recolle | [OPEN] Defying Gravity

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[OPEN] Defying Gravity

WHO: Students starring in Villainous, Mr. Nelson, the audience, and those helping to paint the auditorium
WHERE: Recolle High Auditorium
WHEN: Hell Week Rehearsals, performances the weekends of the 11th and 18th
WHAT: The school play's final prep and mingling after the performances
WARNINGS: N/A

LAST MINUTE PAINTING

Even people from outside of the production are invited in to provide more colors and more helping hands. The entire auditorium needs to be filled in and the set, costumes, and props need to be returned to their rightful colors. Green makeup and red ruby slippers are among the most important.

REMEMBER TO PROJECT

Final rehearsals require everyone to perform as if it were the real thing. Do you remember all your lines? If you're not ready you might want to grab someone and recite the scene backstage between scenes. If you do happen to make a mistake how will you handle it? A little improv to smooth it out so the audience can't tell? How is your voice? Make sure you warm up before singing and do your stretches before dancing.

CURTAIN CALL

Did your friends and family make it out to see one of the performances? Now that you've taken a bow the curtain has gone down you can go greet them and find out what they thought. Maybe before you leave you'd like to stop and say something to your castmates? Are YOU satisfied with your performance?

Please treat this as a mingle log. Characters that are not in the play are welcome to join in as painters and audience members.

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Obligatory Teacher Presence

Whoever you are and whatever you need this man is the one to ask. Not sure what color something was? Have an emergency during rehearsals? Stage fright pep talk time? Need to speak to the director of the play you just watched? Mr. Nelson is a constant presence during all of it. He smiles cheerfully but there is intent in his voice when he speaks. Remember he's a busy man so it's best to get straight to the point!

Genesis was content to wait until the drove of parents are done speaking with the teacher once the play is over. After all, Genesis had gone to watch the play as a date with Andrew and to see what the kids could come up with. He had no child and didn't really know any the students aside from perhaps a couple familiar faces who may have frequented his store a handful of times.

So, once the rush seems to be over, he made his way over to Foggy and greeted him with a smile and a small wave. With Andrew nearby, they made a bit of a pair (Genesis being rather thin and mild-mannered and Andrew looking like a line backer).

"Your students did a wonderful job," He said.

Foggy waves back to him by default before he recognizes who it is greeting him. With Andrew standing nearby he makes the connection and remembers the userpics on the network.

"Thank you! Thanks for coming to see the play," Foggy says. "Genesis right?"

"Yes," He nodded, holding his hand out for a shake. "Genesis O'Reilly. I'm an avid consumer of literature of various kind, plays hold a special place in my heart."

And this wasn't the first time he's seen one at the school, he generally liked seeing what the kids come up with. Also, he owned a bookstore so there was easy enough access now to all sorts of plays.

Foggy shakes his hand firmly. "Foggy Nelson. Drama teacher and uh recent beneficiary of Andrew's helpful advice as you know." He laughs. That network post was not an example of him at his best. Whoops.

"What did you think of the performance? We weren't able to restore all the costumes to their original colors and the theater itself is all over the place color-wise but that was just about the only differences from what we rehearsed."

Guess who made it to both the opening and closing shows the eleventh and twentieth? Foggy's younger sister Natalie and her new friend Mary naturally. Oh, and this guy who sat with the girls and waited patiently with them until Mr. Nelson was done talking to students and audience members after the curtains closed. Once the girls have a quick word congratulating him they disappear into the crowd to find their peers and friends from the show. Between the two of them they practically shove Matt forward and Mary slips a certain something into her uncle's hand which she had been hanging onto for him for the sake of reasonable doubt. Even with his glasses in place Matt looks bashful as he straightens up after the less than subtle shove and he can feel his face heating up as he rushes to pass a red rose he had colored himself to Foggy before anyone else in the auditorium sees. Nobody notices judging by the lack of heartbeats picking up pace in realization and all the voices turned away from them.

"Congrats on a successful show. I think tonight's performance was even better than the first one's," he says. "Sorry it's not much. I wasn't sure if you were the type to like these type of things. I hope it's not too embarrassing. Nat insisted you'd like it so I'm pinning the blame on her if you don't." Matt chuckles.

Foggy holds in a laugh when the girls shove Matt and he wraps his fingers around the flower as soon as it's passed to him. He grins and lowers his voice knowing Matt will still easily hear. "To tell you the truth you could give me something I hate and I'd gladly take it. You being here is enough. Plus I get to see how cute you are when you're being shy." He gives him a playful nudge with his elbow.

"Thanks Matt." He glances around at the crowd for anyone looking in their direction. "This is when I'd hug you FYI."

Foggy examines the rose in hand. "The flower business must be rough even with most of the building edges filled in now. Man. I haven't been given one since I was still on Broadway. Can you imagine how a twelve year old boy felt getting sent bouquets? 'I don't want flowers I want video games!'" he fake whines. "I think I changed my mind. I kind of like this sappy thing when it's from my boyfriend."

Matt grins; it's easy to imagine the kid he met all those years ago slightly younger and moping over the lack of electronic entertainment.

"Poor Franky. They could have slipped in a few albums at least if they couldn't afford Nintendo. So flowers are an acceptable congratulatory gift for theater-related successes? Or are you tolerating it this time simply because you're that happy to see me?"

He shrugs. "Come Winter you might not be as distracted by my presence. I need to know this for the future."

"Yeah for theater-related successes I'll accept traditional gifts. It's good karma I think. Can't risk jinxing the production these kids worked so hard for. Seriously though Matt you know the quickest way to my heart is through my stomach. Or you know you can just get straight to the point and go right for the ticker." He pokes Matt in the chest playfully. "Come Winter eh? So you're saying you plan on sticking around for the long term?"

Matt starts swaying slightly on his feet as he grins. "Yes, if you'll have me. Attending the productions you lead is the next best thing to listening to you perform. Can't help it if deep down I'm still that kid who fell for Franky Nelson as he sang for the camp teachers."

He tilts his head. "Do you happen to have any plans after this? Final performance deserves some type of celebration."

Foggy snickers. "OOH," he says playfully. Then immediately he huffs a sigh. "Aw man! I forgot for a sec- I have to chaperone the kids' cast party next. We're all off to get pizza. It could go pretty late. Don't know when I'd be free. Or believe me I'd go someplace special with my pianist crush." He catches himself within an inch of flirtatiously poking Matt again and has to stop himself. Not in public! Not in front of the kids!

He smirks. "Buuuut I could text when it's winding down. If it's not too late maybe I'll get lucky and that dashing masked man will climb onto my balcony tonight after he's done fighting."

Matt turns and covers his face with a hand, laughing behind it. "I thought," he chuckles between words, "I thought that would be more of a dissuasion if anything between the memories and your insistence on making fun of the horns."

Foggy gasps and lightly jabs Matt in the arm. He drops his voice, "Oh my god! Matt what are you insinuating? I meant you parkouring over to my place for celebratory drinks and bringing a change of normal clothes to wear when you get there. What kind of dirty thoughts are running through your head Mister?"

Matt's cheeks go red as he opens and closes his mouth a couple times. "What? What?" He blinks behind his glasses. "No, I wasn't necessarily thinking- I mean- You said 'dashing' and I was surprised since I thought it might not be romantic to arrive in the whole... Um. I wasn't going to assume exactly how things might go until the moment- And I thought thanks to the bad memories you might not find it that- Uh!"

His brow furrows; well he's officially tongue-tied and embarrassed as ever.

Foggy snorts and gives a little 'aww' before he pats Matt on the shoulder and whispers to him, "I'm teasing you Babe. I was totally wiggling my eyebrows when I said I'd be lucky. One hundred percent meant it when I said 'dashing' because it's true. The horns crack me up but the rest of the look? I can dig it. It's uh awfully tight in some areas gotta say. I'm actually baffled about how you get that thing on and off without help." He forgets where they are once again and sways the way Matt was a little while ago. "Shall I text you?"

Foggy why? Matt tosses his head back to groan, he fell right into that one. He shakes his head at him for a good ten seconds before he chuckles and smirks. "There's a clasp and a hidden zipper. Text me later and I'll tell you where it is." He nudges him in the arm then steps back and starts turning to go. "Enjoy the cast party, Mr. Nelson. Congratulations."

Foggy does a poor job of hiding the mischievous grin on his face. "Thanks PAL. And uh thanks for coming and for letting Mary and Nat hang out. I look forward to our next meeting." He jokes and whispers once Matt is several feet away, "And this is when I'd be blowing kisses at you and waving fyi."

Now to rip his eyes away from the beautiful man and round up the cast for their party. His phone better not run out of battery before he gets that text out later.

He hears him easily as expected and muffles his laugh behind a hand as he rounds up Mary and Natalie. Once the girls are done chatting with their other friends the three of them leave the auditorium. Enjoy the party, Foggy.

[ I. PAINTING ]

[Ah tech crew, the one extracurricular that Noah willingly signs up for. It's something he has experience in from his circus days, there's not much talking, and best of all- it's the only activity where one is encouraged to wear black. There's a lot to like about it.

However, that won't stop him from getting irritated when he's checking the stage lights that'd been painted]

Who painted the stage lights with REGULAR paint?!

[There's a growl as he starts trying to clean it off. The poor lights!!]

[ II. Curtain Call ]
[While everyone's going out to meet with the audience, Noah is hanging back in the backstage area. He's putting away any props that need to be put away, and cleaning up. He seems tired, but all in all he's in a pretty good mood - despite the world falling apart, they still managed to pull this off]

Uh... is that bad?

[Kara looks up from painting some wooden boxes.]

Is that-

[BREATHES]

Yes. It can't really show any light if there's black paint covering the lens!

Do we have paint remover stuff? Like from the hardware store, does that work?

I sure fucking hope so.

[He'll get up, walking over to the table with all the hardware supply and start to dig through it, searching!!]

[Kara rummages through her own supplies with a sigh.]

I can have this stuff done pretty quick if you need help looking.

[Well as long as the job gets done--]

Sure. Help me out please.

[looks left, looks right... and becomes a blur of speed-painting the boxes before rushing over to the lights and promptly tripping over a wire and faceplanting on the floor]

...Mistakes were made?

[!!!!!

What the fuck did he just see. A blur, that sure was a blur. Followed by her faceplanting. He wasn't sure what he was expecting when she offered to help, but it wasn't that.

Well first thing first, he heads over to her and offers a hand up]

You alright??

[Kara takes it with a nervous laugh and gets up.]

Sorry... Yeah, it's fine. It's like I'm made of steel, seriously. Though I... guess I probably shouldn't've done that, with people getting shoved in lockers for being aliens these days. I hope no one saw that.

Made of steel...

[He looks at her and seems even more confused. She doesn't LOOK like a robot??? Or is she that realistic looking?]

Yeah- [He glances around] Don't think anyone did. You should be okay.

That's good, at least. Uh, paint removing stuff...

R-Right, paint remover.

[he looks at the now painted boxes and quickly spots]

Aha! [Picking up can and a paint scrapper] Got 'em!

Are you sure that won't scratch the lights?

[She starts looking around for paint thinner.]

Not if you do it really carefully. Stage lens aren't too fragile.

[With his own equipment, he'll head back to the lights!]

Okay...

[She starts trying to clean the lenses, slow and extremely cautious.]

I think I'm even getting used to the smell of paint. Weird that I'm not getting sick off of having it around everywhere, though.

Huh...that is weird, now that I think about it.

[Surely they'd all be high off paint fumes by now??? He just hadn't thought about it at all]

Maybe the stuff from retrospec if some special kind of paint that doesn't have the fumes?

Maybe. You're feeling okay too, then, huh?

I think so?

At least, I don't think I'm high.

You look normal to me. At least that's a good thing, with how we have to put everything back.

That's good. You look alright too.

[Scrap scrap, clean clean. Gonna get this light looking nice. He glances around to make sure no non-app users are close enough to hear, then asks...]

So...you're made of steel?

[She makes a face and quiets her voice.]

Not literally. Just really strong and, you know, durable. Even if that means I have to be really careful, like, all the time, basically.

a - painting

[Lucky for Mr Nelson, Li-Na's paintbrush is a lovely shade of GREEN that is just right for recoloring the makeup... provided she can find someone else who has green.]

Sorry... does anyone have green? We still need to do Malphaba's makeup.

[Can't really have a witch with green skin if you don't have green makeup.]

b - rehersals

[Though Li-Na is part of the chorus rather than one of the central characters, she puts 100% into learning the dance steps and songs. Doing both at the same time is not something she's had much practice at, but she has the dance steps down to the point she's started dreaming about them. So all she has left is nailing the lyrics.]

Dancing Through Life
Down at the Ozdust
If only because dust
Is what we come to
And the strange thing
Your life could end up changing
While you're dancing
Through!

c - curtain call

[When the curtain falls on the final performance, Li-Na is estatic. She grabs ahold of the nearest castmember and gives them a hug.]

We did it!

[Alternatively, maybe you came to watch the performance? In which case, she'll come out afterwards while still in costume to give you a hug.]

[ Mao's working through his steps for the same song as she's singing. As expected of Fiyaro, he has a lot more to remember than a chorus member, but it helps to have someone else singing so he can pay attention to those instead of marking the song in his head. He's able to at least keep his head up now instead of watching his feet, and he smiles over at the other singer once the song's done. ]

Sounds like you're getting it! ... It's not a very happy way to end a song though, huh?

[Li-Na grabs her water bottle from the edge of the stage and takes a sip]

Do you mean the line about becoming dust? Maybe a little... but the whole song is about not doing anything, which is already a sad thing to think about.

I guess the rest of it depends on how you take it. I can't think about it in a sad way since I've got to be happy about it but you're not wrong. I don't think it's about not doing anything, though, it's just about not thinking about anything you do.

[ And that's different, right? Mao's pretty sure it is but maybe it depends what she means by, 'doing.' ]

Is it? Hmmm, maybe I am understanding the lyrics wrong...

[which is entirely possible since English isn't her first language, more like her third]

To me... they are singing about not going anything important. They want to spend all their time playing. Because it is easier to not do something hard. "Those who don't try, never look foolish." They let life push them around.

Edited 2018-06-11 04:08 (UTC)

Intermission

Derek of course came to watch the musical. His cousin was the teacher in charge of it and he knew a few of the students in it. And besides, he LOVES musicals. Watching the musical brought him back to his own days in high school doing musicals. The rehearsals, the dancing, the singing, the backstage drama that happens between cast members...

When the curtain drops for the intermission, Derek stands to stretch his legs. That's right, get the blood flowing again. He looks over at the person sitting near him and smiles.]

How are you enjoying the performance? They're doing pretty good right?

Curtain Call

[After the musical and the curtain drops, Derek goes out into the main foyer to wait for the cast to appear and he can congratulate the few people he knows. He goes around shaking their hands and saying things along the lines of: ]

"Hey you did good!", "Good job!", "Thank you for the performance!"

i: rehearsals

[ The singing and dancing come easily to Mao now but the memorization of the actual lines is still proving a little tricky. It's easy to give himself over to a vocal performance since he knows his voice is strong, but acting is still new and therefore much more intimidating. He's running lines off to the side while another scene practices on stage. ]

"Not really, but I don't like to think of her as a Villain." Hmm... "Not really, but I don't like to think of her..." No, that's not right either.

[ ooc: feel free to substitute other lines if there's a particular scene you'd like to help him practice, or have him help your character with!!]

ii: showtime

[ One of the nice things about having something like this to focus on is it provides some normalcy in the lives of the people participating, and while it's certainly a high school performance in a world where everything just had to be recreated from strange paints, Villainous still goes off as a success. Mao's beaming during the curtain calls and lingers to congratulate his castmates after, but on closing night anybody watching closely might even see him tearing up a little. Once the curtain closes, though, he'll do his best to hide it as he moves toward the backstage again, except this time he's not really talking. Nothing to see here... is there? ]

Edited 2018-05-21 16:14 (UTC)

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[OPEN] Defying Gravity

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