Page 1 of Curtain Call
ACT 1
Scene 1
Setting: The Review Theater
Rockport, Massachusetts
Last week in November.
Colin
Colin Caflisch was always so confident. Too confident. He was confident in all aspects of his life because he always thought he was only in competition with himself, ‘me versus me,’ he’d say. He would push himself to be the best. He not only excelled in academics but also in the arts. When his parents renovated the small theater they inherited from his grandfather, Colin came up with new ideas to help.
He also remembers falling in love - love for musicals. Colin was 13 when his parents rented out their small movie theater to the local high school for their annual spring production. That year it was Grease and the whole stage was transformed into a drive-in theater, a body shop, and a school festival.
“...the problem is with your rubber band mouth,” the teen actor playing Kenickie said right before another actor playing Danny sings the first few notes of Grease Lightning. As good as the actors were, it wasn’t until the rusty hood of the car, which was attached to a rolling prop, turned during the musical number and Danny was now standing on top of a freshly polished magenta hood that grabbed Colin’s attention. The lighting around the stage also changed to transform the dramatic dream sequence of the scene. The upper corners of the stage shined rays of the same magenta color while the front of the stage was a lighter shade of pink. They finished their number with the rusty hood of the car from the beginning of the scene back on stage as the group of actors was running off. House lights dim. Colin was jaw-dropped.
A young Colin is mesmerized by the music, the costumes, and the acting, but most of all, the lighting and set design - using a central piece that rotated to create another scene was pure magic. He joined the drama club in high school the following year. He, too, wanted to learn how to make that kind of magic happen.
Colin is 25 now and sits in the empty movie theater with his feet propped up on the back of the red, plush seat in front of him. A small crew of volunteers is on stage erecting a tall, green, triangular structure and has goose bumps traveling up his arms knowing that Mac’s renderings, which she gave him months ago, are some of her best. She always gave renderings of the different scenes so Colin could get the lighting worked out. The two of them together have been unstoppable in the way they transformed this little theater for each show.
Colin also thinks about his childhood in this same theater. Sticky floors, the smell of popcorn, and the sound of teenagers making out not so discreetly in the back row. His face heats at the memory. Partly because he too was once a teenager in that back row. A time when life was simple - riding his bike down the brick main street with his best friends Riley and Mac, slumber parties that always started with a movie at this theater because, well, his parents owned it. A time when his life was full of love.
Colin was never the type of person who craved the spotlight. In the 5th grade, he was cast as a farm animal in Charlotte's Web. During opening night, he just kind of stood frozen off to the side of the stage like a cow made of marble in a not-so-fancy museum. The stage was not a place Colin wanted to be, he left the spotlight to Riley. However, he did enjoy singing and playing piano at church with his grandma on Sundays, but that was like singing and playing for family, not strangers. He knew his strengths. Besides, the theater was more about all the stuff behind the characters to pull off a great scene - the lights. Lighting technicians set the mood, the energy, and the takeaway. The technical side of it is what brought the magic. The actors were just pawns to showcase it. Would Phantom of the Opera still have the same effect if the protagonists didn’t look like they were rowing a boat in the water when the stage was filled with fog and blue lights? Or the flashing lights and thunder causing the giant chandelier to swing over the audience’s heads to open the show?
In his upstairs office lies a piece of mint green paper on the corner of his desk. The paper is turned up at the corners, with creases throughout as if using his hand as an iron would have flattened out what was once balled up and thrown across the room in frustration. There are a few tears next to the wordnoticestamped in red across the top. Next to the notice sits two 5x7 frames - one sitting horizontal and houses a picture of three kids leaning up against a tree house and the other one showcasing a set of smiling parents. A memory. A token. A reminder of why he is doing all he can to save the little theater.
Colin Caflisch was someone the town’s people respected. He stayed behind after high school for a gap year to save money for college after all his friends left. Riley left immediately for Broadway while taking performing arts classes at local studios. Mac went to the local community college for construction. Colin stayed to help his family run the theater. The plan was for him to spend his gap year saving money and then meet up with Riley in New York, be roommates, and go to film school. They dreamed of working together for the same show one day. A dream that seems like a million years ago.
Before his year was up, Colin’s father was diagnosed with cancer. After another year was up, his father was in remission, and he knew that was his chance to follow his dream and get reconnected with Riley. Riley. God, he missed their talks and just having a close friend to confide in. When Colin’s mom asked him to stay for another year and help her refurbish the theater, he reluctantly agreed. He knew his dad’s health wasn’t fully recovered as he was still on the weaker side from chemotherapy.
Colin was 21 then and toward the end of renovations, his parents were heading to a medical appointment when a drunk driver ran a red light. A life that was once full of love was instantly taken away and all that was left is a renovated theater that has had one lowball offer so they could tear it down and build a boutique hotel, a pile of therapy debt, and a hole in his chest cavity that will never be filled. No parents. No film school. No Riley.
The sound of hammering on the new set design going up for this year's winter musical, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, is enough to turn Colin’s throbbing head into a full-on migraine. It’s only the first day of construction and he knows it’s going to be a long couple of weeks of noise before dress rehearsals begin. For the next few weeks, they will be constructing a masterpiece that is just as good as you would find Off-Broadway. With a limited school budget, there isn’t room for much except plywood, paint, and a lot of ingenuity. Massaging his temples, he exits through the back double doors of the theater and into the small lobby. A ticket window is left of the entrance, a small concession stand sits to the right, and movie posters line the walls leading into the theater. All musicals. All vintages.
Leaning against the Rent musical poster, Mac’s long, brown curls are covering her face and hands, but Colin knows she is texting by the sound of her nails clicking against the screen that escapes the hair cavern she has created by leaning over. She needs to work on her posture. His mom’s voice echoes in his head about his own posture growing up.
Before he’s noticed, Colin tucks in the front of his shirt, fixes his sleeve that is partially unrolled and sticks on his best fake smile. She doesn’t need to know about the financial troubles of the little theater.
“Seriously?” Mac whispers to her phone, sounding more annoyed than angry.
She clicks the side button and shoves her phone into her Louis handbag. What contractor carries a designer anything onto a job site?
Looking up, her big brown eyes are now fixated on Colin. She smiles a genuine smile. You know, the one that creases the corner of your eyes kind of smiles. Colin’s insides warm. They have been friends since they were kids when Colin moved to Rockport in the 3rd grade. Colin was a shy kid with a love for history and knowing he was less than an hour’s train ride from Boston, he was thrilled about the move. Colin thought he was going to spend every weekend walking the Freedom Trail and touring old buildings from the country’s history books. He also wondered if any of the statues in the museums came to life at night when nobody was around. Colin was nine and a dreamer.
Mac takes a few giant steps toward Colin, who is doing the same when they wrap each other up in one of the world’s biggest hugs. His nose is inside her hair, and he can smell her sweet perfume. Cotton candy. When he pulls back, he notices that she is also wearing more makeup than her usual eyeliner and mascara.
“You’re all dolled up for the first day of construction,” he tells her while examining the natural makeup with a smokey eye. “I didn’t think the construction crew was your type,” he jabs her shoulder with his index finger.
“They’re not,” she retorts by rubbing her hands up and down the sides of her chest while giving him a little wink.
Colin’s face feels hot.
“Glad to know I can still make you blush,” she takes a jab back but Colin sidesteps so she ends up poking air and not his rib.
“Just because we dated in high school doesn't mean-”
“Still the longest relationship I’ve been in.”
