Read No Biz Like Show Biz Online
Authors: Nancy Krulik
No Biz Like Show Biz (5 page)
Miriam Chan’s costume!
Oh no! Katie had turned into Miriam Chan!
“But I can’t . . .” she began. “I mean, I’m not . . .” Katie stopped. She wasn’t sure what to say. She couldn’t tell Ms. Sweet that she wasn’t really Miriam Chan. The teacher would never believe her.
Katie wouldn’t have believed it either if it hadn’t happened to her.
“Come on, Miriam,” Ms. Sweet urged her gently.
“Um . . . okay,” Katie said quietly.
Just then Suzanne came bursting back onstage. “Ms. Sweet!” she shouted excitedly. “I can’t find my snowflake crown.”
“I’ll be with you in a minute, Suzanne,” Ms. Sweet replied patiently. “I just have to help Miriam with her wings.”
“But Ms. Sweet, you have to help
me
first,” Suzanne insisted. “Think about it. No one has ever really seen a fairy. Miriam can wear one wing or no wings, and no one will know if something’s wrong. But everyone has seen a snowflake before. My costume has to be perfect!”
me
first,” Suzanne insisted. “Think about it. No one has ever really seen a fairy. Miriam can wear one wing or no wings, and no one will know if something’s wrong. But everyone has seen a snowflake before. My costume has to be perfect!”
Ms. Sweet sighed. “Suzanne, stop being such a drama queen. I’ll be with you as soon as I help Miriam with these wings.”
The moment her teacher turned around, Suzanne made a face and glared angrily at Miriam. But Katie couldn’t think about Suzanne right now. She had to try and concentrate on being Miriam.
The problem was, Katie hadn’t paid close attention to the rehearsals. Most of the time she had been backstage working with Mr. G. That had taken all of her concentration.
But Katie had to do something. She couldn’t just run away. If she left now, Miriam might lose her part. That wouldn’t be fair. Not after she had worked so hard.
Katie was going to have to try and get through the rehearsal as best she could. And if she had to make up a few words, it would be okay. After all, George and Kadeem did it all the time.
“Hi, Miriam,” Mr. G. greeted Katie. “Have you seen Katie?”
Katie gulped. How was she supposed to answer that?
“She’s supposed to help me with the scenery,” Mr. G. continued.
“Katie, well, uh . . .” Katie began nervously. “I, um . . . I saw her. But . . . um . . . she’s not here now . . . exactly.”
“Exactly?” Mr. G. asked, confused.
“Well, I mean, she put the glitter on the trees like you told her to, but she said she still had some props to find. So she left to . . . um . . . look for them,” Katie said quickly.
“Oh,” Mr. G. said. “No problem. I can handle things till she gets back. If you see her, just tell her to go straight up to the catwalk.”
“Sure,” Katie told him. “No problem.”
As Mr. G. walked away, Katie frowned. She hated lying to her teacher. But what else could she have done?
And maybe, if she was really lucky, the magic wind would come back soon to turn her into Katie again.
Chapter 10
No such luck!
That was all Katie could think as the curtain went up on the dress rehearsal.
There was no way the magic wind was going to come back now that everyone was onstage. The magic wind only came when Katie was all alone.
“One, two, a one, two, three, four!” Mr. Starkey shouted as he started to play his piano.
“Miriam, go,” Ms. Sweet said, gently pushing Katie out onto the stage. “It’s your entrance.”
Katie gulped as she did her best to dance onto the stage, whirling and twirling the way she thought Miriam was supposed to do it.
“Winter rocks,” Katie sang out. She paused for a minute, trying to remember the next words of Miriam’s song.
“Don’t stop,” Mr. G. called to her. “Just keep going. If you can’t remember, make something up.”
“Winter rocks, like, um . . . a fox in socks. Or snowballs in a box,” Katie sang in a shaky voice.
“
Snowballs in a box?
What’s up with her?” she heard Kadeem say to George.
Snowballs in a box?
What’s up with her?” she heard Kadeem say to George.
“She’s not hitting any of the right notes, either,” Kevin added, loud enough for Katie to hear. Thank goodness the Winter Chorus began to sing with her. At least now no one could hear what a mess she was making of the words.
But everyone could see that Katie didn’t know any of the dance moves. She kept banging into the scenery and the other actors.
“Ow!” George shouted out. “Miriam, you just kicked me in the leg.”
“Sorry,” Katie told him.
“George, you have to stay in character,” Suzanne shouted at him, trying to sound like a real actress. “Snowmen don’t have legs.”
“Well, this one does,” George told her angrily. “And Miriam just kicked my right one.”
Mr. Guthrie sighed heavily. “Let’s move on, everyone. Miriam, keep singing.”
But Katie didn’t want to sing. She wanted to cry. Or run away. Or something. Anything but sing and dance on that stage. She just stood there, frozen.
“Remember,” Jeremy whispered to her. “Picture everybody in their underwear.”
Katie tried; she really did. But even picturing her teacher in his boxers didn’t make her any less scared.
Just then, Kadeem, all dressed up in his dark gray Wicked Wind Monster costume, whooshed onto the stage. He waved his arms around wildly. “Here I come, freezing everything in sight,” he howled. “That’s good news for you,
Snowman
.”
Snowman
.”
“Brrr . . . Thanks for the help,” George answered.
“Snowman, you’re one cold dude!” the chorus began singing to a rock beat. “But that Wicked Wind is really rude. The lakes are frozen and the mountains, too. So what are we supposed to do? Our tears will freeze if we start to cry. Oh, look, here come some of your pals falling down from the sky . . .”
Just then Suzanne raced onto the stage in her snowy white tutu. Behind her she dragged a long line of kindergartners.
Katie moved out of the way as Suzanne and the younger kids began to twirl around.
“We’re snowflakes, and we—” Suzanne began.
“Oomf,”
Katie exclaimed as she banged the back of her head into one of the wooden pine trees that she had placed in the corner of the stage.
Katie exclaimed as she banged the back of her head into one of the wooden pine trees that she had placed in the corner of the stage.
Crash!
The wooden tree fell to the floor so hard, the stage shook.
The wooden tree fell to the floor so hard, the stage shook.
“Miriam! Stop ruining my scene,” Suzanne shouted at her.
“Who’s out of character now, Suzanne?” George said.
Suzanne stuck her tongue out at George.
One of the kindergartners began to cry.
“What’s wrong, James?” Mr. G. asked.
“I have to pee . . . real bad!” James shouted. He raced off the stage.
“I don’t think he’s going to make it in time,” Kadeem said.
“There’s gonna be some yellow snow.” George giggled.
Mr. G. put his head in his hands. “That’s it. Let’s take a five-minute break, and then we’ll start this dress rehearsal all over again.”
“I sure hope Miriam does better when we start over,” Katie overheard George say to Kevin.
“I know,” Kevin agreed. “She was awful.”
Katie frowned. Kevin was right, and she knew it. She also knew that she wasn’t going to sound any better in five minutes.
Katie definitely did not want to go back up on that stage. She felt really bad for Miriam, but she just couldn’t do it.
It looked like Suzanne’s dream was finally going to come true.
Chapter 11
“Okay, everybody, take your places on the stage,” Mr. G. shouted out five minutes later.
Instantly, the kids ran to the stage. Katie opened her mouth wide to sing and . . .
Nothing came out. Not a sound. “Miriam!” Mr. G. shouted as he climbed down from the catwalk. “What’s wrong?”
Katie pointed to her throat. “I think I’ve lost my voice,” she said in a hoarse whisper.
“Are you sure?” Mr. G. asked her.
Katie nodded. “Can’t talk,” she whispered.
“Somebody get her some tea with lemon and honey!” Mr. Starkey suggested.
“I’ll get it.” Ms. Sweet hurried over to Katie. “You come with me, Miriam.”
As Katie walked off the stage, she heard Mr. G. say, “Okay, Suzanne, you’ll have to take Miriam’s place for the dress rehearsal.”
“No problem!” Suzanne’s grin went from ear to ear.
Katie was silent as she followed Ms. Sweet to the cafeteria. Of course, she hadn’t really lost her voice. She’d just pretended so she could get off the stage. “Thanks,” she said in a hoarse whisper as she took a cup of tea from the teacher.
“Shh . . . don’t try to talk,” Ms. Sweet warned. “Let’s go back to the auditorium now. You can watch from the audience while you sip that tea.”
As she sat down in the auditorium, Katie could hear Suzanne singing away. She was kind of off-key and out of tune, but at least she was getting the words right.
“Snowballs rock! We’re on a roll. He can freeze the planet, but not our souls,” she sang. “So don’t be frightened. Don’t take the Wicked Wind Monster’s jive. The Snow Fairy’s here, and we will survive!” Suzanne sang out as she danced around the stage, waving Miriam’s fairy wand and smiling happily.
Suzanne was sure having a good time. And the dress rehearsal was definitely going smoothly—even if it would have been much better with the real Miriam onstage.
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