the get a workshop timetable and begin your work! Good luck!" he sang the last part and as if by showbiz magic, the groups appeared on the projector screen. I looked at them instantly, eyes scanning the screen.

A-H Theatre

I-P Dance Studio

Q-Z Recording Studio

My heart soared - me and Nicola were together! We looked at each other and squealed. The room was a hive of activity, celebrations of friends being together, and some looking dejected. Everyone was making their way to the door where assistants were handing out maps. We joined the masses and jostled through the crowd as everyone funneled out. "When they said it was a summer school I didn't think they meant it would be like school," Nicola grumbled "I'd just left too" I probably would've said something witty in reply if a rather small child hadn't elbowed me in the stomach. Winded, I grabbed hold of Nicola to make sure I didn't lose her. 

We eventually made our way to the door, grabbed maps and set off down the corridor. "Ok, so the recording studio seems to be upstairs" Nicola said, scanning the map. I nodded and followed her towards a busy looking flight of steps. As we walked away I heard the fanfare start up again, this time quieter, dimmed by the walls.

Bloody showbiz.