Cat and Fox
The Cotton Stanley dressing room was filled with 20 girls talking raucously. My head
ached from the excitement and the noise.
OHMYGOD! THE BUTTON FELL OFF THESE PANTS! I heard somebody yell.
I grabbed a safety pin off my book bag and handed it to her. She breathed a sigh of
relief and I returned to getting myself ready.
I pulled on the white pleated tuxedo shirt and straightened the cuffs. On went the
pinstripe pants. Slipping on the black boots I was near ready.
The sound of everyone else buzzed around me. People slipped in and out of the room
preparing for their chance on stage.
As I hurried over to Megan, I, like everyone else in the room recited the lines under
my breath, hoping that any forgotten lines would be magically remembered.
Sitting me down in the makeup chair she quickly teased my hair into little ears, and
carefully placed the bowler on my head. She finished touching up my kitty face and I
was set.
And that’s when it hit me, I had been waiting for what seemed like forever to get to
this moment, and now it was here. Three weeks ago I had walked through the doors of
the black box full of nervous energy, about to get started on this epic project. 21 days
later, here I was with that same nervous energy filling my stomach. But this time I was
going to perform in front of hundreds. I was in the zone. Corbet Theater here I come.
I left the crowded dressing room and walked down the empty hallway. Anika followed
behind me and I quietly opened the stage right door. We slowly crept to the two
wooden trees at the back of the stage. Silently assuming our station behind them we
stood motionless. Standing there I felt my heart start to beat so quickly I could barely
feel the breaks. On stage our dear little friend Pinocchio just received five coins. In
nearly a minute we would be out there taking them from him.
Breath. Come on. Inhale. Exhale. I took in huge gulps of air trying to calm myself. I
turned to Anika, my favorite partner in crime. She gave me a quick thumbs up
whispering so quietly I could barely hear her, “Oh, god! Thirty seconds! Good Luck!”
“Same” I replied my body too shaky to do much else. I heard the audience applaud.
Felt the lights darken. The curtain rose revealing our trees. Peeking out from behind
the trees we inched toward Pinocchio’s turned back. The brilliantly bright lights
switched on and followed our every move. I was on display, hundreds of eyes looking
upon me and I felt my stomach flip-flop.
The heat from the lights above me made me break out in a sweat and I felt my ears
getting red. The first bars of the song started playing and I barely heard it. I already
knew the song by heart. I felt my lips moving and saying my lines. I couldn’t even
remember what I said. Suddenly my hearing became clearer and I could actually focus.
My eyes adjusted to the light and I felt my pulse slow. My feet remembered the steps. I
felt completely in control.
I hop-skipped then jazz squared to the side of the stage. As Anika and I ran out into
the audience I truly felt like we were the cat and the fox. We snatched the coins from
Pinocchio, and hopped back onto the stage. Belting out the last few lines of the song
we began to run off stage. As the last bar hit we jumped into the air and exited off
stage left.
Yes. There it was. That happy buzz of a perfect performance. I was smiling almost uncontrollably.
That’s when I knew that acting was something that I would love and want to do
forever.
