Olivia's Curtain Call E-Book

Lyn Gardner

• Herausgeber: Nosy Crow
• Kategorie: Für Kinder und Jugendliche
• Serie: Olivia
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 241

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2013

Beschreibung

Olivia and her friends are auditioning for a production of Romeo and Juliet in the West End. It makes Olivia realise just how much she wants to be an actress, like her mum was. But her father asks her to perform with him in a high-wire stunt instead. How can she choose between her parents? And love is in the air at the Swan School of Theatre and Dance. But when the curtain falls, will everyone get their fairytale happy ending?

Leseprobe

Olivia seemed to be in shock. “But I couldn’t play Juliet on the West End stage! I’m too young.”

“Your mother was only just sixteen when she played Juliet,” said Alicia softly, and her eyes clouded with the memory that was so painful and yet so sweet.

“I know,” said Olivia. “But my mum was an actress, a great actress. Everyone says so.”

“You are an actress, Olivia,” said Alicia quietly. “You may yet be as great an actress as Toni. But unless you give yourself the chance to find out, you’ll never know…”

Have you read the other books in the series?

Olivia’s First Term

Olivia Flies High

Olivia and the Movie Stars

Olivia’s Enchanted Summer

Olivia’s Winter Wonderland

Olivia and the Great Escape

“Hugely enjoyable”

The Stage

“Gripping”

Guardian

Chapter One

Olivia Marvell looked around the room, her eyes bright with excitement. She and her friends had been among the first to arrive at the after-premiere party of Theo Deacon’s new movie, The Way Through the Woods. They’d had high expectations of both movie and party, and neither had disappointed so far.

Olivia knew that she was standing in the function room of a swish central London hotel, but it felt as if she were in the middle of a fabulous dream. The room had been transformed into a woodland glade, with rolling green hillocks dotted with clumps of primroses, toadstools, fallen logs and rustic tables and chairs. Every now and again an owl could be heard hooting. Georgia and Katie swore they’d seen two live rabbits hopping around, and Tom had pointed out tiny silvery fish darting under the water lilies in a little rock pool.

In another room they had marvelled at a waterfall and a stream with stepping stones, and in a third they were amazed by a dense forest of real fir trees complete with a magical clearing that was to be the disco later. Little silver icicles were attached to the branches so that they shimmered and tinkled when anyone brushed by. When Eel and Emmy had stepped on to the dance floor fake snow had fallen on their heads, making them squeal with delight.

In yet another space there was a huge buffet laid out on white tablecloths. Eel put her nose close to a massive chocolate cake and inhaled. “Chocolate! Mmm. Isn’t that the most delicious smell in the whole world,” she said dramatically.

Olivia and Tom laughed, and Olivia said that she preferred the scent of lily of the valley and Tom said that he thought that freshly mown grass and smoky bacon crisps were hard to beat.

“Champagne for the young ladies and gentleman?” asked a waiter with a smile and a little bow, as he held out his tray towards Olivia and her friends.

Olivia grinned and shook her head. “Gran would go ballistic if she saw us all knocking back champagne,” she said.

“I certainly would,” said Alicia, appearing quietly behind the group and looking stunning in an eau-de-Nil evening frock with an emerald-green velvet jacket. “Do you think you could get them all some orange juice, Sam?”

“I can do better than that, Miss Swan. I’ll rustle up some non-alcoholic cocktails.” He hurried away.

“How do you know the waiter, Gran?” asked Eel.

“Sam was at the Swan. He was in the same year as Theo Deacon. Very talented. They both went on to RADA a couple of years later.”

“Oh,” said Aeysha, looking a little uncomfortable. “And now one of them is having a party to celebrate his latest movie while the other one is serving the drinks.”

Alicia nodded wryly. “I’m afraid there’s nothing fair about this business. But don’t feel too bad for Sam. He’s not a star like Theo, or even a name, but he does get work. He’s just going through a thin patch at the moment, hence the job this evening.” Alicia waved her arm around the room. “I’m prepared to bet that half the people serving tonight are resting actors and they’re looking at the stars of The Way Through the Woods and saying to themselves, ‘One day it’ll be me.’ And Sam’s got some auditions coming up: he’s up for a new TV series and has a call-back for Tybalt in Romeo and Juliet in the West End.”

“The one directed by Jon James? Isn’t Kasha Kasparian supposed to be playing Romeo?” asked Katie excitedly.

Alicia nodded, her eyes dancing as if she knew more than she was saying.

“I wonder who’s going to play Juliet,” said Olivia, and a dreamy look flickered across her face. Alicia glanced at her with interest, but at that moment Abbie Cardew, the Swan’s former head girl, walked into the room and everyone began to clap wildly. Abbie had co-starred with Theo in the movie and she was immediately surrounded by photographers and well-wishers. She was wearing a coral sheath dress embellished with tiny pearls, and Olivia thought she looked like a beautiful mermaid.

Alicia walked over to Abbie, who broke off from posing for the photographers to give her a massive hug. Olivia and the others moved towards the group, and Abbie planted a big kiss on Eel and Emmy’s heads, squeezed Olivia’s hand, and began to tell them all about her next movie, Joan of Arc, which was due to begin shooting in Spain in six weeks’ time.

Georgia and Aeysha hung back to watch the scene.

“To think that eighteen months ago Abbie was telling us to tuck in our school shirts and not run in the corridors, and now she’s a glamorous movie star,” said Georgia. Then she added, “It makes you think, doesn’t it? If it can happen for Abbie and for Kasha, maybe it can happen for us too.”

“I hope it does for you, Georgia, for all of you. But there are more Sams in this business than there are Theos, Abbies and Kashas.” Aeysha looked thoughtful. “It’s all so much a matter of luck and being in the right place at the right time. Who knows, maybe Sam’s star will rise as Theo’s, Abbie’s and Kasha’s fall. Things like taking the wrong role or suddenly getting sick at a crucial moment all play their part in success and failure every bit as much as talent.”

“Abbie was fantastic in the movie; she’s going to be around for years,” said Georgia confidently.

“I certainly hope so,” said Aeysha, “but if she hadn’t been cast in The Sound of Music, she wouldn’t have got the The Way Through the Woods, which was why she got Joan of Arc. One thing led to another.”

“Maybe it was written in the stars,” said Georgia. Her eyes were shining. “Oh, when you see Abbie coming into the room like that, and everybody cheering her, don’t you so want it to be you?”

Aeysha shook her head. “No, I don’t want to be the centre of attention like that. I love writing songs but I don’t want to have to go out and perform them in front of thousands of people like Kasha does. Singing ‘Bruised’ with him at that big gig was quite enough for me. I’ve decided I’m strictly a back-room girl. But don’t worry, Georgie, I’ll be watching you on the red carpet and cheering you on louder than anyone, and I’ll tell everyone I know that I was once at school with the famous Georgia Jones.”

“We will still be friends after you leave the Swan at the end of term, won’t we, Aeysh?” asked Georgia anxiously.

Aeysha knew that the decision she had made to leave the Swan had caused great upset among her friends, and had been a source of real heartache to Georgia in particular.

“Of course!” she said brightly. “It will be all the nicer, Georgia, because we won’t be competing against each other for the same roles. And you’ll still have Livy, Tom and Katie at the Swan, and you couldn’t ask for better or more loyal friends.” She linked arms with Georgia and they strolled over to the others.

By now, Abbie had moved further into the room and was talking to Warner Huffington the Fourth. Huff, as he was known, was the famous Hollywood casting agent who had spotted Abbie when she was in The Sound of Music. Theo had also joined the pair, giving Abbie a bear hug and looking extremely dashing in a sharply cut dinner jacket.

“He’d make a great James Bond in that suit,” observed Olivia, as Kasha Kasparian joined the group of Swans and kissed all the girls enthusiastically. He clapped Tom on the back before draping his arm affectionately around Olivia’s shoulders. Tom knew that Kasha was very fond of Olivia, who had helped him out of a tight spot a couple of months earlier, but he wished he wasn’t quite so proprietorial with her.

Katie and Georgia tried to quiz Kasha on the Romeo rumours, but Kasha just put a finger to his lips and introduced them to his older brother, Hamo, who was very serious-looking and seemed rather uncomfortable with his dinner jacket and his surroundings.

Tom asked Hamo if he was a performer like Kasha, and Hamo looked quite shocked, before replying that he wouldn’t do anything so frivolous. He had trained as an accountant and now ran the Kasparian family business. From the tone of his voice he made it quite clear that he thought Kasha ought to be doing the same. Kasha made a face at Tom and moved Hamo off quickly.

Huff turned, caught sight of Alicia, Olivia and Eel and broke into a wide smile as he came over to talk to them. The Swans were beginning to feel like the most popular people in the room. He swung Eel up in the air to give her a kiss on each cheek and grinned at Olivia.

“Is your dad here?” he asked. “I’d love to see the Great Marvello again. You know I’m his biggest fan.”

Olivia shook her head. “Jack’s in Moscow, directing a show. But he’ll be back in a couple of weeks if you’re still going to be around.”

“You never know, I might be. I’m scouting for new British talent for a top-secret movie project,” said Huff, and he turned to talk showbiz gossip to Alicia.

Olivia was suddenly aware that Katie was lurking behind Tom as if trying to make herself invisible. She looked acutely uncomfortable and seemed to be hoping that the floor would swallow her up. Guessing the reason why, Olivia took her hand and gave it an understanding squeeze. The last time Katie had seen Huff was when she’d been playing Louisa in The Sound of Music, and she’d behaved appallingly.

“I don’t want him to spot me,” muttered Katie. “It would be too humiliating. I behaved like a really obnoxious stage-school brat. He must think I’m a complete monster, and he’d be right. I was.”

“But you’ve changed, Katie,” said Olivia.

“Yes, but he doesn’t know that,” hissed Katie.

“He will, if he knows that you’re our friend,” said Tom firmly.

“That’s right,” said Georgia, and she linked arms with Katie so that she couldn’t run away. At that moment Huff looked over at them.

“Tom! Georgie! Great to see you!” He stared at Katie for a second as if he was trying to place her. Katie turned puce and an expression of horror passed across Huff’s face as he suddenly remembered who she was.

Alicia realised what was happening and stepped quickly into the breach. “Huff, this is Katie. I believe that you two have met before, but Katie is not the girl she was in those days. Think of all that as happening in another life entirely. She is a most cherished Swan pupil, and a great friend of Olivia, Eel, Tom, Georgia and Aeysha. We all feel very lucky to know her.”

“Well,” said Huff kindly, “then I feel very lucky to know you too, Katie,” and he gave her a little bow. Katie laughed with such genuine pleasure and gave such a shy little bow in return that the producer was completely charmed.

“I’m sorry I was such a horror,” she said quietly.

“Entirely wiped from my mind,” whispered Huff. “It never happened.”

“I can hear music,” said Eel excitedly. “I think the dancing is beginning. Let’s go and see.”

“Off you go, all of you, and have fun. But don’t hog the dance floor,” said Alicia.

They all raced off after Eel. Georgia had linked her arm back into Katie’s, and as the two of them walked away, their blonde heads bobbing side by side, Katie turned back and gave Huff and Alicia a bashful little wave. “Thank you,” she mouthed at them both.

“I can’t believe that’s the same girl I met before,” said Huff wonderingly, watching them go.

“She’s not,” said Alicia simply. “She’s been through a really tough time, but she’s come through it, chastened and transformed and a million times nicer. Her acting is becoming very fine too. She’s a genuine talent and a lovely girl.”

“Katie and Georgia could easily be mistaken for sisters,” said Huff thoughtfully, almost to himself.

“They could. Easily,” said Alicia neutrally.

“Interesting,” mused Huff. “That’s very interesting indeed.”

Chapter Two

The Swans had a totally brilliant time on the dance floor and all of them, except Eel and Emmy, danced themselves into a state of utter exhaustion. Olivia had danced with Tom, and she thought how dashing and grown up he looked in his dark suit that made his emerald eyes sparkle. She suddenly felt a little shy with him, as if he wasn’t the same person she knew so well and with whom she spent so much time training and mucking about with on the high-wire.

Worn out from dancing, Olivia, Tom, Georgia, Aeysha and Katie moved to sit in a little bower covered with winter jasmine. From there they could watch the dance floor and keep an eye on Eel and Emmy. They were drinking the rainbow cocktails that Sam had fetched for them all, and high above them the ceiling winked with tiny silver stars.

“It’s so magical,” sighed Georgia. “Imagine living every day like this. If you were a big star your whole life would be so dreamy.”

Aeysha laughed and shook her head. “You’d still have to cut your toenails and go to the dentist and do all the boring things like everyone else.”

Olivia nodded. “I think it feels so amazing because we don’t do it all the time. If you had rainbow cocktails and went to glamorous parties every day, it wouldn’t feel special at all. You wouldn’t notice after a while. It would just be dull and normal.”

“You, Olivia Marvell, could never be dull and normal,” said Kasha, and he slid smoothly on to the seat next to Olivia, making Tom shove along and almost fall off the other end. Then he added, “Not like my poor bro.”

“Where is he?” asked Olivia.

“Calculating the cost of the champagne and canapés and muttering about the disgraceful waste of money,” said Kasha gloomily. “I shouldn’t have brought him but I thought it would do him good to get out for once. He’s getting old long before his time.”

“How much older than you is he, Kash?” asked Tom.

“Eighteen years,” replied Kasha. “I was an afterthought. Hamo was my mum and dad’s oldest son and heir, always marked out to take over the family business. My sisters and I always joke that he shot out of the womb dressed in a suit with a calculator in his hand.”

“Whereas you arrived with a guitar slung over your shoulder,” said Katie.

“Something like that,” grinned Kasha. “I think my dad thought I was a changeling, swapped at birth. Until I came along nobody in the Kasparian family had ever shown the slightest interest in performing.”

“So how on earth did you end up at the Swan?” asked Aeysha.

“That was my grandmother’s doing. She thought that all my showing off might actually be talent. When she died she left some money for my education, but she made sure it came with strings attached. If I won a place at the Swan, it was to be used for that; if not, it was to be held in trust for me until I was eighteen, when it could be used for the further education course of my choice. It was Gran’s way of ensuring that I had control over my own destiny. She could see that I wasn’t cut out for the family business, and she knew that without the money I would have been press-ganged into the family firm. That’s what all the Kasparian boys do. It’s expected of them.”

“But your mum and dad supported you, didn’t they?” said Aeysha. “I remember seeing them at school concerts and plays.”

“Oh yes,” said Kasha. “Once they got used to the idea, and they realised that there was a serious academic side to the Swan, they were very proud of me. They even got friendly with some of the other parents, like Abbie’s dad. In fact, my dad did a business deal with Pete, which was going very well until Pete had a stroke. Then Abbie’s cousin, Tyler, took over and things started to go wrong. Hamo took over the business when our dad died and he doesn’t get on with Tyler at all. He actually thinks Tyler is on the fiddle, but can’t prove anything. So now there’s this silly family feud going on.” Kasha sighed. “It’s one of the reasons I brought Hamo tonight. I thought if he saw Abbie in the movie and met her at the party, he’d realise how lovely she is and maybe it would help end the feud.”

“And has it?” asked Olivia curiously.

Kasha shrugged. “Hamo’s been so dismissive about the movie and the party that I haven’t dared introduce him to Abbie in case he’s rude to her. Sometimes I think my brother has a cash register where other people have a heart. Anyway, I can barely get near Abbie. She’s constantly surrounded by people.” He looked wistful. “I’d better go and look for Hamo before he runs into Pete or Tyler. I hadn’t realised they were going to be here. It could be tricky if they bump into each other.” He walked off and was immediately surrounded by party guests.

Olivia looked towards the dance floor. A large crowd had gathered around it, clapping and cheering. The Swans stood up and craned their necks and Olivia caught a glimpse of a crimson velvet party frock. She knew at once that Eel was the centre of attention. Olivia and the others moved towards the edge of the crowd and saw Eel and Emmy alone in the middle of the dance floor, dancing with joyous abandon – much to the enjoyment of the onlookers, who were roaring their approval.

Olivia put her hands to her reddening face. She found her little sister’s habit of playing to the crowd deeply embarrassing. But when she looked at the faces of those crowded around the dance floor, many of them hardened showbiz professionals, she saw nothing but pleasure and admiration on their faces. Even Tom and Aeysha and the others were clapping and encouraging Eel and Emmy on. Alicia walked towards the crowd and Olivia was sure that when her gran saw Eel and Emmy strutting their stuff, she would quietly insist that they stop immediately. But instead she just surveyed the scene and smiled quietly.

Olivia heard a distinguished man with a large moustache and a polka-dot bow tie murmur to her grandmother, “Your Swans are always so talented and so charming!” Alicia thanked him graciously. Olivia shook her head wonderingly. Maybe it was true and one person’s showing off was another person’s demonstration of talent? Eel and Emmy were both genuinely gifted, after all. Why should she feel embarrassed for them if they didn’t feel embarrassed for themselves? And they were so evidently dancing for their own pleasure and not trying to draw attention to themselves. Olivia would hate to have all those people staring at her, but if it didn’t worry Eel, then why should it worry her?

Tom, Katie and Georgia stepped out on to the dance floor to join Eel and Emmy, and some of the other party guests started to join in too. But Olivia slipped away from the group before one of the others tried to make her dance. For all her delicacy and confidence on the high-wire and trapeze, dancing in public made her feel incredibly self-conscious.

She wandered back into the forest, pushing her way through the heavy branches. The trees seemed to become denser the further in she went, muffling the sound from the disco and making it feel as though she were in her own private world. She began to feel as if she had wandered into Narnia, and even thought she heard a nightingale singing.

Olivia stopped, suddenly aware that she was not as alone as she had first thought. Beyond the next bank of fir trees, as dense as a hedge, she could hear low voices. She suddenly recognised them. It was Kasha and Abbie. She guessed that they must have come here to escape the endless attention they were both getting at the party. Who could blame them? She was about to leap out and surprise them, when she realised that their voices had dropped even lower, and then ceased entirely.

Olivia frowned. What on earth were they doing? She peered through the branches and immediately realised what the silence meant. Kasha and Abbie were gazing raptly at each other, before their lips touched in a tender kiss. Olivia averted her eyes and took a quick step backwards, feeling like a spy. She began to creep away as silently as she could so they wouldn’t realise they had been seen.

Even so, she heard Kasha call out, “Is somebody there?”

Olivia didn’t answer, but hurried on. Her heart was beating very fast. Kasha and Abbie had known each other since they were seven years old and they had always been good friends, looking out for each other. But it appeared as if that friendship had developed into something more.

If Kasha had feelings for Abbie, it explained why he was so keen to get his brother to drop his feud with Abbie’s family. It was, thought Olivia, just like a real-life Romeo and Juliet. She just hoped that it all ended much more happily in real life. Well, she wasn’t going to tell anyone what she had seen. Kasha and Abbie’s secret was safe with her.

“Where have you been?” asked Tom, as Olivia emerged from a thicket. “We’ve been looking everywhere for you. Your gran thinks it’s time we went home because we’ve got school tomorrow.”

“I just went for a little explore,” said Olivia.

“Come across anything interesting?” asked Tom with a smile. Olivia shook her head but couldn’t stop herself from blushing. Tom thought it made her look beautiful. In recent weeks he had often found himself suddenly surprised by Olivia’s beauty. He wondered if she had always been beautiful and he just hadn’t noticed, or whether she was growing into the face that often reminded him of a Madonna in a medieval painting.

“No, just trees and more trees,” Olivia said now, as casually as she could. Tom looked at her curiously. He knew Olivia well enough to know she was keeping something back.

“Come on then,” he said. “The others have gone to the cloakroom to get our coats.”

“I’m just going to say goodbye to Theo,” said Olivia. “He’s over there. I won’t be a second.”

Tom waited patiently as Olivia kissed Theo goodbye and, as he did so, Kasha emerged from the forest at exactly the same spot where Olivia had appeared minutes before. Kasha looked a little awkward when he saw Tom, as if he’d been hoping not to be seen, but he raised a hand in greeting and sauntered away in a studiedly casual fashion.

Olivia ran back to Tom. “Ready?” she asked.

Tom nodded but he seemed a little nettled. “Looks like there was quite a party going on in the forest,” he said quietly.

Olivia was puzzled by his tone. “What do you mean?” she asked.

“Nothing,” said Tom. “Except Kasha just came out of the forest, looking shifty. What’s the big secret?”

Olivia turned even redder than before. “There’s no secret, it’s just a coincidence,” she said, and hurried Tom towards the cloakroom to get their coats, worried that if they hung around he might spot Abbie emerging from the forest too.

They got their coats and were just heading towards the stairs when they heard shouts from the disco.

The Swans ran back to see what was happening. Two men, one of whom Olivia recognised as Kasha’s brother, Hamo, were standing in the middle of the dance floor shouting at each other. Kasha was trying to pull his brother back with some help from Sam and Theo. Olivia also recognised Abbie’s dad, Pete, who was trying to soothe the second young man, whose face was red with fury. A group of security guards plunged into the mêlée and separated the two. At that moment Abbie emerged from under the trees. Her eyes widened in horror at what was going on.

“Oh! Tyler! Please!” she began. She took a step towards her cousin, but before she could say anything more, the movie’s publicity people hurried her away, looking around anxiously to check that nobody had taken any photographs and no journalists had witnessed the fight.

Chapter Three

Olivia was sitting in Alicia’s office with her feet twisted around the chair leg, looking uncomfortable. Alicia gave a sigh. The last time her granddaughter had sat in her office like this, Alicia had been trying to convince her that she should audition for the title role in a movie called Zelda. It had been a waste of breath. Olivia had refused point blank, and Alicia felt pretty sure that her granddaughter, who continued to call herself a high-wire walker not an actor, was unlikely to be any more receptive to her latest proposition.

“It comes down to this, Livy,” she said. “The Romeo and Juliet producers, not surprisingly, are keen to get a big name to play opposite Kasha, and they will be seeing people over the next couple of weeks. I’ve heard that various names are in the frame,” said Alicia. She gave a dramatic little pause and then added wickedly, “Including some who can’t act at all, like Amber Lavelle.”

Olivia looked completely horrified, and with good reason. Amber, a former Swan, had a voice like a songbird but the acting ability of a gerbil. Her knack of stripping a line of any emotion whatsoever had come near to scuppering the Swan pantomime last Christmas.

“Amber play Juliet?” cried Olivia passionately. “You can’t be serious! It would be a travesty. It would make Romeo and Juliet into a complete farce. The audience would be longing for Juliet to die.” Olivia was appalled to think that her beloved Shakespeare might be mangled like this.

“Indeed,” said Alicia. “And you are not the only one who’s worried. Jon James is beside himself at the prospect of having someone like Amber foisted on him.”

“Well, he must refuse! It would be a crime against Shakespeare. Can’t Jon think of someone else?”

“He can,” said Alicia lightly. “And he has.”

“Who?” asked Olivia, leaning forward with interest.

“You,” said her grandmother. Seeing Olivia’s disbelieving face she continued, “He asked me whether you might consider auditioning to play Juliet, Livy.”

Olivia opened her mouth in astonishment and then closed it again. “Me? Audition to play Juliet in the West End opposite Kasha Kasparian?”

Alicia nodded.

Olivia frowned and shook her head. “But that’s insane! I’m not a name. Nobody knows who I am. I’m not even old enough. Juliet’s supposed to be fourteen.”

“Well, you’ll be fourteen in a couple of weeks, won’t you, and that makes you the perfect age. Jon wants to play the whole thing ferociously young and give it a mix of the timeless and the distinctly twenty-first century. It’s going to be very modern. He wants a Lady Capulet who’s in her early thirties and he’s already cast Cassie Usher as the nurse and she’s only in her late twenties. You and Kasha would be pretty much the same age as Shakespeare