Practice Makes Perfect

It had been a few weeks since he had met with Trish, by now the cast had practiced every scene multiple times and were trying to refine the roles. Mrs Bell had been busy getting a stage crew together out of some of the other students and building any missing set pieces that needed to be made. Conner was sitting in the drama room for the latest rehearsal, he was wearing the headband and tail Trish had given him along with black pants and a black T-Shirt. Mrs Bell had asked for an all cast meeting which hadn’t really changed his schedule since he and Jessica were supposed to attend every rehearsal.

“Thanks for coming everyone, the play is fast approaching and we wanted to ensure we do a test fit on the costumes and make any necessary adjustments.” Mrs Bell explained to the group

One by one each cast member worked with Mrs. Bell, who pinned and altered the costumes. Conner figured it was a slow rehearsal day and just waited. He looked around and saw his sister enthusiastically talking with Sara Fox, the girl who played Glinda, he decided to see what they were talking about and went over to them.

“Hey Jessica and Sara, what’s so exciting?” Conner asked.

“Oh Hey Toto! I suppose you are on the guest list!” Sara said and knelt down so she was at eye level. Suddenly being face to face and being called Toto left him blushing, he couldn’t really correct any of the cast members on calling him Toto, he had trouble remembering everyone’s name all the time and only remembered the ones that were Jessica’s friends.

“Guest list for what?” Conner asked.

“Well Sara is going to be hosting an after party for the performance, I suppose that includes you too.” Jessica said, the excitement trailing off as she realized she would be bringing her little brother to the party.

“Oh don’t be like that Jessica, the party is for everyone, it will be fun! We have a great place and can stay up late watching classic plays in my parent’s home theatre.” Sara explained.

“Sounds fun, but I will need to ask my mom if I can go.” Conner explained to Sara.

“Great, I need to tell everyone else as well.” Sara said as she walked off.

Mrs Farley and Mrs Bell then walked up to Jessica and Conner.

“Jessica, I need you for your fitting. Also Mr Farley needs to arrange something with you two.” Mrs Bell said.

“So the first graders have practiced the songs and the few lines we gave them, they will be dressed as Muchkins and are excited about the play. One thing we haven’t done is actually practiced with the other cast members. This week we are going to pull out both of you as well as Sara and Rayna from class to practice the scene. I don’t want to be too disruptive so we will only do that a few times in the coming weeks.” Mr Farley explained to them.

“No problem Mr. Farley, we will be patient with the youngsters. Isn’t that right Toto?” Jessica said.

“Yeah, plus we get an excuse to miss class.” Conner said smiling.

“Great, I will collect you from your classroom on the day of, we are also going to borrow some props before heading to the classroom.” Mr Farley said. Jessica then left with Mrs Bell. Conner decided to work on some homework while he waited for his turn.

After about thirty minutes Mrs Bell came up to Conner. “It looks like Trish hasn’t completed your costume yet, she assures us it will be ready in time for the dress rehearsal though. It looks like we won’t be doing any scenes today so you are free to go, I have some adjustments to make to your sister’s outfit and she wanted me to let you know you can head home without her.” Mrs Bell explained.

“Okay thank you, I’ll see you in the next rehearsal.” Conner said he then put away his homework and left the drama room.

Conner left the school quickly and passed by the park on his way home, he looked and saw Brian and Joey playing catch and waved at them. He noticed Brian giggling as he ran up to him with Joey.

“Hey Toto! I see you're still trying to get into character.” Brian said giggling again.

“I just got out of rehearsal if that’s what you mean, I didn’t even act today.” Conner said, confused. Brian pointed to his own head and it made Conner realize he never took off the headband or unclipped the tail from his pants. Conner’s face made a bright crimson shade of red. “I-I-I forgot to take that off!” Conner spat out embarrassed, he reached up and took the ears off holding them in his hands.

Brian just laughed at his embarrassed friend. “Didn’t you say you didn’t act today, why were you even wearing them?”.

“Well, I put them on before rehearsal, there is this girl who gave them to me, I thought with the stage presence thing. Ms Gray doesn’t scold my acting as much and…” Conner quickly stammered through many excuses trying to convince his friend it was perfectly normal.

“Calm down Toto, I’m only teasing.” Brian reassured his friend.

Conner took a few deep breaths, he was about to correct Brian on his name but let it go after he saw him in dog ears in the middle of the park. They then spent some time playing with Joey in the park.

Conner knelt down to Joey and gave him a few pets. “ARF!” Joey happily barked at Conner.

Conner had seen Joey a few more times since practicing. “ARF!” He replied back mimicking him.

“Toto, you are losing it.” Brian said.

“Mrs Gray said I’m doing well at this though.” Conner defended himself.

“Well, since you didn’t get a chance to rehearse today, you are welcome to practice with Joey.” Brian told him.

Conner thought about it for a moment, “Ms Gray has been complaining about my ‘stage presence’” He said mockingly.

“What does that mean, you aren’t in character or something?” Brian asked with curiosity.

“That’s what I thought, she likes the barking improvement though.” Conner told him.

“She likes the ‘speaking’ part of your ‘non-speaking’ role” Brian teased Conner. “Maybe it’s the way you move around on stage?”

“It does feel awkward, crawling around pretending to be Toto.” Conner admitted to his friend.

“Well that’s your problem right there! Dogs don’t crawl!” Brian informed him, he picked up a stick and threw it for Joey. “Look at Joey, he isn’t ‘crawling’ he is running! He could also be walking, or trotting or pacing.”

“Okay, how does that help me?” Conner asked.

“You should try it!” Brian decided

Conner blushed, “Now? People will see me.” He whispered.

“It’ll be fine.” Brian dismissed his concern, he snatched the dog ears out of Conner's hand and placed them back on his head.

Conner looked down and thought about it. “Okay I’ll try.” Conner finally agreed.

Brian called Joey over and pointed out all the differences and similarities between how dogs walk and people walk. “So the main thing to keep in mind is to move both your right leg and right arm at the same time, then the left. Got it!” Brian finished up.

Conner sat there a little dumb founded, he hadn’t expected Brian to have so much information. “Why do you know so much about the way dogs walk?” He asked him.

This time Brian started blushing and looked away. “Nevermind that, you don’t have a dog, it's just something you notice.” Brian said, clearly trying to keep a secret.

Conner decided not to pry. “Thanks, I think I’m ready to give it a go.” He then went down to his hands and knees and tried to follow Brian's instructions, going back and forth a few times trying to follow a path Joey had taken. “How was that?”

“It looks decent enough, I’m not sure what Ms Gray will think.” Brain said thoughtfully. “Let’s try something harder, just follow Joey.”. Brian then commanded Joey to follow him, which Joey did diligently, followed by Conner moving up to a pace behind him. Suddenly Brian threw a stick for Joey to catch. “You better hurry.” He grinned at him.

Conner was just getting the hang of it and decided he could give running a try and chased after Joey. Joey was so much faster than Conner, he thought that maybe if he barked at him he would stop and he could catch up. “ARF!” He cried to Joey.

It worked. Joey stopped in his tracks and turned around and barked back. “ARF!” Joey barked back.

Conner finally caught up to Joey and noticed Brian chasing after both of them. “Toto, that looked great!” Brian told him.

Conner stood up and brushed himself off, then he noticed people watching him, he should have realized this part of the park is visible from the shortcut to the school. “Oh crap, that’s my sister! You don’t think she saw?” He asked Brian.

“I think she saw.” Brian told him.

Jessica came jogging up to them with another cast member, the person who plays Oz. “Hey Toto, I see you still wanted to get some rehearsal in today!” The other cast member teased him.

“Well, I am just working on the performance.” Conner said shyly, he looked at both of them. “Why is Oz walking my sister home?”

“My name is Harvey, Toto.” Harvey said mockingly.

“Are you two dating?” Brian asked directly.

Both Jessica and Harvey blushed a little, there was clearly something going on between them. “Harvey and I were walking home together, it isn’t your business.” Jessica informed him.

“I thought Harvey was dating the flying monkey.” Conner sounded confused, over the course of the term he had learned a few things about the other students.

“Billy’s an ass, so no we aren’t dating anymore.” Harvey told him.

“Does he know that?” Conner asked, realizing that he had some leverage on Harvey and Jessica and may be able to get out of this without being teased.

“You know what, if you don’t talk to Billy about Jessica and I then we won’t tell everyone else about play time in the dog park.” Harvey offered to Conner.

“Yeah that works for me.” Conner agreed. The two left in a hurry

“I have to go home, you can play with Joey another time. I’ll see you at school tomorrow.” Brian told him as he grabbed his things and left with Joey.

A couple days later during class one afternoon the class was interrupted and Mr Farley stepped in. “Can I borrow a student of yours?” He asked.

“Sure, who do you need?” His teacher asked.

“Um, er, Toto?” Mr Farley asked, he had clearly forgotten Conner’s name.

“Oh yes, he can go with you!” His teacher said, Conner collected his things and went with Mr Farley. He was the closest to the first grade class so was picked up first.

“My name is Conner Reid, Mr Farley.” Conner told the teacher as they walked through the halls.

“Oh yeah, sorry about that. Everyone calls you Toto in the drama room.” Mr Farley said, trying to excuse the slip up.

“I know, it’s okay, I'm used to it.” Conner said.

The two arrived at another classroom and Conner waited outside, he didn’t realize that Jessica took the same class as Sara and Rayna. They then headed toward the drama room, Mr Farley had a key and let them in. “We just need a few props to help the students, Mrs Bell said it was fine. We need Dorothy’s picnic basket, ruby slippers, Glinda’s wand, the witch hat and broom.” Mr Farley started to look for the items with Sara’s help.

“Hey Toto, do you have your ears and tail?” Jessica asked him.

“Yeah in my backpack.” Conner said.

“Well put them on and leave your bag here.” Jessica suggested, Conner took them out and put them on. He noticed that Jessica had started tying her hair in braids. Rayna had also grabbed a costume cloak from a rack, it looks like they were going to dress up a little for the first graders. Sara took a cue and also grabbed Glinda’s hat from the costume rack.

“Good idea kids, that will help them remember who is who.” Mr Farley praised them.

The five of them headed to the first graders, Mr Farley led them into the room. The kids were all eagerly awaiting their arrival.

“I want to introduce everyone to your fellow stage performers, Dorothy, Toto, Glinda the Good Witch and the Wicked Witch of the West. Please thank them for joining us in today’s practice.” Mr Farley told the class.

“Thank You!” The first graders said in unison, clearly practiced. Sara waved to one of the little girls who waved back at her.

Mr Farley’s classroom had a small carpeted area that was used as a “stage” for practice. He introduced the students who had a few speaking lines and they were eager to start. Mr Farley read the whole scene for everyone and made special notes on when they were supposed to sing, sound shocked and what types of actions to take. The scene opens with Toto and Dorothy entering from what would have been the house falling in Muchkinland. They had practiced this scene many times but used other cast members for the Munchkins, Conner hadn’t really thought about how many people would actually be on stage.

Conner paced out ahead of his sister and played his part, all he had to do was look surprised and scared. He had the scene memorized at this point and without a cue looked back and barked for his sister, he had somehow gained a lot of confidence since the beginning of the term. The bark had the first graders giving a wave of giggles throughout the group, Mr Farley had to calm them down and remind them they are supposed to be nervous about Toto and Dorothy. Conner’s face turned red as the first graders laughed at him, he hadn’t expected so many people to laugh at him.

The scene was mostly Dorothy and Glinda speaking with the Wicked Witch showing up. In this scene Glinda uses magic and the ruby slippers appear on Dorothy’s feet, in reality they were prop shoes that could change color. The first graders added a lot to the scene, explaining who the witch of the east was, thanking Dorothy and it ends in a musical number performed by them. What Conner hadn’t expected was the first graders to stand up and dance around him, Jessica and Sara chanting. “Follow the yellow brick road!”.

The scene ends with Dorothy and Toto thanking the Munchkins, which has Conner barking again and the scene ends.

“That was excellent everyone, thank you for being in our play.” Jessica told the first graders.

“Does anyone have any questions for your fellow actors?” Mr Farley asked the class. Some hands shot up from the kids.

“Are there any other songs in the play? Like in the movie?” One of them asked.

“Oh yeah, there are a few songs the other’s sing,” Rayna confirmed.

“Does Toto crawl for the whole play?” A girl asked Conner.

“Well yeah, he is a dog.” Conner answered.

“How do you bark so well?” A boy asked.

Conner blushed, he noticed Rayna, Sara and Jessica looked at him for an answer. “Well I practiced a lot to get it right.” Conner answered shyly.

“Why are you so short?” It seemed they were only interested in asking Conner questions.

“I’m only in the fourth grade, I’m the shortest outside of you guys in the play.” Conner tried to explain.

“I’m taller than you!” One boy shouted.

“So am I!” Another boy said.

“I am too!” A girl said. The three of them got up and rushed to stand beside Conner, he didn’t know what to do and looked at Mr Farley who just shrugged it off. Sure enough they were taller than him, in fact most of the first graders were.

“Okay, I am one of the shortest in the play” Conner said defending himself, he didn’t think he was that short.

They spent the next ten minutes fielding questions about acting, what to do if they get nervous and so on. They then went through the scene a few more times to get it right. At the end of the day they promised the student’s they would come back for another practice run.

Sara, Jessica, Conner and Rayna returned the props back to the drama room and Conner put his away.

“Hey Toto, I didn’t realize you were shorter than my little sister.” Sara said.

Conner’s cheeks flushed. “Yeah I didn’t think I was that short.” Conner said. The three girls giggled.

“Come on Toto, let’s go home.” Jessica said. They then left the drama room to head home.