The Final Curtain by Gilbert Morris

Author:Gilbert Morris [Gilbert Morris]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781441239891
Publisher: Baker Publishing Group
Published: 2012-12-26T05:00:00+00:00

10

Midnight Encounter

* * *

Tuesday afternoon the cast met at the Pearl at the behest of Simon Nero. He worked through some rough spots, but they were interrupted by Tom Calvin, who came in with the papers. “Review!” he cried, and they all gathered around, grabbing at the editions of the New York papers.

Dani took no part in the excitement, but she saw that for the others the reviews were a life-and-death matter. On the whole, they were very good, and Ainsley, of course, came in for the juicier items. He read aloud a flattering review, his face beaming with happiness. “Look here,” he shouted. “Maynard Hines says that we’ll be sold out for the rest of the year! I never could stand Maynard, but I’ll always like him now.”

Calvin came over to stand beside Dani, noting her lack of participation. “Not interested in what the critics have to say about your performance, Danielle?”

She shrugged. “I’m not sure I want to hear, Tom.”

“Why, it’s good!” he said in a pleased voice. Spreading the paper out so that she could see, he read aloud:

One of the surprise treats was the performance of Danielle Morgan, who played the role of Marian Powers. The role itself is not difficult, but stepping into a play at the last minute—and in such trying circumstances—is always a challenge. The most one can expect, in most cases of this sort, is adequacy. Miss Morgan, however, possesses at least a trace of intensity, which carries over into her role. She never once fell into the trap of overplaying the part (which would be a temptation even for a veteran!), and in the scene where she is shot by the star, the audience held its breath. It was impossible not to think that the last time this scene was enacted, the result was the death of Amber LeRoi. But Miss Morgan refused to succumb to the temptation of trading on that bit of human drama, relying instead on a range of expression both in voice and body action that has great promise. The only flaw in her performance was the love scenes with Jonathan Ainsley, which proved rather insipid.

Dani gave Calvin a quick smile. “That trace of intensity, Tom, is unmitigated nervousness.”

“I don’t think so,” he disagreed.

Ainsley had come over, smiling at her. “So, our love scenes are ‘insipid,’ are they? Well, we’ll have to put some fire in them, won’t we Danielle?”

“Congratulations, Jonathan,” Dani offered. “I’m glad the critics appreciated your play—and your performance.”

“Critics!” Ainsley sniffed with contempt. “I like what Mark Twain said about them: ‘The trade of critic, in literature, music, and the drama, is the most degraded of all trades.’”

“But we all grab the papers and stand around reading their reviews, don’t we, Jonathan?” Lily objected. She had gotten reviews almost as good as Ainsley’s. Her face glowed, and bright animation filled her face as she looked up at him.

“Why, I suppose we do,” he admitted, putting his arm around her. “But I feel about critics

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