MISS MALLOW SPENT a long time thinking about the auditions and who she should choose for the main parts. She re-read the script, only to realize how few good parts there actually were in the story, especially considering the size of her class. Then she had an idea!
Hmmm, I suppose I am the writer of this show, so I could create a few new characters, she thought.
Miss Mallow decided to write in a sister for Prince Charming and named her Princess Ursula, and a cousin for Buttons called Rose. Then she added a Hunter and a Horseman to the Prince’s staff. But even when she’d finished, she still wasn’t sure who would play which part. She hoped that if there were some new characters, the children would not be too disappointed if they were not Cinderella or Prince Charming.
“But I still want to make the choosing as fair as possible,” she said to herself.
On Sunday Miss Mallow had arranged to meet Saffron at the Lavender Lake School of Dance. Madame Angelwing had invited them both over to see whether there was anything in the costume room that they might like to use for the show.
“Thank you so much for letting us look around, Madame Angelwing,” said Miss Mallow as she took in all the gorgeous costumes and accessories.
“It is a pleasure, Miss Mallow. Just make sure you note down anything you borrow in the costume book,” Madame Angelwing replied as she glided off to her office.
Just then Miss Mallow noticed a rack of shoes and had a spark of inspiration – she couldn’t wait to share it with her class!
“Good morning, everyone!” she said to them on Monday morning. “I’ve been thinking about the play and I’ve had some ideas that I think you’ll like. In some cases I’ve decided who will play which parts, but I’ve also written in some exciting new characters. However, for the roles of Prince Charming and Cinderella I have a further little test because you were all so good it was impossible to choose between you.”
The children were desperate to hear her ideas, especially what the extra test would be.
“I will reveal everything in a minute. In the meantime, here is a list of the parts already decided,” said Miss Mallow as she flipped the board over. “If your name isn’t on it, you are being considered for the roles of Prince Charming or Cinderella and will have to take the additional test.”
“You’ll notice that there are still a lot of parts left to cast and we’ll get to that. But first, let me tell you about the main roles. A lot of you wanted to be Prince Charming and Cinderella but there can only be one of each, so I’ve come here a pair of very dainty ‘glass slippers’. Actually, they are just very sparkly silver ones from the Lavender Lake School of Dance costume room! I’ve also got a pair of black patent Prince Charming shoes. These are the shoes that so whoever they fit the best will be Cinderella and the Prince. And the rest of you will take the remaining parts without complaining. Does that sound fair?”
Everyone nodded but Poppy was really worried – what if they didn’t fit?
Miss Mallow put the sparkly slippers on her desk and the girls queued up to try them on. Sweetpea went first. No luck – they were far too small. She looked very sad. Mimosa tried, and Lola too. Again, they did not fit – they were simply too narrow. When it was Poppy’s turn she tried to force her foot into the pretty shoe. It was a terrible squeeze – her heel simply wouldn’t go in, however hard she tried. She sighed – like the others, her feet were just not dainty enough for the exquisite antique shoes. The last person to try on the slippers was Abi. While her feet weren’t particularly small, they were unusually narrow. As she slid her foot into the silver slipper, all the other girls gasped. It was a perfect fit!
“Well, these do fit well!” smiled Miss Mallow. “I was beginning to think they wouldn’t fit anyone. It looks like we have our Cinderella!”
Abi beamed with delight. She had never been picked for anything like this before. But Poppy and all the other girls were very, very disappointed. A huge black cloud settled over Poppy; she thought she would never be happy again. She tried to be pleased for her friend and was determined not to cry in front of everyone, but deep down she felt very sad – it was all because of her stupid wide feet!
“Girls, please don’t be upset. There are other fun parts and lots of chances to wear pretty dresses,” said Miss Mallow. “But before we sort that out, we need to choose our Prince Charming. Up to the front, boys!”
She then tried the Prince’s shoes on the boys and Charlie Beaches was chosen for Prince Charming.
“Abi! You’ll have to marry Charlie!” shouted out Billy Baxter.
“Abi for Charlie!” called Sweetpea.
Abi blushed.
The boys who had missed out seemed to take it better than the girls and they were just keen to hear who would play the other parts.
“Right,” said Miss Mallow, “we have our Cinderella and Prince Charming, so now I can decide who will play the remaining parts. As you can see, there are two new girl parts on the list – Princess Ursula and Rose. Sweetpea, you will be Princess Ursula; Poppy, you will be Rose!”
Sweetpea and Poppy both smiled weakly and accepted the new parts. Both girls were trying very hard to hide their disappointment at missing out on the main starring role.
Lola was given the part of the Cook, which she was secretly quite pleased with as she adored cooking and even had her own chef ’s hat! Mimosa was told that she would play the Wicked Stepmother. At first she was upset because she didn’t want to play such a horrid person, but she loved acting and soon realized that she could make the part really special – plus it was an important role.
“Now, children, who are the funniest people in this class?” asked Miss Mallow. “The ones who make us laugh the most and the ones who make me cross most often?”
“Freddie and Ollie!” everyone said in unison as they turned to look at the terrible Morrison twins.
As usual, they were up to mischief and not paying attention to Miss Mallow!
“Boys,” began the teacher, “you know how stories like Cinderella sometimes have boys dressed as girls? Well, I’ve decided that you two are going to be the Ugly Sisters.”
Everyone giggled – they could just picture the twins larking around as Jealousina and Angriana, with hideous outfits and make-up, complete with warts and wigs.
“But Miss Mallow, I don’t want to dress up as a girl. That’s so sissy!” complained Ollie.
“Me neither,” agreed Freddie.
“Aw, go on,” cried Charlie. “They’re the best parts in the show after Prince Charming – even if you do have to wear dresses!”
“Yeah, you’d be really funny – to look at!” laughed Tom.
“Go on, boys, you’ll be excellent – you’re both perfect for these roles,” said Miss Mallow encouragingly.
“Oh, OK then,” said Ollie, poking his twin in the ribs. “I’ll do it, but only if Freddie does.”
Freddie nodded. He always agreed with Ollie.
Miss Mallow filled in the remaining gaps in the cast list. Now that this was done, the show could really come together. The children accepted their teacher’s decisions, even though most of them were very sad that they weren’t in the starring roles.
After the rehearsal, Mum knew by the look on Poppy’s face that she had not been given the role of Cinderella.
“There’ll be other times, sweetheart, and it will be lovely for Abi.”
“But why don’t I ever get to be the star?” complained Poppy.
“But you are a star. You don’t need to be on stage to shine,” said Mum, which cheered Poppy a tiny bit.