by Holly Bell
Maddie’s and Olivia’s mums were best friends. So Olivia and Maddie had always thought it made perfect sense for their daughters to be best friends, too.
Olivia’s mum pulled a photo album out of her bag.
‘Oh no!’ Olivia groaned. ‘Are you going to embarrass me with baby photos?’
‘No,’ said her mum, smiling. ‘This is an album of photos from before you were born.’
Olivia and Maddie raised their eyebrows at each other.
‘There,’ Olivia’s mum said, pointing to a photo. ‘That’s me with my crew at university twenty years ago. We worked backstage on a production of Chicago.’
Olivia looked closely at the photo. A very young woman – who Olivia almost didn’t recognise as her mum – was standing on a stage with a group of people. They all had their arms around each other and were beaming into the camera.
‘I was the lighting person on the show Chicago,’ Olivia’s mum said. ‘And it was one of the happiest times of my life.’
‘Really?’ asked Olivia. ‘Even though you weren’t on stage?’
‘You don’t have to be on stage to be part of a show and have a good time,’ her mum said. ‘In fact, most of the time the real fun happens backstage.’
Olivia and Maddie continued to flick through the photos while Olivia’s mum went to serve some customers.
‘Wow, these photos are so cool,’ Maddie said. ‘It looks like we’re going to have heaps of fun, Olivia.’
‘But I showed you that list Miss Hibbert gave me,’ Olivia said. ‘What if everyone is relying on me to make sure everything runs smoothly and I make a mistake? If I was performing, at least I’d know what to do. Why couldn’t Miss Hibbert have seen that and given me a role?’
‘You’ll be great,’ said Maddie. ‘You know how super organised you are.’
Olivia knew her best friend was trying to help, but the nagging feeling of worry in her belly wouldn’t go away. Being Backstage Manager was a huge responsibility. What if she couldn’t find the witch’s broom in the dark and Abbey had to go on without it? What if she told someone to go on stage at the wrong time?
Olivia had to admit that backstage work did look like fun in her mum’s photos, but she still wasn’t sure that Miss Hibbert had chosen the right girl for the job.
Friday night was sleepover night and this week it was Abbey’s turn to host. As Olivia packed to figure Chapter her overnight bag, she was still trying out why Miss Hibbert had made her Backstage Manager, but she was having no luck coming up with an answer. She decided to pack her special doll just in case she couldn’t stop worrying and had trouble going to sleep.
Olivia had an idea as her mum was backing out of their driveway.
‘Sure,’ said her mum with a smile. ‘Let me guess. Choc-mint?’
Olivia nodded. Surely her favourite icecream would help take her mind off her worries.
Her mum pulled up outside the small local supermarket and handed Olivia some money.
‘I’ll wait in the car,’ she said. ‘Say hi to Mandy for me.’
Mandy was the lady who owned the supermarket and she was always giving Olivia and her friends treats when they popped in. Olivia’s favourites were the chocolate love hearts on the front counter.
Olivia walked into the shop, said hello to Mandy and headed for the freezers at the back of the store. She was peering through the glass, trying to find the choc-mint icecream without the peanut crisps, when she heard a voice behind her.
‘Well, hello again!’
Olivia looked up to see Miss Hibbert standing in front of the yoghurts.
‘Isn’t that funny?’ said Miss Hibbert. ‘We seem to be destined to keep bumping into each other today.’
Destined? Olivia thought. Maybe we are! Maybe this is my chance to find out once and for all why Miss Hibbert made me Backstage Manager!
‘Miss Hibbert, can I ask you something?’ Olivia said.
‘Of course,’ Miss Hibbert said.
‘Why did you make me Backstage Manager instead of giving me a part in the show?’
Miss Hibbert smiled kindly, as if she had been waiting for this question all day.
‘I’m sorry, Olivia,’ she said. ‘I know how much you wanted to play Dorothy, but Lily was a better fit for the part, and I needed your skills elsewhere.’
‘My skills?’ Olivia was confused.
‘Yes,’ said Miss Hibbert. ‘Mrs Mitchell told me how fantastic you’ve been at organising the book club. I’ve also noticed how focused you are on attention to detail and problemsolving. Those qualities are very important for a Backstage Manager.’
‘Really?’ asked Olivia, feeling quite thrilled all of a sudden. ‘Mrs Mitchell said that?’
‘Yes, she did,’ said Miss Hibbert. ‘I know I could have given you a small role in the show, but I need you as Backstage Manager. With your performance experience and your super-organised skills, I couldn’t think of anyone else who would do it as well as you.’
Super organised! Olivia thought. That’s what Maddie called me!
‘My mum used to work backstage in her university shows,’ Olivia said proudly. ‘She said it’s heaps of fun.’
‘It’s the best!’ Miss Hibbert said. ‘Running around in the dark and keeping the show on track is a huge buzz. You wait and see.’
Olivia had to admit that the more she thought about it, the better it was starting to sound. But she had one more question for Miss Hibbert.
‘Miss Hibbert,’ she said softly, ‘did you think my audition for Dorothy was okay?’
‘It was more than okay, Olivia,’ Miss Hibbert said. ‘You just need to work a bit more on your acting before you’re ready for a lead role. Gymnastics routines and acting are very different types of performance. Didn’t it feel different the other day?’
Olivia thought hard. Miss Hibbert was right. In gymnastics she was always so focused on what her body was doing and how poised she was. But with the audition she’d had to concentrate on remembering lines, singing and pretending to be someone else. The audition had felt different from a gymnastics performance.
‘There’s always next year’s show,’ Miss Hibbert said. ‘We’ll be doing Alice in Wonderland and there are lots of great roles in that.’
‘Thanks, Miss Hibbert,’ said Olivia. ‘But maybe I should stick to gymnastics and backstage work.’
‘I hope you don’t give up on auditioning for shows, Olivia!’ Miss Hibbert said. ‘With a few classes under your belt I think you’d make a wonderful actor. I run acting classes on Saturday mornings. I’d love you to join. I know you’d be a fast learner.’
Olivia felt so happy she thought she might burst.
‘Thank you, Miss Hibbert,’ she said with a huge smile on her face. ‘And I’m really looking forward to working on the show. It’s going to be fun!’
‘Excellent!’ said Miss Hibbert. ‘But of course, the big question right now is … which ice-cream should we pick? I’ve got my eye on a big tub of choc-mint. It’s my favourite.’
And suddenly Olivia liked Miss Hibbert even more than she had before.
‘Will you still quit?’ asked Kate.
‘No way!’ Olivia said, scooping up a huge spoonful of choc-mint ice-cream. ‘The show needs me and I can’t let Miss Hibbert down.’
The girls were sprawled out on Abbey’s lounge-room floor eating ice-cream. Olivia had told them about her conversation with Miss Hibbert and she was feeling so much better. All of her fears and worries about working backstage had disappeared into thin air. Olivia was actually excited about being Backstage Manager now.
‘You’ll be awesome,’ said Kate. ‘If you liked organising the book club, you’ll love organising a whole backstage area. I’m so jealous!’
‘Those acting classes sound like fun, too,’ said Emma. ‘Are you going to do them every week?’
‘Maybe,’ said Olivia. ‘But only if it doesn’t interfere too much with gymnastics training. I’m always going to be more of a gymnast than an actor.’
; ‘Best gymnast in the world,’ shouted Abbey.
‘Yeah,’ said Matilda. ‘We’ll be cheering you on at the Olympics in a few years.’
Olivia grinned. They were right. Gymnastics was her first love and always would be. But Olivia had also learned that just because you’re good at one thing doesn’t mean you can’t be good at another. She would definitely audition for next year’s show. She could already see herself as a totally cool Cheshire Cat!
Olivia wanted to try lots of different things now, and to do the best job she could at all of them. The first new challenge on her list was backstage managing, and she was determined to be the best one Davey’s Bay had ever seen!
I’ll be like a Wizard of Oz myself, Olivia thought with a smile. Working behind the curtain and pulling all the strings.
‘What are you thinking about?’ asked Maddie.
‘I’m thinking about what an awesome time we’re going to have bumping into each other backstage in the dark!’ said Olivia. ‘And the rest of you had better learn your lines because one of my jobs is to make sure they’re all right!’
‘Oh no,’ groaned Abbey. ‘I didn’t think about all the lines I’d have to learn. What have I got myself into?’
The girls laughed as Abbey shook her head in mock dismay.
‘Hey, come on, guys,’ Matilda said, jumping up. ‘It’s time for the milk challenge. I’m going to try six straws!’
‘Noooo,’ groaned Kate. ‘Not the milk challenge! I just ate two bowls of ice-cream!’
Matilda began pulling Kate up off the floor and Olivia squealed with laughter along with the others.
Things don’t always turn out the way you expect, she thought, but it’s up to you to be the best you can be, no matter what the challenge.
And Olivia knew that she could be the best she could be, and face any challenge that came her way, as long as she had the Forever Clover girls by her side!
Olivia Plays Her Part
published in 2014
by Chirpy Bird, an imprint of Hardie Grant Egmont
Ground Floor, Building 1, 658 Church Street
Richmond, Victoria 3121, Australia
www.hardiegrantegmont.com.au
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eISBN: 9781743581957
Text and illustrations copyright © 2014 Forever Clover Pty Ltd
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Illustrations by Elizabeth Botté
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