Auditions!
A Fairy Tale Reform School musical?
Is the sky falling?
Over the next few days, everywhere I turn, people are singing or practicing big, passionate speeches for their auditions. There are signs offering “macting mentoring” from Professor Harlow of all people, who has agreed to critique students’ performances before their actual audition. I went to see Kayla do hers for the fun of it. I expected Harlow to snap out of it and give a droll, deadpan analysis of Kayla’s rendition of “Three Blind Mice.” Instead, the Evil Queen swatted away a tear at the end of Kayla’s performance!
“Gilly!” Ollie runs after me, ducking to squeeze through a closing hallway. “Ready for the audition? I’m going to sing a pirate sea chantey. I’ve been warming up all morning.” He hums a few notes. “What do you think?”
“Not half bad,” I admit. “Ollie, you really want to be in the musical?”
He looks affronted. “Of course! I have a chance to sing on stage with a group of mermaids watching me adoringly. How can I not take it? Even Jax is going to sing something. He was in a musical at Royal Academy.”
“So I’ve heard,” I say dryly, pulling my books closer to my chest as I squeeze through a closing doorway.
Jax has been bragging about his macting work at Royal Academy for days. He’s been offering people tips and everything.
“I’m going to paint the displays,” says Jocelyn, joining us. I do a double take. Today she’s wearing a canary-yellow, silk dress with an embroidered FTRS crest on her chest. I suspect she made this herself, but I can’t find it within myself to ask. Jocelyn does not sew! She does not wear color! Enchantasia has gone batty!
I growl, and poof! A plate of patty-cakes appears in front of me.
“Oooh, patty-cakes!” Ollie exclaims. He and Jocelyn each take one. A group of kids gather round, and I motion for them to clear the plate, which keeps refilling.
Patty-cakes are great, but after your eighth or ninth one in a week they tend to lose their appeal. Just the smell of one now is enough to make me gag.
“Gilly, are you okay?” AG is carrying three large scripts. One has a beanstalk drawn on it.
“I’ll be fine,” I say and eye her material. “What is that?”
AG flashes us a shy smile. “Musicals, of course! Jack wrote them.”
“Jack wrote a musical?” I repeat.
AG nods. “It’s really good! He’s made copies for all the teachers in the hopes they’ll consider doing a musical based on his life, instead of Madame Cleo’s An Ode to Enchantasia. What is hers even about?”
“I know! She’s being so secretive,” Jocelyn agrees. “Harlow and Madame Cleo have been working on it the last few days, but they want the story to be a surprise. Cleo says it’s a love letter to the kingdom.” Whereas normally Jocelyn would snicker at this, she sighs and grins. “I think it’s beautiful of her to want to do that.”
“It is,” AG agrees, “but Jack’s story is a true survival tale that would appeal to everyone at FTRS. At the auditions, he’s going to recite from his own musical—titled Jack and the Beanstalk—and I said I’d perform with him. Kind of like a duet.”
Quack! Peaches pokes her head out of Maxine’s book bag.
That seems unwise, considering how Peaches likes to eat everything from fruit to pocket watches, but Maxine says Peaches acts as good protection for the lamp. I wouldn’t want to wrestle that lamp away from Peaches, I’ll tell you that.
“It’s nice of Jack to ask you to perform with him. I hate having to audition alone.” Maxine casts her eyes downward, and one eye rolls in its socket nervously.
“You don’t have to!” AG swishes back and forth excitedly. “There’s a third important part if you want it.” She bites her lip. “It’s the part of the cow. I don’t know if you would want to play a talking cow, but the cow has the best dialogue in the musical. Really riveting moos and such.”
“Maybe I will be the cow,” Maxine says, and I pull her aside as AG continues telling the others about the magical cow in Jack’s brilliant musical.
“You do not have to be the cow,” I whisper. “This whole musical is your idea! You should get to be the star.”
Maxine shakes her head. “It doesn’t work that way. Yes, I wanted everyone to be happy, but I didn’t know happy meant a school musical! I’m excited everyone is excited, but I don’t know if I can do this show. I’m not a performer.” She gazes at the ceiling in a daze. “I want to wear a beautiful gown and sing on stage while my mother and father watch proudly from the audience…but that’s not going to happen.” She looks at me blankly. “I have a terrible voice.”
“No, you don’t,” I say before realizing I’ve never actually heard Maxine sing. “Do you?”
Maxine nods tearfully, then pulls me into a doorway. She starts to sing “Do You Know the Muffin Man?” in a high, off-key voice. I quickly cover my ears, but a bird in an open window isn’t as lucky. It screeches in terror and flies off as two glass vases shatter. I hear people in the hallway shouting in bewilderment. (“What is that? An alarm?”)
“See?” Maxine throws her hands up. “I wish I had a beautiful voice so I could star in the musical!”
At the word wish, the lamp in her bag begins to rattle and shake, and the cap pops off. A gray haze fizzes out of the spout and takes the shape of Darlene. The genie is wearing a sleep mask, bright pink polka-dot pajamas, and is talking into a seashell. She doesn’t seem to notice us.
“Uh-huh. I agree! I was just telling Betsy that a trip to the snow caps would be miserable this time of year. We’re better off going somewhere warm to celebrate her birthday. I need an excuse to wear this new floral dress I just got shipped to the lamp. Not wear a snow jacket and boots!” She stops talking and sniffs the air. Then she removes her sleep mask and blinks. “Jeanine, I’ve got to go. My master is here with her second wish.” She nods to the shell. “I know. I know. Hopefully the third one will come faster than the second. We have a birthday bash to plan!” She laughs. “Okay. Talk soon. Bye-e!” She looks at Maxine and flashes a dazzling smile. “Hello, darling! It’s wish time! Yay!”
“I didn’t make a wish,” Maxine insists. “Did I?”
“I distinctly heard the word wish,” Darlene says. She snaps her fingers, and a mirror appears in her hand. She fluffs her hair and puts on earrings, then changes into a red gown. “Ah, much better for wish granting.” She looks at Maxine. “So you want a good voice and the lead in the musical so that everyone will adore you, right? Easy!”
“Yes, that does sound nice, especially if I knew how to dance as well, but—” Maxine starts to say.
Darlene closes her eyes, says a few words, and there is a gust of wind. “Done! You now have a beautiful voice and a penchant for dancing!”
“I do?” Maxine clutches her chest.
“Try it! What were you just singing so terribly? I could hear you in the lamp,” Darlene says, making a face. “Try again.”
Maxine begins “Do You Know the Muffin Man?” a second time, and this time she sounds lovely. She’s definitely an alto, but her voice is smooth, strong, and melodic. Maxine is usually a klutz, but Wish Maxine is twirling and spinning and pulling off moves I’ve never seen before. Both Darlene and I are entranced. When she’s finished, we can’t help but clap. Maxine’s gap-toothed grin is priceless. She’s so proud, and she should be. Even if, well, it’s not really her voice or moves. But we’re the only ones who know that.
“My work here is done!” Darlene begins to put her sleep mask back on. “Call me soon about that third wish.”
“No!” Maxine cries. “I’m not making a third wish!”
“What?” Darlene asks. We both look at her.
“It’s just, my third wish shouldn’t be so selfish,” Maxine realizes. “I want my third wish to be important and help the kingdom. Something to stop Rumpelstiltskin.”
“I don’t know,” I say warily. “A wish like that could be risky. Look what happened with your first wish.”
“I know.” Maxine nods fervently. “Which is why I won’t take this wish lightly. I’m going to wait however long it takes till I think of the right wish, Darlene. You should get comfortable because you could be here a while.”
Darlene throws her eye mask down in a huff. “But I hate to be bored! Absolutely hate it! And with the lamp being grounded at FTRS, I can’t go to my genie conference this weekend or plan Betsy’s birthday trip. I have a busy life, you know. I don’t just grant wishes.”
“I can see that,” says Maxine. “And I’m sorry, but I can’t be foolish. I’m happy everyone is happy, and I’m excited about my singing voice and the fact I can dance now, but the third wish has to be really thought out.” She snaps her fingers. “But if you’re bored, why don’t you help with the musical? You’re obviously very stylish and have a lot of ideas. Maybe you could direct it.”
“I think Harlow’s the director,” I whisper.
“Or choreograph, do the scenery and help assistant direct.” Maxine is getting really passionate now. “There is so much we need help with.”
Darlene clutches her long, dangling gold necklace. “Well, I wouldn’t want the musical to be a disaster, especially after my wish inspired it.” She looks at me. “What would the other genies think if it was a flop?” She squares her shoulders. “All right. I will help with the musical!” Maxine claps excitedly. “We should go talk to this Harlow you mentioned.”
“The Evil Queen,” Maxine explains, leading the way. Darlene floats along after her. “Well, she’s not really evil anymore, but it’s hard to distance yourself from a nickname like that.”
I start to follow them into the hallway when I hear a noise.
“Psst!”
I look around. No one is there.
“Psst!” A white-gloved hand appears from around an adjacent doorway and beckons me to come closer. I am so surprised, I follow and find Princess Ella in a bright-pink ball gown standing in our school hallway without an entourage or the police squad.
“Thank goodness I found you, Gillian!” she exclaims. “I didn’t know who else to call. Everyone here has gone mad. Rapunzel hasn’t returned to discuss security details, and my stepmother is concerned about some school musical. What is going on here?”
I sigh. “I know. It’s a bit of a mess.” But I can’t really say Maxine made a wish. If word got out that everyone associated with Fairy Tale Reform School was under an enchantment, who knows who could come after us? What if Rumpelstiltskin found out? No, it’s better not to tell the princess. This way she stays safe. “I guess everyone needed a break from battles and war talk, so they’re doing a musical. Written by Madame Cleo.” She can’t be buying this.
“That’s splendid, but we can’t forget our battle plans! We don’t know when Stiltskin will attack or try to curse the kingdom or get Alva back on her feet again. This is not the time for a musical!”
I’ve never heard Ella this worried. I don’t blame her—I’d be pretty worked up if I were the one in charge, but at least she has the rest of the royal court to help. Well, minus Rapunzel, who’s under the enchantment as well. And Rose, who isn’t really in a position to help at the moment. (Plus, I don’t trust her.) But, um, she has Snow, right?
“I don’t know what to do,” Ella cries. “Pete is talking about leaving town and taking…” she pauses, “…a vacation!”
“A vacation? Pete?” Ella must have heard him wrong.
“Yes, things are falling apart! With Pete gone, no one at the Dwarf Squad knows what they should be doing or how to handle security issues. You know, we’ve been having an issue in the east part of the kingdom with some sort of creatures attacking crops. No one can catch it, and now the problem seems to be spreading across the countryside. I’m worried they’ll reach the village soon. What if they’re dangerous? I don’t know what to do without Pete around.”
“I’m so sorry.” Maxine has to fix this. “I’m sure things will go back to normal soon.”
Ella nods. “Please try to talk some sense into my stepmother, will you? And Rapunzel? They both listen to you. You’re a smart girl, and you’ve done so much to help the kingdom. I know you can get through to them.”
I clutch my chest. Wow. That’s huge coming from Princess Ella. “I’ll try,” I promise.
With a wave goodbye, she slips back into the shadows and sneaks out of the castle, which I’m really impressed with because I didn’t know she had that sort of cloak-and-dagger move in her. I go to the window and watch her take off on a Pegasus just as another one lands with a very short man on top of it. A man that looks really familiar.
“Pete?” I ask as he comes running toward me, smiling.
“Gilly! My girl!” He hugs my legs. “Just the one I wanted to see!” He rips his police chief badge off his vest and, before I even know what’s happening, pins it to my uniform.
“What are you doing?” I cry.
“Giving you a job!” he says with glee. “I’m going on vacation, and I’m leaving you in charge!”
“Me? Why me? I’m just a kid!” I tell him, astounded.
“You said you could do my job better than I could, didn’t you?” Pete asks. “Well, now you get the chance! I need a break from this Stiltskin stuff, the beanstalks, the trolls and ogres fighting, and the security concerns at this school, not to mention the new problems with whatever unknown creature is ruining farm crops and attacking villages. One torched a thatched roof in Enchantasia and…” He shudders. “Well, it’s not my problem anymore. It’s yours! Have fun!”
“Pete, wait!” My heart is pounding. “I can’t leave school. I still have classes with Professor Sebastian and my fencing club, and I’m not ready for a full-time job yet.”
“You can do it!” Pete insists.
I’m in a total panic now. “You said a former thief can’t be police chief!”
“I’m changing the rules!” Pete says and heads back to the Pegasus. “You’ll be fine. You can work from school. I’m sure Professor Sebastian and Headmistress Flora won’t mind. Everyone thinks you can save the kingdom! About time you actually did!” He laughs. “You said being Dwarf Police Chief would make you happy, right?”
My face drops. No, it can’t be. Maxine’s wish. I growl.
Poof! Patty-cakes float in a bowl in front of me.
“Oooh, patty-cakes, send them my way,” Pete says.
I hand over the whole batch.
“Thanks.” He puts one in his mouth. “Great travel food. Have fun. Any questions, well, just wing it.”
Then he takes off into the sky, leaving me wondering what I’ve gotten myself into.
Pegasus Postal Service
Flying Letters Since the Troll War!
FROM: Gillian Cobbler (Fairy Tale Reform School)
TO: Mrs. Cobbler (2 Boot Way)
TOP SECRET! FOR INTENDED’S EYES ONLY!
Mother,
All is fine here at school—I promise! No need for me to come home, although you may see me soon. I got a school job! Kind of. Pete, the Dwarf Police Squad Chief, is taking a vacation for the first time ever and has put me in charge while he’s gone. Headmistress Flora thinks it’s a great idea for my Magical Metamorphosis development. I get a shiny badge and everything! I haven’t had much to do yet, but everyone is congratulating me. Oh, and I’m also playing a tree in the school macting musical. (No need to come. I have one line.)
I wanted to ask you something, but you can’t tell Father. I know how upset he gets when this comes up, but since you mentioned her in your last post: What can you tell me about Father’s mother, Grandma Pearl?
Love,
Gilly