Act 2 by Andrew Keenan-Bolger

Author:Andrew Keenan-Bolger
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Young Readers Group
Published: 2016-02-04T05:00:00+00:00

I watched nervously as Belinda broke up the girls into groups of four. The first few were shaky, mistaking right arms for left and pivots for ball changes, but as the numbers grew higher, the groups seemed to improve. The girls began hitting the right marks and looking more confident. By the time she reached Jenny’s group, they were not only dancing cleanly but infusing the movement with character.

“Numbers twenty-one, twenty-two, twenty-three, and twenty-four,” Belinda called out.

Twenty-three was Lou’s number. She made her way to the downstage right position, hands on her hips and a saccharine smile pinned across her face. As Mr. Hennessy began the intro, Jenny threw her a final thumbs-up from the sidelines. Once the combination began it was as though a spotlight had beamed down from the rafters, shining directly on Lou. The girls lining the wings halted their nervous fidgeting to watch as she danced. She made hilarious faces and accented beats with Oohs and Woos like we’d seen the speakeasy girls do in Let’s Make a Toast! While her kicks weren’t as high and her short frame perhaps not as “dancer-like” as some of the other girls, she more than made up for it with her plucky charm. As the final count of eight began, Lou jumped a step, mistaking a chassé for a turn. Belinda winced, yet Lou seemed to act as if it were nothing, instead replacing the missed counts with a spontaneous ad-lib.

“Nathan, look whatcha made me do!” she whined in her best, most nasally Adelaide voice. Everyone, including Belinda, burst into laughter. I was so proud.

“Thank you, ladies,” she said as the final group buttoned the number. “You may take your seats.”

As the girls trotted down the stairs, Belinda walked center stage and placed her hands over her eyes like a visor, scanning the audience. I reached my hand out and gave a high five to Lou, who was now squeezing into my row. A surge of excitement shot through my body. I knew I was up next.

“Hmm,” Belinda muttered from downstage. “I really thought there’d be more boys.”

“We tried to warn her,” Lou whispered, her wooden chair creaking as she plopped down next to me.

“I might have to rethink . . . ,” Belinda mumbled, beginning to pace across the stage. “Gosh, I’m not sure . . . I don’t know if it’s worth . . .” She checked the silver watch on her wrist and crossed over to Mr. Hennessy at the piano.

I sat up straight in my chair, craning to overhear their conversation. A whisper of panic began spreading through the room.

“She might have to rethink what?” I looked over at Lou.

“I don’t know,” Lou whispered back.

Belinda’s beehive of hair quivered behind the piano as fragments of conversation drifted up and into the room.

“I mean, I can’t have girls play every part.”

“Do you think we should just . . .”

“The whole thing?”

“Oh no.” Lou turned to me with concern. “What’s going on?”

“Ladies and gentlemen,” Belinda bellowed as she chugged back down to the front of the stage, her face twisted into a frown.

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