Chapter 11
Sebastian
“I missed you, every day, every moment. And I hope you will give me the chance to make it up to you,” I said.
“I missed you too,” Ara said and pulled me toward her.
It wasn’t how the conversation had ended, but I certainly had wanted it to. Ara instead had given me a slow nod. It was enough to tell me that she had heard me but not enough that she was ready to say it back.
I didn’t push. For now, it was enough to get to spend time with her, talk to her, and hopefully move toward something more. She was attracted to me. I could see it in how she looked at me, how she watched me when she didn’t think I knew. It was why I took the chance and opened myself up to her and said what I did. It wasn’t everything I wanted to tell her but it was a start.
“It isn’t going there and that’s final!” Isla, our director, said to Tommy, the writer, and her ex-girlfriend, bringing me back to the present.
“Over my dead body!” she yelled back.
When I had signed on to do the play, Tommy and Isla were going to get married once the play closed. They looked to be the perfect up and coming Broadway power couple and ones that I was lucky to be involved with. The sentiment had continued through the first few months of rehearsals. But a week ago, things had gone south between them and they had broken up.
Now, everything involving the play had turned into an all-out fight. They had progressively gotten more and more agitated with each other the last few days. Yesterday it was about the placement of a table for the set. The day before that it had been the type of shoes I was going to wear. I kept hoping they would iron out their problems and learn how to work together but the situation seemed to keep escalating, not getting better.
“Bet you ten dollars that you’re going to make your kid’s soccer game today,” I said to Angelina, the female lead.
We sat next to each other in the audience seats, waiting to do the next scene. Angelina was a seasoned Broadway character actor who had been in the industry for over ten years. She had slowly been making a name for herself and this was her first lead. We had become fast friends and she was my closest confidant of the cast.
“I’m worried I’m going to be seeing all her soccer practices if this shit keeps up,” she said back.
“You don’t think they’d close the production, do you?” A shiver went down my spine. I couldn’t have the play canceled before it had even gone into previews.
“Lesser conflicts have derailed production. I had one end because the producer's dog died and he was too distraught to do anything else. Don’t get me wrong, I’ll be devastated when Barney dies too, but I’m going to be able to do my job, especially when everyone else is counting on me.”
“Shit,” I muttered.
Angelina laughed. “What? You’ll be fine. I’m sure you’re under contract and it isn’t like you can’t find another job as soon as word gets out.”
“I want this job. I want to do this production.” I didn’t add that I had put all my hopes into this show being a success.
“Don’t we all, but you have to see the writing on the wall. I would say by the end of the week, this production is going to be put on hold. They’ll cite creative differences or some other bullshit. They release some sort of statement about how they’ll be working to reproduce it at a later date, but it’ll never happen. If I were you, I would call my agent and try to find another job, fast.”
Most of the cast had been a bit skeptical about me joining the production. I had quickly proven to them that I was a professional and had been off book before anyone else. I had earned their respect and trust and had hoped that I could do that with the rest of the community. I was worried now it wasn’t going to happen. How was I going to have a career on Broadway if I never got to prove that I deserved one?
“Do you know of any other productions that are looking for people?” I asked.
“Not one of your stature. I mean, you could do some casting calls and open auditions but they would take one look at you and probably laugh. Your agent is your best bet. I thought you knew that,” Angelina said and gave me a questioning look.
“My agent wasn’t the one who got me this gig. I did. She’s not overly thrilled at the idea of me taking a step back from my career, as she calls it.”
“And you wonder why there’s such animosity between Broadway and Hollywood?” Angelina said and glared at me.
“We need to find a way to make this production work. Do you think you can talk to Tommy? I’ll see if Isla will confide in me? Maybe we can find a way for them to work together?” I suggested.
A loud banging came from the back of the theater and Angelina looked at me like I was crazy. “Do you want to get involved in that? I don’t. We just have to wait and see which one comes out of this alive.”
“Alive?”
“Which one keeps the production rights. That will determine what happens to all of us,” Angelina said.
“You mean if Isla keeps them then she’ll keep the cast members she likes. If Tommy does,” I said and left the rest of the sentence hanging out there between us.
“Exactly. You and I would be on the street. Tommy is the writer so she would keep the story but Isla is the director so she would keep the production rights or at least the rights to the theater. I’ve seen it happen before. It’s just the company’s way of making sure no one is happy. Tommy wouldn’t have a theater to do her play and Isla wouldn’t have a play for her theater.”
“Nice, so lose-lose for everyone?” I asked.
“Welcome to the Great White Way,” Angelina said and then sat up when Tommy came storming out of the back and walked down the stairs.
“That’s it for today. All you can go the fuck home,” Tommy said. She didn’t break stride as she practically yelled the words to us. Isla had been able to separate her anger and frustration with Tommy from the rest of the cast and crew. Tommy hadn’t and seemed to hate us as much as she hated Isla.
None of us moved but waited until Isla came out and with a sad look on her face she said, “Let’s pick this back up tomorrow, shall we?”
“And that's a wrap on another crappy day,” Angelina muttered as she stood up and put her purse over her shoulder. “I’m going to make the best of it and watch my daughter’s game. I suggest you do the same. I have a feeling your days in New York are numbered.”
“What is the saying, ‘It ain’t over until the fat lady sings?’” I asked.
“I don’t think you can say that anymore. Look, this isn’t going to end well. The sooner you look to get a replacement for this gig, the better off you’ll be.”
“Thanks, but I don’t believe in jumping ship that quickly.”
“Dude, the ship is going down. There’s no way to save it. All you can do is save yourself. No one would blame you if you never came back,” Angelina squeezed my shoulder as she walked away.
I didn’t watch her go but looked at Isla and my heart broke for her. She had been so optimistic about the play, about working with Tommy, and the future they were going to have. I could see how much stress she was under and she didn’t see a way out of it.
“You don’t have to stay,” Isla said when she saw me.
“I have nowhere else to be. Plus, I wanted to make sure that my friend is doing okay,” I said.
“Just peachy. Living the dream. Can’t you tell?” She gave me a half-hearted smile.
“Totally,” I said.
I stood up and saw that no one was around. Tommy’s outburst had cleared the theater as it had done the previous days. I walked up to Isla and held out my arms. She immediately went into them and wrapped them around me.
We had been friends since we met on my first movie. She was more seasoned in the way of movie sets and had taken me under her wing. She had soon left Hollywood to pursue her dream of directing on Broadway. She had been doing well and thought she had struck gold with working, and then falling in love, with Tommy.
I had thought I found the perfect venue and people to work with to launch my Broadway career. I didn’t want to think it was over for either of us but Angelina was right, this production wasn’t going to happen. I just wasn’t sure if Isla had figured it out or accepted that not only was the production dead before it had even started but it looked like her relationship was too.
“You’re doing great,” I said to her.
She laughed and moved away from me. “I’m a mess. My relationship is in the toilet with no chance of being fixed. The production is a disaster. We’re moments away from being shut down. Everyone knows it. I have to go and talk to the investors later today. I’m sure they’re going to tell me they’re pulling out. If I were them, I would,” she said.
“Do you want some support? I could go with you?” I suggested.
“No. This is something I need to do on my own,” she said with a sigh.
“You don’t think there’s any way this can be resolved between you and Tommy?” I asked.
Isla laughed. “No. She’s already seeing someone else. Apparently, she’s angry that I’m not more upset about it.”
“I’m not following,” I said.
“Neither am I. Apparently, she wanted me to be more broken up about it. She thought I would be so upset I would want a few days off. Then she could go on a tropical holiday with her new lover.”
“She wanted you to look like the heavy and she is instead. Is there any way you could just kick her off the production?” I asked.
“If only it were that easy. She’s the writer, she has the rights for the story. There’s no story without her. She doesn’t want to cooperate so we’re dead in the water.”
“Angelina was telling me that if the production is canceled, you would still have the theater to use if you wanted but Tommy would keep the rights to the story. Is that right?” I asked.
“Yes.”
“So, if you were to find another play to produce, you could. Assuming you and investors liked it?” I asked.
“I guess, technically we could. It would depend on the writer and what they wanted. They may not want to work with me, or any of the other cast and crew. Are you suggesting that we get another writer so we all can keep our jobs?”
“Yes.”
Isla shook her head. “It’s impossible. No one’s going to take a chance on me. I’ve already failed one production. Why would they trust me to do right by them? And there isn’t enough time to get another director and writer in by the time we’re supposed to open. It’s a great idea but it isn't going to work.”
Isla dropped her head back and closed her eyes. I could see how much she wanted this to work, I did too. I didn’t want to think that we were going to just let this all end simply because of a bad break-up.
I tapped her lightly on the shoulder and she looked at me. “What if there was a writer who was willing to work with you and the company? Do you think you could make the investors to back it?”
“Maybe. I don’t know. I would need to see the script and talk to the writer. Then I would have to take it to the investors. I doubt it but if you have a person in mind. I’m all ears.”
My body tensed up at her statement. It was a gamble, a huge one, and I knew it more than likely wasn’t going to work. But I needed to stay in the city. I wanted to help my friend, and I didn’t want to see everyone else lose their job. Not if I could help it.
I wasn’t even sure if Isla would take me seriously, much less her investors. But I had to try. If this worked out, not only would I be able to save the production. I would get to stay in the city, and hopefully give a huge boost to the career and future I wanted to have. I was making headway with Ara and I wasn’t going to let that slip through my fingers. Not when I was this close to have everything I wanted.
“Yes. I do have a person in mind. Me,” I said.