Page 68 of Something Cheeky

“I’m only here to observe. Hands off.” He gestured to reiterate his point.

“Of course,” Derek demurred and nodded at Heather, who quickly pulled out a chair for Greg.

The artistic director had free reign in his theater, but Derek had hoped Greg wouldn’t observe rehearsals until much later during the process, when the cast was off-book and had a better handle on their characters. Derek hoped to foster an atmosphere of their shared experiences as Asian Americans in order to create multilayered characters. That would be much harder to do with Greg sitting in.

With only three weeks before tech rehearsal, Derek didn’t have the luxury to veer off schedule. Greg was part of the equation whether he liked it or not.

“Thank you, folks. Take ten and we’ll regroup for the next number,” Heather announced. “Then you get a lunch break!”

The cast cheered with tired enthusiasm. For the past hour and a half, Th?o had pushed them hard to hit their notes and express their emotions while keeping the lyrics as easy to understand as possible.

“You all sound great today,” Derek added. “It’s hard to believe you’ve been at this for only two days.”

The actors gave him a thumbs-up and murmured thanks. They began shuffling out of the rehearsal studio as Heather reminded them to hydrate.

“Good job, everyone!” Greg called out after them, as if he didn’t want to be left out of the conversation.

Th?o rolled her eyes and mouthed Greg’s words behind his back. Derek snorted and bit back a laugh.

“Derek, can I have a word?” Greg’s eyes darted over to Th?o. “Alone?”

“Sure,” Derek agreed reluctantly.

“Be back in a few. Gotta take a bio break,” said Th?o, and stuck her tongue out at Derek when Greg was turned away. She fled with the rest of the cast, leaving him alone with his mentor.

“I’m proud of you, Derek.”

Greg had said this so often, Derek wasn’t sure how much to believe him anymore.

“You were right about keeping Katie Mai as the older sister,” Greg continued. “Her voice is stunning. And it makes sense why someone like her would worry about whether the Emperor truly loved her.”

Derek gritted his teeth. He thought the issue had been settled yesterday.

“Her body size isn’t why I cast her in this role, but I’m glad you can see why she’s the best person for it,” Derek reminded him in a firm voice.

“Exactly. I have some suggestions if you don’t mind.” Greg pulled out a small notebook from his shirt pocket.

“Actually I do.”

“I wanted to bring it up privately,” the artistic director continued, “so I don’t undermine you in front of your cast.”

“Greg,” Derek warned, “I have everything under control.”

“Some food for thought.” Greg shrugged before flipping to a page and squinting at his notes.

Derek cleared his throat loudly to show his impatience.

“There’s a lot of Vietnamese in the show, especially the songs.”

“I don’t see a problem with that,” Derek responded carefully. He and Th?o had worked hard to make sure the Vietnamese dialogue and lyrics could easily be understood through context.

“Have you considered translating it? Add the same lyrics but in English right after so everyone can understand what they’re singing?”

Derek’s nostrils flared as he attempted to keep his voice under control. “The audience will understand. Didn’t you tell me not to underestimate them?”

“I did.” Greg beamed. “But people come to the theater to escape, not exercise their brains.”

“I disagree. Theater is art and good art encourages the viewer to—”

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