Chapter 35
Chapter
After three demanding, challenging, and incredibly rewarding weeks of rehearsal, it’s opening night.
My dressing room is shared with Samantha, who plays Cosette, and Dhruva, who plays Fantine.
While we get into costume, you can hear vibrations of aahhhs and various vocal warm-ups from the rest of the cast throughout backstage.
“Is everyone ready?” Dhruva asks while Sam zips up her dress. “My heart’s racing. Twenty years doing this, and opening night never gets easier.”
“We got this!” Sam grabs her arms and gives her a playful shake. “What about you, June? How are the nerves, being in front of an audience again?”
“I’m actually excited.” I look at them both in the mirror while powdering my face. “It’s the only thing I actually haven’t been nervous about in a long time.”
Dhruva pulls us all into a group hug and we set our heads together, making sure not to move the microphones taped to our foreheads. “Here’s to a killer opening night, and the longest run on Broadway!”
“Dhru!” Sam gasps. “Don’t jinx it!”
“I’m not jinxing!” She laughs. “I’m manifesting!”
Max, our stage manager, quickly knocks on our open door, clipboard in hand and headseton.
“Ten minutes to curtain.”
Sam decides to stay behind and continue getting ready, but I walk over to the wings to watch the opening number.
There are murmurs of break a leg and good luck rippling through the hallways and the wings.
I find a spot off to the side and once the orchestra starts playing that first note, there’s a chill throughout my body.
Hearing the set of chords that I used to listen to almost every night in my childhood bedroom feels blissfully overwhelming.
The curtains finally rise and we’re in it.
We’re on a three-hour adventure, and it’s riveting.
Peering into the audience, I analyze each person’s face, each person who paid an arm and a leg for these tickets a week before Christmas. Every person is here hoping to escape to a different world for one night, a world that we’re going to bring to life for them.
There’s an older couple, smartly dressed in the front row, who I have a feeling live in the wealthy part of Manhattan and have Broadway season passes.
Then a family with two young kids who look about thirteen and seventeen.
I assume they’re from out of town visiting New York for the holidays.
In a row behind them, a group of women in their mid-thirties.
And in the middle section, a head of dark hair and hazel eyes.
Adam is staring intently at the stage, and to his left are Sarah and Ford, and to his right, Chloe and Lucia. I wipe a tear pooling in the corner of my eye as I study each of their faces. This is my family.
Matt, one of the ensemble cast, elbows me after the first song is over. “Hey, you good?”
“I’m great.” I sniff. “Break a leg,” I whisper, and hurry backstage.
For the rest of the show, I’m able to completely immerse myself in my character, putting anyone who’s watching out of my mind.
At the top of the second act is my time to sing “On My Own. ” I walk to center stage, the spotlight follows me, and the beginning notes from the piano below echo throughout the entire theater.
The words and the music fill me. I feel like a candle that’s never been lit until this very moment. I stand in place the entire song, my voice carrying the melody, and the audience watches me light up. When the orchestra stops, I allow myself to look at Adam for an instant.
In this moment, there’s nobody else in the theater except the two ofus.
The final curtain is called, and it’s almost like a wedding. Months of buildup and work toward one event and it’s suddenly over in the blink of an eye. Except I’m lucky that I get to do it over and over again.
We all celebrate with a toast backstage, and some of the cast leave through the stage door and meet the fans who are patiently waiting to take pictures.
After removing my makeup and changing into an oversized knit cardigan and jeans, I walk out to the theater lobby with the remaining cast to greet our family and friends.
My group is standing off to the left, chatting and laughing. I wish I could take a snapshot of this moment.
As I hurry down the stairs, Chloe is the first one who spotsme.
“Juuuuune!” she sings, holding her arms open for me to jump into. My body collides into hers and she squeezes me. We’re acting like two teenagers and I really don’t care. “YOU. WERE. INCREDIBLE.”
Lucia hugs me next, with a big smile. “June, I cannot believe how amazing the show was—everyone was absolutely brilliant. I actually started to tear up during ‘A Little Fall of Rain.’?”
“Lucia, thank you so much.” I squeeze her hand and then lock eyes with Ford.
“Whad’ya think, Ford?”
“I think I’m going to have to ask for your autograph,” he says. “And walk over to the box office and get myself another ticket. Holy hell, I cannot wait to watch it again.”
“Really?” My eyes lightup.
“I swear. You killed it, kid.” He pulls me in for another hug and gives me a kiss on top of my head. He’s wearing a cashmere sweater with a dress shirt underneath, and I spot two tiny black cuff links with gold trim and engraved music notes.
“Congratulations, June!” Sarah wraps her arms around me—she’s far taller than I am now and I almost can’t believe how grown-up she looks. She has dark, wavy brown hair and bangs and possesses an effortless beauty. She looks just like her mom. “The show is amazing!”
“You really liked it?” I ask.
“Obviously I liked it! Also”—she leans in closer—“there’s someone in the chorus and I’m dying to know if he’s single…”
“Who?” My eyes widen. She pulls open her Playbill and points to Matt. “Yes. We’ll talk.” I squeeze her elbow and then lock eyes with Adam.
“Hi,” he says.
“Hi,” I say.
“Did I ever tell you how much I love you?” He wraps his arms around my waist as I loop mine around his neck.
I shake my head. “I don’t think you did today.”
“I love you and you are fucking amazing.” He gives me a kiss. “Congratulations, babe.”
“I love you,” I say, knowing I will never get tired of the words and all the different ways it can come out of my mouth.
Chloe squeezes my arm. “Sorry, lovebirds, we’ve got to head back to Teddy.”
“Give him a hug for us,” Adam says.
“Congratulations again, June,” Lucia says, and gives me another hug. “Seriously, I cannot believe we were able to watch this on opening night. It’s going to be the biggest show of the season.”
Sarah nudges Adam with her body. “We should probably get going too. We’ll see you all at New Year’s, right?”
“Yes! See you there.” Chloe gives her a kiss on the cheek and points a finger at Ford. “Ford, you better not skip out,” Chloe warns. “You are staying awake until the ball drops.”
“Don’t you worry, Teddy and I will both be up past our bedtimes.” He laughs.
It’ll be our first New Year’s Eve all together in Connecticut, and nothing could make me happier than seeing Ford on babysitting duty.
“Sarah, are you driving?” Adam asks as he helps Ford put on his coat.
“Yeah,” she nods.
“Okay, get home safe.” He gives Sarah and Ford a kiss, and I do the same. “We’ll see you on Christmas.”
Once everyone leaves, I hear my name being called behind me and Adam and I turn around.
“June!” Dan waves. He’s been giving everyone congratulatory words all evening, but this is the first time we’re face-to-face. “?‘On My Own ’ was heart-wrenching,” He gives me a hug and then shakes Adam’s hand. “Nice to see you again, Adam. How’d you like it?”
“It was phenomenal, Dan,” Adam says. “Huge congratulations. You outdid yourself.”
“Seriously,” I say, smiling at Dan. “None of this would be possible without you.”
“Well, that’s not entirely true.” Dan turns to Adam. “I feel like I owe you a little thank-you.”
Adam raises an eyebrow. “For what?”
“Do you remember when I was at Alden last year for that dinner with Maureen and Scott?”
Adam frowns for a moment and then nods, remembering. “Oh yeah, yeah.”
“So, you briefly mentioned the Rent revival.” Dan looks at me.
“I swear, it was the quickest mention…and how you were a fan of June’s performance.
I totally forgot about her until you brought her up.
” He waves a hand. “Anyway, I kept your name in the back of my mind for a rainy day…or for a little fall of rain.” He winks, very proud of himself for the Les Mis pun.
My head turns to Adam, mouth open. “You said that?”
“I was a big fan.” He shrugs. “Still am.”
Someone across the way calls out to Dan and he holds up a finger to them and squeezes my arm. “June, you need to get some rest. Or celebrate. Whatever you need to do. But I’ll see you here at noon tomorrow. Congratulations again.” He presses his cheek against mine in an air kiss.
“See you tomorrow,” I say.
Through the crowd of people, Theo emerges, a huge smile plastered on her face. “There she is!”
“Theo.” I give her the tightest hug I can. “I’m so happy you were able to make it out.”
“Are you kidding?” she says. “I wouldn’t miss this for the world. Plus, I will take any opportunity I can get for my husband to watch the kids.”
I motion to Adam beside me. “And I’m not sure if you remember Adam?”
“Of course—Manhattan for Theater Gala.” She goes up on her toes to give him a hug. “How are you?”
“I’m great. Nice to see you again, Theo,” he says.
“I hope you’re taking care of June. LA misses her.”
“He is,” I interject before he can say anything, and he just gently rubs my back.
“ So. ” Theo takes a deep breath in and gives me a let’s talk business for a second look. “I have an update on Me and You. ”
“Oh.” I raise my eyebrows. “Okay…”
“The director’s deal fell through,” she says.
“Wow, that’s—”
She nods to tell me she’s not finished. “Script problems, budget started going over, execs were shuffled around.” She takes a breath. “The whole thing fell apart.”
“Shit…” I look up at Adam and then back to Theo.
“You made the right choice.” She shrugs a shoulder.
“God, Theo.” I shake my head in disbelief. “Thank you for everything.”
“You make my job easy,” she says, squeezing my hand. “Now enjoy your night, celebrate all the things. I’m on a 5 a.m. flight tomorrow, so I will email you next week, okay?”
“Yes, perfect. Thank you again.”
“Nice seeing you again, Theo.” Adam gives her a hug before she disappears back into the crowd, and then turns to me. “Wow, okay. How are you feeling?”
This is probably the biggest high I’ve ever been on in my entire life.
I jump into Adam’s arms. Thankfully he has good reflexes and catches me, and we stand there for a few seconds just hugging.
Lately it’s hard to list what I’m even thankful for—it would be a laundry list. But mostly, I’m grateful for this whole, incredible new chapter of my life.
“I’m feeling really good.” I start to tearup.
“Do you want to celebrate?” he asks. “Or do you want to sleep?”
“I want a cheeseburger with onion rings,” I say.
“Then a cheeseburger and onion rings you shall get.” He carefully sets me down. “Also I meant to tell you: Mara called me earlier.”
“Oh yeah?” I zip up my coat and put my haton.
“The new paperwork is all finalized.” He opens the door for me, and we walk into the chilly December air.
A huge smile takes over my face. “Really?”
He nods and holds my hand. “ We are officially homeowners.”
I stop in front of him and stand on my toes to give him a kiss. “You know what I’m thinking?” I say against his lips.
“Mhm?”
“I think we should go home and celebrate.”