Page 3 of Curtain Call
Turning onto Atlantic Avenue, it feels all too real and Colin’s stomach flips. He swallows the small amount of bile burning the back of his throat and takes a sip of water before cracking a window and inhaling a lung full of crisp winter air.
Scene 2
Setting: Amtrak
Somewhere between NYC’s Grand Central Station and Boston’s South Station
Riley
Riley Cooper made friends easily and didn’t have a mean bone in his body, well, except when he ghosted his best friend Colin after moving to New York City the weekend after graduation instead of going to the lake cabin to hang out with his classmates. The last thing Riley wanted to do was watch Colin parade girls around the lake and then hear about how he lost his virginity to someone who wasn’t him.
Riley harbored many secrets growing up in Rockport and was ready to be free. Riley started a YouTube channel to showcase his singing and he developed his piano playing for the world to criticize. The raw talent that he started with was rough and stripped down, but soon it was like watching a warm knife slice through cold butter. Effortless.
Not long after, Riley had tons of followers across all social media platforms, an agent right out of high school, and his first Broadway debut just six months after landing in NYC as an understudy to Elder Cunningham in the Book of Mormon. Riley was a little heavier back then but could command a crowd with his sense of humor and quick wit comebacks. He also started trying crash diets that always failed within weeks, if not days, from starting them.
Getting lost in the rhythm of the tracks, Riley is staring out the right window on the train. The window feels cool on his forehead as his thoughts just roam free. His breath leaving a small circle of fog on the window. Riley was able to upgrade his coach ticket for a first-class seat at the last minute. The extra room and a charging port with Wi-Fi are a bonus.
“Hey, Fiyero wannabe,” Tiffany Taylor who was typecast to play Glinda glides down next to him, her hair swept up into a perfect ponytail.
“You’re awfully chipper and looking refreshed this morning,” Riley complimented her because Tiffany feeds off compliments. No food or air is required, just compliments.
Tiffany is heading to Boston to be with her family for the holidays too, so they decided to travel together, well, at the same time but not actually sitting next to each other on the train, as if the past year on a traveling tour of Wicked wasn’t enough time together. Riley doesn’t like being alone, so he reluctantly agreed to the travel companion.
“You're looking,” she glances down at his torn jeans and hoodie, “comfortable.”
It’s the end of November and not exactly warm in the northeast. A light dusting of snow covers the rooftops and leafless trees as the train passes through an unknown town.
“Did you need something, Glinda?” Riley asks. She always needed something.
“That’s Ga-linda, and yes. Today might be your lucky day but I don’t want to gossip.”
Tiffany Taylor loves to gossip, especially if it makes her look good while making someone else look miserable. Riley took a deep breath to brace himself for the news. This can’t be good. Riley rubs his palms down his face.
“The real Fiyero just sent me this text,” holding her phone so close to Riley’s face that just a bunch of blurry black dots appeared on the screen.
He wasn’t sure which was more distracting, the closeness of the words, or the hot pink phone case that looked like it was bedazzled by a third grader.
Grabbing her hand and pulling it back about a foot before looking at her, “I can’t read that, just tell me.”
“Jonathan just got a call from his agent, and he is being considered for a new leading role on actual Broadway.”
No one says ‘actual Broadway’ except Tiffany as if what we do is not part of Broadway.
“It’s very hush-hush but if he gets it, you will be promoted from wannabe Fiyero to real Fiyero.”
The thought bubbles something inside Riley and it’s all he’s ever wanted. It’s what he’s worked for since he left high school seven years ago. His name as a lead character in the program, on the marquee, and recognition that he was good enough. His name in lights. This is everything he has worked so hard for. So why did Riley instantly feel like he was on a tilt-a-whirl at the county fair? Heat begins to build in his chest.
“Is that all?” Riley asks, trying to sound nonchalance like this isn’t the biggest news he could have received today.
Tiffany stands and pulls down on her long ponytail to smooth it out, “Go team pink!” She says with a voice two octaves too high before pivoting and returning to her seat a few rows ahead of him.
There is team pink for Glinda, oh excuse me, Ga-linda. The new pronunciation comes from a scene in the musical when Glinda says she is going to take a stand for animal rights and do something drastic. She decided to change the way people pronounce her name. It’s a total Ga-linda moment. They also have team green for Elphaba, who is also known as the Wicked Witch of the West. Riley thinks most of the cast is team green and not the envious kind. Tiffany doesn’t help her cause by being a ditzy blonde character 24/7. She’s not acting. Riley leans his head back against the headrest and takes a deep breath. He draws a sad face in the breath fog on his window.
Across the aisle, a low voice escapes from underneath a pile of green fabric. “Ignore her, we all do.”
A human emerges from the green fabric as they pull an oversized scarf off their head and drapes it around their neck. They then proceed to remove the largest rhinestone-embellished sunglasses probably ever made.
“Jax?” Riley asks with a high-pitched sound and even higher-arched eyebrows.
