Chapter 43
43
Millie
My performance tonight was shit. Sasha swears it wasn’t, but she’s too nice to tell me the truth. When I wake up, I have zero text messages from Ezra, and when I call him, he doesn’t answer. I text Kane, who informs me his brother went for a run. Nausea consumes me as I waste the entire day waiting for his call. After the matinee performance, I’m greeted with a missed call notification, but the theater is forcing us to clear out of the dressing rooms, so I’ll have to call him later.
It’s a rush to the airport and through security, so when I finally get the opportunity to sit down, I pull out my phone, only to find that it’s dead.
Digging into the side pocket of my carry-on, I locate the external charger Ezra gifted me. I smile to myself, considering whether to actually admit to him just how many times I’ve had to use it.
As I’m waiting for it to charge, Sasha passes me her phone. “Did you see this?”
The headline reads The Final Curtain Call .
At the sight of the man in the photo at the top of the article, a giant pit forms in my stomach, but I power through the text.
Renowned Broadway director Taron West was abruptly dismissed from the popular traveling production of Mamma Mia after multiple allegations of bullying and harassment.
Several present and past cast and crew members have come forward, claiming that West made demeaning comments about actors’ weights and appearances, pressuring them to meet unrealistic standards.
A current cast member who wished to remain anonymous said, “[Taron] would scream at women in front of the entire cast and say they weren’t ‘cut out for Broadway if [they] couldn’t lose the weight.’”
West has yet to comment publicly on the allegations. His wife, Diane, did not wish to comment on his behalf.
“Wasn’t he the director you told me about?” Sasha asks.
“Mm-hmm.”
She slumps in her seat next to me.
When my phone powers on again, a voicemail notification from an Unknown Caller pops up.
“Ms. Greer, this is Diane West. I think you know my husband. I’d like a word with you. It’s time sensitive, so please call me back immediately.”