The Sackler Trap

New Kid in Town

I watched with growing apprehension and horror as the call went through and I listened to the ringing tone coming through my phone's tiny speaker. It stopped and the voicemail picked up telling me I had reached a voicemail box that was full. I swallowed hard and hit end. He hadn't answered. Still, he would see I had called. I remembered they were filming today...maybe they were working on a nighttime scene. He might return the call and I wondered if I wanted him to or not. Then again, maybe he had seen the call coming in and chose to ignore it?

I threw the phone down on the bed and cursed myself for being such an idiot and calling him in the first place. God knew if he wanted to talk, he'd call me. I spent the next couple hours tossing and turning in bed. I got up at one point and drank a glass of wine even though I'd had plenty to drink at the after party. I could not get to sleep thinking about that damn call. Surely by now, in fact long before now, he had seen his missed calls.

I just simply had to accept the fact that he no longer wanted to talk to me. I raked my fingers through my hair and sighed in frustration, more at myself than Adam. I would not call him again it was that simple. Do the adult thing, Julie, I told myself. I grabbed the phone off my nightstand and opened my contacts. He was the first one listed...I selected his name and, just as before, with a hesitating thumb hovering over the delete button, I took a deep breath. This time it was no accident when my thumb hit "delete".

                                                                                ***

That afternoon the theater was filled with hustle and bustle preparing for our second night. Hadley was all smiles when I arrived, and he folded the newspaper he'd been reading and came over to me.

"Julie!" he cried. "Have you seen the reviews?" He winked at me.

I shook my head I hadn't see the reviews and thought to myself, Wonderful. Just one more thing to stress me out. I was thinking about that call and not hearing back from Adam.

"I'm afraid to look," I said giving him a wary glance.

"No, no!" he said, "they're all glowing...especially this one that mentions you!" He shook the paper out dramatically and began reading. He was right, it was mostly glowing.

Though the play itself is slightly creepy and melancholic, there is an amazing song called "Take Me to the World" which features a new talent, Julie Landor. The trajectory of her career should she continue to pursue Broadway will be meteoric. 

And another very generous (I thought) one:

Hadley Fraser and Julie Landor are the two new great interpreters of Steven Sondheim's music.

This one made me laugh:

Hadley Fraser just called all of us untalented in ten octaves and his lovely new partner, Julie Landor, followed suit. Ok, you two, we're impressed.

The only slightly critical review stated:

It's a story as old as Greek mythology and just as over-used, but it's also the sounds of Sondheim and Hadley Fraser and his new partner Julie Landor are in great voice as they sing three of the musical's most haunting melodies. Do yourself a favor and buy a ticket while they last.

I raised my eyebrows. "Well, that's encouraging!" I laughed.

Another sold out house that night. Next day we performed a matinee. It didn't matter how many times I sang those songs or shared curtain calls with Hadley, it never got old.

I was sipping a cup of coffee one week later at a café, Hadley sitting across from me, reading yet more reviews that had poured in over the last week. Just at that moment there was a stir, a ripple of commotion, people turned in their seats, and excited whispering began.