Wait For It | a Hamilton fanfiction | wattys 2017

Chapter 103

They're called back from break by Daveed sooner than Pippa wanted.

"Jessa, any updates on Carleigh?" Daveed asked.

"No, she's in the air right now," Jessa said. "Someone has to pick her up from the airport."

"We need everyone here. We have a short turnaround time for this, guys," Daveed said sharply. "I want to rehearse as much as possible. I'm fairly certain some Russian dignitaries are planning on coming to some of the earlier shows."

"Well, we can't just leave her hanging at the airport alone," Jessa argued.

"Knowing Carleigh, she'll probably whip out some Russian suddenly and get here all by herself," Kaitlyn commented to Pippa. Pippa smirked.

"True," she agreed.

"I could pick her up," Daniel offered.

"No," Daveed said instantly. "You especially need to be here. You need to be absorbing as much of your track as possible."

"Alright," Daniel agreed.

"I'll get one of the techies to do it," Daveed decided. "For now, I want to get through as much of the first act as possible. When Carleigh gets here, we'll go through 'Yorktown' and 'Ten Duel Commandments' specifically. To your places for the top of the show, please. The swings filling in for Carleigh can swap out if you want practice on certain songs for her track. I don't care."

~~~~~~~~~~

Pippa thought that Daniel was getting the hang of his ensemble role much quicker than James had. He seemed to have a natural gift for picking up choreography.

'Alexander Hamilton' went fairly well, but it wasn't without flaws. There were some ensemble spacing errors, and someone dropped one of the props, but it wasn't horrible.

'Schuyler Sisters' was good. The harmonies were tight, which Pippa was pleased about. The ensemble did a good job, too, Pippa was pretty sure. She didn't really pay attention to everyone else when she was singing a lot.

Lana messed up 'Satisfied' a little. Pippa was pretty sure it was because some unseen gust of air blew her hair into her mouth. That didn't stop Daveed from pulling an exasperated face.

In 'Ten Duel Commandments', the turntables went the wrong way, and the ensemblists had to adjust. Pippa could tell that they were all confused, but Kaitlyn and Jessa were responsible for the main adjustment. They switched sides. Usually, Jessa started on stage left, but she started on stage right, and the rest of the ensemblists filled in to make the normal line, just reversed.

It was a good thing that Jessa and Kaitlyn were put together. They knew what they were doing.

Daveed messed up 'Guns and Ships', which might have been a first. He looked irritated.

Then they went onto 'Yorktown'.

It definitely was better than it had been with James in it, but Pippa could tell everyone was still out of it from Christmas break. Someone dropped their bayonet, and someone tripped, and then someone dropped the white flag.

And then someone dropped a chair.

It was a whole lot of dropping and not a lot of anything else. Pippa could tell that Daveed was beyond angry now, but there wasn't anything he could do about it, because they were doing a run-through.

Finally, they reached the end of the act. Daveed had them all sit down on the stage for notes.

"These notes are from Lac, so listen carefully," Daveed announced. "First of all. The first song- some of you guys seem to be forgetting how to space yourselves out. People on stage left are getting crowded together because the people on stage right are spreading out too much. Look at the audience and remember where you stand, alright?

"Lana, what happened in Satisfied?"

"I got hair in my mouth, sorry," Lana said.

"Alright. Good. Tech, for 'Ten Duel Commandments', you need to get those turntables sorted out. We cannot have that happen again. Kaitlyn, Jessa, you did a good job, so credit to you two for saving that number."

Daveed looked up from his notes, frowning deeply. "Guys. We've been on tour for months now. I would have thought that you would have 'Yorktown' down by now. People should not be dropping things and tripping over people. There is literally no excuse. You all need to step up your game."

"And additionally, 'Non-Stop' was a wreck, vocally. I don't know what happened but people were not lining up. Practice, people. Just because all of you are the most talented dancers in the nation does not mean you can through timing out the window. 'Non-Stop' has never sounded this bad. Lin would be ashamed."

"Daveed, chill," Jazzy spoke up. "We literally just started rehearsals, and Carleigh isn't here. You can't expect it to be perfect the immediate rehearsals after vacation."

"I have every right. Vacation doesn't give you the right to put in any less than your best effort."

"Don't pretend you're perfect, Daveed," Oak spoke up finally. "You messed up, too. Cut them some slack. It's after Christmas. You can chill a little. We have time."