Description: Eve hesitates to audition by reading the part of Shakespeare's Juliet. She wonders if she is ready for this. Can she somehow, in some way, muster up the confidence to try?
The Miss Teenager Pageant. PART 16.
Eve had already observed that Glenn Sabine was vivaciously handsome, and he could win any heart in the room with his charm, his way of just … standing there. But he couldn’t possibly be serious. Although Eve had told him that she desired to be judged on her acting at the ‘Miss Teenager’ pageant, she was completely thrown when he suggested that she rehearse right this very moment. In his hotel room.
And with Romeo and Juliet, for heaven’s sake! Wasn’t Shakespeare only for actors and actresses with near perfection in their delivery? Shouldn’t she start with The Cat in the Hat, or something more her level?
“But I’ve never done Juliet, Mr. Sabine,” Eve protested. “I… I thought I would sort of recite a poem… or something like that.”
Mr. Sabine waved his hand in the air, metaphorically brushing away any doubts that had arisen in her mind. He responded with such a smooth baritone voice that any other woman would have fallen in love… or been lulled to sleep.
“The test of talent, dear child,” he declared, “is the ability to improvise, to create gold from dross.” As he spoke, he gestured with his hands to emphasize the line: “Begin with… ‘Tis but thy name that is my enemy.’”
Eve hesitated, but maybe with the right confidence, she could do this. Hadn’t Pops always said that with the right connections, a bit of makeup, a pretty dress, and an A-listed leading actor by her side, she might actually stand a chance at performing in a real theater one day? Okay, Eve determined, she could do this. She could… Well, she could try this. Gripping the book, she noticed that the sweat from her palms was saturating the pages.
Then it was the other man in the room, the normally silent assistant, Pike something, who threw in his two cents. “Go ahead, Miss Jones,” he murmured. “It only hurts for a minute.”
“Thank you, Pike,” Mr. Sabine said, cutting off his assistant at the pass. “I will do the directing.”
