A Rising Star

Chapter 10 - Singing Auditions

I stood up, and to my horror but not so much my surprise, Natalee did too. I sighed and grabbed my packet. We climbed down the stairs with a crowd of other kids.

To my horror, yet again, there were easily 100 kids up there with me, if not more. The stage manager was hollering instructions at us, but only about a quarter of us were listening.

"Hey! Hey! HEY!!!"

All of us went silent.

"Ok," she breathed. "I'm going to group you in 16s. You'll see why in a minute. Ready... 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6..." she pointed to a different person on each number, who then separated themselves from the mass of girls and made their own little group. I wasn't in the first group.

We were pushed to the back and the first group of girls lined up in order from 1-16. Each of them gave their audition number to the director and the accompanist began playing a sweet-sounding slow song.

"Is this a good pace, Rob?" he called to the director.

"Perfect," Robert confirmed from somewhere above us.

Lizzie directed us. "We're going to go down the line. Number one, sing 'There is a castle on a cloud.' Number two, sing 'I like to go there in my sleep.' Number three, 'Aren't any floors for me to sweep.' Four, 'Not in my castle on a cloud.'..." She continued until everyone had a line in the song. "Remember that, everyone, because I won't be repeating it!"

Good thing I was paying attention.

Bad thing I didn't have a clue what the tune was to and had no way to memorize what lyrics were with which numbers since I'd never heard it before.

"Ok, 1, 2, 3..." the accompanist whispered. And the first girl sang.

"There is a castle on a cloud..." "I like to go there in my sleep..."

The girls went down the line, singing their line when the part came to them. It was amazingly smooth.

When the song was done, the accompanist continued playing to keep the pace steady, but quieter.

"Great, same thing again," Lizzie said. "1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11..."

I was 11.

I had paid such close attention during the first round but yet I had still forgotten what the lyrics were for number 11. Was it "she's good to see and she's..."

She's...?

I was doomed.

"Step forward and state your number," Robert said from somewhere.

"43!" the first girl in line called.

"952!" the second girl proclaimed.

"Again, sorry?" the director said.

"Nine-fifty-twooo!" she screamed.

"Gotcha," he said.

The girls continued to call their numbers up to the director until it was my turn.

"Seven-seventy-six!" I cried, anunciating every syllable to its maximum extent.

He didn't ask me to repeat it, so I guess that was good.

I realized I was running out of time to ask the one question I needed an answer to.

"Um.." I turned to the girl to my right, who would be singing the line before me. "I'm not really familiar with this show, so, um... could you tell me what the tune is to my line? Please?" I asked timidly.

Expecting a scoff like Natalee would have done, I was relieved when she smiled at me. She sang quietly, "She's nice to see, and she's soft to touch,"

"Thank you," I said.

The piano got louder. "Ok, 1, 2, 3..."

Girl 1 went. "There is a castle on a cloud..."

That milder version of fear that I had felt before turned into utter terror. I wasn't sure I wanted to do this anymore.

It lifted my spirits when someone did badly. I feel bad saying that, but, in the back of my mind, I knew it gave me a slightly better chance.

I knew I couldn't sing. I thought fast. How could I cover it up so I don't have to embarrass myself as badly? How can I get better in a matter of seconds??

One word came to mind: Act.

"Holds me and sings a lullaby..." the girl next to me sang.

Here we go...

"She's nice to see and she's soft to touch..." I sang, staring off into the distance dreamily while smiling.

Could I even call it singing? Heck, I croaked it.

My voice had cracked on "nice" and "soft." I knew the tune I sang wasn't the one the girl had given me. I felt my face growing hot after that. One girl behind me who hadn't gone yet (probably Natalee) I heard giggle.

After then next seven or so groups sang, we were told to go back to our seats.

I guess that was it. No way would I make it after that. At least I had some expression. Natalee was perfect, of course.

Auditions went on.

When she came back to her seat, she scoffed at me. "Was that YOU warbling up there during the second round? That was just horrible. Who is your vocal coach?"

"I, um, don't have one." I told her.

"Then what are you doing on Broadway?"

"I'm... What do you mean?"

"Have you even been in a show before?? I've been in hundreds. I've been doing vocal lessons for 5 years. Since I was three. In other words, this is a professional theatre. An exclusive one, too. They'll never cast you if you don't even know what a flat note is."

"Oh, come on. Who doesn't know what that is?" I asked, though I had no idea what it was.

She had a point, though. What was I doing here? Everyone here has experience, talent, and an acceptable voice. Did I really think I stood a chance? It hurt, but I knew it was true.

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A/N

I'm stopping here because this is a really long chapter and it's about to get a lot longer. So the next chapter is basically part 2. XD