“Next!” Mr. Smith called blankly at the child on stage that was performing a monologue.
The confused child paused and gave us a puzzled look. “But…”
“Next!” Mr. Smith called again firmly. “Please get off the stage!”
The girl glanced at me before slowly walking off the stage.
When she was gone, I sighed.
“I promise you it will get better from here.” Mr. Smith told me.
“And these are the drama class top picks?” I said slowly, giving him a look and putting a hand to my head.
“Mr. Smith hesitated before saying. “Um mostly, yes…”
I shook my head and sighed again. “Look, Sir, but I’m just not seeing what I need to go forward with this project.”
“Miss Katie.” Mr. Smith put a hand on my shoulder.
“Please…”
“I’m sorry, but as my job is to find the perfect role for this movie and I’m not seeing the traits and personalities I need to find. I need to find a talented, spirited young individual.”
“Please don’t be biased on what you’ve seen so far. There are three acts left and two of them are the most talented girl’s in the school.”
I thought for a moment before replying. “Alright, send them in…. I guess three more won’t hurt.”
Mr. Smith smiled. “Thank you Miss. Katie, you will not regret your decision.”
“Let’s hope not.” I bit the edge of my pencil in nervousness.
I’ve searched in over 3,000 schools. 3,000! And I haven’t even found a trace of what I wanted to find. Sure, there have been tons of great acts and actors that I’ve seen. But they aren’t the ones I need for this project. I need someone who knows; somebody who understands….
Blinking in my train of thought, I looked up to see a girl on stage. She had long blonde wavy hair and bright sparkling blue eyes. So far, she looked promising.
“Hello.” I stated.
“Hi.” She said softly into the microphone, her cheeks turning a slight pink color.
I instantly caught on to the fact that she was quiet and maybe even a little shy. Well, that’s a drawback. When performing, you have to be confident in your words and your actions. If you are nervous, it won’t be very effective.
“So…” I said. “What do you do?”
“Well I made A/B honor roll.” She gave a shy smile. “I was in Beat Club for a little while too, but I gave up after joining the school choir.”
“You sing?” I clarified.
“Yes, ma’am.” She nodded. “I’m actually going to sing for you now as my audition.”
“Um…..” I gave Mr. Smith a look.
Mr. Smith face palmed and looked up at the girl. “Chloe, you are supposed to do an act!!!”
“You know I do better singing.” The girl replied. “So I thought I could do that instead….”
“Sorry, but no.” I shook my head, giving her a small smile. “I need actors. Not singers.”
“Oh.” She nodded. “Alright then.” And with that, she walked off stage.
“Next!!!” Mr. Smith groaned.
I gave him a look of boredom.
“Just hold on.” Mr. Smith said. “This next girl is my BEST student.”
“Isn’t that what you said about Chloe?” I raised an eyebrow.
“Just wait for it, Miss Katie. Just wait for it.” Mr. Smith let out a sigh.
I crossed my arms and sat back as the next person walked onto stage. Her stride was sassy like she was a model or something, like I was judging every breath she took on stage. Her brown hair was up in a small bun. Plastered on her body was a short zebra stripped dress and dangling from her neck was a gold necklace. From that, I could tell she was wealthy.
“Hello!” She gave me a pearl white smile.
“Hi.” I forced a smile back.
Already, I could tell that this was going to go downhill.
“Let me just say that I am a big fan of yours Katie.” The girl told me. “I’m Liza, and I’ll be doing a scene from Romeo and Juliet.”
“Okay.” I nodded.
The girl looked away before bursting into the scene. I’m pretty sure it was Juliet’s powerful monologue she gives when she is deciding wither or not to drink the poison. It was really impressive.
“Wow.” I clapped. “That was a great performance.”
She glowed from my praise. She smiled at me and then looked expectantly at Mr. Smith. Mr. Smith then looked at me.
“So…. Did she get the part?”
“Well there is one more to watch isn’t there?” I blinked at him.
“No.” Mr. Smith shook his head. “She was the last one.”
“Noooooo.” I objected. “You said there were three more left. Not two.”
“I must have been mistaken.” He shrugged.
“I heard you. You didn’t stutter.” I said firmly. “You said that two out of the three were your best students. Do you not want me to see the last one for some reason?”
“Yes.” He admitted after a second.
“She’s no good.” He rolled his eyes.
“Well none of your other people were any good so why does it matter? Send them in!” I said curtly.
“I won’t allow the last person to audition.” Mr. Smith gave me a hard look. “I refuse.”
“If you won’t let me watch the audition, then I guess I will just have to go and find another actor in another school.” I shrugged and started to stand up.
“Mr. Smith.” Liz got off the stage and walked over to where we were sitting. “Let Elaine audition. Katie won’t like her anyways.”
Mr. Smith sighed. “Fine!!!!”
I smiled and called “Next!”
The girl, I guessed her name was Elaine, walked onto stage. She was wearing a black stripped shirt and some ripped skinny jeans. Her hair was straightened and was extremely long. In her clenched hands were some notecards.
“Hi.” She said into the microphone. “I’m Elaine.”
“Hello.” I replied. “What do you do?”
“Um.” Elaine hesitated and swallowed. “I am an actor. My grades…… Well, I make…. Cs and Ds.”
“Alright.” I said with a nod and Liz’s eyes widened in shock. “Go ahead with the audition.”
Elaine nodded immediately broke into a scene from Twelfth Night. Her words were strong and confident and her voice stretched to the back of the auditorium. It was amazing!
When she finished I jumped to my feet. “That was amazing!!!! Congratulations, you got the part!”
“What!?” Liz exclaimed and Mr. Smith stood up.
“Miss Katie, did you not hear when she was talking about her grades?!” Mr. Smith exclaimed.
“She doesn’t deserve the role! Just last week she was suspended for fighting some kid! Plus, she can’t afford anything she might need for the part! I would be the better choice! She’s a terrible student!” Liz shouted at me.
“Exactly.” I laughed to myself. “This whole time, I was looking for a person who wouldn’t need to act to fulfill the part. I wanted to find someone with an exact personality like the character in the documentary.”
“What is the documentary about anyways?” Mr. Smith asked.
“It’s about me when I was in high school.” I smiled at Elaine. “And I feel like Elaine would be the perfect person for the role.”