Chapter 15

If there had been bonus points for style, Zoe's Song got 'em.

Peter and I were turned out in black tuxedos, and the girls wore long elegant dresses. The official invitation to the banquet had said semi-formal, and of the other two casts, only half-a-dozen guys had even bothered with ties. We stood out.

It had been Robbie's idea. She complained that she'd never seen me in a tux and Tami had. She'd been right. As much as I hate even wearing a tie, we looked good. We looked the part of winners even if we didn't win.

The banquet was pretty ordinary. It could have been the end of season sports banquet in the Holiday Inn back home. Chicken that was--by luck of the draw--either cooked dry or raw, and mashed potatoes better suited for making sculptures of Devil's Tower. Too bad I hadn't run into any UFOs lately.

The room was divided into three sections. In a sports banquet, it would be the coaches in front, the athletes at the middle tables, and the parents in the back. For this, the judges and foundation honchos had the front, but the rest was the same. The three casts were seated at three long tables. Vlad had the left side, we were in the center, and Mirror, Mirror was on the right. We'd seen Vlad the night before we performed, but all we knew about Mirror, Mirror was that it was an adaptation of one of Agatha Christie's Miss Marple stories.

A distinguished black man stood at the dais as a waitress replaced my half-eaten chicken--I'd gotten one of the half-raw pieces--with a dish of tapioca that had seen better days. "LADIES! GENTLEMEN!" the background noise of dozens of conversations started to fade. "I am your host this evening, Mark Eddington. It is my honor to chair the endowment committee of the Prentiss Foundation." There was a smattering of applause, mostly from the parent section. What is a smattering anyway?

"This year we had thirty-seven entries from schools all over the state. Three of the schools had mini-competitions among their students to select their school's entry." Only three. I was surprised. I figured our school was part of the norm. I guessed that meant in most schools, the drama teacher or someone selected the play for the students. "So in total there were forty-five plays, and in any other state, any one of them would have won.

"A quick note before we see some of the entries. After much discussion, it has been decided that next year the competition will be held in February. It has been difficult for some of the school groups to get organized so soon after school starts. Especially in the schools with multiple entries." Tami had mentioned that it was a possibility. I think she got it off the foundation's website. I wasn't sure if I liked the idea.

"Now a quick look at the three semi-finalists who aren't with us tonight." As he spoke, a large white screen descended in front of the wall behind him, the lights dimmed and the screen lit with a group of teenagers in period costume. It took only a few seconds to recognize Hamlet. Two minutes later, the screen faded to loud applause which was more than it deserved. Not that it was bad, it was just ordinary. I figured it was the judges' nod to the classics.

The screen lit again. This time it took me longer to recognize The Glass Menagerie. As I watched, I searched under the table and found Tami's hand. I needed it. I'd always thought the play was depressing, and somehow this group had managed to make it even more so. The applause when the screen went dark was more subdued than for Hamlet. I decided that whatever region this play represented had no talent if this was the winner.

The screen lit a third time, and it took almost a minute for me to realize I was watching a musical version of Faust. The devil was played by a redheaded girl who could have been Robbie's cousin, and she hit a perfect tone for the character. If the rest of the cast had been half as strong, I think we would have been looking at the winner. The clip was longer than the first two, because they included most of her song, Have I Got a Deal for You. They'd written the words to the music of another song that I couldn't quite place. A quick glance at Robbie across the table from me told me that she was having the same problem.

The clip ended to enthusiastic applause. I didn't need an applause meter to know which one of these three plays won.

The lights came back on and Eddington stepped to the dais again. "That last clip was from The Devil's Deal, and that production caused us a lot of trouble because the judges had a lot of trouble deciding on just three finalists. In fact, Colonel Gates left one of the meetings with a black eye, though Mrs. Turner swears it was an accident." The Air Force officer turned to pretend to glare at the dumpy deputy mayor, who slapped her fist into an open palm while the audience laughed.

"After much debate, many hurt feelings, and only a little blood, the judges managed to come up with our final three. "Can I have a big hand for the cast of Vlad." Everyone started applauding as the group on the right stood and waved. "Vlad was directed by Carl Thompson and written by Valery Tucker based on the novel by Bram Stoker." Two of the boys lifted one of the girls onto a chair. She turned red but managed to keep waving.

"Can we have another big hand for the cast of Mirror, Mirror," Eddington said after the Vlad crew finally sat. The applause started again as the group on our other side stood. "Mirror, Mirror was directed by Marie Chase and written by Manuel Sicata and Marie Chase from a story by Agatha Christie." One boy held her hand as a girl stood on a chair and took a bow. I wondered if the boy was Manuel. He looked more like a Lief or a Lars. "Unfortunately, Manuel Sicata couldn't be with us this evening."

I found out later that the Immigration Service had suggested that his parents go back to Costa Rica, and Manuel and the rest of his family went with him.

The group from Mirror, Mirror milked the applause for almost five minutes. Robbie rapped the table, and we all looked at her. "Thirty seconds," she whispered. We all nodded.

"Finally, our third finalist. Can we get another big hand for the cast of Zoe's Song." We stood and waved. "Zoe's Song was directed by Robbie Tate and written by Tony Sims from a story idea by Michelle Temple." Since our table was just for the cast, Mikee was sitting with her parents. I was watching her as Eddington made his announcement, and she turned pink. I nodded to her dad, and he stood, picked her up, and put her on her chair. The laughter turned her pink darker to red, but she deserved the applause. After about thirty seconds, we sat down, taking the audience by surprise.

It took Eddington by surprise, too. He'd been talking to the army officer with his back turned when the applause died out. "Our three finalists," he said opening his arms to take us all in as he stepped back to the dais. "Here's a look at why our judges had so much trouble."

The light dimmed again and the screen lit up with a scene from Vlad. This clip was longer than the others. It ran about five minutes and featured several scenes, including my favorite, a scene where Dracula was talking to and caressing several of the female vampires. The kid who played Dracula was good. Dracula has been played in the movies by Bela Lugosi and Christopher Lee and everyone in between including George Hamilton and Leslie Nielsen. The kid was closer to Lugosi than Lee, Lee being my favorite.

The end brought more applause, and the Vlad cast again stood, waved and took bows.

The screen came to life a fifth time with a middle-aged woman looking curiously around an English drawing room before a butler entered. The makeup was great because I had no idea which of the teenagers at the other table could have been this middle-aged woman. From the scenes we saw, I was sorry that we hadn't been able to come back last weekend to see the play.

Tami must have sensed what I was thinking because she whispered, "They're sending us tapes of the other five plays when they send ours."

I nodded thinking that I'd really enjoy Mirror, Mirror and The Devil's Deal. I'd seen Vlad, might watch Hamlet if I was really bored, and The Glass Menagerie would make a good paperweight.

The Mirror, Mirror cast were still taking bows when the screen came to life again with Traci singing Too Many Feelings. After a minute it transitioned into the final scene after Zoe had died. "She'd still be alive if you hadn't interfered," Robbie accused. "My baby would be alive, she'd be here. We'd be here." The camera had gone tight on Robbie's face and you could almost see the anguish of a mother who'd just lost her child.

The camera panned out, taking in the whole set as Peter dropped his head for a long pause, then the camera moved in again, framing just Peter and Susie as her hand moved forward and found his. The camera tightened still until just their hands filled the screen, and she gave him a squeeze. Then the camera moved out again as Peter said, "But she wasn't alive. She was existing..."

The screen faded, and the applause started. "Sit!" Robbie said as she lifted her arm and waved. We kept sitting and waved for several seconds.