Posted February14, 1998
Clopin taped the pencil against his cheek as he studied the schedule on the clipboard he held in his other hand. Things were going well. The last rehearsal of the auction scene had been absolutely perfect with Peregrine in the role of the elderly Raoul. At the moment Shiri was belting out one of Carlotta's numbers; she wasn't happy with the role, having preferred the quieter Meg, but she had admitted to being a terrible dancer, so that is how things had worked out.
He heard a couple of thuds and looked over at the right-side entrance to the theatre. He saw his co-director and part-time violinist for this show, Rex, approaching -- Clopin thought it amusing that they were partner owners of the theatre in real life and in this particular show. He glanced past Rex to the pile of suitcases and boxes beside the doorway and cocked a questioning eyebrow.
Rex smiled sheepishly. "I, um, just need to store it someplace until..." Clopin nodded in understanding, but chuckled anyway. He stopped, though his smile remained when he spotted a small dog sitting obediently on top of the largest suitcase.
A shatteringly high note that didn't sound like it was part of the song broke through his thoughts. Clopin whirled to the stage, storming up the aisle with a concerned Rex on his heels. "Really, Shiri," Clopin began angrily, "I know you aren't too pleased with the role, but--" He stopped short after he climbed the steps to the stage and saw the scene up close, nearly being knocked over as Rex crashed into him.
Shiri had not heard any of his reprimand. She had fainted, now being held up by a pale Fantine, the show's Meg, while an unnerved Lily -- Christine -- waved a handkerchief in Shiri's face. Clopin and Rex both stared at the large sandbag lying exactly where Shiri had been standing.
"Good gods, what happened?!" Jehan shouted as he came racing out of the left wing. He literally skidded to a halt, blanching, when he glanced from Shiri to the sandbag and back again -- he leapt forward and swept her into his arms.
Clopin stamped his foot. "For crying out loud! PHOEBUS!!" he bellowed. Why did I put that idiot in charge of crew -- the only good thing about giving him the role of Buquet is that he dies! If the situation hadn't been so grave, he would have chuckled at his last thought.
They heard a scrape and a thud as the inept stagehand stumbled down to the floor. A moment later Phoebus came out of the right-side wing, hopping on one foot as he tried to shake a coil of rope off the other one. Shrew innocently stuck out her foot and he tripped right over it. The stage reverberated as he landed hard on his back. Everyone fought back snickers.
Phoebus opened his eyes to see Clopin and Rex glaring down at him angrily. Rex held the broken rope from the sandbag while Clopin pointed to the unwound strands. "How did this happen?" they demanded in unison.
Phoebus stared at the rope as he stood up. He scratched his head, stammering, "Uhh..."
Jehan suddenly appeared beside him, offering him a fist in the face; Shiri had regained consciousness, and Fantine had helped her to her room. Jehan then grabbed the collar of Phoebus' shirt. "You idiot! She could have been killed!!"
"I -- uh -- I checked everything before rehearsal began!" Phoebus stuttered, frantic. "It should not have snapped--"
"Let me see," came a new voice. Jehan loosened his grip, then shoved Phoebus backward as Sovereign Brigand, a stagehand and understudy came over. She took the rope and scrutinized the very tip of it. Everyone else glared at Phoebus, the lunkhead shrugging helplessly, while Jehan practically breathed fire. After a few moments Sovereign announced, "Severed."
All eyes turned to her, then back to Phoebus, who verily yelped, "I didn't see anyone else up there!"
The others knew that he meant he hadn't noticed anyone else. Rex's forehead creased in worry. "But...who?" He traded glances with Clopin, then looked at the other cast members.
"Someone out to get Shiri," Jehan suggested at the same time Lily said grimly, "Someone trying to sabotage the show." They briefly glared at each other.
"Or delay production," Shrew put in.
Each went into his or her thoughts on the matter. After several minutes of silence passed, another cast member wandered out. "Hey all, what's going on?" He casually chomped on an apple, then promptly spat out the piece he was chewing when he saw the inappropriate sandbag. "Whoa! Who dropped that?"
Clopin frowned at the newcomer, Johann -- Piangi. Clopin did not like the fellow at all. He had not wanted him in the show, but he had run out of male leads -- Quasimodo was perfect as M. Reyer and Frollo was M. Lefevre, returning later as Passarino (he couldn't have sung as the tenor Piangi, also too much older to pair up with Shiri) -- those that he wouldn't mind garrotting; Phoebus, meanwhile, couldn't carry a tune in a bucket with a lid on it. No wonder he never had a song in 'Hunchback of Notre Dame' Clopin thought with a mental chuckle.
"All right," Rex broke in while ignoring Johann, "We will rehearse the next scenes without Carlotta while Shiri recovers."
The directors went down to the first row of seats while the sandbag was hauled off stage, and Fantine and Lily took their places for Scene 2. Clopin and Rex rejoined the cast, or specifically Mr J as Raoul for Scene 3 and the secondary director Irene took watch from the audience to take notes. Then the reminiscing duet between Lily and Mr J. After Mr J exited, Rex left to have a talk with Phoebus. Clopin was distracted from following by Jehan's voice booming across the stage -- Jehan always improvised something funny, even in the serious role of the Phantom. Mr J reentered. Then in perfect timing the fog drifted across the stage just ahead of the boat. Clopin sighed in relief. He could always depend on Wylla for exceptionally well done effects.
Everything went perfectly until the end of Scene 4. As Lily was going into Christine's strange vocalizations, the fog swelled up around the boat, soon engulfing it and the two aboard. Lily's song became a startled cough. There was an odd, muffled thud. After another second, Phantom's cape came swirling out to try to wave away the fog. Clopin motioned for Irene to go backstage and see what went wrong with the fog machine. Once the mist was down to proper level, Clopin motioned for the performers to continue. He noticed something strange about Jehan's voice, but figured that it was from the choking fog.
The door aside the stage opened. Irene beckoned to him. Clopin, slightly apprehensive, leapt up and hurried over, while Phantom and Christine continued.
Wylla stood looking baffled by the fog machine, Irene beside her with arms crossed. Clopin stepped up to them, frowning. "Well?"
"I -- I don't understand. It's set for a specific amount per second. I don't know how it did that." Wylla bit her lip.
"At least no one was hurt," Clopin sighed. He stroked his beard in thought.
Rex came climbing down the ladder by the back wall. "No new answers from Phoebus, either..." His voice trailed off as he glanced over at them. They all suddenly noticed how eerily quiet it was...
Clopin looked out at the now-lit stage. The dancers were standing ready for Scene 7. The four backstage yelled, "Phoebus, you're on!" to which Clopin added, "Sovereign, you're the head of stage crew now!"
Rehearsal went downhill from there. Johann, for some reason, had left for lunch and never returned, the last straw for Clopin, so the Piangi understudy, Hans, finally got his chance to lead. Lily disappeared right after Scene 6, no one having any idea where she went. Clopin and Rex decided to give Shiri a shot at Christine's role, for she was truly miserable as Carlotta. Her understudy, Aranxta, eagerly came in. Things seemed to work out, but then Phantom was acting strangely -- it must have been just one of those days.
By nightfall, when rehearsals were ending, Clopin was pacing his office, nervously, repeatedly running his hand over his already receding hair. "Mysterious accidents...baffled crew...disappearing actors..." He gave a scornful chuckle. "Just wait till the papers get ahold of this..."
The door burst open as Rex rushed in. "So much trouble! There's bound to be more--" The door slammed behind him.
"Calm down, my friend," Clopin chuckled lightly, holding up a hand to stop him.
"But our missing cast--"
"But, Rex, we have enough understudies..." Clopin shuffled through the papers on his desk to find the extensive chorus list. His face pinched in curiosity as he took up two yellow envelops that had not been there the last time he had been in the office. He glanced over at Rex doubtfully as he handed one to him. "What in the world," he muttered as he pried it open. He scanned the letter within, then looked over at Rex again, who was similarly shocked.
Rex read aloud, "Be ready with more understudies, your cast will disappear before your eyes!"
Clopin's note went, "You still owe me for a past mistake -- so be ready to obey!"
They traded glances, then proclaimed in unison, "Rubbish!"
Clopin growled, "Some fool's idea of a joke!"
Rex nodded. "And we both know a certain fool--"
Together they agreed, "Who would do such a thing!"
The door flew open as their Phantom -- still in costume! -- dashed in, waving a piece of yellowed paper. "Where is Shiri? What is all this stupidity?" His voice sounded strange to them -- then they realized that whatever his paper said had greatly upset him.
Clopin snatched the paper from him and quickly read it. "Two prima donnas down -- how many understudies did you say you had?" In a blink he squeezed the paper into a crumpled ball. "This isn't the least bit amusing!"
"We figured it out already, Jehan," Rex continued for him. "Now, enough with the jokes! Tell Lily and Shiri -- if she did actually 'disappear' -- to return. We don't have time to add more replacements." The omission of Johann was noted.
"B-but I don't know where they are!" Phantom exclaimed more shrilly than his voice had ever gone before. Rex and Clopin traded uneasy glances. They had become aware of how the situation was resembling Scene 8 of their current show. They waited tensely for one of the leading actresses to come in next.
Both groaned as another figure stepped in on cue. Rayven, Mme Giry in the play. "The cast is becoming concerned. We wish to know if there will be a final rehearsal tomorrow or not..."
The directors traded glances again. Setting their expressions grim, they looked back at Rayven and nodded.
Rex stood nervously backstage, Clopin pacing behind him. Act 1 was was going well. They had both been very expressive during Scene 8 -- considering how close to real life it was! They had just finished their parts in Scene 9. Now the girls were dancing. The shadow effects were going nicely. Clopin paused to hear the false thud as the Phoebus dummy, garrotted, hit the floor.
He bit back a smile as the sound came. He whirled toward the stage. He admired how life-like the dummy looked...Although there seemed to be a bit too much blood...
Fantine's scream was more horrified than in practice. And now she was screaming actual words. Clopin froze as he realized what she was shrieking: "It's really him! He's really dead!!"
On to ACT TWO
(c) 1998-2004 Autumn Loweck. This work may not be copied, distributed, or reprinted without the author's permission. All characters are property of Autumn Loweck (aka Shiri), unless specified otherwise, and may not be "borrowed" or mentioned in other works without notifying the author first