by P. G. Glynn
She was running on adrenalin, almost as if it were she, not Suzy, going on tonight. The darling child would be going on as Nancy, for Guy had been right: OLIVER! had its own place in theatrical lore and there was no better vehicle for Suzy this evening. One should not compare Lionel Bart’s efforts with those of Dickens. The story might be the same, but the interpretations were very different – and tonight’s performance marked a new beginning.
Marie felt this on several levels – the first of course being Suzy Howard’s launch into the professional world. Then there was her burgeoning romance with Edward, which kept going from strength to strength and would surely reach fresh heights tonight. Third? She would not tempt Providence by putting the thought into words.
“So there you are, Nama! I’ve been looking for you everywhere!”
“Everywhere except here?” Marie smiled at Suzy, who was costumed for the part of Nancy. She wore a ragged red dress with a black shawl and her hair tumbled haphazardly over her shoulders. Like her grandmother once stood there before her, she stood at the threshold of her future and there was no knowing where altogether Suzy would go from here. “Giddy godfathers, you’re a sight for sore eyes!”
“Am I? Am I, truly?”
“You are – and if you aren’t careful, I’ll cry … which would be a bad idea as I haven’t time to renew my mascara before the Berger clan and Lucy arrive.”
“Why might you cry?”
“Because of all that was and is and is yet to be. Am I making any sense, Suzy?”
Deciding now was the wrong time to mention Nandad’s arrival, Suzy just said: “It sounds perfect sense to me.”
+++++
Guy had no means of knowing whether or not Suzy had kept Otto’s secret. He did know, though, that tonight he must call a halt to all the endless waiting and finally open his heart to Marie. At least then he could live with himself in the knowledge he had said the things that had long needed saying. How long? Longer than any man had the right to silence when there were words that simply must be spoken – whatever the risk of rejection.
But there were only ten minutes left before the curtain was due to rise. Timing was everything, as he knew full well, and Marie would definitely not be receptive at this particular moment. So he must wait yet again … just until the end of the performance.
+++++
Otto reached his front row seat next to Hugo as the orchestra started playing the overture. He recognised the tunes, having heard them frequently on the radio in Vienna. As Long As He Needs Me was a favourite of his, for it had reminded him often how much he needed Marie. He should have come over and told her so before now. Still, there was tonight – helped by the surprise element - to do the telling … and there would be further nights before he invited himself to go and stay with Hugo in Wales. By then, he would have persuaded Marie to go with him and they would be a complete family again.
But the curtain was rising …
+++++
When it fell at the end of the performance there was a tangible sense of awe in the auditorium. Suzy Howard’s celestial singing lingered on the air, holding her audience still enthralled. She had taken the role of Nancy to a new dimension and there could be no doubting that her star would ultimately reach its zenith.
As Suzy stood centre-stage for the applause and encores Guy walked on to join her, holding up his hand after a while for silence.
Watching, Otto was shocked. It was as if Charles Brodie had stepped from the shadows of 1919 to reappear in the present as more than a spectre. Of course such a phenomenon was impossible and there had to be a logical explanation for what he was seeing. Bewildered, he then recalled Suzy mentioning Edward’s father, Guy, and realised he must be looking at the boy he had last seen as Oliver Twist. With boyhood far behind him, Guy’s resemblance to his father was uncanny. Standing next to Suzy, just as Charles had once stood next to Marie, he was speaking of history having been written tonight. Otto tuned in to listen.
As he did so, Marie – who had been standing at the back of the auditorium and had now taken her position in the wings – spotted him in the front row. Momentarily stupefied, she was reminded of another time, another place, when Otto had come between her and the man she loved. She was brought back to her senses as she heard Guy say: “Let me end by inviting on-stage a very special lady without whom there would be no Suzy – and, probably, no Brodie School. Would my partner, Marie Howard, please join me?”
Then, to rapturous applause, Otto watched her walk across to where Guy awaited her. He caught the look in Guy’s eyes – the love laid bare – and Marie’s answering radiance. Feeling inexpressibly helpless he saw all this before they both handed the stage back to Suzy to sing a final encore.
‘As long as he needs me I know where I must be;
I’ll cling on steadfastly, as long as he needs me.
As long as life is long, I’ll love him right or wrong
And somehow I’ll be strong, as long as he needs me … ’
The End
Copyright: © P.G. Glynn 2003
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Clunn, Harold P. THE FACE OF LONDON
Dickens, Charles OLIVER TWIST, DOMBEY & SON
Donaldson, Frances THE ACTOR-MANAGERS
Farson, Daniel MARIE LLOYD & MUSIC HALL
Forbes, Brian NED’S GIRL
Gerson, Noel LILLIE LANGTRY
Haas, Ben THE HOUSE OF CHRISTINA
Hibbert, Christopher & Weinreb, Ben THE LONDON ENCYCLOPAEDIA
Mackenzie, Kathleen THE GREAT SARAH
Manvell, Roger ELLEN TERRY
Pemberton, T. Edgar ELLEN TERRY & HER SISTERS
Toland, John ADOLF HITLER
Wiskemann, Elizabeth THE EUROPE I SAW
Wiskemann, Elizabeth CZECHS & GERMANS
Zemen, Z.A.B. TWILIGHT OF THE HABSBURGS
Author’s Note: I have also taken the liberty (for which I hope to be forgiven by whomever necessary!) of quoting from Khalil Gibran, Leigh Hunt, Kipling, Wheeler Wilcox, John Masefield, Shakespeare, Dickens, Thomas Hood, F.L. Hosmer, Thomas Traherne, Walter De La Mare, Marie’s Lloyd’s song THE BOY I LOVE, Lionel Bart’s OLIVER! … and finally SOUTH PACIFIC.
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PART III