Broadway Baby by Samantha-Ellen Bound Read Free Book Online Page A

show.
    â€˜A small taste of what’s to come,’ Periwinkle had added. ‘But not enough to give everything away. Leave ’em wanting more.’
    It was very exciting, of course. Any chance to perform on stage gets my blood pumping. But it also meant that we only had a couple of weeks to put together a number for the variety night.
    Extra rehearsals were called.
    â€˜The number Billie and I have decided to do, in consultation with the director –’ Periwinkle flashed an oily smile her way that made me think he didn’t really like her (only ’cause I’ve flashed the same smile myself sometimes) ‘– is the number we’ve been working on, “Step In Time”. It’s the big musical piece of the show. We need the main cast, the chorus of tap dancers, and everyone else for the jazz movement in the background. It’s a very long song, so we’ll only do about five minutes of it.’
    â€˜And I’m warning you now,’ Billie cut in, ‘that what I make up may change by the timeit comes to the actual show run. I’m notorious for doing that.’
    â€˜What’s notorious?’ asked one of the girls (a great dancer but her singing wouldn’t win her first place on The Voice , and I guess neither would her IQ). Cadence and I swapped an amused glance and it was almost like I was back with Ash, Riley and Paige at Silver Shoes.
    Notorious, of course, means that you are well-known, not always in a positive way (ahem, not that I had to google it or anything).
    As soon as I knew a performance was involved and I was going to be on stage and in my natural element, I felt the stage blood in my veins go fizzy. I had the beans; I couldn’t wait to start.
    First we had to get the singing out of the way – and I’m talking a whole morning of it. Lucky the song was catchy and had a lot of harmonies and dynamics, or I would havefallen asleep and dribbled all over Cadence’s designer dance tights.
    The song featured Bert the chimney sweep and Mary Poppins as the main singers, with Jane and her brother supporting them, and then the chorus joining in, either as chimney sweeps (the tap troupe) or villagers (the adults).
    The song began with these piano chords that you knew were going to build up to something big. Bert sang first, and then the chorus joined in after him, before everyone launched into the next verse together.
    I know it might sound simple, but when the chorus came in, with the younger voices of the chimney sweeps, and then the more adult voices rounding them out and softly coming in over them, it sounded like a gospel choir. Shivers ran up my spine. The mix of voices kept building, building, building, until I thought my heart would burst as it soaredwith the beautiful sound everyone made when they sang as one.
    It really was like magic.
    At lunch break Cadence and I were sitting on the steps out the front of the hall laughing about it. We talked over each other in our excitement, and tried to chuck pieces of snake into each other’s mouths, all at the same time.
    I was having so much fun with Cadence, I almost couldn’t believe I once thought she’d been a prissy goody-goody.
    That was when Riley and Paige came out from the side door of Silver Shoes and headed towards us.

Chapter Sixteen
    â€˜Hi Ellie,’ said Paige, beaming my way. She paused a couple of steps in front of me, and Riley stopped a step or so behind her, in what I call her ‘Riley’ pose: standing back on one leg, arms crossed, sussing out the situation.
    We usually have lyrical on Saturday mornings, you see, although Billie had pulled a few strings so I could miss it just while we were having these extra rehearsals.
    â€˜Hi guys,’ I said. ‘How was lyrical?’
    Paige darted a quick look at Cadence, while Riley made it obvious she was checking Cadence out. Cadence, for her part, was smiling prettily and warmly, giving Paige a run for