Chapter 32

“Something Broadway would be nice?” I said.

“You know the show, URINETOWN?” Sandy asked.

“Sure, ‘Follow Your Heart?’ You want someone to sing with?” I asked.

“Yeah, Randall, you ready?”

Sandy and I performed one of the many odd songs written for the relatively New Musical URINETOWN. She knew the song well enough and we had a blast playing off each other during it.

When the song was over, Sandy and I clinched and almost start to kiss, when Carol starts to applaud, saying, “Wow girl – I forgot how well you sang. Good thing I snagged Randall, before you had your way with him.”

“Oh, you – Thank you very much for sharing. Well, Randall – did I get the part?” Sandy said taking my arm.

As I opened my mouth to say yes, Carol cut in and said, “Of course you did. Why don’t you move in with us up in Santa Fe, during rehearsals and the run of the shows? That drive would be enough to make anybody crazy. Rann and I have bought a house together. Go ask your folks, and pack a bag and be back here in an hour. That will give Rann a chance to recharge his batteries.”

Sandy did that teenage girl thing of jumping in place and clapping her hands, then realized she had to get home, pack, and call her parents at work.

Carol gave her our number, and we went up to her room to sleep.

We were awakened by a knock on the front door. I yelled ‘coming, ‘ and trudged down and opened the door to Sandy and her parents. I yelled up to Carol, “Code Blue” and asked them all to come in.

I had taken my time to say hi and hug them as we all sat down. Carol came down from upstairs, looking fresh and beautiful. She entered the group dynamic saying, “And how are the Steiner’s this afternoon? You’ll have to forgive me, for looking like I do. Sometimes this hair of mine just drives me crazy.”

“Not a problem at all Carol,” Mr. Steiner said. “Sandra here says you’ve auditioned her, and you’ve asked her to be in your play up in Santa Fe. Where do the two of you live exactly?”

I jumped in, “My sister Carol is living in my three-bedroom home in Santa Fe, just about a mile due south of the Campus. She moved in with me, recently, to save the wear and tear on a car making the drive once or twice a day.”

“She and I are into the Musical Theatre Program at SFU, as you know, and I’m directing and Carol is starring in DISNEY’S BEAUTY AND THE BEAST. Just yesterday, before we’ve even had our first read-thru, a young lady I’d cast, had to back out.”

“Sandy came by, saw our car, and dropped in and we caught each other up on our lives. Carol reminded me that Sandra sang, so I asked her to sing for me, and she blew us away, with her range and her pretty smile. I have an available third bedroom in my house that your daughter is welcome to while she attends rehearsals and the actual run of the show. Her not being 19 yet, mandated we get your approval, rather than just whisking her off to Santa Fe.”

“What could we pay you in rent that would cover your trouble?” Mrs. Steiner asked.

“No money’s necessary at all, we can take her to and from campus as needed,” I said surprised by the offer.

“No, we insist Randall,” Mr. Steiner exclaimed. “Would $500 a month be OK?”

I looked over at Carol, who was hiding her emotions, and Sandy, who wasn’t, and I said, “That’s more than enough, folks. Has Sandra packed her bag to go? I’m certain the two girls will find where the good shopping is, so are we all set? Say your goodbyes, Sandra.”

“Carol and Sandra will let you know when the show is going to be on, so thank you two very much – Sandra is a diamond in the rough, that just needs a little polish.”

Sandy came up to me and hugged me like she was hugging a teddy bear and kissed me on the cheek, in front of her parents.

“Enough of that, young lady,” her father demanded. “Randall probably has multiple girlfriends all over Santa Fe, don’t you?”

I may have blushed, but I gathered myself together quickly enough to say, “A gentlemen never reveals his heart, except to the love of his heart.”

“Well said, young man. Just protect our daughter from the scoundrels, please?” Sandy’s mother chimed in.

“Mother!” Sandy said, blushing a bit.

“Will do, goodbye folks,” I said.

They left and the moment the door was closed, Sandra came back up to me and kissed me directly on the lips, slipping me a little tongue.

Carol pulled her off me saying, “There will be some ground rules, young lady ... but not many.”

They laughed and giggled together.

What did I just get myself into?

The read-thru for Beauty came along. Since the Albuquerque Four were in tech week, it started out rather listless. However Sandy covered Mrs. Potts lines, as well as Chips; still can’t find a suitable young man. I guess I could use a young girl and change the character name to Charlotte or something. I did find a young man for the part of the Young Prince, who is only at the beginning of the show in silhouette. He’s about Sandy’s age, good.

Nobody knew whom Hank T Grindall was, and they didn’t get the anagram of my name, so I announced to my cast that I would be playing both Gaston and The Beast. Marcus was there in case there were any mutterers.

I was expecting someone to say something about how arrogant that sounded, but everyone thought it was a clever idea, some even willing to help perform the transformation each night. People can surprise you sometimes.

I also asked everyone to not give this away, and just say a newcomer named Hank Grindall is playing Gaston.

The afternoon lasted just under two hours, with about half of us sticking around, due to being in ‘Brides’.

Jeff showed up, asking how it went, and I explained all that had happened. He told me that the first full weekend of performances for ‘Beauty’ was sold out, beaming as he told me the news.