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by
Erastes
Copyright 2017 by Erastes
Chapter
27 - Auditions.
The day seemed to drag by on Monday, because I was looking forward to the audition and seeing how well Jon and Braedon did. I was also planning on asking Gina about how she'd selected those two boys to audition, but it seemed as if the hours were passing slowly and it was taking forever until it happened. As soon as the final bell rang, I rushed down to Gina's classroom so I could talk to her in private before the boys showed up.
"Gina, I didn't realize Braedon was in the chorus."
"Yes, he's been a part of the chorus since he was in fifth grade."
"So he and Jon have really strong singing voices? That surprises me, because you've never had either of them sing a solo?"
"Marshall, when I choose a soloist, I not only look for someone with good tonal quality and who can stay on key, but I also want them to have a strong voice so they'll stand out from the rest of the chorus. That's not what I'm looking for here. It's still important that either boy can carry the melody and not sing out of key, but this time I'm looking for someone with a sweetness and a vulnerability in his voice. Oliver is supposed to be a young child who has been mistreated, so I didn't feel he should have a strong, mature voice. The boys I've chosen to audition have voices that display the qualities I'm looking for."
"That's good to know and I can't wait to hear them."
We continued talking until the boys showed up, and I was stunned that there was a third boy I didn't know. Gina saw the look on my face and she filled me in. "I take it you don't know Tim. He's another sixth grader who fits the requirements I was looking for. One of these three boys will probably end up being Oliver, and another one will be his backup. The third boy will wind up as part of Fagin's gang."
She then reached out a tambourine and held it above their heads. "There are three folded slips of paper on the tambourine, and I want each of you to pick one. There is a number on each slip that will determine the order in which you'll audition."
The boys reached up and selected one of the pieces of paper, and then they unfolded them to see who would go first, second, and third. Jon selected the paper with the number one on it, Tim got number two, and Braedon ended up with number three.
"I'm going to have you sing "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" to warm up your vocal chords first, and I want you to sing it as a round. Jon, you'll start, and Tim you'll come in when Jon starts to sing 'Merrily, merrily, merrily', and Braedon, you'll do the same when Tim begins to sing 'Merrily, merrily, merrily'. I want each you will stop after you sing 'Life is but a dream'."
I listened as she accompanied them on the piano, and as soon as they finished, Gina told Tim to start the song this time, with Braedon coming in second, followed by Jon. Then they sang it one more time with Braedon starting, Jon coming in second, and Tim going last. I listened carefully each time and decided that Gina was correct - they all had sweet singing voices, which meant it was going to be difficult to choose one over the others.
When they'd finished warming up, Gina explained what they'd be doing next. "I'm going to teach you a song from the musical, and I'll give each of you a sheet of paper with the lyrics. I'll then play two different recordings of the song so you can hear it sung by someone who has played the part before, and I want you to follow the lyrics. Once you've heard both of those versions, I'll play the song on the piano and have you practice singing it together first, before I have each of you sing it alone."
Once she finished telling them this information, she played the first recording of "Where Is Love?", followed by the other recording, sung by a different soloist. This way the boys got to listen to two different boys singing the song and were able to hear the little differences in how they approached it. Gina also had them follow the lyrics on the paper she'd given them as they listened to each recording, because she felt this would help them become familiar with the song before it was their turn to sing.
Once the boys had heard the recordings and were somewhat familiar with the song, Gina had them practice singing it together first, as she accompanied them on the piano. After doing that for a second time, she had each boy sing it alone, in the order they'd been selected earlier.
I thought each one did an incredible job, especially for just having heard the song for the first time earlier, and I didn't really see where one was better than the other two. I suspected I didn't have the expertise or background to make such a determination, so I was going to rely on Gina's judgment. I thought each of the boys looked the part as well, since they all had slight builds and a look that would have made any mother want to run up and give them a hug.
After they finished singing, Gina turned to me and spoke. "Ok, it's your turn to see how they'll do with the speaking part."
I pulled out ten large, numbered envelopes and asked each boy to choose a number from one to ten. When they told me their number, I took the envelope with that number, opened it, and extracted the two sets of papers inside. Although each envelope contained different short scripts I had used with the drama club, the two copies in each envelope were identical. I handed the boy one copy, while keeping the other for myself, and told him to read and study it. After I'd given them time to do that, I had each boy read the highlighted sections, while I read the other parts. I was going to use this process to judge their vocal control, enunciation, and inflection, along with seeing where they placed the emphasis within the lines to strengthen the meaning.
After I gave them a chance to read it over first, because I didn't want this to be merely about how well they could read, but how well they could act, we began. I worked with the boys in the same order they'd sung earlier, as Gina and I listened and I judged the characteristics I'd mentioned earlier.
After each one had completed his turn, Gina told them they were done and could go home. She advised them that she'd let them know who would get the part on the following Monday, which caused the boys to nod in understanding before taking off. I stayed behind so I could discuss how they'd done with Gina, but I imagined I'd be hearing from Jon and Braedon eventually, so they could ask how I thought they'd done.
"How do you think they did?" Gina asked once the boys had gone.
"I thought all three did well, and I feel any of them would be able to do the job, but I think Tim was the weakest of the three when it came to acting out the lines I'd given him. Of course that might not be exactly fair, since Jon had the advantage of having acted before, but I felt Tim was more mechanical and lacked a connection to the lines while he was reading them."
"Jon's acting in your plays was one of the reasons I asked him to audition, seeing he'd already proven he could do that, and quite well too. However, if it was based solely on their voices, I'd pick Braedon, because he has a sweet, angelic quality when he sings. The other two did an excellent job with their vocals as well, but I agree with you. Out of the three, Tim was the weakest."
"I'm glad we agree, because it would be very awkward if we'd rated them completely opposite. So what are we doing tomorrow?"
"Tomorrow we'll see the girls I asked to audition for Nancy and Bet. On Wednesday there will be four boys auditioning for The Artful Dodger, Thursday there will be two boys for Bill Sikes, and then Friday will be an assortment of kids who will be auditioning for Mr. & Mrs. Sowerberry and Mrs. Bedwin."
"So that will take care of all the singing roles?"
"Except for the two remaining adult roles, Mr. Bumble and Widow Courney, and I still have to choose the kids for the "Who Will Buy?" solos, but they really don't need to audition. I already have a pretty good idea who I want to use as soloists from their time in the chorus."
"So have you had any volunteers for Mr. Bumble and Widow Courney?"
"Actually, I've had more than I expected, and we'll audition them Wednesday and Thursday during the lunch hour."
"Gina, I've been thinking about what you said about having a primary and backup for Oliver. Do you think it's fair to have both boys learn the role, but only one of them will get to perform?"
"I'm going to have a backup for all the singing roles, because all sorts of things can happen that might cause them to be unable to perform when the time comes."
"It's too bad there aren't more performances, because then we could just have two casts, rather than a primary and a backup. That way if there's a problem, the person playing that particular part in the other cast could perform with both groups."
"Actually, that's a great idea, and I think I can arrange it. I'll work it so each group will be able to perform twice, just like we'd originally planned."
"But how are you going to do that?"
"We'll have two dress rehearsals and then two performances for the parents. I'll invite the elementary students to come for the first dress rehearsal, which we can hold on Thursday, and then we'll do it for the Middle School on Friday with the other group. We can also put it on Saturday and Sunday at 1:00 for the parents, with a different group doing it each day. The backups can perform on Thursday and Saturday, and the primaries on Friday and Sunday, and their parents can come to watch their performance on the weekend. Seeing we'll be selling tickets to cover our expenses, this will give us a better chance of making sure we don't fall short financially."
"Rather than calling them backups and primaries, why don't we call the primaries cast one, and the backups cast two."
"Sounds good to me, and I like your suggestion much better."
"And now I understand why you had more than two boys audition for Oliver."
"And it will be the same for every singing role. We'll just narrow it down to one person for cast one and another for cast two, and then we'll be ready to start rehearsals."
"Then it looks as if I'll have to double up on the rehearsals too, so cast one and cast two will have their own days."
"I hope that's not a problem?"
"No, not at all. I'll manage just fine, but I expect you'll probably want to be there too, so they can also practice the songs."
"Yes, I'll be there as well, but I feel badly that you'll now have twice as much work. The musical is my responsibility, so I accept that, but you only volunteered to help."
"Don't worry about it. It was my suggestion to have two casts, and being part of the musical was covered in the agreement I made when I accepted the position leading the drama club, so I'm fine. What about the chorus? Will they have to be at all four performances?"
"No, I can split them into two groups as well, since I have such a large group."
"That sounds great. Have you thought about the type of set you want to use?"
"Not really. I thought you might have a better idea about that."
"Actually, I do. I saw a production when I was in college where they used a minimalist set. It was all constructed on stage and could be altered to differentiate the various locations, so I think it would probably work best for us."
"Then let's go with that."
"Ok, I'll draw it out and then talk to Bob Krivyanik about helping me, because it will be more about construction than art."
"Sounds good, so I'll see you tomorrow."
I went back to my classroom and grabbed a few things I wanted to take with me, and by the time I got to the apartment, I was already trying to work out how I was going to do this. I decided to have cast one rehearse on Monday and Wednesday, and then cast two would rehearse on Tuesday and Thursday. Since each act had six scenes, I'd split Act One in half the first week, doing three scenes at each rehearsal, and then I'd do the same with Act Two the following week. After that we'd spend two weeks doing Act One at the first rehearsal and Act Two at the second, and we'd finish up spending two weeks doing the entire play at each rehearsal.
Now that I had this worked out, I realized I could now split the non-singing roles the same way, so more kids could be involved. In fact, if there were enough chorus members who wanted to be part of this, we could also have two groups of Fagin's boys and two different groups of workhouse orphans. If not, we could always use the same kids for the orphans and Fagin's boys by merely having them alter their costumes slightly for each role. We could always have them just wear a tattered white shirt and pants as orphans, and then we'd just add a vest, jacket, or a cap when they became part of Fagin's group. That should be enough to make them appear different.
During the lunch hour on Tuesday, I talked to Bob Krivyanik about helping me construct the set and showed him my sketches. He agreed to help and said there were some students he could ask to assist us. I thanked him and that was another issue that had been solved.
Later, after school, I joined Gina when she auditioned the girls for the roles of Nancy and Bet. When she finally decided on the two she preferred for Nancy, we agreed to have the two other girls play Bet. Before I left, I asked Gina another question.
"If you think enough of your chorus members might want to be involved, I was thinking of something else we could do to get more kids involved. We could have two different groups of workhouse orphans, as well as two other groups playing Fagin's gang. If not, we can just use two groups and have them play both roles."
"Let me see how many want to be involved and I'll let you know. I'm sure there will be quite a few, and that way we won't have so many standing on the risers next to the orchestra."
"Just tell anyone who's interested in being in the musical to come see me next week so I can take down their names. Once I know how many are interested, then I'll be able to decide how we'll do this."
"Certainly, I'll be happy to do that for you. I'm really excited about this now, because I feel we've got an excellent group. I'm also going to contact the instrumental music teacher at the high school so I can ask if he'd be willing to put together a group to accompany us during the performances. If he has enough of his students who want to be in it, then he might even want to use two groups as well, but I'll just play the piano during the rehearsals."
"It sounds as if we have all of the bases covered now."
"Yes, I believe we do, and I'm thrilled that this will allow even more kids to become involved. Thank you, because I never would have considered doing all of this without your help."
"Maybe you should wait to thank me until we actually pull it off."
"Oh, I'm sure it will go just as well and as smoothly as your plays."
During the lunch hour on Wednesday we auditioned the faculty and staff members who had volunteered to play Mr. Bumble. Two of them had the right look and were capable of singing either 'Oliver!' or 'I Shall Scream' with the Widow Courney, as well as 'It's Your Funeral' with Mr. and Mrs. Sowerberry. The problem was, Gina didn't feel that either one had a good enough voice to do justice to 'Boy For Sale'. I thought this was going to present a major problem, but then Gina came up with a possible solution.
"Marshall, would you be willing to sing 'Boy For Sale' instead?"
"Gina, how can I do that? I'll be Fagin and won't be able to transform myself to look like Bumble just to sing that one song."
"You won't have to. When the song comes up in the scene, I'll have Mr. Bumble appear to be struggling with Oliver as he pulls him along while trying to sell him. You can sing the song offstage as he's doing that."
"So I'll have a mic and merely sing into it?"
"Yes, and you certainly have the voice to pull it off."
"I suppose if it's the best or only option you have, then I'll do it."
"Great, then we have our Bumbles too."
Later that afternoon we auditioned those wanting to be The Artful Dodger, but only one of the boys seemed to have the combination of personality, charm, and vocal ability for the role. Neither Gina or I cared for the others, but after watching the boy we adored, I had an idea.
"Gina, do you know Gary Dunn?"
"Yes, I do. He was Huck Finn in your last play."
"Yes, that's him. Do you know if he can sing?"
"I heard him when he was younger and he had a nice voice, but I don't know if that changed when he reached puberty."
"I don't know either, but he's definitely got the same type of charm and personality as the boy we like for The Artful Dodger. What if I ask him to audition for you on Friday during the lunch hour?"
"If he's willing, I'd like to hear what he can do, because I wasn't thrilled with our other choices."
"I know. I felt the same way."
"Ok, then let me know if he agrees."
When I got home after we finished up, I called Gary to see what he had to say. "Gary, I think you'd be perfect to play the part of The Artful Dodger, but it's a singing role. Would you be willing to audition for it?"
"Yeah, I guess, but I thought you had to be in the chorus to have a singing part."
"No, I've already talked to Ms. Atkins about you and she's agreed to let you audition during the lunch hour on Friday, if you're willing to do it. What do you think?"
"Yeah, ok. I'm willin' to give it a try."
"Super."
During the noon hour on Thursday, we agreed on the two women we thought would be great as Widow Courney, so another role was set. After school we auditioned a couple of boys for the role of Bill Sikes. Sikes was supposed to be a burly and badass with a deep voice, so Gina had selected boys who's voices had already changed and deepened. I was pleased to see that they also happened to be bigger than most of the other students, which made them look the part as well, and they actually turned out to be pretty good. This meant we'd now filled another major singing role.
"When they're not playing Bill Sikes, I'm going to ask them if they'll sing the knife grinder's solo in the Who Will Buy? scene."
"I can see why you'd want them to do that, but doesn't it mean they'll be in both groups and will have to attend all of the rehearsals?"
"No, they can rehearse both parts at the same rehearsal, but they'll have to be willing to be in all four performances. There just aren't that many boys whose voice has deepened and they can still sing fairly well. The knife grinder doesn't have much to do beside walk across the stage as he sings his part, and since Sikes isn't in that scene, he can practice doing it at the same rehearsal."
"Ok, that makes sense."
I considered everything we'd decided so far, and then I thought ahead to the following day. We were almost done with the auditions for the singing roles and only had a few more parts to fill, but I was thinking about one role in particular. I'd recruited the person trying out for it and hoped neither of us ended up being disappointed.
I was a nervous wreck as the noon hour approached on Friday, and as I was getting ready to leave my classroom to go join Gina, Gary showed up. "Hi, Mr. Roberson. You didn't tell me where I'm sposed to do this?"
"In Ms. Atkins classroom. Since I'm going to be there too, I'll walk down with you."
"Ok. I was surprised when you asked me to do this."
"Actually, I was too, but I think you'll be perfect for the part. Ms. Atkins will tell you what she wants you to do when we get there, and then she'll decide if you can sing well enough for this role."
"Ok. I'll do my best then."
Gina put Gary through his paces, and then we told him we'd let him know what we'd decided on Monday. After he'd left to go eat his lunch, I turned to Gina to get her reaction. "So what did you think?"
"I have to admit he did a pretty good job." She hesitated after saying this, and her answer made me think there was a 'but' coming next. "But I believe that after you have a chance to work with him that he'll do a great job!"
I had a feeling there was a 'but' coming, although it wasn't exactly what I was expecting. "So you want to use him?"
"Definitely. He'll be the other Artful Dodger, although I have a feeling he'll do just as well, maybe even better, than the other boy. I'm glad you thought of him."
"Me too!"
Now all we had left to do was the audition after school when we'd listen to those trying out for Mr. Sowerberry, Mrs. Sowerberry, and Mrs. Bedwin. Once we saw each of them, we made our choices and filled the last of the singing roles.
"I can make my list of who will have the singing roles in cast one and cast two over the weekend, and then I'll post it on Monday. You'll just have to fill the other roles as soon as you can."
"I'll do it once I've seen who I have to choose from. I'll give you the names of those who signed up to play the workhouse orphans and Fagin's gang so you can choose who you want, because they are singing roles too. The only exception will be the boys playing Charlie Bates. He's one of Fagin's boys, but he also has a few lines to say, so I'll cast him. In fact, I already have two boys in mind."
"Great! So when should we give everyone the scripts?"
"If you have them ready, when you post the list of who got the roles, just include a note for them to come see me during the lunch hour or after school on Monday and I'll pass the scripts out then. I'll make sure the others with speaking parts are given scripts at our next drama club meeting. They don't have as many lines to memorize, so it shouldn't take them as long, and by then I'll have made my decision about whom I'm going to use for the other roles."
"I'll include that note then. So when do you plan on starting the rehearsals?"
"The following Monday."
"Great. That will give most of them a week to study their lines."
"Sounds like a plan to me."
"Don't you just love it when a plan comes together," she quipped, causing me to do a double take.
"I wouldn't have figured you for an A-Team fan."
"Then maybe I'm just as full of surprises as you seem to be." She laughed after saying this, leaving me to interpret her meaning.
After we'd gone our separate ways, I began to contemplate the meaning behind her previous comment. Was she referring to my stage and singing ability, or something else? Did she know I was gay? It probably wouldn't matter if she did, because she didn't seem the type who would make an issue of it, but it made me wonder.
Following dinner, I began to prepare for the next day, because it was going to be another long one. I'd start by working out with the three lacrosse players, and then the other boys would be coming over at 12:30. We'd do whatever they wanted first, but afterward I was going to have them watch the DVD of the 1968 movie version of Oliver! I felt it would give Gary a better idea about The Artful Dodger role, since I felt Jack Wild was spectacular in his portrayal. Jon would also be able to hear the other songs that Oliver sings, as performed by Mark Lester.
After I'd placed the DVD on the TV stand, I packed my gym bag. I also checked to make sure I still had enough condoms left, since I'd bought a gross of regular condoms when I'd last picked them up. Of course I didn't do that locally, so I'd avoid any awkward questions about why I needed so many. However, the young guy running the cash register looked at me strangely for a few seconds when he first saw what I was buying, and then he gave me a knowing grin of approval. However, in the future I'd order what I needed online from condomdepot.com.
When I noticed that Tucker was having to hold the base of his condom because it was too big for him, I purchase two dozen small condoms for him. I also noticed we were going to need some more lube soon, so I'd pick that up after I left the Y. Now that everything was set, I watched TV for a short time before turning in.
When I got up in the morning, I hurried through my morning routine and then set out for the Y. I beat the boys this time, and I'd just begun to undress when they came racing into the locker room.
"Hey, how come you didn't wait for us before you started takin' your clothes off?" Hunter demanded when he saw me.
"I didn't know I was supposed to wait. In fact, I've always wondered why you boys wait to change until I get here."
"Cuz it's more fun when we all do it together."
"If you say so, but so far I've only removed my shoes, socks, and shirt, so I've got plenty left to take off."
"Ok, but if you beat us here again, then just wait until we all get here before you start changin'."
"Yes, sir," I replied as I snapped off a salute. However, Hunter didn't find it amusing.
We then undressed, put on our swimsuits, and headed out to the pool. There were two other gentlemen there when we first arrived, so I asked the boys if they wanted to wait until the others left, or if they'd be willing to swim laps in pairs, since I didn't want to take the chance of anyone crashing into the other men.
"We can wait a few minutes," Devin offered, "but if they don't leave soon, I guess we'll have to split up."
"Then I'm swimming with Mr. Roberson," Hunter quickly stated.
As soon as we jumped in the water and began to loosen up and splash around, the other two got out of the pool and left, so that allowed us to swim together again. I was impressed that Devin and Hunter were keeping up with me, and Gabe wasn't very far off our pace during any of the sets. I assumed that working out with us must be helping him, because he was doing much better.
When we finished, we went back to the locker room to shower. As soon as we were under the spray, Hunter asked a question. "Mr. Roberson, are you gonna work with Ms. Atkins on the musical?"
"I sure am."
"Really? I'm in the chorus, so I'm gonna see if I can be in that too."
"I didn't know you were in chorus."
"Yep, I am. I'm not one of the best singers, but I do pretty good."
"There's nothing wrong with that, and I'm glad to hear you want to be involved in the musical too. Do you know what part you might like to play?"
"I know they use a bunch of kids for different things, so I want to be in one of those groups."
"Great. We'll need orphans for the workhouse and even more for Fagin's boys."
"Do they all sing?"
"Yes, the workhouse orphans have one song and Fagin's boys have two."
"Are you directing, or is Ms. Atkins?"
"I'm directing, but Ms. Atkins has also asked me to play Fagin."
"You gonna be in this too?"
"Yes, I am."
"Then I want to be one of Fagin's boys." He flashed me a toothy grin after saying this.
"Then why didn't you stop by my classroom and tell me you were interested after Ms. Atkins told the chorus members to do that?"
"She did? I wasn't there the last time they practiced and didn't know I was sposed to do that."
"Ok, I'll just tell her I forgot to put your name on the list then."
As I told him this, I thought I also saw his penis start to rise, but then I realized he had done a little hop to celebrate, and that had caused his penis to appear as if it was starting to stand at attention. However, it was still fairly obvious that he was excited about the idea of spending more time with me by being in the musical. I was also beginning to accept the explanation that he was looking at me as a father figure, because it seemed to describe what was going on with him better than anything else.
Once we finished showering and had changed, I said goodbye to the boys and got ready to leave. However, I stopped momentarily when Hunter asked another question. "Mr. Roberson, when do we start practicin' then?"
"A week from either Monday or Tuesday, depending on which group you're in, because there will be two different casts. Check with Ms. Atkins on Monday and I'll let her know that you'd like to be one of Fagin's boys."
"K. I'll check with her then, and I'm excited that I'm gonna get to do this with you."
"I'm glad you want to be part of this too."
I was chuckling to myself as I was driving away from the Y, because I was thinking about how Hunter was willing to do almost anything, just so he could spend a little more time with me.
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E-mail responses to the stories, story suggestions, or other 'constructive' comments or advice may be sent to: ErastesTouch@aol.com - but please put the story title in the subject line, so it doesn't get deleted as junk mail.
My other stories:
http://www.nifty.org/nifty/gay/adult-youth/different-points-of-view/
http://www.nifty.org/nifty/gay/adult-youth/a-throw-away-kid/
http://www.nifty.org/nifty/gay/adult-youth/the-guardian/
http://www.nifty.org/nifty/gay/adult-youth/chance-of-a-lifetime/
* * * * * * * *
Although the boys in these stories sometimes have unprotected sex, I strongly urge all of you out there to be smart and protect yourselves from various sexually transmitted diseases by using taking appropriate precautions before engaging in sex.