Curtain Up by Lisa Fiedler Read Free Book Online Page A

NUMBER
    â€œComedy Tonight” from A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM
    (Full Cast)
    â€œAnything You Can Do”
    from ANNIE GET YOUR GUN
    â€œSeize the Day” from NEWSIES
    Scene from PETER PAN
    â€œMaybe” from ANNIE
    â€œTry to Remember” from THE FANTASTICKS
    (Dance Solo)
    Monologue from YOU’RE A GOOD MAN, CHARLIE BROWN
    CLOSING NUMBER
    â€œThere’s No Business Like Show Business”
    from ANNIE GET YOUR GUN (Full Cast)
    CURTAIN CALL TBA
    (Full Cast)
    ----
    Â 
    I flipped through the script. In addition to the lines from the actual plays, between each number Austin had written original dialogue that would serve to introduce and connect each individual performance. It had a fun new-millennium-vaudeville vibe, which was exactly what I’d imagined whenhe first suggested it.
    â€œI can’t believe you already finished it,” I said. “You started only two days ago.”
    â€œThat’s how the creative process is,” he reminded me with a grin. “Sometimes things just want to be written. And besides, I can’t really take that much credit. Most of it—the music, the scenes—is stuff other people have already written. I just sort of cobbled it together.”
    â€œWell, you’re a great cobbler. You made excellent choices, and it has a really good flow. Perfect songs, awesome scenes . . .” I looked up from the pages to smile at him. “Austin, you’re incredible!” Then I caught myself and clarified, “I mean, this script is incredible.”
    â€œThanks, Anya.”
    â€œSo . . . what’s the closing song?”
    He crooked a grin at me. “That’s a surprise.”
    Before I could press him for a clue, he hurried on.
    â€œI have most of the sheet music for the songs I picked out,” he added, nodding toward a pile of music books he’d placed on the coffee table. “But not all of it.”
    â€œI bet we have whatever you’re missing,” I assured him, hurrying across the room to the piano. I held the script reverently, just as I would handle the antique crystal gravy boat my nana Adele uses only for Thanksgiving dinner—like itwas priceless. Because it was.
    I opened the piano bench and began rifling through all the old sheet music tucked inside. Susan and Austin came over to help me.
    We laughed when I pulled out our beginner books (Ugh! “Hot Cross Buns”! Why?), and Susan found a bunch of classical compositions (which I’d always found challenging, but Susan had breezed through them like a champ).
    Things improved significantly when we found my beloved Marvin Hamlisch (best composer ever ! A Chorus Line . . . enough said!). Lucky for our miniscule dues-only budget, we’d collected plenty of Broadway music over the years. Much of it was from what my dad would call the “old standards,” like Guys and Dolls, Finian’s Rainbow, The Fantasticks , and West Side Story . Susan turned up her nose at the Gilbert and Sullivan stuff, but I confessed that I didn’t mind The Pirates of Penzance , and this had us giggling as we belted out a few choruses of “I Am the Very Model of a Modern Major-General.”
    We also had an excellent cross section of newer songs from more contemporary shows like Matilda, The Book of Mormon , and Hairspray .
    Austin was pleased with the haul; between our two collections we had music for every song in the show and plentyof additional choices for the kids to audition with. We both agreed that the more recent shows would be our best bets for the audition songs. We picked “Popular” from Wicked and “Seize the Day” from Newsies , then threw in “Maybe” from Annie because . . . well, because it’s Annie !
    â€œWho’s going to provide the musical accompaniment for the auditions?” Susan asked, making a big show of cracking her knuckles.
    â€œI guess you and Austin could take