Adrienne seemed amused, however, which only made me feel that much more foolish. “Well, I think everyone’s happy you’re
here. You should come out with us tonight. We generally hang out after the show.”
“Thanks, that’d be fun. I’m anxious to get to know everyone.” I nodded one or two times too many and then left the dressing room before I said anything else I’d want to punch myself in the face for later.
It wasn’t until I was alone in the hallway that I allowed myself to acknowledge that Adrienne Kenyon was ten times more striking in person than on any TV show or stage production. She had long, dark brown hair, big green eyes, and skin I would kill for. She was gorgeous. And the towel hadn’t helped matters either…
❖
The Davenport was a small bar two blocks from the hotel we were put up in. Apparently, in every city, the cast zeroed in on an after-show location for the week of the run. I’d met most everyone in the company by the time we walked to the bar. They seemed like a fun bunch, with the exception of Sienna, who hadn’t given me a second look since our initial exchange. That relationship was one I might need to work on at some point. I tended to shy away from conflict and would rather do what I could to smooth things over in a situation like this.
The company split into several tables once we got inside. I wound up sitting with Lanie, Georgette, Craig, Kyle, and few more of the ensemble members whose names I hadn’t yet committed to memory. I noticed Adrienne sitting with Ben, Sienna, and a few others at a table not far from ours. I was already getting a feel for the different cliques within the company.
Georgette got the waiter’s attention and ordered a round of beers for all of us. I didn’t protest even though I wasn’t a huge drinker. I wanted to blend in tonight. “I cannot believe I left my lip gloss at the theater,” Georgette practically yelled. “I mean can you
believe
I left my lip gloss at the theater?” She was staring at me with widened eyes and seemed very intent on lip gloss.
“No, I can’t believe it either. That’s horrible.” I didn’t know what else to say.
“It’s just typical,” she continued. “If it’s not one thing, it’s another. I can’t even
believe
I did that! Wait!” She grabbed my arm across the table and froze. I stared back, freezing as well. The grip she had on my arm was five seconds from painful. This girl was hardcore. “I am in love with this song. Are you not
in love
with this song, Jenna?”
I listened for a moment. It was an eighties song, “Hungry Eyes.” I nodded. “It’s a pretty good song.” I didn’t think Georgette heard me answer, however, as she was already up and heading to the small makeshift dance floor across the room. It was a slow song, but she didn’t feel the need to dance with anyone else. She was perfectly content moving and swaying to the music on her own. A few others in our group got up to dance as well. I sipped my beer and couldn’t help but look across at Adrienne. She was laughing at something Sienna had said. I forced myself to stop staring by literally shaking myself out of it. I turned back to Lanie. We were mostly alone at our end of the table now. “So what do you think about all of this?”
“I think we’re going to do fine here. Don’t worry your little head about it. I also think we shouldn’t stay long. We have early morning rehearsal, and they don’t.” At that point, something over my shoulder caught Lanie’s attention. “Well, so much for that tree I was barking up.” She sighed.
I followed Lanie’s gaze to Ben leading Adrienne to the dance floor. I had to admit they looked pretty cozy, but to comfort Lanie I said, “They’re just dancing, Lanie. It doesn’t mean he’s off the market.”
“It’s whatever. This isn’t my first rodeo, kid. Leading man, leading lady, I get it. That story’s about as old as they come. It’s a shame though. Look at that guy.” She bit the knuckle of her index finger for emphasis.
I looked back at them. She was right. They would have beautiful children if they wanted to, who would undoubtedly grow up to star in Broadway shows of their own. “You’re right. We should head back for our beauty rest. I would hate for you to fall on your
ass tomorrow.” She elbowed me as I laughed. I grabbed my purse and took Lanie’s arm. As I turned back to say good night to those nearby, I caught Adrienne’s eye as she danced. She smiled politely and waved good night. It was enough to make my breath catch a little. I shook my head at my reaction and headed out the door.
❖
The next morning came way too early, but I didn’t fight the exhaustion from the long day before. I was ready to get to rehearsal and get started. It turned out Todd from the audition was also the dance captain for the show, along with Madison, a tall blonde with a dancer’s body to kill for. We met downstairs in one of the large meeting rooms in the hotel. We would rehearse in the theater later in the week, but for now the hotel would have to do. Todd and Madison lined one of the walls with three large mirrors so we could at least see ourselves as we learned the new combinations. They also laid out numbers across the area of the floor closest to the mirrors so we would practice proper spacing that would transfer easily enough to the numbers on the floor of the
Clean Slate
stage deck. Madison began to teach Lanie and me the opening number first. At the beginning of the show, before the character of Alexis is introduced, I’d be playing an ensemble member in the group scenes and numbers. The audience would never make the connection and one more body dancing onstage always looked better. Unfortunately, the first group number in the show was easily the hardest to learn, as it was high energy and very fast paced. It was intended to impress, and it delivered.
We ran it and ran it and ran it again, until I could barely breathe. But there was no rest for the weary. After a quick lunch, we went back to work.
The afternoon session was split in two, with Lanie working with Todd on the rest of the ensemble choreography while I worked with Madison on the blocking for my scenes. I felt like a fish out of water. When you joined a show already in progress, you’re the only one in need of rehearsal, as the rest of the cast already knows the
show. So throughout the learning process, I was literally acting with invisible people as Madison pointed out where they would be and read their lines for them.
As the first day of rehearsal came to a close, Craig let us know we would be watching the show from the wings tonight, shadowing the actors playing our roles. Essentially, this meant we’d be taking notes on dance positioning, costume changes, entrances, and exits. Wonderful. Sienna would surely love me following her around backstage.
It didn’t turn out to be so bad, however, as Sienna pretty much kept to herself and pretended I didn’t exist. That was fine with me. That was how I preferred it anyway. It gave me a better opportunity to take notes and see how things played out without my presence affecting the mix. Watching the show from the wings offered a different perspective. I was struck at how much Adrienne had to do offstage as well as on. She was in virtually every scene, so whenever she came off, she had just enough time to change costumes before heading back on. I was in awe of how she held it all together and still delivered such a powerhouse performance.
As the cast exited the stage after the final curtain call, Sienna walked by with Adrienne. I decided to make the effort. “Great show tonight, Sienna. I hope I didn’t get in your way too much.”
She paused when she reached me, giving me a once-over. I swear the temperature dropped ten degrees. The smile on her face was plastic and noticeably inauthentic. “I hope you took detailed notes on that little flip pad of yours. We’ve all heard rehearsals aren’t going so well, which is a shame. We were hoping you might actually be good.”
I watched her walk away, telling myself she was just saying whatever she could to piss me off and get under my skin. It was my job to not let that happen. After all, some people were just mean. Adrienne was still standing there so I tried not to let on that the comment had affected me. I raised my eyes to her as she leaned against the wall, taking a final swallow from her bottled water. “First thing you should know about this role is that Sienna is convinced it should be hers,” Adrienne said. “Second thing you should realize is
that it shouldn’t be. You were brought here for a reason and everyone here knows that. What we actually heard is that the rehearsals are going
very
well, and that’s what’s got her in a spin. Sienna’s not a bad person; she’s just a tad territorial.”
“I’d say that’s an understatement. But thanks,” I said. “It helps to hear that from you.”
She thought for a minute. “You know, if you need someone to run lines with, I’d be happy to help. I say them in my sleep as it is; why not put my neurosis toward something good?”
I was shocked. It was a generous offer and not in her job description at all. “That’s incredibly nice of you, but you don’t have to—”
“I know I don’t have to. I want to. It’d be fun. What are you doing tomorrow afternoon?”
“I have rehearsal,” I said.
“Right. I knew that.” She popped herself in the head. An extremely cute pop in the head, I might add. She laughed. “Well, what about tonight? I know you have to get up early, but I’m a night owl. Show hours, you know?”
I couldn’t help noticing how her whole face lit up when she laughed. “Definitely know what you mean. Umm, I don’t have to get up too early,” I lied. I didn’t care how tired I was or that every muscle and joint I had was screaming, I wasn’t passing this up. “If you really mean it, I’d love the chance to run lines with you.”
“Of course I mean it. Why don’t we meet in the hotel restaurant in say…thirty minutes?” She checked her watch. “I just want to get out of all this stage makeup and shower. Plus, I could use a meal.”
I grabbed my bag and headed to the greenroom where I found Lanie chatting animatedly with Susanne, the swing who was currently performing her ensemble track. I pulled her away and explained my plans for the evening and watched as her eyes got wide. “Dinner with Adrienne? Oh, you
have
to get the details on her and Ben. Please!”
“I’ll see what I can do, but no promises. See you in the morning.” I kissed her cheek and left through the stage door to the bus that would take the first group ready back to the hotel. I dropped
my bag off in the room and freshened up a little bit before catching the elevator to the lobby. Why was I so nervous? Adrienne was just another actress I would be working with. I’d met lots of famous people at CCM serving as guest artists. Hell, I’d even worked with them. This was no different. Yet, I knew it
was
different. Adrienne had captivated me with not only her performance in this show, but with her sincerity and professionalism off stage. Maybe I was starstruck, but it was more likely I was still crushing and needed to stop. It was clearly going to hurt my ability to do a good job and that was the most important thing in the world to me.
I arrived at the restaurant first. It was half past eleven and the place was mostly empty. I sat at a table in the far corner of the room, a spot that allowed me to keep my eyes open for Adrienne. I ordered a red wine to relax and wait. It wasn’t long until I saw Adrienne in her plaid newsboy cap enter the hotel. She took off the cap and ran her fingers through her long, dark hair to straighten it out before turning right into the restaurant. The lighting was slightly dimmer inside so I waited for her eyes to adjust before waving in her direction. She smiled and walked over.
“Well, I see you’ve made yourself comfortable.” She indicated my glass of wine.
I shrugged sheepishly. “What can I say? It’s been quite a day. I somehow don’t think this is going to help what they have scheduled for me tomorrow, however,” I said, nodding at the glass.
“No, I’d agree, which is why I’m only going to have one sip of yours.” She reached for my glass and with lighting quick movement did just that. My drink had been hijacked.
“I can’t believe you did that. Aren’t you a big-time star? You can probably afford your own.”
“I don’t know about big-time, but I thought you looked like the type who’d share. Now, let’s order some burgers and get to work.”
I looked at the fancy tablecloth and multiple little forks at my place setting. “I’m thinking this isn’t the type of place that has cheeseburgers on the menu. Just a hunch.”
“Let’s find out.” She arched a playful eyebrow just as the
waiter returned to take our order. “Excuse me. My friend and I were
wondering if it would be too much trouble to have two cheeseburgers made up in the kitchen?” She batted an eyelash for extra effect.
The young man smiled in return. “I’m sure that can be easily arranged, Miss Kenyon, compliments of the house. My wife and I have tickets to your show on Sunday. We’re both fans.”
“Well, I can’t thank you enough for that. I hope you have a great time. Say hello to your wife for me and let her know we’ve had a blast here in Detroit.”
I watched the exchange, impressed with the class Adrienne exhibited. “All right, the library scene, let’s see what you got.”
We started running lines and I was surprised I knew as many as I did. Watching the show tonight had helped cement some of them in, as I was able to visualize the action as I said the words. On the second and third run-through of the scene, I noticed Adrienne was rearrang- ing the wording in her lines and sometimes adding in portions I knew didn’t exist. When I found myself floundering in response, I gave up. “You’re totally trying to screw me up, aren’t you?”
“Me?” With mock innocence, she reached for my glass of wine, stealing her second sip of the night. She smiled triumphantly at her accomplishment. “I would never dream of partaking in such acts. But it is up to me to keep you on your toes, right? Plus, if you think this is bad, wait till you see what I do when I’m bored onstage.” She popped the last bit of cheeseburger into her mouth.
“I can hardly wait.” I threw a glance behind me and noticed the restaurant had grown noticeably darker and quiet. A nearby vacuum roared to life. “I think we’re shutting the place down.”