It was charity season. Every year around this time my local community got businesses, churches, and community groups to throw various events for charity. Softball and basketball tourneys, a golfing event, auctions, dinners, all that stuff. Oh, and the theater production. That was my favorite. The local community theater always put on play over the last weekend of the month, with proceeds from the ticket sales going to a good cause.
These plays were always the highlight of the month - written especially for the event by a local, retired writer who donated his scripts for the cause. The scripts were always great - a deadly combo of humor, sex, and campy melodrama that really brought in the crowds. People had to bid for seats, and on good years the bidding could really bring in the cash!
I loved it especially because I loved acting in them. There wasn't always a part for me, but I had done pretty well the past few years in a couple bigger roles in their regular productions recently, so I had high hopes of landing a key part this year. "Rachel, you'll be a star in this year's play," I was telling myself. I was especially glad my best friend Sarah and my boyfriend Kyle were trying out, too.
The auditions went great - Sarah went right before me, and I could tell we both hit it out of the park. I also coached Kyle with some tips, but they always seem to need more young guys than then can find to fill some of the roles, so I wasn't worried about him getting something.
At the end of callbacks, Michael, our director, called me and a few other girls over. He told us that we needed a little something extra this year, as our normal charity had lost some property in a fire during the hot, dry summer. They needed an extra big donation to close out the year, otherwise they might go under! He said that this meant we needed to really go above and beyond this year, and asked if we girls were prepared to help in that regard.
I'd seen the previous year's show, and I knew they sometimes like to capitalize on any young, sexy girls in the cast. Sexy outfits, flimsy excuses for bikinis, and that sort of thing. One year they did a Marilyn Monroe tribute - easily one of their most successful performances! I figured something like that was up their sleeves, and I thought it was a great way to help out. Not that I'm comfortable with showing off my body too much - I don't go in for those thong bikinis on the beach, for example - but I've been called pretty before, and if a little cleavage or thigh brings in some extra dollars, what could it hurt? Sarah and I both agreed, along with a few others. Mike thanked us, and said we would be getting a call later if we got a part.
I was nervous as I went out to dinner after with Kyle. He took everything pretty calm, but I really wanted to get a juicy part this time. It wasn't a job thing - I made decent money working at the bank anyway. It was more about helping out, and the rush of performing onstage. I loved it. It was like the stage let this whole other side of me shine through, and I treasured every performance.
Kyle assured me I was great, it would be fine, I'd get the part. All the usual good boyfriend stuff. Kyle's pretty sweet that way, even if a little unimaginative. We were having dinner at Burger King, after all.
Imagine my delight then, when I got the call after work the next day! Mike told me they loved my audition, and they wanted me to take one of the larger female roles, with Sarah as one of the others! I was thrilled. Mike also told me they found a part for Kyle, too. Mostly background stuff, few lines, but he'd be on stage quite a bit!
Sarah and I dropped by to pick up our scripts before the first practice, and we were impressed! The play was a good mix of some quippy lines and broader comedy, set in ancient Rome. I could see what Mike meant about the girls helping out a little extra, as it seemed at least a few roles leaned heavily into the "Roman times are sexy times" stereotype that people like. At least part of the plot centered around the blackmail and counter-blackmail of a bombastic senator, and that would include at least a couple sexy scenes.
Some of the other girls, four of them, were cast mostly for their looks and to do some sexy dancing during a dinner scene. They were the "exotic" entertainment for the corrupt senator. Sarah and I had a different kind of role - we were supposed to be daughters of a rival senator being blackmailed. The plan was for us to help in counter-blackmailing - get the senator into a compromising position with us, then use the knowledge against him to get him to drop the original plot.
The upshot of this was a seduction scene - myself seducing the senator and Sarah seducing Kyle, who had been cast as the senator's bodyguard. The director and writer had gone back and forth over how it would play out, but ultimately they set the scene in the senator's house. I was pretty nervous when I saw the script, but there was no mention of anything too bad - it was the setting and the seduction that made it sexy. It put a lot of emphasis on my acting, but I could always practice with Kyle at home.
At the end of the seduction, guards would burst in, and with them would be the other senator, signalling the end of his plotting. This meant Sarah and I would be mostly background until near the end of the play, but we'd have to really carry things right before the big climax.
I wasn't worried. The script was dynamite, with some really funny gags and snappy dialogue. The audience would be rolling all the way through. Sarah was a little more nervous, but I told her I'd be with her every step of the way.
By the time we met for first practice, I was pretty jazzed. I had a lot of funny lines, and had been practicing my ditzy, sexpot look and voice. Sarah and I had a blast watching old movies together to see how they did it. The practice was fun, and occasionally we'd slip into the breathy, sensual voice during daily life. I loved making Kyle jump at dinner when I asked him for a napkin. Another time Sarah asked for the ketchup in her sexiest voice, and I think he just about fell over out of shock.
Mike was great as the director - very firm and straightforward with what he wanted, but at the same time really encouraging, especially for me and Sarah, since we were so important to the climax of the play.
It took three practices just to run through and block all the scenes. A few more elaborate ones, including the dancing scene at the dinner party, were being choreographed separately. The seduction scene for Sarah and I was one of the last things we got to.
I should mention the leading man I had to seduce. His name was Clive, and Sarah and I had both privately admitted to each other that he was the kind of older man we'd consider doing. He was always composed and well spoken, and dressed well. None of the younger guys ever wore anything fancier than a t-shirt and jeans, but Clive frequently had to come straight to practice after work, and was usually in a tie and sportcoat at the least.
It was honestly really nerve-wracking to try to seduce a guy like that, but Clive was great. He talked to me quietly before our scene came up, and assured me that he wasn't worried about it at all. He ran through the lines with me and we figured out what we would do when. It was really helpful.
By the time Sarah and I started our key scene, I knew exactly what I was supposed to do, and we nailed it. Mike was thrilled, and told us he had been worried about that scene, and if it would look natural or not, but we nailed it!
The way we had it set up, I would go in with Clive, and Sarah would come in following Kyle. She would grab Kyle and lead him to a chair at the back of the stage, while I would lead Clive over to the bed. While delivering my lines, I would work Clive around so his back was to the bed, and then at the right moment give him a little shove with my finger. Then Clive would topple over like he was incapable of resisting, and I would climb onto the bed with him. After a few seconds, the other actors would come in and catch us. There were a few other lines, but that was basically the gist of the scene.
The one thing that worried Mike was actually Sarah and Kyle. They had gone over to the chair, but hadn't really done much to convince an audience that Sarah was seducing him, or that Kyle knew what was going on. Mike promised to work with them on the scene a bit to make it work.
After that, the practices just flew by! We were all in the audience for the big dance scene at the dinner party with the four girls that had been cast for that role. I wasn't expecting much, maybe just a simple dance routine or something. Boy, was I wrong! The stuff Cindy came up with was great. There was a reason why she was the choreographer in addition to costume design!
The girls were just in regular clothes since costumes weren't ready, but Cindy assured us they'd be some gauzy, flowing, harem-looking garments. The dance itself started in the middle, with tables arranged around the three sides not facing the audience. The dancers would start with some really sexy, belly-dancer type moves, and then split up, two to each side. At first they would do some up close dancing for the actors at the tables, who were all reclining on couches for the sake of historical accuracy.
Then came the real kicker - Cindy had the girls go down among the audience and do the sexy, lap-dance style moves for a few select people in the first couple of rows! Then they went back up and finished with some really well-rehearsed stuff that ended on a super sexy pose with two girls doing the splits and the others striking a pose above them.
We all burst into applause for that - it was really well choreographed, and the dancing was already almost perfect. I knew we had all the elements of a really strong show at this point.
When it came time for dress rehearsals, Cindy gathered all the girls together before we got into costume.
"All right," Cindy said. "I know a lot of you have done shows with Mike before, but this one is a little different. This is the typical roman dress."
Cindy held up a long, white dress that was mostly just straight all the way down, but with enough material it would be loose and flowy. She shook it out and indicated the shoulders.
"This kind of dress is pinned or knotted at the shoulder. For the sake of the costume, you all will need to go without a bra. The straps are visible on the shoulder if you wear one, and Mike and I agreed it would look really unprofessional. Fortunately we won't have to do any scene changes, so once you are dressed that will be it. Everyone find the dress with your name on it, except the dancing girls. You all can come with me, I have your costumes in the other room."
Sarah and I started looking for our costumes. She found hers right away, but I was still looking when Sarah called me over.
"Here you go, Rachel!"
I took it from Sarah and looked it over. It was almost knee length, and the neck didn't dip all that low, so it really didn't look terribly sexy. I wondered if the dancers were picking up most of the slack, since it didn't seem like Sarah and I would be contributing much to that part of the show until our last scene.
It didn't really matter, though. We both got undressed quickly and figured out how to put the dress on. It really wasn't complicated, just over the head and tied in a knot at the shoulder for both me and Sarah. I admit I felt a twinge of jealousy when we were changing. In my opinion, Sarah is clearly prettier than I am, and has nice breasts in comparison to her slim figure. I had more curves, I guess, but I know Sarah was the type to turn heads when she walked in a room. I'm sure her blonde hair didn't hurt, either. I think the only thing that got me the bigger part was my confidence on a stage, which Sarah was still figuring out.
In any case, the rehearsal went great. I always forget how much hotter it is on stage under the lights. At least all our lines were down, and the whole thing went off without any big mix-ups.
