The Audition

Conner stood outside the audition room for the school play, he looked around at the other people trying out for a role and noticed that he is the youngest among them. Technically he would be the youngest allowed to audition since he had some previous theatre experience that allowed him to bend the grade requirement for the play. Conner’s older sister was also auditioning, she had been in many productions in the past, they had performed together a few times. Today was his first time auditioning for a school performance, he would typically perform at the community theatre where his Mom volunteered.

An older boy stepped out of the room and looked at him. “Are you Conner Reid? If so, you're up next.” The boy walked past him.

Conner slowly opened the door, he was a little nervous since usually his Mom would get him a role in a performance without needing to audition. He stepped into the school’s drama classroom which had a small stage and was mostly used to store previous performance props, costumes and equipment. Sitting in front of the stage were two female teacher’s, Ms Gray who was shorter with a stocky build with short hair, she was wearing a black turtleneck and practical black shoes. The other was Mrs Bell who was taller with long grey hair, she was wearing a red cardigan with a black skirt. Mrs Bell motioned for Conner to stand on the small stage. “Conner Reid is it, you are Jessica Reid’s brother I take it?” Mrs Bell asked Conner.

“Yes Ma’am” Conner replied nervously.

“I see, you are aware the play is ‘The Wizard of Oz’” Ms Gray asked further. “Your sister mentioned she had been in a different production of this play at the community theatre.”

“Yes, I know it’s ‘The Wizard of Oz’. I was also in that performance.” Conner replied quietly.

Ms Gray's eyes widened slightly. “Oh really, what part did you play before?” She questioned Conner.

Conner’s face flushed a little, he regretted mentioning it. “Well I played one of the Munchkins. But it wasn’t a speaking role, I was hoping to be a more important character this time.” Conner explained.

Ms Gray looked him up and down. “Well we are letting you audition for a role due to your experience, I have been told you have been in multiple performances. In our performance the munchkins will be played by the first graders who want to participate, what grade are you in?” Ms Gray asked.

“I’m in the fourth grade this year.” Conner told her.

“Hmm, well you are too old to play a Munchkin anyway, it’s easier to have one class do that scene. Have you ever had a speaking role in any performance before?” Ms Gray continued.

“I played Chip in the beauty and the beast, it was only a few lines though.” Conner said. He didn’t tell her that he had hesitated during the performance and got interrupted.

“Let’s give him a chance at least.” Mrs Bell said.

“Okay, let’s see what you got.” Ms Gray asked.

Mrs Bell walked up to him and handed him a sheet of paper. “This is a simple scene from the play, in this scene you are playing the Scarecrow and I will read Dorothy’s lines.” Mrs Bell explained.

This was Conner’s chance to actually get a speaking part, he just needed to get the lines out. Conner read through the lines. “Okay I’m ready to start,” he said.

Mrs Bell cleared her throat and began. “You don’t know how to stroll?” she asked.

“Uh. I don’t know how to do nothing, I mean anything. I don’t have a brain, or any brains.” Conner stammered over the first line. “Sorry, can I try again?” he asked.

“Just continue from where you left off.” Ms Gray said unimpressed.

Mrs Bell started again. “No Brains? How is that possible?” She continued.

Conner looked at the lines this time wanting to get them right, he would try to memorise them later. “How should I know, I don’t have any brains.” he said quietly while reading off the paper. He knew he wasn’t making a good performance just quietly reading lines.

“A little louder please, I know you’re nervous but please remember this is a show.” Ms Gray said, sounding annoyed.

Mrs Bell looked concerned and kept going. “Then what’s inside your head?” she said.

This time Conner knew he had to impress, he tried to push aside his nervousness and change his voice a little. In a rough sounding voice and moving his arms to point to his head and body he said. “I’m a scarecrow. I’m stuffed with straw and corncobs, That’s why I've got such a husky voice, Get it? Corn?” Conner really tried with this one which left Ms Gray thinking.

“Hmm, I was hoping for something a little stronger given your experience. That’s why we let you audition in the first place.” Mrs Gray sounded disappointed.

“I’m just nervous right now, I really want to be in the play and show my family I can do this outside the theatre.” Conner pleaded.

“Hmm, the thing is you’re a little on the short side even for the costumes, we would need to make a new one depending on the part.” Ms Gray explained.

“Please, I’ll do any part. Even a flying monkey.” Conner said, realising he wasn’t going to get a main role he kept going.

“Well we will post the results at the end of the day, come back to the drama room and it will be posted on the board outside. If you get a part just wait after school inside for a copy of the play. You were our last audition, so no need to let anyone else in.” Mrs Bell explained.

“Thank you for giving me a chance.” Conner then gave Mrs Bell the script back and left the room. After closing the door behind him he just let out a big sigh. He figured he wasn’t actually going to get a part after that performance. His sister teased him that the only reason he was in plays at all was because of his mother, which may be true. He looked around and saw his sister.

“How did it go, Munchkin?” Jessica asked him, she had called him ‘munchkin’ ever since he played in The Wizard of Oz the first time.

“Not great to be honest, I blew most of the lines.” Conner said disappointedly.

“Sorry to hear that, you might still get a part. Most people haven’t spent as much time at the theatre as you or I, it may not be that bad.” She tried to comfort him.

“I guess we will find out later. How did your audition go?” He asked Jessica.

“I don’t want to rub it in, but I’m pretty sure I’ll get Dorothy.” She said smiling.

“That’s good, I suppose we will meet here after school to find out the results.” Conner said depressed.

“Yeah, I’ll see you later then.” Jessica told him. They both heard the lunch bell ring and the two separated.

Conner spent the rest of the afternoon attending his classes, he liked school in general and did decently in his classes. Conner was mostly a fan of the art, music and drama classes. The rest of the day was math and social studies so he was starting to look forward to the results.

His best friend Brian was the only other classmate that knew he had an audition, the class didn’t really know about it since most fourth graders weren’t even allowed to audition. Brian leaned over while they did a worksheet. “Hey Conner, how did it go?” He asked.

Conner looked at him, he had been boasting that he has been doing plays for a while to Brian. “It went fine, I’ll see which part I’m getting after school.” He told his friend.

“Awesome, you will need to tell me tomorrow what it is.” Brian said.

Conner was now feeling anxious about the results, he wanted at least something.

After a couple hours the final bell rang and Conner packed up all his belongings and headed back to the drama room. The room was much further from the fourth grade classes then the upper years and by the time he got there a small crowd had formed. Some older kids looked annoyed, a lot of girls had auditioned and didn’t get parts. Conner started to squeeze through to get to the posting. Conner read through the parts, it was split up by ‘Main Cast’ and ‘Supporting Cast’ and ‘Understudies’. Conner immediately looked at the Supporting Cast list figuring that’s where he would be. He saw all Munchkins were labeled ‘Mr. Farley’s First Grade Class’. He went through the list, he wasn’t even in the Flying Monkey list or even the talking trees. Disappointed, he looked through the understudy list and read past the names, he didn’t even do well enough to be anyone’s understudy. Conner felt disappointment and a little regret, he was embarrassed for even auditioning for the play.

“Hey Munchkin, I see you got a part in the play.” Jessica said to him, Conner hadn’t even realised she was standing behind him.

Conner had a tear in his eye. “No I didn’t, I didn’t even get to understudy” Conner said quietly.

“But you are in the main cast, Munchkin. Main cast members don’t understudy” Jessica told him.

“How am I a main cast member after my audition?” Conner questioned her. He inspected the main cast list, at the top he found Jessica Reid beside Dorothy’s name which didn’t surprise him. He continued down past a bunch of names he didn’t recognize and then saw it at the bottom. “I’m playing Toto. The Dog?”

“That’s right, I think Toto has the most stage time after Dorothy as well.” Jessica smiled at him.

“I suppose that’s true!” Conner thought about it, a wave of relief spilling over him. “It’s not a speaking role though.” He said.

“That makes it perfect for you, you were never good with lines anyway.” She smirked at him.

“I was hoping to get a speaking role.” He complained.

She laughed at that comment. “Well let’s get the scripts and see if it’s different from the other play.” Jessica opened the door to the drama room and Conner followed. He looked around and saw a bunch of people he didn’t recognize. He also noticed that Mr Farley’s class was absent, he assumed they would get told later.

Ms Gray and Mrs Bell stepped into the classroom and looked around and started counting. She then addressed the room. “Great, I think everyone is here. First I want to say congratulations to everyone, I know some of you may not have expected to get the roles you got but we think they will be perfect fits for you. I expect over this term we will all get to know each other. Please take a copy of the play, I want everyone to read over the entire play this week. Don’t worry too much about memorising lines, that will come with practice and we will perfect it over the next few months. I also want to thank everyone for stepping up and auditioning.”

Mrs Bell walked around the room and handed out copies of the play.

“Rehearsals will begin next week every Tuesday and Thursday evening. I will post the schedule outside the drama room of which scenes are being rehearsed, only characters in those scenes need to attend. Every couple weeks we will have an all cast meeting however.” Ms Gray told everyone.

Once Conner got his copy of the play he met up with Jessica and the two started walking home. “I guess we just need to read through the play this week.” Conner said.

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure she just wants everyone to get a feel for the characters.” She giggled a little. “Although I will say when we performed it at the theatre we used a stuffed dog for Toto, so I’m not sure why she casted him separately.” Jessica teased him.

“Yeah, I’m not really sure what I am doing, I’ll need to read it over.” Conner sounded nervous.

When they got home their mother, Linda Reid, was waiting for them in the kitchen. She was reading a book and quickly put it down. “So how did the auditions go?” she asked immediately.

“Well it looks like the Reid name is meant for show business because we will both be in the main cast!” Jessica excitedly told her mother.

Linda stood up, the chair sliding away from her. “Congratulations! Both of you! This is so exciting. What parts are you playing?” She asked.

“Well I am playing the lead of course, Dorothy” Jessica said proudly.

“Amazing, congratulations. I knew you wanted to play it since last time.” Linda congratulated her daughter. She then turned to Conner.

“So Conner, which role are you playing?” She asked Conner.

Conner’s face flushed red, his mom worked in the theatre and Jessica had hyped up his role. “I’m playing Toto…” Conner said shyly.

“Oh, they casted Toto? I suppose when there are many students they casted as many characters as they could.” Linda smiled at her son. “Remember what I say though, there are no small parts!” Linda said to Conner, waiting for him to finish the statement.

“... Only small actors.” Conner finished softly. Conner had heard this every time his mom had casted him in a performance before.

“Exactly! Well congratulations to my two stars. I’m looking forward to seeing you perform from the audience instead of backstage.” Linda smiled at them.

“Well, I need to call my theatre friends and let them know the good news!” Jessica said as she headed upstairs.

“I’m going to start reading the play, Ms Gray wants all the cast members to read it over this week” Conner said as he headed upstairs.

Conner went into his room, he laid on his bed and pulled the script out of his backpack. Looking at the cover of the script he saw the four characters Dorothy, The Scarecrow, The Tinman and The Lion. Standing in front of them was Toto the small dog. “Well I suppose Toto is a main character, this is my biggest role yet.” Somehow he started to feel excited about the role.