The Final Act Read Online Free PDF

Trek, you wouldn’t even havea name. You’d be billed as Crewman One, first to die on the planet du jour ,” Denny teased as he zipped up his fly.
    “I may die by Act Two, but I get paid the same as you guys for half the work, so who’s the sucker?” Bill straddled a chair, resting his arms on the back. “Where are we going after the show tonight?”
    “Some place new Logan’s discovered,” Michael said. “Fortunados.”
    Denny tuned out the conversation while he finished dressing. Despite what Michael said, prep time was important, and Denny had seen Michael pull into himself and do the same, whether he admitted it or not.
    Walking away from the group, Denny did some deep breathing exercises and ran lines in his head. There were two similar passages and sometimes he got parts of them confused.
    “I feel like I’m losing you, Kathleen. You’re here, but you’re not really with me. I love you and I’ll do whatever it takes to make you happy.”
    Poor Richard, losing his loved one despite everything he did to try to hold her. It was depressing.
    As soon as rehearsal was over, he’d call Tom just to hear his voice. Only eighteen more days and they’d be together again.

    Elena loved vocal warm-ups. Many actors found them an annoying necessity, but she honestly enjoyed running up and down scales and enunciating tongue twisters. She liked the growing sense of excitement as the orchestra tuned up and curtain time loomed. It was a Christmas Eve feeling. Good things were coming—exciting things, and the anticipation was almost better than the actual event.
    After six intensive weeks of rehearsals, though, she was ready for an audience. A person could take only so much foreplay. She glanced over at Michael, also on stage, warming up. His tousled sandy hair begged to have fingers combed through it.
    Elena looked away, concentrating on a prop fern that drooped wearily in its pot on the edge of the stage. She bounced lightly on the balls of her feet, her hands loose at her sides and her throat open to let the sound pour out.
    Around her, the full palette of voices made a richly textured musical sound as they flowed up and down the scales. She caught Gretchen’s eye, and the blonde winked. She looked as delighted to be there as Elena felt.
    The band played the chorus of “We Are All”, and the singers joined in.
    One life to live as we choose.
    We are all open to what the day brings.
    One heart to share with the world.
    We are all free to spread our wings.
    And soar. And soar.
    To the sky.
    The words might be corny, but the melody gave the song emotional depth. When the full chorus belted it out in harmony, the hair on Elena’s neck rose every time at the resounding crescendo on the word “sky”. Their voices blended like they’d been singing together all their lives. She was proud to be part of a cast, which was every bit as good as the original. And while Michael might bug the crap out of her, he could act and sing circles around the original Broadway Aaron.
    She glanced at him again to find him looking back at her. His gaze slid away immediately.
    Elena’s heart thumped. He’d caught her looking. But then she realized he was watching her, too. Was it possible Michael was interested in her?
    Stop it. Grow up. She’d seen backstage romances flare and just as quickly burn out. It was childish to confuse stage passion with the real thing. They were professionals, for God’s sake.
    Elena concentrated on putting everything she had into the song. As the company reached that soaring final note, she stared at the empty seats and imagined them filled, only a few weeks from now. Her heart soared along with the music at the thought.
    Walking from the stage afterward, she felt a hand on her arm and turned to find Michael beside her. Her stomach jolted at his sudden appearance. Being near him was like being caught in an electromagnetic wave of charisma.
    “I’m giving you a heads-up now so you don’t yell at me later.