Broadway Baby (2 page)

I had a quick look round before reaching up to snatch the flyer off the wall.

Then I ran off in search of Billie, our musical theatre teacher.

She wasn't in studios one or two (they are our main studios, in the church that Silver Shoes is built from), but she was in the hall out the back, where most of the drama and
musical theatre classes are held. Billie once told me it has better acoustics.

I saw her hair – which was coloured red, green and yellow, and bound up in a scarf – through the window in the door.

‘Billie!' I said, pushing it open. ‘I need to …'

I stopped.

‘Hello there, Ellie,' said Billie, turning round, the bracelets on her arm jangling. Then she faced back to the small drama class she was obviously teaching. It was the seniors, and they were all looking at me like they didn't know whether to think I was cute or crazy. ‘Now that's what I call a dramatic entrance,' said Billie, winking at them. ‘How can I help you, Miss Irvin?' she asked me.

‘Sorry, Billie,' I whispered, hiding the flyer behind my back. ‘I really need to talk to you.'

‘Well, lovely, if you can wait for two minutes while I finish with this class, I'm all yours.'

‘Great. I'll just wait outside.' I turned to go and then remembered the manners Mum always goes on about. ‘Sorry for interrupting,' I said to the class.

‘Great voice projection,' said one girl, and I flushed and tiptoed out, taking extra care to close the door quietly, like that would make up for the obnoxious way I'd stormed in.

Those two minutes were the longest of my life! I paced up and down the corridor outside. It was the newest part of Silver Shoes, having only been built a few years ago to connect the hall to the main studios.

My eyes kept darting back to the flyer.
Mary Poppins
. Bayside Choral Society with the assistance of Silver Shoes. And then the information in the fine print:
Looking for
triple threats to audition for main roles and a junior chorus. Performed at the Entertainment and Convention Centre
.

It sounded perfect.

Except for the part that said you needed to be able to tap.

I'd given up tapping when I was still in juniors because I wanted to focus on jazz (actually, Mum made me; I would have kept doing it, otherwise). Sure, I remembered the basics – toe heels and shuffles, slaps and stamps. But I knew I was rusty.

Would that ruin my chances of getting in? This could be my big break!

‘Billie!' It burst out of me as soon as she had opened the door. ‘Look!' I thrust the flyer at her.

She took a long look and her lips curved into a smile. ‘
Mary Poppins
,' she said. ‘Yes, I know.
I put the flyer up myself!' She did a quick little sequence with her feet singing ‘A Spoonful of Sugar', which is a song from the musical.

‘Are you choreographing it?' I asked.

‘Only the jazz parts,' Billie said. ‘Not the tapping. Bayside Choral got someone else to do that. He's a teacher at Dance Art.'

‘I want to try out!' I exclaimed.

‘Well, that's super cool, girlfriend,' said Billie, handing the poster back to me. ‘You've come a long way since you first started classes with me a few months ago. I definitely think you're up to it.'

‘What will I have to do at the auditions?' I asked. (I HATE auditions.)

‘Hmm,' said Billie, ‘there'll be a couple of group dance auditions. Then you'll have to sing a number with piano and backing music for the director and the musical director,
perhaps read a scene or two in a British accent. Can you do that?'

‘Of course I can,' I said, ripping off the accent from all the movies I'd watched. ‘And tapping? Will I have to tap?'

‘Sure will,' said Billie. ‘But I wouldn't get too stressed out about that. Even if you're not the best, as long as they see you're giving it a red hot go it should be fine.'

‘Maybe I could do a tap class with you?' I blurted. ‘Before the auditions. You know, the one Paige is in? Just to see if I'll go all right? I don't want to be good at everything else and be let down by lousy tapping.'

Billie gave a big, throaty laugh like it had blossomed right out of her heart. ‘We couldn't have that,' she said. ‘Yes, come along to the next tap class. Do you need to check with your parents first?'

‘It'll be fine,' I said quickly.

Even if it wasn't, I would make it fine. I
had
to do the tap class. My musical theatre career depended on it!

‘Okay, honeybee,' said Billie. ‘We'll see you with taps on Thursday.'

I gave her a big confident smile, thanked her and then ran off, feeling like jellybeans were jumping around in my body.

As I passed by the noticeboard I thought about keeping the poster so no one else would see it and audition. My chances of getting in would be so much better. But at the last minute I quickly pinned it back up. If I got in, I wanted to earn my place.

It was time to start step-toe-heeling again.

Heel, heel, heel, heel.

Toe, toe, toe, toe.

Shuffle, shuffle, shuffle, shuffle.

Slap ball change, slap ball change, slap ball change, slap ball change.

‘I think I've got it,' I whispered to the back of Paige's head.

She turned around at the barre and gave me a quick smile before switching to do all
the steps on her left. ‘Unfortunately it gets a little harder than this,' she whispered.

‘What?' I said, because the sound of twenty kids tapping can get pretty loud.

‘It gets harder than this,' she repeated, louder. ‘But you're a natural, Ellie, you'll be fine.'

So far I was breezing through my trial tap class. I was lined up with other kids, doing warm-ups in unison. What a terrific sound! It made me remember
42nd Street
, and I got so excited that I mucked up the timing on my steps.

Focus, Ellie
, I told myself.
You're here to learn and to see how quickly you can master this tap thing. You can dream of fame and fortune later.

Lucky I did focus, because things got harder pretty much straight away. Next we faced the barre and Billie yelled out, ‘Pick ups!'.

A double pick up was a step where you had to brush back with both feet and land on the balls of your feet. Then Billie had us do trenches – where it took everything I had not to fall forward onto my face – and then wings, which was one of the most uncoordinated experiences of my life.

As if that wasn't enough, then we went around the room doing them all individually so Billie could listen to what kinds of sounds we were making.

I started to feel hot. For once, I didn't want the spotlight to be on me.

‘Ellie,' said Paige, giving my hand a squeeze. ‘You might be thinking too much about it. When I first started learning tap I used to just focus on the sounds the different steps make, and let my feet copy them. Sometimes if you get caught up in stuff like what this leg is doing and where that foot is supposed to go,
you mess yourself up. You have a really good understanding of rhythm, so maybe focusing on the sound is what you should do.'

I thought about that. I closed my eyes and listened to the beats of the taps: how some brushed, some scraped, some were solid thunks, and some were very light and brisk. Then I opened my eyes and watched how everyone's feet struck the floor, and what sounds were made when they did.

I squeezed Paige's hand back. ‘Thanks,' I said to her.

Still, as the line rolled round to me, I felt the pressure to get it right building. It was like waiting to be pelted in the face with rotten fruit.

Don't think about it too much
, I repeated silently to myself.
Just do it, and see what happens.

My turn.

Two sounds
, my mind chanted.
A wing is two sounds. Out in, out in, scrape tap, scrape tap; out in, out in, scrape tap, scrape tap.

Over and over in my head I said it until eventually my feet came into rhythm with my words, and I was doing it without thinking. No, the sound wasn't as crisp as Paige's steps, which came right after mine, but they were still there!

I began to feel that, maybe, this wouldn't be so impossible after all.

My feelings and confidence got stronger when we had to do shuffle-toe-heel turns across the room. I caught sight of myself in the mirror, turning and tapping like I'd been doing it for ages. My imagination put a top hat on my head, shiny black tap shoes with pink bows on my feet, and a tailcoat costume that glittered and caught the light as I spun.

I could do it. Tonight I would get Mum to ring the number on the flyer and book me an audition. And if I didn't get in, at least I'd know I tried.

But I
really
wanted to get in. And not just in the chorus. The starring role! I wanted to be Jane, who is one of the children Mary Poppins comes to look after.

I was so busy dreaming about this that I came out of a turn and ran into the girl in front of me.

‘Sorry, Violet,' I muttered.

‘That's what you spot for,' sassed Violet, but before I could give her a lashing of the Ellie attitude, Paige appeared at my side. Her blonde curls, angelic face and baby-powder smell straight away calmed me down.

‘Killing it.' Paige grinned at me. ‘Who knows, maybe one day we'll be doing tap duos together?'

‘Maybe.' I laughed.

But in my mind, I was already beyond tap duos. I was the tapping queen of Broadway.

Only an audition stood in my way.

Nibble, nibble, nibble.

Stop that.

A big chip of nail polish came off my nails, which I'd painted pink especially for the occasion.

The occasion being the audition, of course.

I'd booked it!

And now I was here!

I'd filled out my form and handed it in. (I may have lied about how much experience I had, but who doesn't? You don't get a leading role by being a nobody.) Now I was waiting for the group audition, where we would learn a short tap sequence and a musical theatre number, which we would then perform for the director and the two choreographers of the shows (Billie and the tap teacher).

The auditions were being held at a function centre in the city, but the actual rehearsals would be held at Silver Shoes. I took that as a good omen. To make myself feel less nervous, I imagined I really was going to audition for a big Broadway show in the 1920s.

There I went, walking down an alley to the building's side entrance, in a coat with a fur collar and a pretty hat with my pin curls poking out. When the porter held the door
open for me I would say, ‘Why, thank you, sir' and ‘Oh golly, well, I never' and give him a sweet look with my big long lashes that fluttered like butterfly kisses whenever I blinked or closed my eyes.

My legs were starting to twitch nervously, so I got out of my seat and walked around the foyer, checking everyone out. Kids younger than me were there, as well as adults as old as my grandpa.

Most of them chatted to each other and seemed very comfortable. I told myself not to be scared, but I didn't see anyone I knew, except for a couple of faces I recognised from competitions. Oh, and Violet from tap class. But I sure wasn't going to talk to her.

Plus, I wanted to be by myself. To prepare. I could see people warming up and going through tap steps, but I felt very out of place and unlike my confident self at Silver Shoes.

I found a corridor running off the foyer and made sure it was empty. Then I shuffled my feet, going through tap steps that I thought might be used in the audition. I wanted it fresh in my memory.

‘Beauuu-tiful mooorrrr-orrrr-orrrr-orrrrorniiiiing,' came a voice from around the corner.

I poked my head around the wall to see who was singing.

It was a girl about my age, with fabulous burgundy-coloured hair, a small pointed nose and a large red mouth.

Well, maybe her mouth only looked large because she was singing in a very exaggerated way.

‘Oh, hello,' she said. ‘Sorry, did I disturb you? I'm just warming up.'

‘No, that's okay,' I said.

‘My name's Cadence Kohdean.' She flashed me a big smile that took up most of her face.

‘Ellie,' I said, backing away from her teeth.

‘I know the singing isn't till after,' Cadence explained, ‘but vocal warm-ups help me get in the audition zone.'

‘You have a nice voice,' I said, although my mind secretly added,
but mine is better.

‘Gosh, thank you,' said Cadence. ‘I've been singing since I was two. This will be the third main role I've auditioned for. Last year I played the lead character in
Annie
and one of the von Trapp children in
The Sound of Music
. What parts have you played?'

‘Um …' I fumbled, pushing my long ponytail off my shoulder. I couldn't make up something quick enough. ‘I played Ariel in
The Little Mermaid
,' I finally said, which was a lie, unless you count a ten-minute performance of ‘Under the Sea' in kindergarten. ‘Usually I just go for the chorus. You get to do all the cool dances that way. Dancing is really my thing.'

‘Yes! You totally look like a dancer,' said Cadence, in a tone of voice that made it hard to tell if she was giving me a compliment or not. ‘I'm more of a singer. I've sung in front of the Prime Minister with the Youth Voices Choir, and also I've sung on a children's education CD. It was to learn your times tables.'

‘You must be busy,' I said, taking another step away, because she had come right up to me. ‘So you're going for the part of Jane?'

‘Oh yes,' said Cadence. ‘I think it will be great for my repertoire.'

I wasn't really sure what a repertoire was, but I knew straight away that this Cadence Kohdean was my main competition.

You can beat her, Ellie
, I said to myself, but suddenly I really wanted Paige and Riley and Ash here with me. I always felt one hundred times more confident when they were around.

The stage manager called out that they were ready to begin the auditions, and for everyone to make their way to the stage.

‘Here we go,' sang Cadence, with a dazzly little tap step that my eyes couldn't even keep up with, much less my feet. ‘Good luck!'

‘Thanks,' I said, following after her swinging ponytail. ‘You too.'

But I wasn't sure if I meant it.