Chapter 8
‘How many times have you seen this show?’ Sive asked Sam the following evening as they settled into their seats at Halfpenny Lane for the final performance of Private Lives.
‘Pretty much every night since it opened until rehearsals started and my replacement took over. Though not often the whole way through,’ he added quickly to Sive’s look of horror. ‘Anyway, I’d happily watch it every night of the week.’
‘And twice on Saturdays,’ Sive said with a smile.
‘Exactly. Besides, I never got to sit in a seat, like a real punter – or to sit beside you. This is a real treat.’
Sive looked around the auditorium. She’d missed this while she was filming.
She was so proud of what she and her sisters had created here at Halfpenny Lane and it was good to be back.
It was a full house, as it had been every night since the show opened, largely thanks to Rocco’s star power.
His fans had flocked from all over the world to see their heartthrob treading the boards in the flesh.
It was very gratifying, even if most of them were only here to ogle Rocco.
The show was as sparkling and fresh as it had been on opening night.
Mimi and Rocco were brilliant, and the audience couldn’t have been more enthusiastic, howling with laughter at the antics onstage, and applauding enthusiastically at the end.
But she found herself glancing at Sam constantly, watching him almost as much as the action onstage.
He was enjoying himself enormously and she loved how engaged he was.
Even though he’d seen the show countless times, he roared with laughter at the funniest lines as if he was hearing them for the first time and at the end he leapt to his feet, clapping and whooping.
The performance went down a storm, the audience surging to their feet as the cast took their bows, their whistles and roars reaching a deafening crescendo whenever Rocco appeared.
It was a given that as the principals, Rocco and Mimi would get the loudest cheers, but Sive was relieved that Mitch and Andrea got their fare share of appreciation too.
They’d both been brilliant in their parts and it was well deserved.
She knew Mimi had found Andrea difficult to work with, but she’d always given her full credit for her acting.
Sive joined the standing ovation, along with the rest of the audience, tears pricking her eyes as Mimi and Rocco performed a final dramatic stage kiss that brought the house down.
Jonathan and Aoife came to pick them up for the party, and they met them in the lobby.
‘I’ll wait here for you,’ Jonathan said. ‘Text me when you’re ready and I’ll bring the car round.’
The rest of them went backstage. Sam headed for the wings to chat to Cara and the crew, while Sive and Aoife went to the dressing room that Mimi shared with Andrea and Orla, the other female members of the cast.
They knocked on the door and Mimi called out to come in.
‘You don’t mind, Andrea, Orla?’ Aoife asked, sticking her head around the door.
‘No, not at all, come in,’ Andrea waved them inside. ‘Make yourselves at home.’
This is our home, Sive thought, irked by Andrea’s attitude. She really was a very annoying woman – no wonder Mimi hadn’t taken to her. But she was a talented actress, in fairness, and she’d been great in the show, so Sive couldn’t resent her too much.
The cramped room was a hive of activity, and there was a buzz of electricity in the air.
Sive felt a rush as soon as she entered and breathed in the slightly fusty air, its aromas of greasepaint and old fabric mingled with the heady scent of lilies calling to her soul.
It was a sense of exhilaration coupled with the relief of being where you truly belonged.
She’d missed all this and she couldn’t wait to be part of it again.
The room was full of flowers, vast bouquets covering every surface. ‘Wow, it’s like a florist’s in here,’ she said.
She and Aoife rushed over to Mimi, enveloping her in hugs and telling her how brilliant her performance was.
‘You were great too,’ Aoife said to Andrea and Orla.
‘Yes,’ Sive said. ‘Congratulations, all of you.’
‘Thanks,’ Andrea said, pulling off her earrings. ‘So, all back to Rocco’s now, yes?’
‘Yes,’ Mimi said. ‘Is Jonathan here?’ she asked Aoife.
‘He has the car outside and he’ll take the three of us and Rocco,’ Aoife told her.
‘What about Sam?’
‘He’s going to get a cab with Mitch,’ Sive told her.
‘Great. Just let me get changed and I’ll be right with you.’ She turned her back to Sive. ‘Help me with my zip?’
Mimi was wearing the travelling suit from Act Three, and Sive automatically ran her eye over it as she undid the zip, checking for damage.
As the unofficial wardrobe mistress of Halfpenny Lane, the upkeep of costumes was her responsibility.
She’d found this thirties skirt suit in a favourite vintage shop, and it would make a great addition to their growing stock.
Her hope was that they’d build up a good enough collection to eventually start renting costumes to other theatres as an additional source of income.
She was pleased to see that Orla was already removing her French maid’s uniform and folding each item neatly.
‘When you’ve taken off your costumes, just hang them up on the rail over there,’ she nodded across the room. She’d be back at the theatre tomorrow helping to strike the set, and she’d collect the costumes then and take them home to get them cleaned and do any repairs necessary.
‘You can just leave everything here, apart from anything that belongs to you,’ Sive said, sweeping a hand around the dressing room, strewn with stray props, cards and gift bags. ‘We can clear up properly tomorrow.’
‘I’m afraid I got pollen all over this jacket,’ Andrea said, making a little apologetic moue as she handed it to Sive for inspection. The front was indeed covered in a dusting of yellow powder.
Mimi rolled her eyes surreptitiously at Sive.
‘Don’t worry about that,’ Sive said, deciding not to ruin the moment by giving Andrea a hard time about it. She was feeling magnanimous. ‘I’m sure I can get it out. But in future, try to remember not to hold flowers too close. Other wardrobe mistresses might not be as understanding as me.’
‘Well, we’ll leave you to get changed,’ Aoife said as Mimi unbuttoned her blouse. ‘We’ll meet you out front.’
‘Could you take some of those?’ Mimi nodded to the bouquets of flowers.
‘Sure.’ Aoife started gathering up armfuls of flowers from around Mimi’s dressing table, and Sive picked up as many bouquets as she could hold, careful to read the cards first and leave any that belonged to Andrea and Orla.
‘Thanks. I’ll bring down the rest,’ Mimi said, sitting at the dressing table to remove her make-up.
‘Take your time,’ Aoife said.
‘See you shortly,’ Sive called as they left the room.
Outside, they loaded the boot of Jonathan’s car with flowers, and Mimi joined them shortly afterwards bearing more, the car filling with their perfume as she squeezed in beside Sive and Rocco.
‘I feel like I’m driving a hearse,’ Jonathan said as he pulled into the Saturday night traffic and crawled slowly down the narrow lane.
Rocco’s house was already buzzing with activity when they arrived. His sisters were laying out trays of canapes in the living room, and his parents were in the kitchen opening bottles of champagne and filling large stainless steel buckets with ice.
‘Thanks so much for this, Bea,’ Mimi said, hugging Rocco’s mum hello while Sive and Aoife unloaded armfuls of bouquets into the sink.
‘Goodness, what a lot of flowers!’ Bea said, turning to them. ‘I’ll see if I can rustle up some more vases.’
‘Anything I can do to help?’ Sive asked.
‘You could take those glasses through to the living room,’ Bea said, nodding to a tray of champagne flutes on the worktop before leaving the room.
‘Sive! It’s lovely to see you. You can put those here.’ Rocco’s older sister, Francesca, pointed to the end of a long buffet table. Once Sive had set the tray down, Francesca pulled her into a quick hug.
‘You too. It’s been a long time.’ They exchanged wry smiles, silently acknowledging that the reason they’d lost touch was because their respective siblings had split up.
‘So, any idea what this is all about?’ Francesca spread her arms to encompass the room.
‘Um … the party, you mean?’ Sive frowned, confused.
‘It’s closing night?’ Admittedly it was pretty lavish for a closing night party, which tended to be more low key than opening night ones as cast and crew were going their separate ways and moving on to other projects.
But Rocco could afford it, and there was no reason he couldn’t splash out on a big celebration if he wanted to.
Francesca nodded. ‘Yes, but why all this fuss? I mean, I don’t get why we all had to be here.’
‘You didn’t want to come?’
‘No, I did. I was always going to come and Charlie was going to stay home with Marco, but Rocco insisted on the whole family coming, so we ended up having to get a babysitter.’
‘Oh. I don’t know.’ Sive shrugged. ‘I guess maybe he wants to celebrate moving back to Dublin and being back together with Mimi?’
‘Hmm. Maybe.’ Francesca shrugged. ‘Anyway, not that I’m complaining. I enjoy a good party as much as the next person.’
Francesca drifted off as the doorbell rang and the rest of the cast and crew started streaming in.
Sive experienced a slight disconnect at seeing Andrea, Mitch and Orla in their own clothes instead of their vintage Private Lives attire.
Soon the room was filled with the buzz of conversation and the clink of glasses, Rocco’s youngest sister Mia and a couple of her friends circulating with trays of champagne while the guests mingled.
Sive went to join Sam who was chatting to Andrea, thinking he’d probably be in need of rescuing. The woman was very hard work.