The Understudyby David W. Landrum |
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| conclusion |
As practices continued Elaine kept her presence at a minimum. “You don’t want people to see you too much,” Sossity told her. “Adrienne has a photo of you in her office. We don’t want anyone finding out who you really are, and if people see your face a lot they might make the connection.”
Fortunately, Selene never mentioned her daughters’ saying they had seen Elaine vanish. But one day before practice when Sossity was tuning her guitar, one of Selene’s daughters came up to her. “The woman who’s playing the roadie is a ghost, isn’t she?”
Sossity stopped playing. The girl, lovely with brown skin, black eyes and hair, and a beautiful face like her mother’s, stared at her expectantly. Sossity would guess her age at six.
“She might be.”
“We know. We saw her disappear.”
“Maybe you thought you saw that. But she really wants to play the part. If everyone thinks she’s a ghost, she may not get to, and that will break her heart.”
The girl scurried off, probably to inform her sisters of the response she had gotten.
Sossity had two gigs on Sunday and welcomed the extra money, but rehearsals and the stress of the situations with Elaine drained her of strength. She played at a church reception that morning and at the Gilmore that night. She slept most of Monday, finally getting out of bed at four in the afternoon. Dress rehearsal came and then opening night. David surprised her by showing up.
The initial performance was a huge success, the theater sold out, and the play came off with energy. David spent the night. The next performance went well, but Sossity anguished and worried most of Thursday morning over what might happen when Elaine came on stage. At four she got her guitar and walked to City for make-up call. When she came backstage, she noticed the light.
She saw Selene.
“Did Adrienne reinstall the stage light,” she asked, trying to sound casual.
Selene, her mind full of the performance, glanced up only momentarily from some papers.
“No, I did. I heard my girls whispering about a ghost. I thought I needed to put the light back to assure people. Silly, but actors are superstitious, so we might as well nod to that.” Then she smiled. “This is my night to direct, so we can have the stage light back at least this one time.”
Sossity glanced nervously at the clock. Selene went off to get in costume. Sossity looked around, saw a ladder, set it up and climbed it, and removed the stage light. She broke the bulb in the trash, toted the ladder off, and hid it in a dusty storage room.
Sossity got in costume and had her make-up done. She came to the door of the room she had fitted for Elaine’s dressing. Elaine appeared. Sossity touched her affectionately.
“Hi, baby.”
They heard someone approach. Elaine disappeared. Linda came by as Sossity started to go in. She put her hand over Sossity’s hand on the doorknob.
“Don’t go in there. I went in today. I found a bunch of make-up and stuff and was wondering who they belonged to. I knew this was just an old storage room so I thought I’d better take the stuff out of it. That’s when I saw her, Sossity.”
“Who?”
“The ghost.”
“Come on, Linda.”
“She’s real. I saw her: very faint and blue and transparent.”
“And.”
“I got the hell out. Don’t go in there. She might come after you like she did me and Kyle.”
Someone called her. When she had gone, Sossity went in.
Elaine was there. “I know you told me not to scare anyone.”
“No, you did the right thing. We’ve got to hurry. Here’s your costume. What are you wearing underneath that dress?”
Elaine slipped the eyelet dress off. She had on a chemise and a pair of long, lacy bloomers. Sossity handed her a pair of red panties and a bra.
“Wear these. These are our underwear today.”
Elaine regarded them with some surprise and just a hint of shock. But she shed her substantial undergarments, slipped into the skimpier modern style, and then into her jeans, socks and shoes, and a black sweatshirt. Kelly Bates, who was filling in as stage manager for Selene, told them curtain was in two minutes.
“You need help with make-up?” Sossity asked.
“I can do it myself. Thank you, though.”
“Both of your scenes are with me, so you don’t have to worry about talking to the other cast members. Just come back here when you’re not on.”
“I’ll disappear,” Elaine said.
Kelly stuck her head in the door.
“Time to go, Sos,” she said, also glancing at Elaine. “Is this your friend who’s playing the roadie?”
“This is my friend. She’s played the part before...”
But Kelly dashed off, too busy to talk. Sossity quickly walked over to Elaine.
“After all these years you finally get to act here. You’ll steal the show.”
Elaine started to say something but Kelly appeared at the door and motioned for Sossity to go on stage. The play had begun.
Sossity, whose character began the play with a song, felt the spirit of performance. She felt the energy of the audience and heard the thunderous applause when she finished. She spoke a few lines of dialogue with Kyle and then went off stage. As she walked out she saw, out the corner of her eye, Adrienne Tsien sitting where she most often sat when supervising rehearsals: three rows back a little off center. A man her age sat next to her.
Sossity hurried back to the room. Elaine was gone but Selene came rushing in. “Sossity, she’s here, damn it. She’s here!”
“I know. I saw her.”
“What are we going to do?”
“There’s nothing we can do, Selene. We’ll give a performance the audience deserves.”
“We can’t do it. I’ll lose my job. We’ll just leave out those scenes like she said.”
“No.” Sossity grabbed her shoulders. “Selene, no. If we change it, it will be disastrous.”
Her mouth was dry. She looked into Selene’s black eyes.
Kelly appeared.
“Selene, you’re on,” she whispered.
Selene made a gesture of resignation and walked out on to stage. Sossity waited. Laughter filled the theater as Selene played the funny scene Adrienne had cut out.
When it was over, Sossity took her guitar and went out on cue. She sang another song, did a longer dialogue with some of the other players, and waited for Elaine to appear.
She came on stage. Their scene went well. She fell into character and expressed her part with poise, wit, and imagination. Everyone watching her, Sossity could tell, was taken both with her beauty and her grace on stage. She delivered her lines with perfect timing and got huge, appreciative laughs. When the two of them made their exit, the audience clapped and clapped.
She wanted to compliment Elaine but she had already vanished. Sossity went into her dressing room. Selene was there.
“Who’s your friend?” she asked.
“Just someone I know from the past.”
“She’s pretty. And she’s one hell of an actress.”
Kelly appeared. “I’ve been watching Adrienne,” she said. “She laughed at your scene.”
“I guess that’s good,” Selene said. “But I bet she comes backstage during intermission and give us blue hell.”
But she didn’t. Sossity looked down from a balcony door and saw Adrienne and her date in the lobby sipping wine and talking to people. She watched a moment then went backstage again. She tuned her guitar and prepared for Act Two.
The remainder of the play proved as powerful and dynamic as the first act. Elaine again brought the house down with her humor, timing, and ability to realize a character. The energy of the performance carried the action forward so quickly that Sossity hardly realized the passing of time. The performance was suddenly over and curtain call had arrived.
The cast came on stage for bows. Elaine and Sossity went out together. The audience roared its approval. Several people shouted “bravo” and “brava” and whistled and whooped to indicate their enthusiasm for Elaine’s performance. She smiled her pretty smile and bowed with absolute grace and charm. She joined the cast for the final bow as the crowd rose in standing ovation. The other two performances had been well received but had not had a standing ovation either night.
Sossity went backstage after the final curtain call. Selene, looking immeasurably relieved, hugged her. “Well, we did it. I got a couple of glimpses of Adrienne out in the audience and I think she actually enjoyed it.”
“I enjoyed it immensely.”
They turned. Adrienne stood right behind them. She was not smiling but she did not look angry either.
“Selene,” said Adrienne, and then paused. She smiled, and almost laughed as she said, “Excellent. My compliments. You did a great job.”
A round of embraces followed.
“I was a little shocked — I have to say this — that you put those scenes back in without telling me. But then I thought, if you had told me, I would pitched a hissy fit, yelled and screamed and told you no way, you’re not doing this. So you did the right thing. Thank you.”
Selene’s husband appeared just then. After a short exchange of greetings and kisses with Adrienne, he and Selene went down to the lobby to meet some of her relatives who had come to see the play that night.
Adrienne turned to Sossity. “Where’s your friend? The one who played the roadie?”
“I don’t know.” Sossity looked around her. “I think she might have left already. She had some place to go right after the show.”
“Seems I’ve seen her somewhere before.”
Sossity did not know what to say. Fear fluttered in her stomach.
“Well,” Adrienne continued, “give her my congratulations. She is an excellent actress. I have to go. My date’s waiting for me in the lobby. It was good to meet your boyfriend on Wednesday. Is he coming to the cast party?”
“He’ll be here. Then we’re going up north for a few days.”
“That will be nice,” Adrienne smiled. “We’ll all have to go out together some time.”
“Sure thing.”
Adrienne left. Sossity felt weary but happy. She turned to go but then heard someone call her. She walked off stage left and saw Elaine waiting in the wings.
“You’re still here!”
“I’m not leaving yet. I want you to come with me.”
“Come with you?” Sossity’s eyes grew big with fear.
Elaine laughed. “No, I don’t mean that. I want to leave now, but I can’t leave from here. I have to go outside. It’s one of those ghost rules you somehow just know when you’re a ghost. Will you come outside with me, Sossity? I’ll wait while you change.”
Sossity went back in the dressing room. She noticed Elaine’s costume — the jeans, socks and shoes, sweatshirt and underwear — lay neatly folded on top of the make-up table. Sossity changed out of her costume, removed her make-up, and dressed. She threw on her leather coat, walked to a stage door, and stepped out.
The sky was clear, the moon full. Moonlight and the glow of street lamps made the snow glisten with innumerable diamond-points of light. Elaine appeared. She had on the white dress but also a cloak, gloves, and a scarf. The two of them stood looking out at Memorial Park.
“Paul and I used to stand right here in all kinds of weather,” Elaine said. “The city was not as big then, and the lights we had were not as bright and there were not as many automobiles, but so much of what I see is the same. I loved living here. I loved Paul. I loved acting.” She fell silent again.
Sossity spoke. “Maybe all those things will be given back to you when get to...” She let her voice trail off.
“I’m not sure of what will be waiting for me, Sossity. I never was very religious. And I wasn’t exactly a good girl.”
“You showed grace and love to me and to your audiences. I don’t think you need to worry.”
Elaine looked over at Sossity. “You showed grace and love. One reason I don’t feel sad about leaving is because I’ve made a new friend. I love you, Sossity, but realize I can’t be a friend to you because I don’t belong here anymore.” She paused then added, “I feel like I’ve taken so much from you and given nothing in return.”
“You’ve given more than you’ve taken.”
Silent as the snow, they watched its fall.
“I’ve been a captive spirit all these years and now I’m afraid to go,” Elaine said.
“Go. You have nothing to fear and everything to gain.”
Elaine reached over and touched her cheek. Snow had coated her cloth glove. “Your career isn’t going well, is it?”
Sossity shook her head.
“I had those moments. I couldn’t get work. My family kept telling me I was pursuing a career with no future and being ridiculous and immature. Almost every artist deals with that. Don’t give up.”
“I won’t. I can promise you that.”
After a moment’s silence, Elaine spoke again. “Thank you again, Sossity. The night is so beautiful and quiet.”
Sossity watched the snow coming down. She glanced to one side.
Elaine was gone.
The snow lay undisturbed where she had stood. She had not left footprints, but Sossity noticed her scarf lying on the ground. She reached down and picked it up. She read the letters EKB — Elaine Katherine Boswell — embroidered in gold thread against the red wool. She looked all around her and saw only the snow falling through the silent light of the street lamps.
She stuffed the scarf into her purse, turned, and went back into the theater.
Copyright © 2011 by David W. Landrum
