Christmas All Around Us ; The Perfect Time for Love ; Playing for Keeps

by Carla Kincaid

  Kim was right about one thing, the theatre wasn't a big Broadway house but it was a unique space none-the-less. From the looks of the outside architecture, the building had once been a fire station. The large truck-sized bay door was still painted red but now it had a smaller people-sized door positioned in the middle of it. Megan walked inside and the usher at the door scanned the ticket on her phone and handed her a program. Megan found a seat in the back row of the small theatre. She certainly didn't want to risk sitting close enough for Stacey to spot her in the audience.

  Once seated, Megan flipped through her playbill until she found Stacey's picture. She scanned the bio below the photograph. Stacey Taylor (Carmen, Ensemble, Gale - Understudy). Previously seen in Hello Noon (Esquire Theatre), Dark Nights (West Gate Ensemble), Front And Center (Garrison Theatre). We're Here (Roberts Players). M.F.A. NYU Tisch School of the Arts. Megan didn't recognize any of the shows Stacey had been in but she had heard of Tisch and she knew Stacey had to be pretty talented to get into a program like that.

  When the show started, Megan focused intently on the stage waiting for Stacey's entrance. It took her forever to spot her because Stacey was now wearing a long brunette wig that covered her blond hair. As a member of the ensemble, Stacey didn't have a large part in the show and Megan felt a little disappointed since the show itself was kind of slow. Megan considered leaving during intermission but ultimately decided to stick it out until the end. And boy was she glad she did.

  About twenty minutes into Act Two Stacey -- playing a character named Carmen -- stepped out from among the ensemble. It was obvious by the structure of the music that she was about to sing a solo but Megan wasn't prepared for the sound that she heard coming from Stacey's mouth. Her voice was incredible and Megan was mesmerized. Why in the world wasn't she the lead Megan wondered? She certainly had a stronger voice than the woman playing the main character.

  When Stacey's solo ended Megan could hardly follow the rest of the story. She kept looking around the stage hoping Stacey's character would sing more. But she didn't and when the lights came up at the end of the show Megan felt like she'd been cheated.

  The memory of Stacey's solo was so powerful that Megan considered hanging out in the lobby until the cast came out to greet the audience. But what would she say? How would she explain being there? Rather than risk being thought of as a stalker, Megan decided to leave but as she walked to the train station she found herself humming the song Stacey sang in the show. She couldn't remember all the words but the chorus stuck with her.

  "You'll only know your heart if you try..."

  For the rest of the day, Megan couldn't shake the feeling she'd felt sitting in that audience. Even from her seat in the back row, it felt like Stacey was singing right to her -- and there was something about that feeling she really liked. She knew it was ridiculous to fantasize about a total stranger but Megan couldn't help herself. It was magical seeing Stacey on stage with all the lights focused on her and Megan got swept away in the moment along with the rest of the audience.

  When she got back home, Megan found her mind wandering through her ceiling and into the apartment above. After what she'd experienced, she was going to feel a lot better about allowing her neighbor some extra sleep on Monday mornings. It was the least she could do to support a talent like the one she'd just witnessed.

  Chapter 5

  "Ladies and Gentlemen, this is your half-hour call. Half- hour 'til places," the stage manager's voice squawked over the intercom.

  "Thank you half," Stacey replied to the voice she knew couldn't hear her. Janice was making the announcement from the booth two floors below but Stacey's theatre training wouldn't let her go without responding to the call.

  Just then her dressing room door burst open.

  "Made it!" Lori, Stacey's castmate, announced victoriously as she hurried into the room and dumped several large shopping bags onto the dressing room floor.

  Even though the actors had a two and a half-hour break between Saturday matinee and evening performances, Lori was constantly rushing to make it back to the theatre for her 7:30 call.

  "I found something that has your name written all over it!" Lori said as she tossed a bag in Stacey's direction.

  The Ladder was only about a mile from Chinatown -- the shopping district where a savvy shopper could find knock-off luxury handbags for less than $50 apiece.

  "You have a problem," Stacey teased as she pushed the tissue paper aside to view the contents of the bag.

  "It's a Balenciaga!" Lori announced enthusiastically.

  Stacey inspected the bag knowing she probably couldn't tell a real one from a fake. "Thanks, Lori, but where on earth am I going to carry this?" she asked lifting the large red bag into the air. "If I drop my cell phone in here I'll never find it again." Stacey moved her hand around in the depth of the bag like she was searching.

  Lori shrugged her shoulders and waved an unconcerned hand in the air. "That's what this is for!" she explained as she tossed Stacey another bag. One that was so small the only thing it could possibly hold was a phone.

  "Isn't Balenciaga spelled with a "g"," Stacey asked pointing to the letters on the outside of the tiny purse where the brand name was clearly spelled with a "j".

  "Dammit!" Lori swore. "I didn't even notice that. Oh well, no worries," she said matter-of-factly. "No one will ever see that part anyway." She dropped the small bag into the larger one with a flourish.

  Stacey's brow furrowed but the irony in buying one faux luxury bag that hid inside another seemed lost on Lori.

  "You ready for round two?" Lori asked as she turned to her mirror and began applying a thick layer of foundation.

  Lori was only 26 but her character was thirty years older and it took her a full twenty minutes to get her wrinkles right.

  "Ready or not," Stacey replied as she stretched her body and rose off of the comfy bean bag in the corner of the dressing room.

  She hadn't even bothered to go out to the lobby after the matinee. It wasn't like there was anyone out there waiting to see her anyway. Instead, she'd eaten the deli sandwich she bought on the way to the theatre that morning and then curled up on the bean bag for a nap.

  Stacey put her new gift away and slipped into her own make-up chair. She was glad she didn't have to do much more than put on a wig in this show. In fact, the make-up she wore in the earlier matinee only needed a little touch-up and she was ready to go.

  "So, what's the latest in the saga with your hot new neighbor," Lori asked with a giggle.

  Did I say she was hot Stacey wondered trying to remember her first comments about her new neighbor?

  "Nothing much to report," Stacey said without saying anything about the woman's attractiveness.

  She chose not to mention the images of the woman that had crept into more than a few of Stacey's dreams of late.

  "She obviously got the message about not playing so early on Mondays," Stacey said. "But I still have to deal with listening to classical music all day when I'm at home."

  Stacey wasn't really a fan of anything written by dead European composers. If the score didn't come from a Broadway musical she was usually pretty clueless. Although, on one particularly irritating afternoon the piece her neighbor was playing did sound vaguely familiar as Stacey was forced to listen to it over and over again. To rid herself of the earworm, Stacey finally had to download the Shazam app on her phone to figure out what the melody was. Turns out the piece had been used in a Simpsons episode she'd recently watched.

  "I may call the landlord if it becomes too much," Stacey grumbled.

  "Hmm," Lori said eyeing Stacey in the mirror.

  "What?" Stacey responded. She could tell Lori was gearing up to make some type of comment. Probably one she wasn't going to like.

  "Oh, nothing. I just think it's interesting that you're putting so much energy into the whole exchange, that's all." Lori smiled and winked at Stacey's reflection.

  "And you don't think my wanting to mainta
in a peaceful living environment is worth a little effort?" Stacey replied.

  "Oh, it's worth effort for sure but I don't think that's really why you're so uptight about the whole thing."

  Intuitively Stacey knew she didn't want to hear the rest of what Lori had to say but for the moment she was trapped. She still had to put on the corset she wore in Act One and she needed Lori to help her tighten the strings.

  "Okay, fine, Miss Know It All. Tell me what you really think."

  "I think you like her," Lori said with a giggle. "You should have seen yourself when you came in here the day after you met her. And you grumbled her name every time I crossed your path backstage for the rest of the week. Your little face was all scrunched up when you said it." Lori squeezed her face tight mockingly. "Come to think of it you looked kind of like a female version of Mr. Burns."

  Lori let out a big laugh that ironically made Stacey's face tighten. When she looked at her reflection in the mirror she too burst out laughing -- although she refused to see any resemblance between her and the emaciated Simpson's character.

  "Come on. Just admit it," Lori coaxed. "You kinda like her, don't you? Have you had any nice and naughty dreams about getting your keys played?"

  Lori wiggled her eyebrows and ran her fingertips up Stacey's arm as if she was playing piano scales. Stacey snatched her arm away rolling her eyes. To avoid picking up the conversation where it left off, Stacey popped her ritual throat coat lozenge into her mouth and smiled at Lori through clenched lips. She didn't want to admit it but the whole time she was fussing about the noise her neighbor was making, she was also checking out how attractive the woman was.

  "Ladies and Gentlemen, this is your ten-minute call. Ten minutes 'til places."

  "Thank you, ten," the women responded in unison.

  "Look, I'm not trying to get into your business or anything," Lori continued. "But it's been a while since I've heard you talk about anyone and there just seemed to be something extra in your tone when you talked about meeting your neighbor. Plus every time I've tried to set you up with someone you always make excuses. I was starting to wonder if you were really gay?"

  That last comment made Stacey laugh out loud. "Don't worry I'm still a card-carrying lesbian," Stacey joked. "I've just been focused on career stuff lately."

  "Okay. Just remember, all work and no play makes Stacey a dry dyke!" Lori said with a laugh. She pulled on her wig and finished transforming into someone who looked a little too much like Stacey's mother for this conversation to continue.

  ***

  "So, what's next?" Bill asked as he stood next to Stacey on the catwalk.

  Tomorrow was the last show and Stacey had to admit she was going to miss the older man's company. Conversations with him had helped her manage her frustrations and there was a certain sadness that she wasn't going to be able to do that anymore.

  "Back to cater-waitering I guess," Stacey said softly. "I still have a few weeks of unemployment left for the year but I don't want to use it unless I have to."

  "Good decision on your part, young lady," Bill replied. "Maybe you could check this out," he said handing her a sheet of paper.

  It was a computer print out of a listing from an online audition website. Stacey scanned the page. "Off-Broadway. Women 25-35. Sing. Dance. Equity."

  Stacey stopped there. "Bill you know I'm not in the union. They won't even see me."

  "They will if the casting director approves it."

  Bill was smiling broadly. "The casting director used to be a production assistant here when she first got into the business. We keep in touch and she always tells me to keep an eye out for new talent." Bill tilted his head toward Stacey. "That's you, young lady. I told her about you and she came to see today's matinee. She couldn't stay to talk to you after the show but she told me to give you this and have you call to schedule an audition."

  "Oh my goodness!" Stacey said a little too loudly. She glanced down praying her voice hadn't carried down to the stage below.

  Sure that she hadn't disturbed the show, Stacey flung her arms around Bill's torso.

  "Thank you, Bill," she whispered in his ear.

  She gave the old man a kiss on the cheek and hurried down the stairs headed to her dressing room. She still had twenty minutes before her Act Two song. Plenty of time to make the phone call she needed to make in order to take advantage of this once in a lifetime opportunity.

  To no one's surprise, when he show closed the next night the producers announced that they wouldn't be moving on to an Off-Broadway theatre. They mentioned the possibility of remounting another version of the workshop later but only time would tell.

  "I know this was a tight budget," Lori said as the cast and crew milled around in the green room. "But you'd think they'd spring for a better cast party than this."

  Stacey had to agree as she looked at the pitiful store-bought snacks spread across a small table in the center of the room. A few streamers hung from the ceiling and some confetti-filled balloons had been strewn around the floor but other than that, the space looked the same as it did every night when the cast members used it as a place to relax in-between scenes.

  "At least they bought some alcohol," Stacey said with a laugh. She tilted her red plastic cup in Lori's direction and they clinked glasses.

  Stacey downed the last of the cheap champaign -- noting the empty bottles on the make-shift bar in the corner. It didn't look like refills were an option.

  "This is just sad," Rita, one of the other cast members said with a sigh. "It's bad enough the show won't be moving on but this spread feels more like a wake than a party. We need to go someplace else and really celebrate. We worked hard on this show and I want to send it off with a bang!"

  A few others standing nearby heard Rita and murmured in agreement.

  "Stacey. You live alone don't you?" Ann, a cast member who'd been flirting with Stacey for the past several weeks asked. "Can we come over to your place and celebrate?"

  Stacey felt like she was stuck in the crosshairs with everyone's eyes on her.

  "Please," Ann said seductively. "You wouldn't want us to celebrate in the streets would you?"

  She winked at Stacey who didn't know if it was the cheap champaign or her giddiness over her soon-coming audition opportunity but before she knew it she'd said yes. More than half the cast piled into rideshare vehicles and headed to Stacey's apartment.

  In the back of the Prius, sitting between Ann and Lori, Stacey tried to ignore Ann's body pressed up against hers. Ann was definitely attractive but Stacey was trying really hard not to go back on the promise she'd made to herself to not get involved with anyone during a show. Although, technically the show was over now.

  "You know I've been trying to get to know you for the last two months but it seems like you always find a way to avoid me," Ann said sticking her lip out in a pout.

  With four people crammed into the back seat of the small car, Ann was practically sitting in Stacey's lap. The alcohol flowing through her veins had indeed lowered Stacey's resistance and she found herself gazing at Ann's protruding red lip hungrily. This is how it starts, Stacey thought to herself but somehow keeping Ann at bay seemed less important now than it had before. Besides, it wasn't like anything was going to happen with almost a dozen other people in the apartment with them.

  Chapter 6

  Sunday night -- after practicing for most of the day -- Megan got up from her piano, walked over to the calendar hanging in the kitchen and put an X through today's date. It was hard to believe she'd already been in New York for two weeks, she thought as she looked at the expanding row of Xs. She hadn't taken the time to explore anything in the city yet but she promised herself she'd do that after she found out if she'd been accepted into the Sero Institute next month. Until then, she had to focus on being prepared. She couldn't risk missing a golden opportunity like she'd done before. No more letting anyone distract her from her dreams!