The Piano Man

Epilogue

"The end of a melody is not its goal: but nonetheless, had the melody not reached its end it would not have reached its goal either. A parable." Friedrich Nietzsche

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Epilogue

February 2022

Dolby Theatre

It was Oscar night. Sophie had been hoping, praying, wishing that Noah and Maddie would be recognised for their original score, and they had been. They were nominated, and up against some of the most renowned composers working in the business, including some of the musicians that Noah idolised.

The buzz surrounding Maddie had died down a little since the movie premiere, and she had been able to start at her new school relatively normally. She was loving her school, in particular the extensive music program, and the time she got during lessons to play and compose. She also was working beautifully with her psychologist, who had helped her to make some friends at school. Maddie had advanced in leaps and bounds in her ability to communicate her feelings, and this had dramatically helped her to control situations where she might become overwhelmed.

When the nominations had been announced, they watched together from the living room of their home in new home in Hidden Hills, California. Of course, there was no way on earth that Sophie was going to be able to afford any sort of contribution to the purchase of the house itself, so she made do with decorating Maddie's new bedroom using the royalties that she earned from the release of Noah's song.

Sophie had been a little out of sorts at first. She didn't have a full-time job, and Noah had undertaken a new project, and was absolutely loving having his own studio in their home. She took driving lessons most days from a professional school, and managed to get her license, which greatly helped with ferrying Maddie to and from school.

But it took a little while for her to make some friends and to find her feet. She was able to get to know a few parents at Maddie's school, but she did need a purpose. Before having Maddie, it had been her dream to perform on the West End. She still loved theatre, she loved singing and pushing her voice.

To keep up with her love of theatre, Sophie joined a local company, which really put a fire in her belly to pursue her passion. She had never gone after anything for herself before. Noah was happy and successful, and Maddie was finally thriving.

As her song continued to chart really well, particularly with online streaming, Sophie did begin to catch the eye of some casting directors who contacted her through the movie studio asking for headshots.

A film remake of the Tony Award winning Broadway production of Shenandoah was being produced next year, and Sophie was asked to audition for the role of Jenny, the daughter of the main character. The director was after a fresh face, and unknown, and her voice and look were exactly what he was searching for.

Sophie had been training with a dialect coach for the last few months to help perfect her American accent, as she was perhaps "the most British sounding woman" the director had ever heard, and she needed to seem as though she was from Virginia.

The film was due to go into production in April, and Sophie couldn't have been more excited. And it felt good to be excited, optimistic, and not worrying or stressing about every little thing. Good things could happen.

Sophie was going to be filming for a few months in the city, so Joy was happily flying down to help out with Maddie. Maddie was still Joy's only grandchild; she loved any excuse to come down and dote upon her.