Wait For It | a Hamilton fanfiction | wattys 2017

Chapter 11

A week and a few days later, the cast prepared for their tech runs. That meant they were going to run through the full show without stopping, as if it were an actual performance. Pippa was feeling quite a bit better but she still had a cough occasionally.

They were to Schuyler Sisters. It wasn't going great. Lana kept messing up her blocking, which kept throwing everyone off. She was extremely close to running into Kaitlyn, which would have been a disaster.

"Stop, stop, STOP!" Alex shouted. The music grinded to a halt and Pippa rolled her eyes at Jazzy. "Listen, Lana, if you can't get it together I'm going to ask Araella to step in for you. You cannot keep messing up this blocking! The show starts in a little more than a week!"

"Is there any blocking I could help you with?" Araella asked Lana. Lana brushed her off.

"I have it down. The tempo is throwing me off!" she complained. Pippa and Jazzy exchanged glances.

"Lana, this is how fast 'Schuyler Sisters' has always gone," Jazzy said.

"Well, that's not how I was told. I've been rehearsing at a slower tempo this whole time, and you didn't bother to tell me!" Lana insisted.

"Araella, step in for Lana," Alex said impatiently. "Lana, go with Kaitlyn to learn your blocking to the right tempo. Swings, please fill in accordingly." Dani and Kaley stepped in for Araella and Kaitlyn, respectively.

Pippa couldn't help but be slightly irritated with Lana. Today wasn't the first day that they'd rehearsed 'Schuyler Sisters'. She had done almost the same thing for those rehearsals, too. And Kaitlyn and Araella had been forced to give up their own rehearsal time to try and correct Lana's mistakes.

"From 'Common Sense', if you please, Araella," Alex said. The music started and they were off once more.

Pippa was relieved when they finally got through 'Schuyler Sisters' and moved on to 'Farmer Refuted'. The stage lights had started to bother her, and she was beginning to get a headache.

She sat down backstage to wait for her next song, which was 'Helpless'. She had at least three songs, so she took a sip of her water. She saw Kaitlyn and Lana emerge from backstage and saw Kaitlyn dash into her spot, allowing Kaley to duck out. Kaitlyn fit seamlessly into the song. It was as if she'd never left. Lana sat down next to Pippa.

"Ugh, they treat me like I'm stupid," Lana complained.

"You should have your blocking down," Pippa pointed out.

"It's not like I've had months of rehearsal and years of performances like some of you guys," Lana insisted. "You've all had a lot of experience with the show. This is, like, my fourth month rehearsing."

"There's a lot of cast members that haven't done the show before. You're not the only one. Jessamine, Kaitlyn, Hubble, Louis, Wes, Elijah, and Logan haven't been in the show either. That doesn't mean that they're making up excuses. I don't think Araella was in the show either," Pippa reminded her.

"You don't understand. You've been here so long that it's natural for you. Do you know what it's like to try and fill in for Renee Elise Goldsberry, a freaking Tony Award WINNER?! I know that you don't like me as much as Renee."

"We do like you, it's just hard to get used to a new sister so quickly," Pippa said.

She heard the opening bars to 'A Winter's Ball'. "Crap, I have to get ready," she said. She stood up. Lana did, too.

They began 'Helpless' soon after.

They were halfway through and this time, Lana did crash into Brett and Kaitlyn as they were doing their pairs dance.

Alex stopped conducting. His face was starting to get red. "Lana, if you can't get yourself together for tech week, Araella will do the first show for you. I can't have you messing around like this, especially when you're a danger to the other actors."

"I have it, I swear. They were in the wrong place," Lana insisted.

Brett and Kaitlyn exchanged glances.

"Ten minute break everyone. Lin, I want to speak with you," Alex said. Everyone relaxed. Pippa flopped onto the stage, and Jazzy walked over to sit next to her. Kaitlyn walked over and sat Indian-style next to Pippa.

"We were in the right place, correct?" Kaitlyn asked Jazzy under her breath.

"Yeah, you and Brett were fine."

"Have you been in other shows with Lana?" Pippa asked Kaitlyn.

"No, not really. We were in the same audition group but that's when I first met her. There's a lot of people like her in theatre in general, though," Kaitlyn said. "They think they know what they're doing, and it's irritating because they just don't."

"It's taking forever to get through the show and I know Alex wanted to get through the first act like it was a normal show," Jazzy commented.

"I'm starting to get irritated with Lana. I room with her and she's a diva sometimes, and I keep having to waste my time teaching her the blocking when I should be onstage learning my ensemble blocking. It's annoying."

"I agree with you," Pippa said. "It's getting to the point where the blocking should be ingrained in your memory. It's clearly not for Lana."

"I don't know... I have my blocking down."

"I feel bad for her. It must be a lot to come in to try and replace Renee. We haven't been super sisters to her," Jazzy reminded them.

"I guess..." Kaitlyn said skeptically.

~~~~

A/N:

On the behalf of both of us, thank you so much for 1K reads!

~darkdisrepair