Say Annie!

1

I have never, ever auditioned for any play. Never. So, when my artsy, theatrical, walking, breathing comedy and tragedy mask of a best friend drug me into open call auditions for a show to be named later, I didn't expect to be cast as an extra much less to get a call the next day for something... a call back? I actually had to call Linda and ask what that was. She squealed for ten minutes before I actually got an answer.

Now, I'm sitting in the middle of the Grand Stage - don't make any assumptions, the "Grand Stage" isn't all that grand, but it is our stage and the venue for any half cocked show our town chose to produce - surrounded be theater kids. Beside me was Linda, glowing in her favorite worn jeans and lucky white blouse - don't ask me why it's lucky. Beside her was Nick, the favorite for any male role because he didn't look like a chimpanzee. Beside him sat Nick's less fortunate best friend, Conner, who's gangly body and misshapen face was quite literally proof of evolution. Across the circle was the All Purpose Director, Garry - does Garry have a last name? the world will never know! - with his square glasses and mop of graying brown hair. Beyond that, I didn't know the rest of the names. Glasses Girl, Red Scarf Boy, Bad Acne Twins, all of them were faces I should have known, but didn't.

"Alright!" Garry clapped his hands together, grinning across the room at each of the "bright, shining faces" that stared blankly back at him - actually I'm kidding, these theater kids seemed thrilled to be up at 8 AM on a Saturday. "All of you may be wondering what show you've signed up for," He mused, standing and ambling off the stage through the curtains, followed by every eye in the room. Mine were only of politeness. I couldn't be less thrilled to be awake. "Maybe you're expecting a thrilling conquest or a romantic tragedy, but no! This year's musical will be a horse of another color."

My eyes shot to Linda's crystal blue ones. She'd promised it wasn't a musical. She just beamed back as Garry continued. He was walking back onto the stage now, holding a large stack of papers, stapled together at the seems. "This, my dear children, is our script. It was carefully written by one of your peers! The writer requested to be a nameless entity, but I can tell you that he or she is sitting on this very stage..." He paused dramatically, but I didn't need the time to think. I knew without looking at her that it was Linda. She'd screamed excitement as she walked in today, more so than "any other audition." Her excitement was something different.

"Now, I won't prolong your excitement anymore," He held up the script and I almost laughed out loud. I should've known. Linda's favorite childhood musical - Annie! There was a beat of silence before the muttering started and Garry quickly intersected it. The theater kids' mummers stopped immediately. "This is not the Annie! we all know. What I hold in my hands is Annie, the teenage years. What happened to dear Annie as she grew up? Of our friend Oliver? Nasty Miss Hannigan? All the answers lie in these pages."

He grinned, hugging the manuscript against his chest. "Obviously this rousing tale has taken a different turn. No longer is Annie confined to a girl's only orphanage. Thus, male leads." He chuckled, nodding at Nick and Conner with a grin and a wink.

His eyes flickered across the girls. "There are seven of you here. One will be Annie." He gave no indication his plans, a long time pro at not giving away his secrets. "Nick, you will be reading for Gregory, the strapping young lad who plays companion to not-so-young Annie." Garry's eyes swept over the girls several times before his eyes rested steadily on me. My heart sped up. "Anna! You'll read Annie."

In the end, every girl read lines for Annie and each of the boys read for Gregory. Everyone read the same scene so "[Garry] can get a feel for our perception." It was a long hour, listening to everyone read the same scene over and over. Honestly, I didn't really hear them though. My deer-in-headlights expression never left. My heart beat never slowed. It was rapid and my breathing followed suit.