Candlelight City Read online

  Candlelight City

  By Jessica Tang-Von Harper

  Copyright © 2014 by Jessica Tang-Von Harper

  All Rights Reserved

  To my husband and his amazing support.

  Table of Contents

  1. Audition

  2. The Role

  3. The Script

  4. Callback

  5. The Note

  6. Considerations

  7. A Practice Shower

  8. Swimming Pool

  9. A Book

  10. A Difficult Scene

  11. Method Acting

  12. Reconsidering the Scene

  13. Script Girl

  14. Rumors

  15. Staying in Character

  16. Her Interview

  17. Maddy

  18. The Set-up

  19. Myron

  20. The After Party

  21. A Plan for Emma

  22. The Movie

  23. Accepted

  24. Opening Night

  25. Performance

  26. Congratulations

  1. Audition

  “Rebecca Oswald!” Mr. Belfast’s voice rang through the auditorium. A tall girl with blonde hair stood. Suzie didn’t know her. The tall girl walked to the steps and ascended onto the stage.

  Suzie nervously re-read the lines on her paper. As she waited for her name to be called, she wondered for the hundredth time if she should just stand up and leave. Her mind retraced the meeting with her guidance counselor that Monday.

  “Suzie, have you thought about which schools you might like to apply for?” Mr. Tibbets had asked her.

  “Yes,” Suzie answered. “I’m applying to Stanford.” It had always been her dream to go to Stanford, and that was why she’d worked so hard to be the top ranked student in her class.

  But Mr. Tibbets cleared his throat, and told her, with a pained expression on his face, “Okay, Suzie. But you should maybe apply to some other schools that you might have more of a chance to get into. I’m looking at your transcript, and your academic record is impeccable. However, Stanford looks for more than that. You know Antoine Grelotti, I’m sure?”

  “Of course.” Suzie’s mouth tightened at the mention of her biggest rival. He was a tall boy with the demeanor of a slick trial lawyer, and he’d consistently been in her classes since junior high.

  “Antoine is also applying to Stanford. He has a GPA above 4.0, just like you. But he’s also an accomplished violist, a member of the tennis team, class treasurer. He’s the type of student you’re competing against to get into Stanford. Stanford doesn’t just want good grades and good SAT scores. They want a well-rounded student, with a lot of extra curricular activities. I’m afraid you don’t have a lot in that regard.”

  “But I have the top class ranking. Antoine is number two.”

  “That’s a small difference. A few percentage points. All the other things he does, those are going to give him the edge over you.”

  “What should I do?”

  Mr. Tibbets regarded her seriously. “Well, you still have your whole senior year. You should get out there and see what looks fun. There’s a lot that happens at this school. Sports, clubs, drama, music. You’ve always seemed a bit introverted to me, Suzie. You should make it your goal this year to break out of your comfort zone. Try something new. Take a risk. It’s more than just something for you to get into Stanford. You should take advantage of what this school has to offer, get some life experiences.”

  Suzie vowed to take his advice. And so, when she passed a big sign in the hallway that said auditions would be held for a play called “Candlelight City”, she made a spur of the moment decision that she would audition for the play.

  Talk about leaving her comfort zone! Suzie didn’t know how uncomfortable she would be until she sat in that auditorium, waiting for her turn to audition, reading and re-reading the monologue printed on a wrinkled piece of paper. She was filled with dread that she would get up on stage and forget her lines.

  The girls had been given three different monologues to choose from. Rebecca Oswald was performing the same monologue Suzie had prepared, and was failing miserably. She repeatedly had to glance at her paper to remember her lines. When Mr. Belfast called the next name, Rebecca’s shoulders slumped and she fled the stage.

  Finally, Suzie heard her name. “Susan Moore!” Taking a deep breath, she made her way to the stage.

  Suzie, however, wasn’t the type of person who would ever do anything unprepared, and she’d rehearsed the monologue many times. She didn’t forget her lines. She delivered them cleanly and crisply, and tried hard to make them sound spontaneous, as if she was really the person speaking the words. When she finished, there was a moment of silence from the three teachers sitting in the front row.

  “Fine, Susan,” Mr. Belfast said. He rubbed his beard. “Can you hold your hands in the air and turn in a circle?”

  Suzie was confused. None of the other girls had been asked to do this. But she did what he said.

  “All right,” Mr. Belfast said when she was facing forward again. “Jennifer Tyler!”

  Suzie stepped off the stage. Perhaps she wouldn’t get cast. But she felt satisfied that she had done the best she could. It was up to the teachers now.

  2. The Role

  Two days later, Suzie discovered a group of students clustered around a paper that had been tacked to the bulletin board. A few of them departed, talking excitedly, and she was able to get close enough to the paper to read it.

  In bold letters on the top of the page, it read:

  CALLBACKS FOR CANDLELIGHT CITY

  ALL STUDENTS WHO RECEIVE A CALLBACK SHOULD MEET WITH MR. BELFAST, RM 204, DRAMA DEPARTMENT TO RECEIVE A COPY OF THE SCRIPT.

  Suzie read down the list of students looking for her name.

  There it was!

  “Susan Moore – Callback for Jenna Algood.”

  Suzie bounced up and down with excitement. She’d received a callback! Her audition had been good enough. She might even be in the play!

  She wasn’t familiar with the play “Candlelight City”, and didn’t know how big a role Jenna Algood had in the play. But even if it was a bit part, standing in the background, it was big enough for her. Big enough to put on a Stanford application.

  Suzie stopped by the Drama department just before lunch. Mr. Belfast’s door was open, and she could see him sitting by himself, reading a paper. She knocked lightly on the door, and he looked up. “Hi.” She tried to sound assertive. “Suzie Moore? Susan Moore, I mean.”

  “Oh, yes,” Mr. Belfast said. “Jenna Algood. Come in.” He opened one of his desk drawers and leafed through some papers, finally extracting a bound stack of pages. “Here’s the script. The scene for the callback is marked in yellow.” He looked at her, appraising her. “I encourage you to read the entire script before you come in for your callback. We’re considering you for the part of Jenna Algood, the main female character of the story. It’s a big part.”

  “Really?” Suzie was surprised. She’d never been in any of the drama productions before.

  “Yes. But you should read the part and make sure you’re up for it. Jenna Algood is a prostitute, and there are some scenes that deal with adult themes. I want you to promise that you’ll read the script before your callback. Don’t pursue the part unless you’re comfortable with it.”

  “Okay. I’ll read it. Thanks, Mr. Belfast.” Suzie took the script from his hand.

  3. The Script

  True to her word, Suzie read the script from beginning to end. What she read was a little shocking to her

  Jenna Algood was a prostitute, definitely, and a lot of the scenes centered around her profession. Standing on the street, wearing next to noth
ing, trying to pick up customers. The script didn’t specifically say what Jenna wore in those scenes, but it clearly wasn’t much. Suzie had always dressed somewhat conservatively. What would the school think of her if she stood out on stage in a miniskirt and tube top?

  That wasn’t the worst of it. In one scene, Jenna was interrupted while in bed with a client. Suzie read the scene several times, trying to picture what would be seen on the stage. Would the bed be right there? Would she have to simulate the sex act with whoever was playing Carlos? Suzie had only had sex once before in her life. She wondered if she could really fake having sex with someone.

  It wasn’t the only scene that involved sexual situations. The play was basically a love story between Jenna Algood and a man named Elias Songe. One scene had Jenna and Elias having a conversation, where each confessed to being in love with the other, and the implication was that after the scene took place, Jenna and Elias went and made love to each other. So the scene and the conversation led in that direction, and it seemed like Suzie would have to hug and kiss whoever was playing Elias. Would it be real kisses? Some kind of stage kiss that looked real but wasn’t? Suzie didn’t know.

  Despite her concern over what playing Jenna would entail, Suzie had to admit it was a really good play. The story was very moving, and Jenna Algood seemed like a fascinating and complex character. Suzie knew she would be interested in seeing the play performed. But could she really imagine herself actually being in the play, pretending to be a prostitute?

  She remembered the words of her guidance counselor. Break out of your comfort zone, he had said. Try something new. Maybe the fact that she was a little uncomfortable with the role was a sign that she should try for it. She was eighteen, after all. She should be mature enough to handle a play with adult themes such as this one.

  Suzie thought about showing her parents the play, then decided not to. She wasn’t likely to get the part anyway. Why worry them unnecessarily? Suzie decided she would do the callback. She probably wouldn’t get the part, but maybe there was a smaller part they would give her.

  4. Callback

  Suzie couldn’t help but glance at the callback list on the bulletin board whenever she walked by. She noticed the boys would have their callbacks a couple of days before the girls. Suzie was glad to have the extra time to practice her scene.

  It was an early scene between Elias and Jenna. Elias had picked up Jenna off the street, and brought her to a hotel room. He wasn’t used to prostitutes, and her presence made him nervous. It was the first real conversation between the two characters.

  Suzie’s best friend Emma helped her rehearse her lines. Emma read for Elias, and they went through the scene several times. “You sound great, Suzie,” Emma enthused. “You sound totally convincing.” But Suzie wasn’t so sure.

  Finally, the day of the callback came. Suzie went to the auditorium. She’d studied the callback sheet carefully, and knew that five other girls had received callbacks for Jenna Algood. Suzie took a seat by herself, close to the front, but far enough away that she was away from the stage lights. She felt like hiding anonymously in the darkness while watching the other auditions.

  It turned out that the part of Elias had been cast already. The part would be played by a handsome blonde boy named Brad Harper. Suzie remembered seeing him in Midsummer Night’s Dream the year before. Brad was helping with the auditions for Jenna Algood. He would be reading Elias’ part.

  As Suzie sat in the darkness, she heard voices from behind her and to her right – two girls talking.

  “I don’t know why they’re even bothering with this,” the first girl said. “Do you think anyone has a chance at this role besides Tonya Mortinson?”

  The second girl responded, “Nah. Of course he’s going to cast Tonya. She’s been the lead in everything.”

  Suzie thought about that performance of Midsummer Night’s Dream, and she remembered Tonya Mortinson had also been in it, as one of the main characters. Tonya was gorgeous – blonde and tall like a model, with icy blue eyes. Suzie knew from the callback sheet that Tonya was one of her competitors for the Jenna part.

  “Oh well,” Suzie thought, feeling a little disappointed. “Maybe I don’t really have a chance. I’ll just go out there and do my best.” She reminded herself that she hadn’t thought she had a chance anyway. You didn’t try out for the Spring play your senior year and expect to get the main role. That role would naturally go to a girl who had been involved in Drama throughout high school.

  Mr. Belfast called the first girl up. Suzie settled in to watch.

  The first girl wasn’t half bad, and the second girl was better. A couch was on stage, and the girls performed their lines while sitting next to Brad. Brad delivered his lines from memory, and well. Suzie thought he would make a good Elias – not exactly what she had pictured, but good.

  Still, although the two girls who went first were good, Suzie thought there was something missing. She couldn’t put her finger on it, but neither of them really seemed like Jenna.

  Tonya Mortinson went next, and she made the first two girls look bad. She was beautiful, and delivered her lines with intensity and emotion. Suzie watched carefully, and it was clear to her that Tonya had a lot of experience on stage. She looked very comfortable out there in the lights, in a way that the first two girls hadn’t.

  But despite Tonya’s obvious skill, Suzie couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something missing. Something that didn’t seem true to her. Then, all at once, it hit her.

  Physical contact. Tonya wasn’t touching Brad at all. That wasn’t how Jenna would behave. Jenna was a prostitute, who had gone to Brad’s room to have sex with him. Would she really sit on the other side of the couch, so far away from him? In the scene, Elias was the one who was reluctant to have sex with Jenna. But to Jenna, he was another customer, and it was her job to seduce him.

  Suddenly, Suzie was trying to think as if she was Jenna. She stood up and crept to the aisle, then walked to the back of the theater. The girl’s bathroom was on the right side of the lobby, and Suzie pushed open the brown door. She felt a wave of stage fright, and it made her feel like she had to use the bathroom. She stepped into one of the stalls and peed.

  Afterwards, Suzie stood in front of the mirror, washing her hands. She looked at her reflection. Was that what Jenna would look like? Of course not – she looked like Suzie Moore, her hair in a pony tail, wearing a conservative button up striped shirt and a long white skirt. Suzie hesitated, then pulled out her pony tail, letting her hair fall on her shoulders. She looked at her shirt, and noticed that the lines of her bra were faintly visible through the fabric. It was a plain white bra; practical, but not sexy at all.

  Suzie went back into the bathroom stall. She swiftly removed her shirt, then pulled off her bra, shoving it into her purse. Once she had put her shirt back on, she stepped outside and looked at herself in the mirror again. She looked better. Her breasts were firm enough that the fabric of her shirt clung to them, but a dark stripe cut across them so that her nipples weren’t visible. She felt sexier – she couldn’t remember the last time she’d gone braless at school. Probably never.

  Suzie snuck back into the auditorium, and Tonya was just finishing. Before Suzie could even sit down, she heard Mr. Belfast’s voice call her name. “Susan Moore!” Suzie fought another wave of anxiety, and walked to the stage.

  Brad was waiting for her, sitting on the couch. He smiled at her, and she smiled back. “Ready?” he murmured.

  She just nodded. The lights seemed so bright up there. “Hello, Susan. Just start whenever you’re ready,” Mr. Belfast’s voice came from the murk of the audience. Suzie didn’t try to pick out where he was sitting; the lights were too bright to see anything past the front of the stage. It was like being on an island, floating in space.

  She looked at Brad. Be Jenna, she told herself, and she started to speak. “Nice place.”

  Brad began the dialogue he had already gone through three times before. “
Not really,” he told her. “It’s not mine. I’m just renting it, for this.”

  “I know.” Suzie sat on the couch next to Brad. She caught him by surprise by sitting right next to him. The other girls had left a foot of space, but she was almost touching him. Brad quickly recovered and continued his lines.

  “Have you ever been to this place before? The Red Jacket Inn?”

  “I have,” Suzie said. “But not in a while. And never this room. Have you been here? I bet you haven’t.”

  “I haven’t. How did you know?”

  “I can tell. You don’t usually rent rooms by the hour, do you?”

  “No,” he admitted. “This is the first time. Not the first time with a girl… I mean, the first time with a girl… ah….”

  “A girl like me? You seem like a man who hasn’t. I can usually tell.” Suzie pulled on her skirt, exposing her legs. She took Brad’s hand and placed it on her bare knee. She could tell by a look in his eyes that he was surprised by this contact. But a moment later, he was back in character, gently rubbing his hand up and down her upper leg.

  “How can you tell?” he asked her. “Do I seem nervous?”

  “A little bit.” Suzie giggled. Jenna giggled. “And you’re talking to me. The men who come here a lot, they aren’t so interested in talking. They don’t really care what I have to say.”

  “I am nervous,” Brad said. Suzie could tell that he really was a little nervous, and she thought he looked a little turned on. His hand continued to rub her leg, and it seemed like he was slowly, almost imperceptibly, moving his hand higher and higher onto her thigh. “But also I feel like talking to you. I guess that’s what it is.”

  “So this is really the first time you’ve done this?” she asked. “The first time you’ve ever picked up a girl like me on a corner?”