The audience grew by the seconds. I could feel the tension and excitement building up inside me. I smiled to myself and took a deep breath – I was finally living my dream.
“Maddie, come here! I need to check your microphone before you get onstage!” I lively walked to Liz, my personal assistant and technician.
I loved being backstage. The ceiling was extremely high, surrounded by many ropes. The curtains were closed and they were still testing the lights. Everything was so colourful. Especially me. My character had to be painted green. I was Elphaba. I still couldn’t believe it. Me. Elphaba. Wicked! I had always worked so hard for this, and now I was there here in London- performing Wicked as the main character- Elphaba!
“‘Elphaba!’” Meghan yelled, “Your ‘Fiyero’ is waiting for you!” her smile was wide and she cheekily winked at me, while making the air quote gesture.
Oh! And I forgot to tell you! Fiyero is my boyfriend in the play. But he’s also my boyfriend is real life!
Could this get any better?
“Oh hey there, handsome!” I smirked at Sam. Quickly, I gave him a peck on the lips. Warmly, he smiled, making my heart melt.
“Good luck.” He whispered, while kissing my forehead.
My next scene was with him. I couldn’t contain my excitement! Being onstage, feeling the music, seeing the crowd.
“Maddie! Hurry! Sam! You need to get onstage! NOW!” rapidly, I grabbed Sam’s hand and hurried to the stage. Phew. The curtains were still closed.
I could hear the backstage workers lifting the ropes up and down to open the curtains. A warm current coursed through my body – It was now.
Swiftly, the curtains were opened. I felt my heart desperately thumping against my chest.
The first speech was Sam’s. He was struggling with it, but he made it! I’m so proud of him.
After performing a few speeches, It was finally time to sing. And we would kiss.
The stage was empty and clear, except for us.
The orchestra abruptly started playing the instruments with excitement.
And it was my turn. All the attention was focused on me, and all I could hear was the orchestra and my throbbing heart.
‘Kiss me too fiercely, hold me too tight…’ I sang under my breath, just like we had practiced it. The funny thing is, my voice filled the whole theatre, even though I was almost whispering.
‘Just for this moment, as long as you’re mine…’ perfectly, I sang the chorus. The orchestra played a little, and now it was Sam’s turn. His voice was so… Pure.
‘Somehow I’ve fallen, under your spell,’ he looked at me, happiness coursing though my veins. ‘and somehow I’m feeling, it’s up that I fell’ and it was finally time for us to sing together. And kiss.
‘Every moment, as long as you’re mine,’ we belted together. And the kiss was now.
I was reaching for his perfectly shaped lips, and tension washed through me like a drug. He leaned in, and our lips were really close, but I had a sudden feeling. My throat felt clogged up and my stomach clenched up. I had a strange feeling behind my nose, and I swiftly moved away from him. I heard the crowd echoed “Ooh” or even “Gosh, bad move”, but I was not okay. And I had to sing, but I couldn’t. Sam continued singing, and I just sat there, vulnerability taking over me. My eyes started itching and instantly closed. It felt as if someone was tickling my chest and crawled up to my head. And this was the horrible feeling of having to sneeze.
In matter of seconds, I sneezed. I heard some silent giggles coming from the crowd, but continued singing. Sam looked at me, but gently squeezed my hand in desperation. Unbelievable.
Nothing could ever be worse than this.
‘Borrow the moonlight’
And bam! The feeling was present again. Gradually, my mouth opened. I could feel the wrinkles covering my face. I took a last glance at Sam and sneezed.
Again.
I smiled at the crowd to keep myself from crying.
Swiftly, I looked at the curtains that led us backstage and looked at Liz. I noticed her face was utterly red, and she was laughing really hard. Her eyes were filled with tears of joy.
That’s when I lost it.
And I seriously have never laughed so much in my whole entire life. And I couldn’t stop.
But Sam could.
And the orchestra could.
And everyone could.
There was silence. No one singing, no one playing, no one anything. And then, there was me.
“Achoo!” my sneeze echoed through the theatre.
The crowd went crazy. There were people laughing, there were people with red faces because they couldn’t contain their laughter, there were people crying because they thought it was so funny, and there were people who were not amused at all. There were all types of feelings.
But the main point is – what would happen to me? Would my director fire me? All my hard work for nothing. It’s not fair. And let’s not forget that everything happened because of a sneeze. A damn sneeze.
I felt so humiliated. I glanced at Liz again, but this time, she gave me a sharp look. She made my body shiver. But at the same time, I had to admit, this was funny. There was only one thing left to do –
“I’m sorry everyone,” I spoke loudly, “I’m not sure what is happening to me…” I put my hand in my head in despair, and brought my hand back down again. And that’s when I noticed – My hand was full of green paint that was used to make me look like Elphaba. The worst part of it, is that we were trying this new paint. So I was allergic to it. Everything made much sense now. “If you will excuse me for a moment…” I mumbled, while desperately jumping up and running backstage.
My eyes alertly searched for the bathroom. I had to take the green paint of me!
As soon as I got in the bathroom, I sunk my head into the sink, fresh water rushing through my face. Ah. It felt so good.
I heard distant footsteps getting closer and closer.
“What the hell?” Liz exclaimed. I looked at her crookedly; the water was dripping off my chin. I couldn’t help but notice the disappointment stamped in her face.
“I’m so sorry… I don’t know what to say. Can we maybe repeat the scene? I just discovered that I’m allergic to this new paint we bought, and I can’t use it.”
“We can repeat it, of course. Gosh, What a nightmare.” She frowned. “Now let’s stop wasting time! Go back there and show ‘em what you’ve got!”
And then again… This was Wicked.
