by J. D. Griffo
“Just drop it!” Johnny barked.
“You can really drive a person crazy!”
“Like you’re not deeply maladjusted!”
“And you’re never to be trusted!”
“You’re a crazy person yourself, Nola!”
Suddenly, the fighting stopped. Instead of bickering and shouting, the women heard the unmistakable gurgles and smacking sounds of a couple making out.
“Are they kissing?” Alberta asked.
“How could they be kissing after insulting each other like that and saying such hurtful things to each other?” Helen asked.
“They weren’t fighting,” Jinx said.
“Lovey, I know there’s a generation gap and couples act differently nowadays, but didn’t you hear them?” Alberta asked. “No matter what your age, you have to admit what we heard was fighting.”
“They were reciting lyrics from a Stephen Sondheim musical!” Jinx shouted. “Nola plays that song constantly, I’d have recognized the words anywhere.”
“That must be one angry musical,” Helen said.
“Ah, Madon!” Alberta cried. “That doesn’t sound like anything from The King and I.”
“It’s from a musical called Company,” Jinx explained. “Revolutionary for its time, according to Nola, otherwise known as the walking encyclopedia of American musical theatre. I just call it annoying. Nola! Get out here!”
Following Jinx’s outburst, the kissing immediately stopped and was followed by the sounds of Nola and Johnny quickly making themselves presentable and emerging from the box office room into the lobby. When Nola spoke, it was made very clear why her role in the theatre community was not on the stage but behind it. She was a terrible actress.
“Oh, hi, everybody!” Nola said in a tone of fake surprise. “I had no idea anyone was out here.”
“Obviously,” Jinx replied. “Or else you wouldn’t have been carrying on like you were on your own private soundstage.”
“There are no soundstages in theatre,” Johnny corrected. “Only in film and TV.”
“Don’t challenge my metaphor, Johnny!” Jinx yelled. “I’ve had enough of these private little performances you two put on. Fight like normal people from now on! And get this meeting started and tell us all what this emergency is!”
“Now that your grandmother is here, I can do just that,” Nola declared.
“Me?” Alberta said. “I’m just here to lend moral support.”
“That and so much more, Mrs. Scaglione,” Nola said mysteriously. “Let’s go into the theatre and I’ll explain everything.”
Unsure as to where Nola was leading the conversation, they followed her into the theatre. One person who didn’t seem to be thrilled by the direction Nola was taking them was Johnny. Alberta couldn’t tell if he was embarrassed to have been caught canoodling with his producer behind closed doors or if he was still angry about whatever they were fighting about before the canoodling began, but he didn’t look as excited and energetic as he did when she first met him during the auditions. Maybe he was having another panic attack based on whatever big, secretive announcement Nola was about to make?
Inside the theatre, the entire cast had already taken their seats. Crew members sat as a group in the first row, Jinx had grabbed a seat next to Tambra, and sitting in front of them were Bruno, Luke, Kip, and Benny. Joyce, Sloan, and Father Sal came rushing over to Alberta, and Helen asked if they knew why Nola had gathered them all together, but they revealed they were in the dark just like the rest of the group.
When Nola stood in front of the microphone, center stage, she didn’t have to say a word for her curious audience to stare at her in rapt attention. She had them in the palm of her hand. And like any good producer, she held the dramatic pause before speaking.
“Thank you all for coming here tonight, and forgive me for being cryptic,” Nola started. “After the devastating turn of events last week, I’ve been doing a great deal of thinking, and I’ve come to the conclusion that Missy wouldn’t want our show to end because she could no longer be a part of it. She was an actress and she understood the importance and the cathartic nature of theatre and I know in my heart that she’d want the show to go on. So that’s exactly what we’re going to do.”
“How can we go on without our star?”
Even Helen was surprised by Father Sal’s outburst, but he only said out loud what everyone else was thinking. After he spoke, the rest of the company, one by one, asked the same question. Nola didn’t respond, but raised her hands, palms facing her audience, until they quieted down.
“We’re going to go on because one superstar is going to take the place of another,” Nola announced. “Tranquility’s very own celebrity, Alberta Ferrara Scaglione, will take over Missy’s role as Abby Brewster and share the stage alongside her very own sister, Helen.”
A huge gasp was followed by enthusiastic applause. The only people in the theatre not joining in the ovation were Alberta and Johnny. Alberta because she was in shock and Johnny, based on his glowering stare and pursed lips, because he didn’t support the idea. Alberta wasn’t insulted because she understood what she believed Johnny was thinking: There was no way in the world she could take Missy’s place.
“What do you say, Mrs. Scaglione?” Nola asked. “Will you join our merry band of players?”
Looking around the room, Alberta couldn’t argue with Nola’s comment. The faces staring at her in anticipation indeed looked merry, all except Johnny of course. There was something about his expression. Now that she looked at him closer, Alberta wasn’t convinced he was upset because of Nola’s odd casting choice. It wasn’t just that he didn’t want to be involved in the show now that Missy was no longer part of the production, there was another reason that he was hiding. When he flicked his nose with his forefinger, it dawned on her. Johnny was acting like Lola did when she got caught doing something wrong like stealing a biscotto from the kitchen counter. He looked guilty.
“Say something, Berta.”
Helen’s whisper and nudge in the ribs ripped Alberta from her contemplation and back into the conversation Nola was trying to have with her.
“Please say yes, Alberta,” Nola implored. “You’re our only hope of fulfilling Missy’s last wish to return to the stage.”
Alberta forced herself not to roll her eyes at Nola’s overly dramatic comment and remembered where she was. This was the theatre. This was where drama took center stage. But it wasn’t a place Alberta was used to being, and although she enjoyed the time she spent sitting in a chair as an audience member, the thought of standing on stage and performing as part of a cast and working with a director frightened her. But wait ... If she was with the director, that would mean she’d be working side by side with Johnny. And what better way to find out why he was acting so strangely and looking so guilty than to get close to him as an actress instead of an amateur detective? It was the perfect disguise.
It was also the perfect way for Alberta to make a complete fool of herself in front of the entire town. She wasn’t an actress, she didn’t know the first thing about being in a play, and the only time she performed in a show she’d wound up beheading Jesus. No, she couldn’t do it. And if she hadn’t turned to see Helen staring at her, she would have told everyone that she was very sorry, but she wouldn’t be able to honor Nola’s absurd request. However, when she saw Helen’s lips moving, she knew she was saying a Hail Mary and literally praying that Alberta would accept Nola’s offer. It wasn’t something she wanted to do, but she would do it for her sister. Before she could change her mind, she gave everyone the only answer they wanted to hear.
“I’ll do it.”
Raucous applause erupted and Alberta sat in awe as she received her first standing ovation. Nola ran over and threw her arms around her, thanking her for saving their production. One by one, the rest of the company hugged her, kissed her on the cheek, and clutched her hand. Laughing and shaking her head, she couldn’t believe how excited she had made ever
yone by simply agreeing to step into Missy’s role. When Kip stood in front of her, tears welling in his eyes, she realized that their euphoria had nothing to do with her and everything to do with themselves.
“Thank you for giving us the chance to do what we love.”
Kip embraced Alberta warmly and she could feel his heart beating. These people truly loved the theatre. It was a passion that Alberta didn’t possess, but she felt humbled to be in their presence. She wasn’t stepping into the footlights for the same reasons they were, but she felt a rush of adrenaline course through her body knowing she had made a choice that was going to make so many people happy. Especially her sister.
“This is going to be so much fun, Berta,” Helen gushed uncharacteristically. “It’ll be nothing like Headless Jesus.”
“You’d better pray it isn’t,” Alberta said.
“We’ll run lines, and I know that it’ll be a stretch because you’re going to be playing the older sister and I’m the younger one, but follow my lead and you’ll be fine.”
Now Alberta felt the tears well up in her eyes hearing her sister speak so fervently about their joint venture. She gave Helen a tight hug and said, “If you can be a chauffeur, I can be an actress.”
“Are you sure about that, Alberta?”
Johnny’s question did what he meant it to do. It created tension. It brought the effervescent scene to a screeching halt. It made everyone in attendance hold their breath. Except for Alberta. She had expected Johnny to challenge her seemingly impulsive response and it gave her the opportunity to do what smart actresses have done since the first time they were permitted to perform on the stage with their male counterparts. She fawned all over her director.
“Honestly, Johnny, I’m not,” Alberta said. “But if you guide me with your expertise and your experience, I have no doubt I’ll be in good hands and will be able to give you a performance you’ll be proud of.”
If Johnny saw through her sycophantic pledge, he didn’t make his disbelief apparent. Instead, he responded like a typical director when confronted by an insecure performer. He vowed to lift her up to the rafters so her inner light could shine.
“Welcome aboard, Alberta,” Johnny announced, his scowl turning into a smile. “And get ready to have the time of your life.”
* * *
The following Saturday at the rehearsal reboot, Alberta sat in row J, her script with all her lines highlighted in bright orange clutched in her hand and a cluster of caffeine-saturated butterflies starting to flutter in her stomach. She wasn’t prepared to perform; she also wasn’t prepared to hear from the woman whose footsteps she had to follow.
A movie screen began to lower from the ceiling above the stage and everyone looked up at the technical intrusion. Alberta thought it was odd to see a film screen on a stage, but then realized that because the theatre was part of a high school, the space most likely doubled as an assembly room and the screen was used for instructional videos. She didn’t know what its purpose was at the moment, but Sloan and Joyce, who stood in front of the fully revealed screen, looked like they were about to tell everyone.
“The reason we’re all here is because of Missy Michaels,” Joyce started. “And because she couldn’t be here today in person, we thought the next best thing would be to let her appear in video.”
“On loan from Father Sal’s private collection, we’d like to show you Missy’s last TV appearance,” Sloan said. “This is from an interview with Good Morning Michigan that Missy did in 1982.”
“We think you’ll agree that it’s important for us to see the woman that we, unfortunately, never got to see in life,” Joyce said.
The lights dimmed and the familiar sound of a tape cassette being put into a VCR filled the room. Someone hit a button and the sound shifted to the whirl of tape rotating around the reels growing louder when static appeared on the screen. The grainy lines soon gave way to the image of two women sitting in club chairs made of olive-green leather. They were facing each other and between them was a small glass table on which there stood a vase filled with flowers the same color as the purple popcorn rug that covered the entire floor. Behind them was the logo for the show’s segment, “Five Minutes With ...” The woman on the left of the screen didn’t look familiar and was obviously a local news reporter, but the woman on the right was unmistakable. It was Missy.
“Welcome back, everyone, I’m Jessica Westin and this is ‘Five Minutes With’ ... Missy Michaels.”
Jessica waited for the applause to die down to speak again. When she did, she turned to face Missy, and her tone, while professional, couldn’t suppress the hint of a true fan.
“I know it’s been quite a while since the last film,” Jessica said. “But do you think there’s a chance we might get to see Daisy Greenfield back on the big screen?”
The question gave Missy pause and she appeared to be deep in thought. It was almost as if the sound of her alter ego’s name came as a surprise to her when she must have known that the two were forever conjoined; one could not exist without the other. Then again, Missy was probably fully aware of this fact, and it might simply be a truth she was comfortable with.
Smiling the same way she had done since she was a child, Missy replied, “I would love to bring Daisy back to life and share her story with the public.” She paused briefly, and her eyes still shone, but her smile faded. “But I don’t know if Daisy would agree.”
Jessica laughed nervously, unsure what Missy’s response meant. Did this woman think Daisy Greenfield was a real person? “Doesn’t Daisy do whatever Missy tells her to do?”
“Not always,” Missy said. “She’s been having such a wonderful time with her husband since their marriage, I’m not sure the girl has the time to go back to New York and stay in one place for a few months. Even though her grandmother’s penthouse is palatial.”
This time Jessica, along with the rest of the studio audience, laughed genuinely. “So in your mind, Daisy’s had a good life?”
“Picture-perfect,” Missy said. “She’s had the life every little girl ever dreamed of.”
“It is important to point out that Daisy’s life didn’t start off like a dream,” Jessica said. “She was orphaned as a little girl.”
All traces of smiles and laughter left Missy’s face. “What really is family? What really is the bond between a child and their guardian? Daisy lost her parents, but she had unconditional love from her grandmother and the servants in their home treated her like she was their own.”
“That’s very true,” Jessica said, surprised by the change in Missy’s tone. She attempted to bring levity back to the conversation with her next question. “Plus, she was filthy rich.”
The audience appreciated the comment, but Missy did not.
“Money never meant anything to Daisy,” Missy said. “She would’ve given up every penny if she could have had her parents back, but even at a young age, Daisy was a realist, a survivor.” Missy took another pause and bowed her head. No one dared to interrupt her because they weren’t sure if they were listening to Missy or Daisy. When she continued to speak, they still weren’t sure. “She knew her parents were gone forever and so she accepted her life and made the best of it.”
When she spoke again, Missy turned from her interviewer to face the audience and, as a result, looked directly into the camera.
“That’s why every single one of you loved Daisy Greenfield,” Missy continued. “Because she was strong and wise beyond her years. She was tough and intelligent, but she was also a lost little girl. Every one of you felt like you had to protect her and wrap your arms around her to make sure she felt safe and loved. I’d like you to know that we felt every loving embrace, and because of that and on behalf of myself and Daisy Greenfield, we’d like to thank you.”
The camera remained on Missy’s face. Like every person sitting in the theatre at St. Winifred’s and more than likely every studio audience member who saw the interview live, it couldn’t look away. The qualitie
s Missy exuded as a child actor were amplified as an adult and, ironically, she was even more vulnerable later in her life than she was at the beginning of her career.
The video cut off and a layer of silence filled the theatre, as if each person was paying their respects to the murdered star. They reflected on the last words they heard from Missy, una voce dal passato, a voice from the past. Not a sound was heard until the back door swung open and Kip shouted his arrival.
“I’m sorry I’m late! I swear, it won’t happen again.”
Now that the spell was broken it was the perfect time to get to work.
Johnny went into full-on director mode and called Alberta, Helen, Kip, and Bruno to the stage. Jinx saw Nola retreat back to the lobby and thought it would be the ideal time to get a few quotes from her so she could write an article about the new casting. Rushing as always, she didn’t notice Kip racing down the aisle in her direction until the two collided with each other.
“I’m so sorry,” Kip said, sprawled out on the floor.
“You keep saying that, don’t you?” Jinx replied, lying in a similar position a few feet away.
Jinx stood up and saw that Kip was now on his knees, unhurt and shoving papers back into his briefcase, which had opened when he fell. Feeling partially responsible for their fender bender, Jinx crawled on her knees to where Kip was to help gather the files and documents that were strewn all around them.
“I had to go into the office this morning and file some reports,” Kip explained. “Which is why I was running late.”
“I know the feeling,” Jinx replied, remembering to keep her tone friendly and conversational. “I’m officially on duty myself and need to interview Nola.”
“Our work is never done, is it?” Kip asked.
The question was rhetorical, but it was true. Jinx stared at the letter on the top of the pile of papers she was holding and it took all the self-restraint she had not to scream. Before Kip turned around to face her, she shuffled the pile, making sure that letter was now mixed in with all the others. Maintaining her composure, she gave them all to Kip, but she couldn’t find the strength to speak.