Playing Sarah
-Chapter 1: Somewhere Far From Wonderland Somewhere far from Wonderland “Come on, Gin! Hurry up!” Yelled Brink “I’m coming!” I yelled back trying to catch up “We don’t want to be last in line!” yelled Cards It was a beautiful day in June, the sun was shining bright, perfect for a class trip to Disneyland and Universal Studios. “I can’t wait to see the set of Newsies!” Vigor exclaimed Vigor, Cards, Brink, and I were waiting in line for the studio tour tram, and we weren’t last as Cards predicted. “I wonder if it looks the same?” Brink said “Too bad we can’t get out of the tram” Vigor then said “Well you can, if you sneak off, hell, that’s how Stephen Spielberg got discovered, he hopped out of the tram and snuck his script to a producer” I said “He did not” “It’s true” “So does that mean you’re going sneak off and go give a producer a tape of your singing?” Vigor joked “They probably have high security nowadays” Cards said “so don’t get any ideas” Too late! “Gin, what are you giving that look for?! Gin, no! I know what you’re thinkin’ Gin! No! We can’t!” “Why not!” “Gin, no!” Cards pleaded “Well what do we have to lose?!” “Umn, let’s see…our freedom!!” “So, it’ll be worth it!” “I’m in!” exclaimed Brink “Me too!” Vigor joined “It’s stupid! We’ll get caught!” “PPPLLEEAASSEE Cards!” “Come on Cards” “No” “Do it for me” “NO” “Then do it for the newsies” “Fine, I guess” “YES!” I hugged Cards, I whispered to them the plan. The tram arrived, we got into the third one in the back row. “Welcome to Universal Studios, I’m Al and I’ll be your tour guide today” We couldn’t keep a straight face, we were all excited by what we were attempting to do. “Stop giggling! We’ll look suspicious!” Cards hissed “Don’t worry so much!” I said The tram drove on, I waited until it stopped in a place where we could hide. Finally after three stops it stop in a Mexican village set and parked close to bushes. “Now!” I nudged Brink. Luckily, it was just us in the back row. We quietly scooted out of the tram and went into the bushes and hid. We sat in the scratchy bushes until we heard the tram drive off. We emerged out of the bushes. “Quick! Run, before the next tram comes! Hurry!” I said as I ran and led them out of the Mexican village set. We through the little Europe set, Brink stopped “Hey, this is where Pirates of the Caribbean was filmed!” “Brink!” “Okay, I’m going!” We stopped at a city set “Is this it?’’ “I think so” I said astonished “Wow, it almost looks the same” “This is amazing!” “I’m standing in the same place Jake stood in!” It felt like we were in Newsies, so this is what it’s like… “I’m going to go into a building” I told them I remembered the behind the scenes footage where I saw the actors on the roof of one of the buildings. I opened to door and went inside, it was empty with only stairs to the top, it’s amazing how realistic and yet unrealistic movie sets are. “In fact I’m going on the roof” “Gin, be careful, these sets are old, who knows how safe they are” Cards warned “I will” I said as I went up the stair, they were a little steep, almost too steep. Suddenly I heard the noise of a car! “Shit!” Brink yelled “Gin! Get down! Someone’s coming!” Oh, no! I ran down the stairs, which isn’t good when you’re wearing flip flops, I ran as fast as I could…little did I knew that there was a nail sticking straight out, as I ran I tripped and fell…I opened my eyes, I was at the bottom of the stairs, I felt my legs nothing felt broken. I got up and walked out of the fake building. No one was there. “Brink! Vigor! Cards!” No answer “Where are you guys?!” They better not have ditched me! I looked around…wait a minute, something about this set was different…there was uncompleted constructed buildings with orange tape surrounding it, I feet felt weird, I look towards the ground…it was dirt…not cobblestone…half the set isn’t there…then I saw a sign in front of the tape, something I didn’t notice before, it read “Under Construction for ‘Newsies’, a Christmas release” WHAT THE HELL!! This can’t be right! What the hell is happening?! “Excuse me, miss, are you lost?” I turned around, I nearly fell to the ground laughing, the man had a mullet with a hat on and glasses and was wearing acid wash jeans and had a Hawaiian shirt on in a golf cart, for some reason he looked familiar. “You must be here for the auditions, am I right” “Why yes, I am” I lied because if he knew the real reason I was here I’ll be in big trouble. “The auditions are that way in the building near studio 16, here let me drive you there” “Umn, okay” I said, what do I have to lose? I got on the golf cart with him. “So what’s your name?” “Christina” “So why do you want this role Christina?” “Umn, I don’t know, because the part seems, umn, nice” “How old are you?” “Seventeen, almost eighteen” “Oh, okay, pretty close to Christian, have you acted before?” “Only in school musicals” Why is he asking me all of these questions? “So you can sing then?” “Umn, yeah and dance too” We were at the studio where there was a huge line of teenage girls in front of it, the line was all the way around the building! “Here we are!” “Um, thank you…?” “Call me Kenny” KENNY! Oh my god!! No wonder he looked so familiar! “You’re…you’re…you’re Kenny Ortega?!” “Yeah, that’s me, listen, you don’t have to wait in this line, I’ll bring you inside to meet the producers and writers, I think you got something” But what is the part?! I don’t know what I’m doing! Why is everybody dressed so weird and where’s Cards, Brink, and Vigor?! I can’t make sense of this! …Then I saw a newspaper on the ground, I picked it up…Oh my god…I’M IN 1991!! “Right this way Christina” That’s what the auditions are for...for Sarah Kenny led me in to the studio through the line of girls, inside they’re were six adults sitting at a table, there was also a piano with a piano player. “Christina this is the writers Noni White and Bob Tzudiker and our producers Michael Finnel, Ira Shuman, and Marianne Sweeny, and our casting director Elisabeth Leusting” “Christina can you sing for us” the casting lady at the end of the table asked “Sing what?” I asked…oh my god, I’m auditioning for Sarah! “Anything really, just tell George right there what song and he’ll play it” What song should I sing?! Okay, think of something that’ll make Ele look bad. “Circle of Life from Lion King” I said “Huh?” Oh crap! That hasn’t come out yet! “Sorry, Can’t Help Lovin’ That Man of Mine from Showboat” I nervously sang, my hands were shaking, I tried my best at over emphasizing the high notes. They clapped when I finished. “That was really impressive!” said the women writer “Thank you” “Can I see your resume, honey?” asked the casting lady Shit! So close! “Umn, oh man, I think I forgot it or left it in the car” I said hesitantly “Do you have an agent at least?” Damn! “Not really” I said back nervously The lady was about to say something but Kenny cut in. “Why don’t you come back tomorrow to do a screen test for us with a resume and written parental consent” “Christian’s also coming tomorrow for another screen test Kenny, have you told him it was a musical yet?” Christian…as in Christian Bale…I meeting up with Christian Bale…Tomorrow! “No I haven’t but I’ll inform him tomorrow, I’m sure he’ll won’t mind the change” Oh no! I remember he got mad at that! …and I’ll be there to witness it! “You better not pull the Al Pacino trick on him” one of the men joked Holy crap! I’m in 1991, I might get the part of Sarah, and I’m meeting up with Christian Bale tomorrow to do a screen test…HOW IN THE HELL DID THIS HAPPEN?!!
