Bit Players, Has-Been Actors and Other Posers: A Must-Read for Fans of Glee, High School Musical and Twilight (27 page)

A
CT II OPENS WITH THE CRITICAL Scene 15. Bella confronts Edward in the woods, as in the movie, and he admits he’s a vampire. Ultimately, they declare their love. The scene as I re-wrote it has many of the classic
Twilight
lines like “you’re my own personal brand of heroin” and the lion and the lamb analogy – lines that make “Twihards” swoon and satirists rub their hands with glee.

Nigel and I nail it. The audience hangs on our every word.

After that, the mood lightens for the hokey “Anything You Can Do” and “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” numbers – a brief reprieve before the heaviest scenes of all. James and Victoria arrive on the scene and it’s off to Arizona for Bella, Alice and Jasper.

My powerhouse performance comes in Scene 18. Bella sneaks out of the hotel and leaves for the ballet studio. The song “Twilight” is critical to conveying Bella’s state of mind as she believes she is walking toward certain death. It also sets the mysterious mood leading up to the vampire fight. The song is tricky to sing. I’d decided earlier that the key to doing it well was to not over-plan it. I let the lines flow uninhibited from my mouth, not worrying when the timing is off a little – which fits with Bella’s anxious mood anyway.

I lose myself in the words and music, and freeze in the dark when the song ends and the lights fade to black. My moment of absolute fulfillment lasts five seconds. I dash offstage to prepare for my next entrance: the ballet studio.

The climax is our most physical scene, with Lindsay pushing me to the floor, pretending to break my leg by stomping on it, and the Cullen vampires killing James. I can’t say ours is the most professional presentation, but we do our best with what we have. Even with Steven’s great choreography, we are basically untrained teenagers and the fighting is choppy and simplistic.

The music, on the other hand, works perfectly. Three Days Grace’s “Riot” morphs into the band’s song “Pain” when Edward faces the choice of drinking Bella’s blood or letting her change into a vampire. Although the words aren’t a perfect fit, we decided to keep them as written because the song overall captures Edward’s anguish.

Nigel sings the tortured words, first kneeling by me where I lay on the stage, then standing and stumbling around the stage in agony. He returns to my side and kneels again, mesmerizing as he sings:  “I know, I know that you're wounded / You know, you know that I'm here to save you / You know, you know I'm always here for you / I know, I know that you'll thank me later.  Pain, without love / Pain, can't get enough / Pain, I like it rough / 'Cause I'd rather feel pain than nothing at all.”

When he finishes, the audience explodes. Inside, since I can’t break character, I smile for him. Maybe we’ll see Nigel Leightly performing in London’s West End someday.

The scene ends with Carlisle warning Edward, “Her blood is clean. You’re killing her. Edward, stop!” The curtain closes, the audience wondering if Bella lives or dies.

28: Vampires in Love

SCENE 20:  FORKS HIGH SCHOOL, THE PROM – SIX WEEKS LATER, 8:00 PM

(THE ROOM IS DECORATED FOR THE PROM. “JUST THE WAY YOU ARE” BY BRUNO MARS PLAYS, SOME KIDS DANCE, SOME MILL AROUND. EDWARD AND BELLA ENTER, BELLA WITH A WALKING CAST ON ONE LEG.)

As I whine to Nigel about him making me go to prom, he patiently explains that he doesn’t want me to miss any rites of teen passasge. The music changes to “Beautiful” by Christina Aguilera and we start to dance, awkwardly, due to the leg cast and Bella’s general lack of coordination.

I plead with him to turn me into a vampire, so we can be together always. I try to stay earnest, not venturing into schmaltz, which would be very easy with this scene. Nigel conveys the right mix of anger and disbelief with my arguments.

Unsure if I’ve convinced him, I close my eyes as his fangs near my neck, ready for my life to end if it means being with him forever. Not having rehearsed this before, I offer him the wrong side of my neck. I’m mirroring the movie, but that side is away from the audience. Nigel deftly turns my head with his hand and continues his descent toward my neck.

His firm kiss makes me shudder.

Defeated, I agree that a long and happy life with him will be enough – our separate agendas at peace for now.

(MUSIC CHANGES TO “WHAT A FEELING”. LIGHTS COME UP ON THE ENTIRE STAGE. EDWARD AND BELLA CONTINUE SLOW DANCING TO THE FIRST TWO VERSES. WHEN THE SONG BREAKS INTO THE FAST PART, ALL CAST DANCE AND SING.)

#14 What A Feeling
  ---- All Cast

(“What A Feeling” from Flashdance, by Giorgio Moroder, Kevin Forsey and Irene Cara)

ALICE (Aimee)

FIRST WHEN THERE'S NOTHING
BUT A SLOW GROWING FEAR
THAT YOUR LIFE WON’T LIVE UP
TO THE DREAMS YOU HOLD.

JASPER (Ben)

ALL ALONE WE REMAINED
HELD TOGETHER BY PRIDE

COULDN’T LET HER INSIDE

OF OUR WORLD

EMMETT (Foster)

THEN WE HEARD THE MUSIC,
CLOSED OUR EYES, FELT THE RHYTHM,
WRAPPED AROUND, TOOK A HOLD
OF OUR HEARTS.

ALL CAST

WHAT A FEELING.
JUST BELIEVIN'.
WE CAN HAVE IT ALL, NOW WE’RE DANCING FOR OUR LIVES.
TAKE YOUR PASSION
AND MAKE IT HAPPEN.
YOUR DREAMS COME ALIVE, YOU CAN DANCE RIGHT THROUGH YOUR LIFE.

JESSICA (Kristina)

NOW I HEAR THE MUSIC,
CLOSE MY EYES, I AM RHYTHM.
IN A FLASH IT TAKES HOLD
OF MY HEART.

ALL CAST

WHAT A FEELING.
BEIN'S BELIEVIN'.
I CAN HAVE IT ALL, NOW I'M DANCING FOR MY LIFE.

WHAT A FEELING.

WHAT A FEELING (I AM MUSIC NOW)
JUST BELIEVIN'. (I AM RHYTHM NOW)
YOUR DREAMS COME ALIVE, YOU CAN DANCE RIGHT THROUGH YOUR LIFE.
WHAT A FEELING. (YOU CAN REALLY HAVE IT ALL)
WHAT A FEELING. (DREAMS COME ALIVE WHEN I CALL)
I CAN HAVE IT ALL (I CAN REALLY HAVE IT ALL)
HAVE IT ALL (DREAMS COME ALIVE WHEN I CALL)
CALL CALL CALL CALL.

The finale concludes with a full minute of rapturous song and dance, the cast pouring every bit of energy and emotion possible into the words and notes of the chorus. Kristina, Jocelyn and I trade the lead on the swirling ad lib vocal as the chorus repeats over and over. As we sing the final few lines, I realize we’ve done it. It all came together in one glorious….thing, bigger than any of us. We took all our differences in personality, beliefs, looks and desires, and melded them into a new entity – a story told with passion, credibility, and lots of great music.

We created.

“Yes!” pops out of my mouth as we freeze as one to the final chord.

(BLACKOUT. CURTAINS CLOSE. END OF PLAY)

29: Popularity Pact

W
E PERFORMED
Twilight: The Musical
two more times – Saturday night and a Sunday matinee. As usually happens with live shows, minor things went wrong at each performance, but that uncertainty is where half the excitement of theatre comes from. The little screw-ups are mementos of sorts, giving the cast something to remember each show by.

Saturday night, the cardboard cut-out of the front of Bella’s truck almost fell over in the parking lot scene, the one when Tyler’s van nearly hits Bella. Luckily Sam noticed and quickly stuck out a hand to prop it up from behind. The audience was focused on the action and probably didn’t even notice, but a bunch of the cast smothered laughs as we left the stage at the end of the scene.

Sunday, Nigel flubbed a line early on, to my amazement. Between scenes, when I asked him what was up, he said his parents were in the audience and he was nervous. I figured he meant about talking to them later, not about the show itself, but I didn’t pry. I just fake slapped his face lightly a few times and told him to focus. He was fine after that.

Then Emily and Aimee bumped into each other in the dance part of “That Smell” but that was the worst of it. All in all, an excellent run.

*

A
FTER THE CAST PARTY Sunday, Mom served up Caesar salad for dinner, even though I wasn’t hungry. I figured the meal was a ruse – she wanted some family time to tell me how proud she was of my performance as Bella, and for editing the script, and for solving the Mystery of the Missing Teacher.

“Sadie, I want to tell you something.” I smiled expectantly. “First of all, with Christmas vacation coming up, John and I promise to finish up your forty hours of supervised driving so you can take your driving test in January.” That wasn’t what I expected, but it was good.

“Also, I had a little health scare the past few months. But it’s over now, and everything’s fine.”

I blinked. Twice. “A health scare?” I repeated like a surprised parrot.

“I thought I had—it looked like I might have had breast cancer. But I was recently cleared by the oncologist, and I’m fine.”

I was speechless for a minute, dimly aware of the glances my parents traded in silent communication.

“How long has this been going on?” I asked. It sounded like an accusation, and maybe I meant it to. From the corner of my eye, I saw Dad give Mom an “I told you so” smirk and nod.

“A few months. But everything’s fine now.” She stopped short. My turn to drag information out of her in an ironic role reversal.

“Okay, I’m glad you’re fine. That’s good. But Mom, why didn’t you tell me? This has been going on for months?”

“Well, it’s a lot of process, and appointment after appointment, and I didn’t want to scare you needlessly. Nothing was certain until now, and I didn’t want you to worry about what might be nothing at all.” She seemed less convinced in her own argument the more she talked.

“Mom,” I said, my voice cracking. “How could you not tell me? We’re family. Or I thought we were.” I dropped my fork to the table with a clang – it had been poised between my plate and my mouth this whole time – and bolted from the dinner table.

“Don’t say it. I know, you were right,” Mom said to Dad as I stomped up the stairs.

Kato was licking away my tears of frustration, anger, and relief when my mother pulled a chair up next to my bed. She took my hand in hers.

“I’m sorry. I should have told you sooner.” Her blue eyes humbly asked forgiveness.

“Do you know what I thought, all this time?” She looked mystified at the concept that I might have noticed anything out of the ordinary in her behavior the past few months. “I thought you and Dad were getting a divorce.”