The Role of Her Lifetime

by Nanisi Barrett D'Arnuk

  She immediately dialed Chris’s number.

  “Now what?” Chris answered.

  “I got a job, but they didn’t say what. They asked me to have my agent call them!”

  “An agent?”

  “Yes. Is your hearing impaired from all the sex you’ve been having? They want to offer me a role. They didn’t mention which one. They said either me or my agent should call them as soon as we can.”

  “You don’t have an agent, do you?”

  “No.” For once Marie didn’t have the bravado she usually had. She reverted to a small child asking Mommy for something. “What should I do? How do I get an agent?” “

  Chris remained silent for a moment. “Let me call Borden and see if he can recommend anyone.”

  Borden was an agent from Classical Presentations, a booking agency for classical musicians. He was the one who booked her into the four-month, twelve city tour.

  “Who do you have to call?”

  Marie read off the information left on her machine.

  “Okay, let me see what he says.” Chris hung up.

  Marie immediately went into the kitchen and started a pot of coffee. That was her answer to any problem. Coffee solved a lot. She paced around the living room and then went into the bedroom to change out of her work clothes. The coffee was ready when she emerged in her jeans and a T-shirt.

  The next hour was the most unnerving sixty minutes she’d ever spent. She paced, then sat down to relax and sipped her coffee, got up and went around the apartment, making sure everything was as it should have been. Having finished that, she repeated it from the beginning.

  “Come on, Christine, call me back already,” she growled at the phone. “If you don’t call me back in the next five minutes, I’m gonna whip your booty raw.” She had other lewd thoughts but didn’t articulate them.

  Finally, the phone rang. Marie glanced at the readout. It was a good thing she hadn’t just answered it rudely. It wasn’t Chris.

  “Marie Jacolby? This is Borden Collins from Classical Presentations. Chris Anthony called me about a job at the Windsor Opera Company.”

  “Yes, thank you, Mr. Collins. I was wondering how to get an agent.”

  He laughed. “You already have one,” he said. “I’ll represent you myself.”

  Marie gasped. “Really?”

  “When Chris told me about your phone call, I knew it had to be taken care of right away. It couldn’t wait until the morning. I know they’re always in the offices late. I called him. I’ve dealt with Art Lundgren before. In fact, I spoke with him this afternoon for three of my other clients, so it was easy to get through to him again. I hope I haven’t overstepped any boundaries here. Chris was so concerned.”

  “Mr. Collins! You called Mr. Lundgren for me?” Marie was in awe. “Thank you, thank you. I wasn’t sure what to do.”

  “First of all, we should meet as soon as possible. The opera company said they’d have your contract and the score here for you tomorrow by noon.”

  “Oh, my God! I have a contract?”

  “Yes. May I call you Marie?”

  “Of course,” Marie mumbled.

  “You’ve been offered a very good role. You’ll be playing the young Prince Charming.”

  “Prince Charming? That’s the lead! Then I did get it?”

  “Yes. Congratulations, Marie.”

  “Thank you,” she responded. “I can’t believe this. This is unreal.”

  Borden chuckled. “Can we meet tomorrow afternoon, around three?” he asked.

  “Sure,” she replied, distracted as she reconciled the part in her mind. She couldn’t believe she had a lead.

  Borden laughed again. “Do you have a piece of paper so I can tell you where my office is?”

  “Uh…of course. Hold on just a moment. I’ll get one.”

  Good God! I got the lead, but I’m losing my mind. Get it together, Jacolby.

  After getting off the phone with Borden, Marie immediately called Chris again.

  “Well?”

  “How the hell did you do that?” Marie started. “He’s handling it himself. In fact, he’s already talked to them. They’re sending the contract and score to his office tomorrow.”

  “Wonderful. You have a contract? Then you got a good part. Did you get the one you went to that call-back for?”

  “Yes! I got a wonderful part,” Marie bragged.

  “It’s about time,” Chris answered. Marie could hear the smile in her friend’s voice.

  “Do you know what role they want me for?”

  “How the hell would I know that? I’m not a fortune-teller. I can’t read minds. I have no idea what you do,” Chris responded.

  “I’m playing a young Prince Charming! Can you believe that? Out of all the contraltos and mezzos who auditioned, they chose me! And this is a trouser role!”

  “Wow! That’s great, hon.” There was a voice in the background. “She’s going to be playing Prince Charming.”

  “Congratulations, Marie!” Marie recognized Car’s voice from the background.

  “Tell her I said thank you.”

  “When do you meet with Borden?”

  “I have an appointment tomorrow afternoon at three.”

  “Good for you,” Chris replied. “Can you quit the travel agency?”

  “I don’t know,” Marie said quietly. “Borden said I’d be pleased with the contract, but it’s a big risk. If the show doesn’t fly, I could be out of work in a few weeks.”

  “That’s always true, hon,” Chris replied. “I told him you were my best friend, so find you someone nice.” She continued, “I didn’t imagine he’d take it himself.”

  “Well, it seems he did. Now I have to call my mother and tell her all the money for Julliard wasn’t wasted. You must have worn off on me, Christine Anthony. Thank you for calling Borden.”

  “That’s okay. You’ll get my bill,” Chris said, tongue-in-cheek. “Give me a call tomorrow when you’re done with Borden. I want to hear it all.”

  “You will. Talk to you tomorrow.”

  As soon as Chris hung up, Marie called her mother.

  “Hi, Mom” Marie said when her mother picked up.

  “Oh, Marie. Is something wrong? You never call in the middle of the week.”

  “No, nothing’s wrong, Mom. Everything is right!”

  “What is it, darling?”

  “Well, first, I got a new apartment. The one I’ve been staying in while Chris was away on tour? Well, she’s moving out and will sublet the place to me.”

  “That’s wonderful, honey. I know it’s so much cheaper than other apartments in New York.”

  “Yes, it’s rent-controlled, so as long as Chris’s name remains on the lease, the price will stay down. I just have to pay her so she’ll send the check and it will all look like she’s still here.”

  “Is that legal?”

  “People do it all the time here. Once you get a rent-controlled place, you don’t let go, or the price will shoot up through the roof.”

  “I know you’ve always liked that place. I’m happy it will be yours now.”

  “Yup, it’s mine. And now the big news. Ta-da! I got the lead in a Broadway show.”

  “What? The lead? Broadway?”

  “Yes. I haven’t seen the whole script yet, but it’s a version of Cinderella called Ella’s Charming Prince.”

  “So you’ll be Cinderella?”

  “Nope!” Marie laughed. “I’ll be Prince Charming. I understand there are two Prince Charmings. In the first act, he’s young…that’s the part I’ll play, and in the second act, he’s older. I don’t know who’s playing that part.”

  “Goodness gracious, honey. That sounds exciting. Do you know who’s playing Cinderella?”

  “No. Maybe I’ll find out more tomorrow. I’m meeting with my agent. He said he’ll have the contract from the production company by noon. I don’t even know how much they’re paying me. I’ll find that out tomorrow, too.”

 
; “Oh, honey, I’m so happy for you. Will you be able to quit your job at the travel agency?”

  “I may have to. I’ll know more tomorrow. I guess it depends on what they’re paying me, but I sure would like to quit. “

  “I’m sure they’ll pay you at least as much as the travel agency.”

  “Well, whatever it is, Mom, the overage will go back to you and Dad to put in your retirement account. I know you took a lot from there to get me through school.”

  “Don’t even think about that. If you make more money, you have to spend it on yourself. I know it hasn’t been easy living in a city as expensive as New York, and I suspect you haven’t been eating the best foods. Take whatever is over what you had and treat yourself. Eat well for a while.”

  “Oh, Mom, I have been eating well. I get enough. It may not be steak or salmon every night, but I’m never hungry.”

  “Still, honey, treat yourself well. A steak every now and then will be good for you. It’ll keep you strong.”

  “All right, I will, and I’ll call you as soon as I get home from my agent’s office. You’ll be the first to know all the details.”

  “I can hardly wait, honey. Your father will be so excited. Talk to you tomorrow.”

  Marie couldn’t stop herself from jumping around the apartment. She’d never been this excited.

  Chapter 3

  When Marie showed up at the offices of Classical Presentations the next afternoon, she walked up to the receptionist. “I have an appointment with Mr. Collins.”

  “Ms. Jacolby?”

  When Marie affirmed that’s who she was, she was shown into Borden’s office immediately.

  “Welcome,” Borden greeted her, holding out his hand.

  “Thank you, Mr. Collins,” Marie replied, shaking his hand.

  “Please call me Borden,” he said with a big smile. They both sat down. “We have to get the formalities done first.” He didn’t waste time with meaningless small talk. He picked up some papers and put them on the desk in front of her. “This is your contract for me to represent you. It’s a standard contract everyone is given. Classical Productions gets twelve percent of all contracts over ten thousand dollars and ten percent of others under that.”

  “Damn!” she exclaimed. “If that percent pleases you, what is the entire contract?’ Where do I sign?”

  Borden smiled at her. “I’d be remiss in my responsibilities if I didn’t have you read the entire thing first.”

  Marie shook her head as she started to read the agreement. There was a paragraph stating CP would work hard to find her employment in her field and would negotiate fair remuneration. There was a form she would fill out stating what kinds of jobs she was looking for and what her background was.

  “You can fill out that form later,” Borden told her. “You already have a job waiting. That’s really for new folks we haven’t placed yet. We do like to keep your background updated, though. We keep this on the computer and log every new job we find you. You can use us to keep your resume revised. We’d also like to renew your headshots yearly.”

  There was also information about submitting a tape of samples of her work and addresses of photographers they recommended.

  “Wow,” Marie uttered as she flipped the pages. “I didn’t realize having an agent included so much.”

  “With some, it doesn’t, but we like to have everything on hand and up to date so we can immediately turn it over to producers when roles come up. Do you have your resume with you?”

  “Yes, I usually carry a copy with me just in case,” she said.

  “Good,” Borden replied. “I’ll have someone put it on our computer.”

  Marie opened her backpack, searched for her resume, and placed it and her headshot on his desk. She then continued to read the contract.

  “All right,” she finally said as she placed the agreement back on the table, “it’s more than fair.”

  She picked up a pen Borden had on his desk and signed the Classical Presentations contract. Borden spun it around and signed below her.

  “We usually provide a bio to be used in programs, so we need to get some background information on you. I usually don’t do that myself, but if you have time today, I’ll have you sit down with one of our writers as soon as we finish. It should only take a half hour or so.”

  “That sounds all right with me.”

  Borden nodded. “On to your Windsor Opera Company contract. I think you’re going to enjoy this role, and the price may startle you.”

  “Then go ahead,” Marie replied, “startle me.”

  He handed her the contract.

  Marie read through the first two pages, which described her responsibilities and what the opera company would do. Besides rehearsals and performances, she’d have to be available for press conferences, photo shoots, and interviews, but the company would brief her about everything she should or shouldn’t say. When she flipped to the third page where it said how much she was going to be paid, her eyes widened.

  “You’ve got to be kidding me,” she said.

  “Isn’t it enough?” Borden asked. “I know it’s not in the range a prima diva would get, but this is your first major role. They offered a little less originally, but I persuaded them to increase it by five hundred a month.”

  “Increased by five hundred a month? No…no, no.” She gasped. “it’s fine…it’s great even. I’ve never seen that much pay written out before.”

  Borden laughed. “I think you’re on your way. If this production is a success, you should be making much more than that. In fact, you’ll notice this is for three months. It only covers the initial rehearsals, the previews, and the first month or so of the run. By then, they’ll know how successful it will be. They’ll renew it if the show goes on, and they usually raise the contract by twenty to twenty-five percent, depending on how well the sales are going.” He laid a schedule of rehearsals and interviews on the table. “Are you sure you want to sign this contract?”

  “Yes.” Marie was aghast. “Let me sign it before I wake up.” She immediately signed her name on the last page and initialed all the other pages. She tapped them on the desk to straighten them, and Borden buzzed his secretary, who came in and took both contracts to be photocopied.

  “May I ask who your other clients are?” she inquired.

  “Certainly. Michael Benedetti will be playing the king, Ashley Sheppard is Lady Evangeline, and Joy O’Connell will be Ella’s mother.”

  Marie nodded. “Do you know any other parts?” she asked. “Do you know who’s playing Ella? I thought Ashley would get that part.”

  “No, I haven’t been told. The first rehearsal is next Monday, though, so you won’t have to wait long to find out.”

  * * * *

  Marie hurried home with copies of her contracts in her purse. She was still lightheaded from all the good news. She’d sat with a very nice young man from Classical Presentations. He asked her about her background, where she was from, what she’d done in college, and several other questions. He said, with her resume, he had enough to write a very nice bio for her.

  When she’d gotten a pot of coffee started, she reached for the land-line phone. Her mother answered on the third ring.

  “Mom! I just came from my agent’s office. All the contracts are signed, and I’m on my way.”

  “Congratulations, honey.”

  “I got the lead in a Broadway Opera. I was so excited. I could barely sleep last night.”

  “Oh, my gosh. That’s wonderful, darling. Did you get the money you wanted?”

  “I got more than I wanted. You’re not going to believe this. You know how much I’ve been making every year at the agency? Well, I’ll be making almost that in three months. And the contract is only for the three months until the show opens.”

  “Good heavens, sweetheart. That’s a lot of money!”

  “Yes, it is. And…if the show opens to a success, after the first month, Borden said they’ll renew the contract with a ra
ise.”

  “Oh, Marie.”

  “If this keeps up, I may be able to pay back all of the money you and Dad shelled out for Julliard.”

  “We never expected you to pay us back, darling.”

  “I know. But now I possibly can. This will give you something to put away for your retirement, and you might even be able to come to New York to see me!”

  “Oh, Marie, I’d love to see you, but you know how your father hates airplanes.”

  Marie could picture her mother shaking her head. “We’ll think of something.”

  “I’m very happy for you. First that apartment, and now a job on Broadway. You’re becoming quite successful. Wait until I tell Valerie. She’s always bragging about her daughter, and all Chelsey ever did was have two children.”

  “That’s a big thing, too, Mom.’

  “I guess, but you don’t make any money doing that.”

  Marie laughed. “Harry makes enough. He’s a doctor now, isn’t he?”

  Her mother sighed. “Yes. Valerie reminds me of that regularly.”

  “Then tell her I’m a Broadway star. That will stop her.”

  “Yes, I’m sure it will.”

  “I’ll send you all the newspaper clippings if they’re good so you can make her read them.”

  Marie grinned. It had been an ongoing debate between her mom and Mom’s friend Valerie ever since she was little. They always competed about whose daughter was more successful. Even when Marie graduated higher in the high school class, Valerie had to remind her Chelsey was the captain of the cheerleading squad.

  “I’ve always thought you were more successful, Marie. Anyone can make a baby. Not everyone stars on Broadway.”

  “That’s true, Mom. Now I have to call a few other people and brag,” Marie told her, “and I have to quit my job. I hope he’ll save it for me so I have something to fall back on if the show is a flop.”

  “I’m positive it will be a success.”

  “We’ll see.”

  “Congratulations, sweetheart. I know your father will be excited, too. He was so enthused when I told him last night. We were always proud of you.”