a sound she hadn't heard before

ten.

Taylor pulls her hair up into a ponytail before stepping out of her car and into midtown Manhattan. After spending the last three days watching auditions of what seemed like every performer in the city, the team finally gets to return to their very favorites.

As much as she knows that she needs to be unbiased, Taylor's favorite was Joe Alwyn. She can't really explain it- he was just completely mesmerizing. She's so happy that they're doing his callback today, along with callbacks for all of the other males, both principal roles and ensemble. Tomorrow will be the callbacks for the principal females and the female and children's ensembles.

She can already tell that the hardest decision of all will be the casting of the little girl, Izzy. They're going to pick four children to share the role since it's such a big part, but there were so many incredible, talented girls who would be perfect for the part. They decided to call back around 30 girls, out of probably almost 100 who auditioned. Taylor has no idea where they all came from, in all honesty, but they all showed up to an open call after school in their pretty dresses and hairbows to sing for the creative team.

But that casting decision is tomorrow's worry. Today's job will probably be easier. They have between five and ten actors coming back for every role, but Taylor is pretty sure that everyone already has an innate sense of who will be cast with a few of the roles. Some of the auditions were truly just amazing and blew everyone out of the water.

Taylor feels that way about Joe's audition as well, but she doesn't know if the others on the team feel the same way. She might have to fight for him, but she's completely willing to, so long as what she sees today lines up with what she saw a few days ago, back at the beginning of this long and tiring process. His audition, though, isn't until after their afternoon break, so this morning will be long and consist of a lot of other auditions first.

The callbacks are cutthroat. Lots of people are taken out of consideration essentially as soon as they step out of the studio. A few come in and show a completely different side of themselves than earlier in the week, which isn't a good thing in this occasion. They just don't do well with the sides from the show. It does break Taylor's heart to know that so many people are going to be disappointed, but she also knows that it's her and the others' job to ensure that this workshop has the very best cast that it possibly can. That's the way to impress people and get the show fast-tracked to Broadway, as the producers are hoping to do.

On one occasion, a man is instantly cast in one of the father roles after his audition. He's not the last person to audition who is being called back for the role, but everyone agrees that this man, Logan, is just perfect for the part. His sides, his singing... everything is exactly what the team envisioned.

"We'll still see the other two men who are coming in for Willie, but it'd take a lot to change my mind on Logan," Levi says. Everyone else at the table agrees, feeling a sense of accomplishment at solidifying their first cast member.

They also strongly prefer some of the ensemble auditions to others, largely in part of dance skills. Some people took the casting call asking for 'extremely strong movers' just a bit too casually, which is something that isn't apparent until they perform the combination that Kati sent to them, asking for them to learn it for today. That really helps to narrow down that list.

By the time that they all go on break and Taylor heads back to New Jersey to pick up Ayla from school, she's feeling so excited about the casting decisions that they're making today. She knows that they're going to put together a great group and can't wait to see what kind of art they'll make in the next few months.

"Momma!" Taylor hears, looking up to see Ayla's blonde pigtails bouncing as the little girl runs across the parking lot of her elementary school to give her mom a hug after a long day of kindergarten. "Are we going to New York again today?"