Behind The Scenes -3
Chapter Two:
In which the characters have a few more rehearsals, and receive costumes!
The next few weeks were spent at rehearsals. Ryan got her car out of the shop, so she was driving, not her mom.
"All right, now, we’ve only got two more weeks to put this together, and guess what." Fatrisha was on stage, sitting Indian style with a notebook in her lap. The cast members were in the first four rows. Ryan, Josh, Jeffory, and Eric were in the front row.
"What?" A few cast members said.
"We got costumes!" Fatrisha said cheerfully.
"All right!"
"YEAH!"
"We did!?"
"Cool!"
"Yes!"
"Groovy!"
All the cast members had something to say about this. Josh smiled, and looked over at Ryan.
"I can’t wait to see ‘em."
Ryan nodded.
"Yes!" Ryan grinned, and looked over at Josh. "I like seeing my costume first, and not after a few other people. It’s just a pet peeve of mine."
Josh smiled.
"Girls that way, boys, come with me." Joseph said. Ryan waved to Josh, and skipped along after Robyn.
"Ok," Robyn said once the girls were all in the dressing room. "The first costume here is…. Rumpleteazer.." She held up a costume, and Elle walked over. "All right, your station is station number four, go ahead and try this on." Elle nodded, and took the costume, walking over, and looking at the numbers on the stations until she found hers. "All right, Bombalurina?" Ryan waved, feeling hyper and oh so energetic. She walked forward. "Station number ten." Robyn said, handing her the costume and picking up the next one.
Ryan smiled, and found her station, she looked at herself in the mirror, and changed quickly into her costume.
She smiled, as she tried to zip it up. It looked like all the other Bomby costumes she’d seen.
It was a reddish brown color, and had white down the middle, outlining… certain parts. The shoulders had a yarny string attached, and they were quite dusty. The gloves were attached to the arms of the costume, and were silky and soft. She wiggled her fingers, and turned her head.
"Hey, Robyn," She said, smiling.
"Yeah.." Robyn said, turning to face her.
"Zipper troubles."
Robyn walked over.
"Yeah, these are hard to do. Ok, everyone, stop, look and listen." Ryan smiled. "Zippers, big problem. Almost impossible to do them all the way yourself, and if they aren’t done all the way, they fall. It would be easiest if you all had someone to be on ‘zipper duty’ for you. Station number one, and station number two are partners. Station three and station four, so on, and so forth. Since your partner isn’t here, I’ll help you this time." Robyn said to Ryan as she fixed the zipper. "Does it fit okay?"
"Yeah…" Ryan said, a little unsure.
"It will be tight for the first few minutes, but if you think its too tight, let me know. You ready for the tail? The only thing we didn’t get yet is the wigs." Robyn walked over and searched through a box of boas, picking one out that matched Ryan’s costume.
"Do you know when we’ll get the wigs?" Ryan asked as Robyn fitted the tail.
"I imagine within the next few days.."
"Robyn, how does this click?" Elle asked from across the room.
"Be right there…" Robyn said as she finished tying Ryan’s tail and walking over.
"When your done with your costumes, go ahead back out to the stage, after I’ve seen you, and ask Fatrisha what she thinks."
Ryan, along with Susan, left and headed towards the stage.
Josh was already in the audience, in costume, along with Eric, looking big, and… well, like Old Dueteronomy. Ryan smiled, and waved.
Josh looked over a grinned back.
"How do they fit?" She asked cheerfully.
"Good, it took a little time to get used to the tightness though…" Susan said, Ryan nodded.
"All right! Go sit back in the audience, as soon as Joseph and Robyn ask for more cast members, will go over some dances." Fatrisha said, and went to work with some of the music pieces.
"Hey, nice costume Bomby." Josh said as he adjusted his arm warmers.
"Hey, no fair. You got the arm and leg warmers already." Ryan frowned, and sat down next to him.
"At least you’ve got the tail." Josh said, standing up, and turning in a slow circle.
"Too bad this couldn’t be ‘CATS 2’, huh Eps? I could be Hyper, and you could be…. Eps!" Ryan smiled, even though she was seventeen, she still liked being immature, to a certain point. When it got annoying, or just plan stupid, she stopped.
"All right, Demeter, Bombalurina, lets start with ‘Macavity’." Fatrisha said, sitting down by the piano.
"See you later Bomby." Josh grinned, as Ryan got up with Holly.
"All right, we’ve worked with this song a few times, lets see how much you two remember. From the top." Fatrisha said, and started the song right as the others were exiting the stage.
"Macavity’s a mystery cat. He’s called the, hidden paw." Holly started out really nice, she forgot one little hand guester on ‘defy the law’ but she did everything else correctly. "For he’s the master criminal, who can defy the law."
Ryan, who was laying on the ground by the old ford, stood up, and climbed onto the car with the effortless, and suave ease Bombalurina would have.
"He’s the bafflement of Scotland Yard, the flying squads dispair. For when they reach the scene of crime, Macavity’s not there…" Holly looked out at the audience with that fear that Demeter always has. She pointed her right foot, and sort of steered herself in a circle with that foot, while crossing her arms over her chest.
"Macavity, Macavity, there’s noone like Macavity." She looked out at the audience. "He’s broken, every human law, he breaks the law of gravity." On the word Gravity, Holly did a little switch step towards the ford. "His powers of levitation, would make a fakir stare," She made a motion like she was falling to the left, her right leg stretched all the way towards the right, and her left leg bent, holding her up. Her right hand over her eyes, her left hand helping with support. "and when they reach the scene of crime, Macavity’s not there.." She leaned back, and slowly leaned into a standing positiontion during the next verse. "you may seek him in the basement, you may look up in the aaaaaaaaaaiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiirrrrrrrrrrr." She did a tight circle, and fell to the stage, her left leg bent upwards, her right leg laid out on the ground behind her. Her face in her hands, on the next beat, she looked up at the audience. "But I’ll tell you once, and once again, Macavity’s not there!" She sat up.
"Macavity’s a ginger cat," Ryan started off, sliding off the car with the same ease. "he’s very tall and thin." She ran her hands down her side, leaning to the right. "You would know him, if you saw him, for his eyes are sunken in…" She ran her right hand over her eyes, and did a little jump step to the right. "His brow is deeply lined with thought," She looked upwards, "His head is highly doomed. His coat is dusty, from neglected." She made a circle, showing of her own costume. "his whiskers, are uncombed. He sways his head from side to side with movements like a snake." By this time, Ryan was over at the other side of the stage, leaning left, then right. "And when you think he’s half asleep, he’s always, WIDE AWAKE!" She said, swinging her hips. "Macavity, Macavity, there’s no one like Macavity," She said, running her hands down her chest. "For he’s a fiend in feline shape…" She glared over at Holly, who was slowly coming to a standing position. "A monster, of depravity. You may meet him in a by street,
She started to slip into a split. "You may seek him in the square. But when a crimes discovered then, Macavity’s not there!" She curled upwards from her split.
"He’s outwardly respectable." Holly said, standing up and stretching both arms all the way out.
"I know, he cheats, at cards.." Ryan said, walking behind her, and giving her a look of jealousy.
"And his footprints are not found," Holly started off, lifting her right leg.
"In annnnny files, of Scotland Yards…" Ryan finished, lifting her left leg.
"And when the lot is looted." Ryan said, sliding towards the audience.
"Or the jewel case is riffled." Holly said, moving towards Cassandra -who wasn’t there, because she was trying on her costume.-
"Or when the milk is missing." Ryan said, reaching her paw out towards Tantomile, who made a hissing motion.
"Or another pekes been stiffled!" Holly shouted, walking backwards towards Ryan.
"Or the green house glass is broken!" Ryan said, putting her back up against Holly’s. Holly turned her head at the same time Ryan did, looking at each other, then stepping forward with the right foot, putting the left hand out.
"Or the trellis past repair."
Then, both at the same time, moving their left hands together.
"Here’s the wonder of the thing, Macavity’s not there!"
"AHHHHH! AHHHHHHHHHH! AHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAHHHHH!" The two girls were cut short as three, screams came from backstage.
"AHHHHHHHHHH!" Everyone rushed back to see what was wrong.
Ryan gasped, and backed up, backed up into Josh, he put a hand on her shoulder.
There, infant of everyone, was Robyn, on the ground, underneath the giant boot that falls from the catwalk during the cats pyramid, and Kelsey standing over her screaming.
Ryan shook her head, and Josh frowned.
Fatrisha gasped, and the rest of the cast just stood, looking, speechless.
"I…I-I-I-I-I was coming out.. of-f-f—f-f-f-f the dddddressing roooom, and, and, and…. I-I saw the boot, I-I tried to move her…." Kelsey stuttered.
"It’s all right Kelsey…. Wh..what could you have done. It was just an accident, a malfunction in one of the wires..Eric! Go call 911." Fatrisha said, walking towards Kelsey to comfort her.
"Ok, as for the rest of you… go… go take off your costumes, and go home. We’ll call if there won’t be rehearsal tomorrow." Fatrisha said.
Everyone moved off towards the dressing rooms.
"Wow… that’s… that’s just scary." Holly said as the girls took off their costumes.
"I wonder… do you think it was and accident?" Randi said, removing her tail.
"What do you mean by that!?" Elle said, simply terrified.
"I mean, do you think someone could have done it on purpose?" Randi said.
Joesy and Tiffany gasped.
"Your joking right…" Jessica said.
"Well, onto another subject. At least Fatrisha is handling it nicely." Susan said, finishing with her zipper.
"Yeah," Ryan said, hanging up her costume and heading for the door. "I guess I’ll see you all tomorrow. Bye."
"Bye Rye." Tiffany said, turning around so Joesy could undo her zipper.
"Ryan!" Ryan turned around as Josh ran towards her.
"Joseph went up to the catwalk, and…. You promise not to tell?" He lowered his voice to a whisper. Ryan looked around, then nodded.
"Sure. I’m good at keeping secrets." She said, walking down the stairs, and picking up her things, handing Josh his.
"He said that the wires were cut. Not like, the boot was to heavy, cut, but like, with a pair of wire cutters cut." Ryan nearly dropped her stuff, Josh frowned.
"You, you mean someone, wanted that boot to fall…"
Josh nodded.
"This reminds me of a Fan-Fic story I read…." Ryan said, and smiled a little.
"Me too. But he told me just to watch out for anything… particular."
"Bet your feelin’ like Munkustrap now huh?" Ryan smiled, and walked towards the door.
Josh turned his head as they heard ambulance sirens.
"Yeah. I’m going to stay and help all that I can, I’ll see you tomorrow."
"Yeah… Ok…. I hope she’s all right." Ryan said.
"Me too." Josh frowned, and walked towards the stage. Ryan watched him for a few more minutes, sighed, and walked to her car.
GASP! Is, is she dead???