She Will Be Loved- Ben Tyler Cook

Chapter 56

Kasey's POV

December 3, 2020

"We'll send you off to hair first, and then they'll send you off to makeup from there. Sound good?"

"Sounds great," I smiled at the lady, and she led me to where I was getting my hair done. 

I let out a breath as I sat down in the chair, sitting for basically the first time all day. I'd been up since 4am and I was absolutely exhausted. I still had many hours of the day to go, though. 

The reason for all of this was press day- it was a major press day for Little Women. In October, I found out I got the role of Jo after coming back for a second round of auditions and I ultimately accepted the role and left Moulin Rouge as my contract ended. I cried so hard that day, all tears of joy for the first time all year. I was in so much disbelief. Why me? Why me, out of all these way more talented and considerably more famous people? I was scared that I wouldn't be able to live up to anyone's expectations, but the directors were very reassuring in their choice. This would be my first official principal broadway role and I was completely ecstatic and overwhelmed about the way my life was about to change. 

Everything had been great so far, we'd had our first read-throughs and such in October, and we'd been rehearsing and getting ready to be on stage these past couple of months. We were set to open at the end of this month and our cast was so excited. They'd all welcomed me with open arms, and we'd all grown so close already. 

And just like I tended to do with every role, I fell in love with Jo March. I fell in love with her feistiness, her passion, her independence. Her youthfulness, the way she cared so deeply for the one's she loved, and really everything about her. And who doesn't love Little Women? It's a classic, feel-good story that I'd loved as a child, like many other people I'm sure. And with the new film adaption that came out last year, people had been buzzing about Little Women more than usual and there was a whole new crowd of fans for the March sisters. With this, the revival was getting a lot of attention and excitement, and it was already expected to do better than the original production. So to make a long story short- I hadn't been this happy or full of passion in a long time. 

We'd started out today with getting into full costume and makeup at the theater to film promotional footage and get b-roll. Typically this would be done when previews start, but with all the media attention already we were doing this early. It only took a few takes of the specific moments they wanted, so luckily it wasn't too bad and we were already done with that. Now, we were getting ready to do interviews and such with some news outlets that our press representatives set us up with. This included some local news stations, Broadway.com and some other broadway news sources, but most importantly the Today Show. We were going to be on the Today Show and I was going to throw up if I kept thinking about it. I'd done press before, but nothing as big as this. 

And that's where I currently was now, backstage at the Today Show getting ready to be interviewed. I was terrified and excited and overwhelmed all at the same time. It's strange how much your life can change in such a short amount of time- I would have never expected to be here a year ago, or even 6 months ago. I would have never expected to be here 6 years ago, when I'd went out on a limb and decided to audition for Newsies on tour. But wow, am I so glad I did that. Who knew that it would turn into the crazy but beautiful adventure my life is? I smiled to myself in the mirror as my hair got curled, feeling sappy. If my teenager self could see exactly where we were right now, she'd be grinning just as hard. And if I could tell her anything, I'd tell her to hold on. Hold on, because life has some incredible things in store for you. 

After hair, I went to get my makeup touched up and then in the blur of some moments I was now sitting down in a chair on stage next to my cast mates, with the floor manager calling "1 minute".  I took a deep breath and loosened up, trying to get comfortable so I wouldn't be all frozen during the interview. There was then a 5 second countdown, and some cheering and then Hoda and Jenna began their introduction of this segment.