That Fateful Day
It all started a year ago when my drama teacher, Lori announced that she’d acquired the rights to “The Swan Princess” and auditions were to start in two weeks time. My heart leaped. I had loved the movie “The Swan Princess” ever since I had first seen it 10 years ago, I was nearly 15 at that time. I’m 16 now. After class I ran up to Lori and asked that fateful question, “ Is it the same as the film?” She handed me a copy of the script and I looked at the opening page and the opening song. “Once upon a time, there was a king named William, who ruled a large and mighty kingdom….” and the first song started with the lines “ I can’t believe I’m stuck with her all summer, I’ll bet she doesn’t wrestle, hunt or box…”. I nearly hit the roof! I felt like we were doing a show that meant something, because a lot of people had heard of it, and a lot of people were happy to see a show that they knew. I walked happily out of the hall and walked to my grandmother’s, all the time thinking about the show. Drama took place on a Saturday afternoon and a Monday night. So on Monday night, we all assembled again and Lori had the music for us to listen. She asked if anyone had heard any of the music before and only two of us said yes, myself and my friend Ross, who went onto be my Derek. That took me by surprise a little, I thought more people would have seen the movie. But Lori asked Ross and I to come into the back room with her. She asked how well we knew the film, we both answered that we knew it well. Lori asked if we would sing for her. I nearly hit the roof again then. I knew all the songs but I was afraid of my singing talents. I’d never thought I was good, although all my friends, including Ross, had told me I was really good. Lori asked if we would sing the second part of “This is my idea”. The part that begins “ For as long as I remember, we’ve been told we’d someday wed, every June until September…” Ross and I both knew that song well and consented to sing. Lori disappeared into the front and returned with the portable CD player and the a copy of the CD. Ross and I both belted out the number and Lori said that we both had a really good chance of getting the parts and we should definitely audition. That night auditions were announced. They would take place two weeks on Saturday. That scared us a lot more than the prospect of a large, well-known show did. We had a limited amount of time to learn our audition song. Lori had read out the parts and most people had a definite idea as to what part they would go for. I was especially scared, I knew what part I wanted, but I seriously doubted that I’d get it. Between that and the fact that auditions really scared me. But I knew, in my heart, that I had to go for it.
The Auditions
Auditions took place on a cold and wet Saturday afternoon, at noon and were to finish at 4pm. The whole group was divided into three different classes. The first class to audition, referred to as “the wee class” consisted of around 20 kids aged between 6 and 10. The second class to audition referred to as “ the middle class” consisted of around 25 kids aged between 10 and 13 and the last class to audition, my class, referred to the “older class”, consisted of 15 kids aged between 13 and 19, although the oldest at the time was 16 year old Jamie. I was one of the last people to audition. I went into the room shaking like a leaf. I had to sing, and act. Acting’s not a problem but singing just was a really daunting prospect for me. But I felt I came off quite well. I’ll not waste your time telling you about who auditioned for what parts because I feel, it may bore you to death, and I can’t actually remember so I’ll just shorten it as to who got what, and what class they were in: (sorry that I don’t know surnames)
Young Odette: a little girl whom I didn’t know named Cherie, from the wee class
Young Derek: Shane from the wee class
King William: David from my class
Queen Uberta: Rebecca from my class
Rogers: Cory from my class
Speed: Sarah from my class
Puffin: Kieran from the middle class
Jean-Bob: Rachel from my class
Rothbart: Jamie from my class.
Bromley: Jake from the middle class.
The hag: Erin from the middle class
Chamberlain: Ross from the middle class
Derek: Ross from my class
Odette: Me
If I missed characters out I’m sorry, but I think that’s them all.
After parts had been cast rehearsals for songs, dance numbers, monologues, dialogues and those ever famous transformation sequences started. This was the beginning of the real fun.
Rehearsals Are Underway
Rehearsals are always great fun, unless you have a slave-driver for an instructor like we did. For all we had Lori, our regular teacher, she brought in a special director to stage the musical numbers, and she hated me and Ross, and we had to work with her on a number of occasions, not to mention the song that we both loved “For Longer Than Forever”. That was the longest three weeks of my life when we blocked that scene. We had both knew the words and were launched straight into blocking that scene. On a split stage, I sang on the left, and he sang on the right. We got the number, in my opinion, really quickly and Lori said it was great. But was Pamela satisfied, NOOOO! We had to keep going over it and over it, Ross and I were going crazy. But we loved it really. The rest of rehearsals Were great, especially the time I spent with Jamie on Odette and Rothbart’s scene’s together. I had never thought of Jamie as a singer but he had a really good baritone voice, and belted out “No More Mr Nice Guy”. He was brilliant. But some scenes were really hard, and one scene in particular made me want to quit the part, Odette’s death after Derek makes the vow to the hag in disguise. I couldn’t get the emotion right, yet Ross was crying and everything. I guess, it shows how good an actor he is. But after around 10 runs of it, I finally got it right and Ross has never hugged me as tight as he did then. I’ll never forget that. I love to rehearse, I don’t know why. I just think you bond greatly with whoever you’re working with and I bonded with a lot of people. But some of the happiest rehearsals were scenes with Speed, Puffin and Jean-Bob. Sarah, Kieran, Rachel and I had such a good laugh, we worked together really well. I won’t bore you with rehearsal schedule, I’ll jump straight to my favourite things before the actual show itself. The costume parade and the dressed rehearsal.
Costume Parade
All throughout rehearsals we had all been, in turn, fitted for costumes. I hate fittings because it means standing still for ages and having a measuring tape round your head, and the worst thing is, at the time, we had a new costumer in to do the show and she was forever sticking you with pins. She didn’t even know she was doing it. I can’t even remember her name, she left promptly after costumes had been finished. But the costume parade is brilliant. That’s when we all come together and show off our costumes to our directors, choreographers and fellow cast members. And the cast had made a pact that we wouldn’t tell about our costumes until the parade. I had been fitted for three different outfits. The green and white dress that Odette wears throughout most of the film, the wedding dress and the black dress for the impersonation sequence at the ball. I had to walk out of the back room of the hall which doubled as the girl’s dressing room while fittings took place in the green and white dress . As I came out I saw Ross coming out the boy’s dressing room in his costume and we made the round of the hall together, as did most of the others. Rothbart toured with the hag, Uberta with William, Bromley with Chamberlain, Rogers with Jean-Bob, young Odette with young Derek and Speed with Puffin. I have never laughed as much as I did when I saw Kieran who portrayed Puffin strutting around, prouder than a peacock, and talking in what he referred to as “the puffin voice”. Needless to say, I thought we all looked fan-dabi-dozi! The next night was the theatre run, which I won’t bother talking about because we don’t actually do much. It’s just a read through on the stage at the theatre. Then the next night was the tech-run (short for technical run-through), and that’s when we got up and act it on stage to test out the lights, microphones and sound, the music and things to that effect, that’s also when we sort costumes to make sure that everything is where it should be for the show. I remember talking to Ross in the wings of the stage before we went on to take our bows on the night of the tech-run, and he said to me, these words, if I live to be 100, I’ll never forget these words, “It’s all starting to set in now, tomorrow night, we’re going on tomorrow night, we’re going to be Odette and Derek in “The Swan Princess”. You’ll be brilliant.” at that moment I stopped him and said “You’ll be great too. Your heart’s in your part and you’ll be a great Prince Derek” and then before we went on to take our bows he asked me if I would go out with him. My heart leaped. I’d always just thought of Ross as my friend but working so closely with him those past few weeks made me realise that I did like him, in that way, unable to muster a proper answer, I told him that I’d think about it. I, truly, didn’t know what to say. I was so flattered. Our cue came and we took our bow together. The next night was the dressed rehearsal. And after that, was the show. Oh, my lord, the show!
The Dressed Rehearsal
The dressed rehearsal took place on a cold and wet evening and that night was when the lights blew in the theatre and left us in darkness for around an hour with only candles for light. And as Jamie (Rothbart) stated, it was like the theatre would have been many years ago, and if I remember correctly, he used as an example the Opera Populaire in “The Phantom Of The Opera” and the way the stage was lit by candles. He’d seen it on Broadway and we all basically thought that his idea was really good. Eventually the lights came back and to this day, we all thank God that the heating never went because we’d all have frozen, if it did. The rehearsal went on after the lights returned. And it went quickly and went well because we were all really organized. Happy that we’d done well we adjourned early, Ross, Jamie, Rebecca, Sarah, Rachel and I went round the corner to the local chippy, got a bag of salty chips each and headed to the bus stop where we all got the bus home and then walked our separate ways, and arranging to meet the next day at 5:30pm to get the bus to the theatre together, stopping at the chippy to have our traditional bottle of irn-bru, before we walked to the theatre. We had to be at the theatre an hour and a half before the show started. The show was due to start at 7pm with the doors opening at 6:30pm. And although I should have been at the theatre for 5:30pm I had to go for 4:30pm because I had so much make-up and hair to be seen too. Ross was the same. I was lucky enough to be blonde as it was and just have to deal with a long hair piece that attached to the back of my head. Bur poor Ross, having very short black hair, had to deal with a shoulder-length brown wig, which he hated. But as any good and decent actor would, he didn’t complain and got on with it. I was so proud of him then. And that was the moment I knew my answer. And due to the hair and make-up, both of us missed out on our regular tradition and our lucky swig with the gang.
Before I talk about the show, I feel I should tell you about the technical side of things and how we planned to do the transformation and swan sequences. Sit back and put your ears into overdrive, this is complicated.
The Technical Side
Although we worked in not a very big theatre, with the money we’d raised from the last show we’d done, all that money went into funds for this, with an extra £300 stashed away by Lori (our instructor) for things like extra lights, costumes, etc, nearly all that money went to the technical side of the show. The transformation sequences and the animals. The transformations were done using an OHP or an Overhead Projector. A massive projector situated on a stand at the back of the theatre would put out the transformation scenes from the movie, onto the huge white screen that would drop from the ceiling on the stage. (A new feature added about a month before the show was due to appear). It would be done onto a black stage and then the back-up curtains would shut over the screen, the light would go up on the front of the stage revealing me and whatever I was to do with whoever was on the stage. To change from a human to a swan saw the screen come down again and the scene being played from the projector. Giving me time to get off the stage and my counterpart to come on. My counterpart was a puppet. Lori had also spent money on puppets from a local company with people in black clothing who would work them for us, with the use of voice-overs from the cast members or BSS or back-stage speaking, meaning that whoever was the character would have to stand and speak , e.g. Kieran portrayed the voice of Puffin an very little of his vocal had been pre-recorded, so he would have to stand back-stage with a microphone connected to the speakers and talk for his character, he pulled it off superbly and did so well. I was the only one that had had the privilege of having all my counterpart’s vocal recorded, due to the fact I had so much else to do. That’s all the technical side of things that are worth mentioning so as they say in the business- “On With The Show!”
Opening Night
I love opening night, because I feel confident in myself, my stage companions and my directors. And I also love the finale night because Lori always makes a speech and I always cry (don’t ask me why). But this finale night would be different because that would be the night I gave Ross my answer. Opening night was wonderful, and when I saw everyone standing in the wings of the stage in full costume, wigs and make-up, I felt so proud of them. They’d all worked so hard, and I loved them all so much. They were great friends to have, so supportive and kind. They’d been there for me, throughout all of this, and they said that I’d been there for them too. When the curtain went up on the opening act I was so nervous it was unbelievable. I felt like my heart was in my mouth and I wondered how I was ever going to sing. I was terrified, but after a few comforting and calming words from Ross, I felt a lot better. And as he went round the back of the stage, to the other side where he was to enter, I felt so happy. He’s be wonderful and I knew what I felt for him, and that was the moment I decided when to tell him my answer. (I’ll give you three guesses what my answer was!) My cue came and I strode onto the stage, holding my gown up and hoping to God that I didn’t fall flat. (I’m quite clumsy). I didn’t thankfully, and the show ran through exceptionally smoothly. No problems with lights, sound, microphones, curtains or anything else. When the show ended we all took our bow and headed off to the dressing rooms to change out of our costumes and leave the theatre for the night. I changed quickly, knowing that my mum was waiting outside the stage door for me. I picked up my bag and walked out of my dressing room, closing the door behind me. On my way down to the stage door, I met Ross, still in his wig, but in normal clothes. We shared a hug and I went on my way, beaming, he had no idea that I was going to say yes!
Everything went smoothly for the rest of the run of the show. It ran for a week at the theatre and Nothing went wrong except for Jamie’s microphone cutting out on the second night while he was Performing “No More Mr Nice Guy” but his voice held him in position, he projected his voice until The microphone could be repaired. I’ll move onto the finale night because that’s the last thing I want To talk about before I end my tale. Here we go then.
Finale Night
Finale night went smoothly too, but more happened. I gave Ross my answer, Lori made her speech Ross and I got out first standing ovations and we were asked for an encore too, which was an amazing Thing. I was in complete disbelief of that though. I gave Ross my answer just before we were due to Go on and do the scene where Odette transforms from a swan into a human when Derek’s trying to shoot her down. He was so happy and so was I. For the run of the show, we had been doing stage kisses in certain scenes, rather that proper kisses. But tonight it was different, we had a proper kiss on stage that caused Lori to freak out and both Ross and I to be ecstatically happy. My mum knew my answer so she didn’t mind. I don’t think. The rest of the show passed quickly and when the time came for us to go and take a bow, we were all in tears. Lori made her speech, stating that she was so proud of us all. Making us all cry even more. Ross and I were asked for an encore of “For Longer Than Forever” and Lori said we would do it. How could we have refused. The encore went well and we ended with the whole cast singing “No Fear”. I don’t know why though. Ross and I walked off stage hand in hand. I’ve never been so happy!
So with that I end my tale. Ross and I have been together since then and we are still as happy as ever. I hope you enjoyed my story and I leave you with these words, those same calming words Ross said to me on opening night. “Never fear, you have great talents. Always follow your heart and you’ll succeed” I hope those words make an impact on you, just as they did me. Many thanks for listening.