Chapter 23

I returned Sean's call in the morning, just before Mom and I left for the theatre.

He said, "I've missed you a lot and I've wanted to see you for the past month but I knew that you were very busy, so I haven't called. Now that the play is ending, and you'll be returning from your month up at the lake, would you and Carol like double with Pete and myself next weekend?"

I said, "I can't say until I've talked with Carol, and she's still up at the lake. I can't make it next Saturday in any event since I already have plans. I'll tell Carol that we talked but don't plan on anything for next weekend."

"Okay, Crystal. When will you be back from the lake?"

"We'll be closing up the house this week but I'm not sure if it will be Thursday or Friday."

We continued to talk for another 15 minutes before I had to end the call because mom was waiting for me. I said goodbye and grabbed my purse so I could catch up with mom, who had already walked out to the car. We arrived at the theatre about 15 minutes later and found Barbara and Marge engaged in their customary activity. They both stopped and stood to greet us when we walked in. Barbara asked me to come with her to the wardrobe room while Marge and Mom sat down to talk.

Barbara said, "I know that Debbie has told you that I was altering the gown so that you could wear it this coming weekend. I also have shoes, and gloves for you. And this." She handed me a package.

"What's this?"

"Open it and see."

I carefully opened the box that she had given me and found several new corsets inside. I said, "I don't understand."

"Mr. Tucker authorized me to purchase these for you. They are all custom made and should be a lot more comfortable then the ones that you've been wearing. They are yours to keep. The additional revenue that the play has produced has swollen the theatre company's bank account to a remarkable sum and we feel that it is mainly due to your performances. I thought that you could use these since you wear one all of the time. Also, the breast forms are yours to keep as well. We didn't feel that it would be appropriate to present these intimate items in front of other people so that is why I'm giving them to you now. Also, some of the other company may be a little jealous if they see you getting gifts, so this will just be our little secret. Okay, kiddo?"

I reached over and hugged her tightly. "Thanks Barbara. For everything."

"You're very welcome honey. Thank you for all of your hard work and dedication to our little company. Now, you can pick up the dress when you come back from the lake. Just give me a call and I'll be here to meet you."

"Is Debbie going to wear one of the company's costumes also. She won't tell me."

"I know. She made me promise not to show it to you. You'll just have to wait until Saturday."

"Oh, come on Barbara. Show me what gown she picked out."

"Nope. Sorry, kiddo. A promise is a promise."

"Okay, Barb." I smiled and said, "Thanks for the corsets, and the boobs." I giggled and she laughed with that deep throaty, chortle of hers.

I left the package in the wardrobe room for now and we walked back to makeup to join Marge and Mom. Marge had made a pot of tea since we still had an hour before the company started to arrive for the matinee performance. We spent the time talking and laughing. I had saved the best jokes, the most 'insider' jokes about the company, until today, and I told them to the little group over tea.

Marge, who had tears streaming down her face said, "You had better tell that last one to Patricia before she goes on stage or the play will never start on time."

"I'm not going to use that one until the second performance. Maybe I'll tell everyone at the buffet, or," I added mischievously, "maybe it would be more fun to let them hear the jokes in the monologue."

Barbara said, "If you wait until the monologue, then be prepared to spend an extra fifteen minutes on stage so that everybody can compose themselves and so that the makeup people can touch up everybody's face."

"You think it's that good?"

"The audience won't appreciate it as much as the cast will, but yes. You say that you got these jokes from Mr. Tucker?"

"Yes. Same as always, but these were about the production and I wonder if he's been creating the jokes all along?"

"Could be. He's very talented."

Just then the first several cast members to arrive walked in and we broke up to start our preparations for the matinee production. Mom would spend the rest of the day working with Barbara, and when we were alone in the wardrobe room I told her about the gifts, and about my date with Debbie on Saturday. She helped me to put on my first costume after I changed into one of the new corsets. The custom made corset was wonderful compared the ones that I had been using. As Mom tightened me down it felt like an enormous hand gripping me instead of the usual sensation of a winepress.

At curtain time I stepped out onto the stage to deliver my introduction and monologue, and received thunderous applause. As had become my custom, I smiled and glanced around the theatre looking for familiar faces as I waited for the audience to finish clapping. My eyes were suddenly pulled to an aisle seat about three quarters of the way back into of the theatre. There sat Dad, clapping the loudest, and the most enthusiastically, of any member of the audience. It was good that the applause lasted for another minute when I failed to put up my hands in the universal method of asking for quiet. I needed the time to compose myself and get ready for my delivery. My smile had frozen on my face and I had to will myself to start talking when the theatre was finally quiet. Having collected myself, I launched into my little speech without further hesitation. I knew that Dad did not present a problem as long as he remained in the audience and I put his presence out of my mind as I concentrated on the timing of the monologue.

At the end of the monologue I answered questions from the audience as I bought time for the other cast members in case they needed to collect themselves. I prayed that Dad wouldn't ask any questions, and was relieved that he sat quietly in his seat listening as I responded to the rest of the audience. When I had answered all of the questions about the TV series, as best I could, I thanked the audience for coming and told them I hoped that they would enjoy our show. I waved and left the stage to the sounds of more thunderous applause.

The other cast members had readied themselves to begin and we started the performance after I had had a minute to get into character. The only exception to a flawless performance came when Rick knocked a book off of a table. He quickly picked it up without missing a beat and continued with his dialogue. The audience showed their appreciation at the end of the third act, and we did six curtain calls.

During Act One I had told mom about Dad being in the audience and she was prepared in case he came backstage after the performance, but he never did. At the Sunday buffet Mr. Tucker got up onto a wooden crate to make a few announcements.

He said, "My friends, we will have a cast party after our final performance today. The notices have been posted for the past week but I just wanted to remind you. Also, you may notice some people up on the balcony during the next performance. They will be filming tonight's performance and each of you will receive a videotape copy next week. We also have a package of pictures for each company member and they'll be distributed later. We have been able to provide these extra 'perks' because of the financial success of our little production. I want to thank you all from the bottom of my heart for your dedication and all of your hard work. The company will be able to continue for a number of years because of the success of this play. Thank you all."

We clapped after he had completed his announcement and then we all settled down to relax until it was time to prepare for the evening show. Most of the conversation around the settee was about my working in California, and I let Mom answer the questions unless they were directed specifically at me.

At eight o'clock I stepped out onto the stage again to give my introduction and monologue. I looked to see if Dad was here again but couldn't locate him in the audience. I did see a lot of people that I knew and I waved to them as I waited for the applause to die down. My waving seemed to intensify the applause though and I finally had to hold up my hands to ask for quiet so that I could begin. I was not surprised to hear the laughter from back stage as I used the new material that I had held in reserve. This was to be my last monologue and I wanted to make it memorable to my fellow cast members. True to Barbara's prediction, the cast was still not ready to begin when I had finished answering the questions from the audience so Mr. Tucker stepped out to explain the delay and do a short monologue of his own. The stage manager signaled to him when everybody was ready and, as he wrapped up and exited the stage, the curtain was raised and the play started. My monologue had not just warmed up the audience; it had apparently warmed up the cast as well. Everyone threw themselves into their parts with reckless abandon, and I think that it was the finest performance that we had given. The audience must have thought so also because the walls seemed to shake from the applause after we had completed the final scene. Six curtain calls didn't seem to diminish the clapping so we did two more. When the applause continued, Mr. Tucker took hold of Rick's hand and my hand and led us out onto the stage. As soon we appeared, the applause intensified briefly, then slowly died out as Mr. Tucker held up his hands for quiet.

"Ladies and Gentlemen," he began, "thank you for your heartfelt expression of appreciation for the exceptional performance that you have been privileged to witness here tonight, and which we have been privileged to bring to you. It has been our great honor to bring this wonderful play to you tonight, and to many other wonderful audiences over the past eight weekends. In selecting actors for roles in this production, I was fortunate to audition the finest actors that our area has to offer. The dedication and hard work of our company has produced a theatrical offering whose appeal and popularity has far surpassed any other in the history of this city, and I know that I speak for the entire company when I express our gratitude to you, and to all of the people that have shown their support for our little acting troupe. I'm sure that I don't have to introduce the two actors whom I have dragged out here with me." He paused while the audience again burst into applause. "Rick and Crystal have done a wonderful job as the two leads in our play, and to close out the evening I thought that you might have a few questions that they might answer for you."

The audience, already in a stimulated mood, needed no further prompting. I stood by silently with deference to Rick because he was older, and because he was the male lead, while he attempted to answer some of the questions being shouted out. He was visibly nervous, but managed to stammer out a few responses before I put my hand on his arm and took over when he got the message. I answered questions for about 15 minutes before the flow began to slow. Mr. Tucker, who had been standing next to Rick and I, then took over again and addressed the crowd.

"My friends, I think that about concludes our presentation for tonight. Thank you for visiting with us tonight, and have a safe trip home."

The audience applauded wildly while Rick and Mr. Tucker bowed, and I curtseyed. Then we waved and stepped back through the curtain as the applause slowly subsided and people began to get up and leave the theatre. The other cast members were still standing behind the curtain since they didn’t know if this impromptu closing would require their presence. When the theatre began to clear, cast members began to remove costume parts as they headed for makeup, and the stage crew began to break down the set in anticipation of the closing-night party.

Rick stopped me as we walked through the hallway on our way to the makeup room. He said, "Thanks for taking over Crystal. I was out of my depth. I didn't realize how difficult it is to stand up in front of an audience and answer questions. I've been in four plays but I've always had lines that had been rehearsed so many times that I could speak them in my sleep. Until tonight I didn't fully appreciate how difficult it must have been for you at every performance."

"It was very difficult at first but I became accustomed to it, and even began to enjoy doing the monologue and having the audience laugh at the jokes."

"I think that you are wonderful Miss Prudy", he said, repeating one of his final lines from the play, and then he grabbed me, bent me back, and kissed me. Kissing me was the follow-up action to that line in the play but, being that we were in the hallway, he caught me totally off-guard. I was also caught off guard by the passion that I found in the kiss. It was not at all like the sterile activity that we normally shared on the stage. I became lost in the kiss until I heard a cough that told us that we were no longer alone in the hallway.

Patricia Silbey, who played my scatterbrained mother, had come out of the makeup-room and walked up to us. She said, in the addle-headed manner that she used on stage, "Captain Martin, I'm shocked to find you kissing my daughter here in the hallway." She winked at us and added, "You can at least go into one of the storage rooms where you can make love in private."

I said, "Don't give him any ideas, Momma. You know that I'm saving myself for my wedding night, and… Captain Martin hasn't even proposed yet."

Rick straightened me up and released me. Then he dropped to one knee and took both of my small hands into his enormous left hand. "Miss Prudy, I have loved you since the first moments that you came into my life. Will you do me the very great honor of becoming my wife?"

A slight hint of a smirk at the corners of his mouth belied his otherwise serious and solemn demeanor. I played along with the little joke and said solemnly, "Yes, I would love to become Mrs. Captain William Alexander Martin."

Rick immediately jumped to his feet smiling and shouted "Darling" as he bent me over and kissed me again. I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him back to show him that two could play this game. As we kissed passionately, I suddenly felt one of his hands kneading my tush, and while Patricia Silbey looked on, Mom came out of the makeup room.

She said, "What's all this about?"

Rick straightened me up and tried to think of something to say but only managed to look sheepish. I knew that because of the bustle and large skirt, no one could have seen his hand pinching and rubbing my behind.

I said smiling, "Captain Martin just proposed to me. We're engaged to be married."

"HE WHAT?" mom shouted with a dumbfounded expression on her face.

Rick, Patricia, and I all started laughing.

Patricia said, "Susan, compose yourself. This is a theatre and we are actors. We fool around like this all of the time. Crystal said 'Captain Martin just proposed', not 'Rick just proposed'. See the difference. It was just a playful extension of their roles on stage."

Mom started to smile and said, "That's a relief. I got scared there for a moment. I want Crystal to finish college before she finds a husband and takes on the responsibility of raising a family. Now come in the makeup room both of you and get cleaned up."

Patricia went on to wardrobe while Rick and I went into the makeup room. A group of our fellow cast members were just leaving as we went in so there were seats available immediately. Marge came over after I had cleaned off the greasepaint and removed the wig. I was glad to be free of it, because it was so hot. Mom worked on my hair as soon as Marge was done, and then we went to wardrobe so that I could get out of my costume. I was a glad to be done with it at last. I had had to keep my waist at 19 inches until the play was over so that I could fit into the costumes each weekend. Now I only had one more week of doing that. I still needed to have a tiny waist until after my date with Debbie. The gown that I would wear had been modified for my current measurements.

As Mom helped me to get dressed it seemed that my street clothes had shrunk. The blouse was definitely tighter, and I could barely close and zip my skirt. Even worse, I had to take shorter steps now because my leg movement was restricted.

I said, "Mom, is this the same outfit that I wore here this morning?"

"Yes dear. Barbara tailored it to fit your new measurements while you were on stage. It shows off your figure much better now."

"But I feel like a hooker."

She laughed. "Don't be silly dear. Remember what Barbara and Marge have told us. In Hollywood, sex sells. Once you start getting some decent roles and good reviews, we can relax your image a little bit, but until then we'll have to cultivate the 'look'."

I knew that it would do no good to argue with her here. I would have to work on her at home, so I concentrated on finishing up. I couldn't bend down very easily, so Mom had to put my shoes on my feet. The 4" heels clicked hollowly on the wooden floors as we all walked to the stage area where the party was being held. I had to take twice as many steps as Barbara and Mom just to keep up with them.

The party was in full swing when we got there. I had been the last one to go to wardrobe because of the time that I had spent with Rick in the hallway. We filled a plate at the buffet table and went to the settee area to sit down. Debbie had saved my regular seat and Marge had saved chairs for Barbara and Mom. Everyone was in a wonderful mode knowing that we had concluded a very successful play, and that we could now get on with our regular lives. A lot of family commitments had been postponed because of the extended schedule, and now everyone could try to patch up family relations, and relationships.

After we had eaten, Mr. Tucker got up on a small stage, which had been hastily constructed from some wooden crates, to make some announcements. He thanked everybody once again for his or her work and said that he hoped that we would all be able to join him on the next project at the theatre. He introduced the three people that he had hired from the local TV station to videotape the play from the theatre balcony tonight, and repeated that we would all receive a copy as soon as it was edited. As he spoke, Benny, one of the stagehands, handed out packages of pictures to every performer. Each performer received a copy of every picture that he or she appeared in. My package was of course the largest.

Then he said, "Well I guess that that's all I have to say. No, wait, there's one small thing more. Crystal would you come up here please?"

Everybody turned to look at me as I sat on the settee. It was embarrassing because Debbie had to help me to get up. The corset, high heels, and skin-tight clothes prevented easy movement. When I got to the wooden crates I just stopped and looked up at Mr. Tucker to see what he wanted. He gestured for me to come up onto the small stage. He extended his hand to help me up but I still could not manage to climb up because of the restriction of the skirt. Rick jumped up from where he had been sitting and ran over, whereupon he picked me up and placed me onto the stage. I was red-faced with embarrassment as I stood upright on the small stage and steadied myself on my high heels. Mr. Tucker put his arm around my shoulders to help steady me on the wooden boxes.

"My friends, you all know that Crystal stepped in at literally the last moment to save our play when Pamela Prentess fell and fractured her leg on opening night. She not only rescued our play from being cancelled; she is largely responsible for it's enormous success. Little did we know just how capable our little 'script girl and assistant to the director' was, during the weeks of rehearsal prior to that night. I knew that she had learned her lessons well and I had promoted her to Assistant Director because of the natural talent that I had seen for evaluating performances and directing, but even I didn't realize fully, just how good she was until her first performance. It's human nature to be a little envious when we see such a wonderful gift in one so young, and I'm sure that we are all a little jealous of her most recent television role. But at the same time, we all hold her dear to our hearts and wish her every continued success."

Mr. Tucker removed his arm from around my shoulders and turned to face me. "Crystal, your fellow performers, the crew, and I have voted unanimously to celebrate your accomplishments in this production with a small token of our appreciation and admiration."

Upon being signaled, Benny hurried over and handed Mr. Tucker something wrapped in a piece of dark blue velvet. He un-wrapped it and I saw what appeared to be a thick, clear, rectangular piece of Lucite mounted on a mahogany base. I had seen a few similar awards in recent years. Lucite had become very popular, replacing the little statues that used to be given. It was engraved with words on the front, which Mr. Tucker proceeded to read.

"Crystal Ramsey, Best Performer, 1999, Presented by the C.T.P.G." "It is with great pride that I give this to you now. I know that if you continue as a performer, then this will only be the first of many awards that you will receive in your lifetime. Our company wanted to be the first to honor you in this way." He handed me the award, leaned over to kiss me on the cheek, and then indicated that I was 'on'. The weight of the award had startled me. I realized that it was not Lucite as I had originally thought, but rather it was made from crystal.

I was flabbergasted, and stood there in stunned silence for a moment as the company members applauded. I felt my face turning red again, and several tears running down my cheeks as I turned to face the company. I stammered out, "I don't quite know what to say. I'm honored, but at the same time I don't feel worthy of such an honor. I only did my job, as all of you did yours." I wiped the tears away and tried to compose myself so that I could continue. "Everything that I have become since joining the company, I owe to Mr. Tucker, Barbara, and Marge." 'Literally', I thought to myself before continuing. "Mr. Tucker taught me everything that I now know about acting. We have been extremely blessed to have such a consummate director and actor in charge of our group. Marge, Barbara, and their assistants have made us look true to our on-stage roles with their ceaseless efforts towards the perfection of our appearances. And our production could not have been successful without the tireless efforts of our wonderful crew. They have built the scenery, done the lighting, organized the sets for every Act, helped to seat the audience, sold and collected the tickets, and every other mundane task that was asked of them. And last, but certainly not least, are my fellow cast members. It is surprising that anybody even noticed me with so many wonderful performances being made by others around me. I think that it was only because I had the most lines that I was singled out for this honor. Thank you all."

The company applauded as I took one small step back. Mr. Tucker stepped forward and said, "Crystal, you deserve that award and more. And you are right about the cast and crew. Never have I worked with a finer group of actors and actresses, nor a better group of backstage and support people than I have over the past several months. Thank you, and enjoy the rest of the party."

 

As I looked for a way down off of the small stage, Rick hurried over to me. Taking my hand and pulling me to the edge, he swept his left arm against the back of my legs and lifted me off. Instead of putting me down he carried me over to the settee and placed me on it, lingering long enough to extract a kiss for his efforts. Debbie looked at me questioningly as he pulled back and stood upright. Then he was jostled out of the way by well-wishers, first of whom was Mom. She looked so proud that it appeared that she would bust as she looked at the award that I had received. Everybody in the company came over to me during the next hour to congratulate me. This had to be the most wonderful day of my life.

Originally, Mom and I had considered driving up to the lake right after the second show, but because of the party we went home after saying goodnight, and goodbye, to everyone. I had picked up my package from the wardrobe room before we left so that I would have my new corsets to wear. It was very late when we got home and I couldn't wait to get into bed, as weariness began to overtake and replace the exhilaration of the evening. Mom had immediately placed my award on the mantelpiece, replacing the small spelling bee award that I had won, as Cary, in the sixth grade. It had been one of the few reminders of my former identity left outside of the attic. I knew that it would probably join the rest of my old things now, and I was too tired to care, or even consider the implications of the award that I had received tonight. After Mom helped me with my corset, I hurried to prepare myself for bed, and I slipped between the sheets as soon as I could. I quickly drifted off into a deep, dreamless sleep and slept soundly until well after dawn.

 

(continued in Chapter 24)

 

 

 

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© 1999 by Crystal Sprite. All Rights Reserved. These documents (including, without limitation, all articles, text, images, logos, compilation design) may printed for personal use only. No portion of these documents may be stored electronically, distributed electronically, or otherwise made available without express written consent of the copyright holder.
Anyone wishing to make comments is welcome to e-mail me at crystal@storysite.org