Broadway Bound

Chapter 2

We finally climbed to the Freshman section of the mezzanine as the Alma Mater was finishing. I smiled as I found Katie with a couple of open seats on an aisle about halfway down the red-carpeted mezzanine. Even in the low light, the golden paint glittered leading us to Katie.

"You're just in time." She whispered scooting over.

"Good. This is Nora."

"Hi." Nora waved.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Katie." She greeted with a polite smile.

Polite applause rose from the crowd as Mrs. Dakota took the stage.

"Welcome back students. I hope you had a restful summer."

The crowd thundered in appreciation.

"With all that resting you should be ready to jump right in."

Again the crowd responded but was composed more of nervous giggles than excited shouts.

"You never know what she has in store," Katie whispered.

"I'm going to ask the Upper classman in the mezzanine and balcony stay put and quiet so the lower classman can hear unobstructed.'

The auditorium filled with over 900 students went eerily silent.

"For my youngest students, you all will be very busy as there are roles in a main stage production and you will have at least one junior production of your own."

A smaller group of high pitch cheers rose from the front of the auditorium. Some upperclassmen chuckled around me. A nervous giddiness began circulating through the surrounding students.

The school was sorted into three sections. Lower classmen which contain mainly elementary school-aged students. Middle classmen contain mainly middle school students. While the Upper classmen contain high school-aged students with a handful of college-aged students in a student/teacher position. Typically, the older Upper classmen have the best chances of being in the main stage productions as they have the most training, even though the show is open to the entire class. The Upper class is expected to perform and deliver Broadway-level performance.

The Middle class cheered from below us. Katie gripped my hand.

"Right. I bet you all are waiting for the Upper class shows."

We jumped to our feet collectively and cheered as Upper classmen. Mrs. Dakota gave us a moment, before motioning us to sit.

"This year," She began waiting for us to settle, "Grade-specific shows will be third in the lineup. These shows from Seniors to Freshmen will be, Seniors with "Pippin"! Juniors with "Into the Woods"! Sophomores with "Peter Pan"! Freshman with "The Little Mermaid'!"

Cheers erupted from each grade as their show was announced.

"These shows were picked to help you grow and challenge you along with the season shows." Mrs. Dakota explained.

At the mention of the season, a drum roll began rolling through the classes starting with the seniors. Students pounded the ground with their feet, their legs with their hands, and the seats in front of them with their hands.

"Our first show, open to all students." Mrs. Dakota began over the drum roll.

The drumroll snapped into silence.

"Beauty and the Beast."

Excitement shot through us, but the upper class remained silent.

"Second show open only to Upper class is..." Mrs. Dakota dragged, "Godspell. The third slot is filled with the class-specific shows. The fourth show open to Upper and Middle classes is Sister Act."

Some excited gasps from below us echoed through the auditorium.

"Fifth show opened to Upper and Middle classes is 'Thoroughly Modern Milly' with a Junior version for the Lower Class."

We shifted to the edge of our seats before the sixth show was announced.

"Rounding out our season, open to Upper classmen only is..." Mrs. Dakota paused.

We started murmuring impatiently at her pregnant pause demanding an answer.

"What is it?" A small voice demanded.

"Mean Girls!" Mrs. Dakota announced.

The auditorium exploded. Every student was on their feet. Mrs. Daokta smiled proudly and let us have our moment. Katie and I bounced by our seats. We had been given a dynamite season to kick off our time as Upper classmen.

"Now." Mrs. Dakota said giving us a moment to settle again.

Our excitement hung thick in the air like electricity.

"Audition week begins in two weeks on September seventh and the list will be posted on September eleventh by the end of the day, with rehearsals starting as early as September fourteenth. Don't worry, you and your parents are getting an email with all the dates and audition requirements broken down by grade level. For my Upper class girls, I have some bad news. The Role of Belle has already been precast."

Shouts of protest rang out behind us.

"Ladies!" She chastised.

She covered her mic and mumbled something before huffing. The first couple rows of Lower classmen giggled.

"The role has been filled by a dear friend of mine, Ms. Ruth Carter."

A few residual grumbles rolled around us.

"One last thing on a more serious note. Due to an incident last year, we are short several instructors for Middle and Upper classmen. We are working to fill the gaps but until that time, classes will look a bit different for those two divisions. Lower classmen, you are dismissed."

The little firecrackers stood and filed out with the older students directing the younger students. Soon after, the Middles began filing out.

"Upper classmen, go to your homeroom to get you full schedules if you have not received them." Mrs. Dakota said exciting the stage.

"I have to run. My homeroom is on the far side of the building. It was nice meeting both of you." Nora said bouncing away.

More students began getting up around us.

"You ready?" I asked.

Katie nodded.  We stood and I immediately linked arms with her. She swayed back a bit before she righted herself.

"Good." She said grinning.

I scooped up our bags. We careened up the stairs, catching up with the group. Katie grabbed her duffle bag from me and shouldered it. I started doing my math in my head debating the odds. In the Upper school alone, there are 300 students even though not all of them are onstage performers. There are 600 more in the Lower and Middle classes combined. With all 900 students gunning for the 50 spots on stage and even more limited positions backstage, everyone would be on edge for the next two weeks.

"Earth to Natasha," Katie said.

"Oh yeah? Sorry."

"Stop doing the math." She huffed.

"It's my job to worry."

"And it's my job to tell you to knock it off." She countered.

I rolled my eyes.

"Who's our homeroom teacher?"

"It just says Upper Dance 101," Katie answered.

"Well then. Let's Dance" I shouted.

"Chill out." Margo spat.

Katie stiffened. I shot the group of girls a disapproving look.

"Come on. Let's go get settled." I said dragging Katie into the studio.

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Break A Leg #onlyintermission