Exit Stage Left

By Chris James

Chapter Five

Spring Grove, the name was well known in the San Joaquin valley. A hundred years ago families had followed the river out of town and sought relief from the summer heat in the tall oak trees by the lake. The lake was still there, but most of the trees had given way to a subdivision, some light industry and the theatre.

There were eighteen weeks in the schedule at Spring Grove which had begun in mid-May. Five full blown musicals and two semi-musicals which were really kiddie shows in disguise. A dozen smaller kiddie shows included one circus and an animal act, Dennis had no idea how that would work. Ten musical variety shows and two rock concerts... rock concerts?

Dennis appeared at the theatre on a Monday. Eight days after Bobby left, four days after Corky's scene passed the test, and two days after Cabot told him he was done for the semester. They knew he would be back, Brady already had Dennis in his plans, or so he said. There was no way to tell what that meant.

The gate to the parking pit out back was open and so Dennis joined the other three cars in the small lot. The stage door was propped open, the dock door as well. He'd come in work clothes, and fifteen minutes later he was glad he had.

"Dennis... so glad you came," Kenny yelled. He was lugging a toolbox towards the door into the theatre. "We could sure use the help."

"That's why I'm here," Dennis said.

The skirt that surrounded the turntable had been pulled away exposing a deep groove around the circumference and the large steel cable that sat in it. Sitting in the center of the stage was a big fat coil of metal, the new cable was here.

Mike and Pat were sitting on the edge of the stage looking down at the winch that moved the cable. Kenny set the toolbox down and Mike grinned.

"I see you brought some help," He said.

"This is Dennis," Kenny said.

"I'm Mike, this is Pat." Dennis shook hands with them both.

Mike opened the toolbox and pulled out a huge socket wrench. He cranked away on a large nut set in the face of the winch. The cable loosened and five minutes later Dennis heard a thump as the cable fell off the turntable. Then Pat began to dismantle the side of the winch.

"This will take a while," Mike said. "Why don't you each take a seven-eighth's socket and crawl down under there. I'm sure we have a few loose bolts by now. If you see any shavings on the track let me know, I think we still have a few spare casters up in the booth."

Kenny chose the tools and handed one to Dennis. They crawled over into the orchestra pit and Kenny drew back a section of the skirt. He switched on a row of lights under the stage and then crawled in, Dennis followed.

The turntable sat up on solid risers built out of huge timbers cross braced with metal stanchions. The table itself was built in sections; geometric shapes all bolted together and set up on fixed casters. The casters all rolled on a neoprene track to keep the movement silent, there had to be a hundred of them spread in rings around the circumference.

"Careful of the grease at the hub of each caster, you'll make a mess if it gets on you," Kenny said.

The sections were painted with large block numbers; Kenny started checking the bolts at number fifty-six and worked his way down. He worked on the sections, Dennis checked the casters. It took them almost two hours of crawling on the concrete floor reaching up to the overhead. Dennis was exhausted, and he'd only found four loose caster bolts.

Mike was waiting when they crawled out. "All done?" He asked.

"I found four on the casters," Dennis said.

"Six on the table," Kenny replied. "Not bad, I don't think there are any damaged casters either, the track looks solid."

"Yeah, not bad," Mike said, and then he looked over at Dennis. "This thing was built decades ago and Pierce got it for almost nothing. Built solid over in a New York scene shop and it's only been taken out four or five times since this place opened."

"Why would you take it out?" Dennis asked.

"Various reasons, the last time was for an ice show. Took a dozen guys most of the night to take this out and put the ice rink in here. That was before me, but I heard all about it. I think I'll take vacation time if they ever schedule something like that again."

Pat laughed. "Tony would flip out if you took a day off."

"We'll show Dennis how things work and leave him in charge," Mike said.

"Uh... no thanks," Dennis said.

"What? You don't want to join the union?" Pat asked.

"I imagine graduating high school is a little more important at the moment."

Mike nodded. "Smart boy, don't listen to that hippie degenerate. The union sent me out here to keep an eye on him."

Pat laughed. "Which eye are you using? I'll poke it out."

These guys had an easy going relationship, and over time Dennis found out why. They both came from families that had strong ties to the stagehand's union. Mike was third generation; he would pass his own son along when the time came, the boy was only eight at the moment. Pat was much the same, except he was only twenty-eight and never married. He said he'd been too busy with college and the union work.

Mike had worked both theatre and film, his background knowledge was extensive. He told Dennis he did the rock shows at ARCO because the union business manager wanted him to, he was the only one with patience enough to handle the chore. But here at The Grove was his gravy time, light duty and quite enjoyable.

Once the cable was installed they ran the turntable clockwise a dozen revolutions. Pat explained they kept a log of revolutions and the direction of the turn because of the microphone cables that came up in the center pocket. Pat crawled in underneath to check them out and declared it was all just fine, nothing too twisted up to cause damage.

Since this was a catch-up day, Pat took Kenny up to the booth for a cleaning session and Mike claimed Dennis. They dragged a ladder down to the stage and Mike went up to change out a few lamps, it gave them time to talk.

"So how do you like this theatre business so far?" Mike asked.

"It's good, a lot of work goes on behind the scenes, more than I imagined," Dennis said.

"That's true. You gonna stick with this place for a while?"

"I might," Dennis said. "It's different."

Mike laughed. "Yes it is. Just watch Kenny, he knows how it works. I was surprised he isn't interested in a theatre career, but he does the job well. By next summer you'll be an expert, might even find yourself with Kenny's job."

They cleaned lenses, replaced the colored gels in some of the lights and retied cables hanging too low. Mike admitted that Tony left them little time for maintenance; it was done on days like this. But Dennis dragged the ladder around the stage while Mike climbed up and down to make the fixes. They broke for lunch around eleven-thirty.

Kenny took Dennis over beyond the freeway to a small shopping center that had a sandwich shop.

"Kenny B... how are you?" The lady behind the counter called out as they came through the door.

"Just fine, Billie... this is Dennis, he's with us this summer," Kenny said. "Billie makes the best sandwiches in Sacramento."

"Aw go on, nice to meet you, Dennis," Billie said. "You want your usual, Kenny?"

"That'll do... Dennis?"

"Um... wow, that's quite a list," Dennis said as he looked at the board tacked up on the wall.

"I do custom work too, baby... any preferences?"

"I'll take the ham and turkey on a roll," Dennis said. "Can you add some egg salad instead of the mayo to that?"

"Sure can, good choice, you want it all the way?"

"Sounds good," Dennis said.

It sure was, probably the best sandwich Dennis had all year.

"How did you find this place?" Dennis asked.

"I came over here during one of those get away from Tony moments, Billie treated me right. When Tony gets to be a pain in the ass I come here," Kenny said.

"He seems pretty nice, at least to me."

"Yeah, until the pressure gets to him," Kenny said. "He's got that Italian temper and some of the performers know how to push his buttons, and then there's his wife."

"I met her, pretty blonde," Dennis said.

"Yeah, and that's the problem. Tony is the jealous type, afraid to take his eyes off her. I have no idea why she married him." Kenny sighed. "Oh well, we have a busy summer ahead, no time to worry about him."

They rode back to the theatre and found Mike busy in the control booth. Kenny took Dennis on a tour of the dressing rooms, a place just as old as the theatre.

"I told Tony this place needs a coat of paint and some new light fixtures, he said he'd think about it. The star's dressing room was redone last season; the co-stars have little more than a closet and have to use the same bathroom as the company. We get a lot of grief over that."

"No way to add any space?" Dennis asked.

"We could, but I'm no carpenter," Kenny said.

"I am," Dennis said.

Kenny smiled. "OK, that might just work."

By three o'clock they had Tony back in the dressing room looking at the area where the theatre stored extra chairs and parts. That could all be moved to the basement. Since the two dressing areas were identical that meant they could build on both sides, back to back.

"You want to add a bathroom too?" Tony asked.

"If we can, all that we can reach from the basement. We have a space twelve by sixteen feet on both sides, the bathroom could have a toilet and a shower," Kenny said.

"I suppose we could get Brian's plumber in here, how much is thing going to cost me?"

"A little drywall, two shower enclosures, toilets, sinks... the dressing area is pretty much already there," Dennis said.

"How much?" Tony asked.

"Maybe eight hundred, less than a thousand," Kenny said.

"Oh... that isn't bad," Tony said. "How long will it take?"

"The walls we can do in a day, the plumber needs to come look at this first," Dennis said.

Tony smiled. "You're a problem solver, glad we hired you. Do it, Kenny, get those fucking cast people off my back."

Tony left and Kenny grinned. "That was easier than I thought."

"We haven't done anything yet," Dennis said. "I think we better go look in the basement and then call a plumber."

By Thursday they had made quite a change to the dressing room, but there was a show opening that night. Gina Roland and Todd Burke headlined, two comedians that were heading up a west coast comedy tour for the summer. It would be Dennis' first show and again Kenny reiterated that they would just be babysitting.

They wrapped up the construction project by two, cleaning up their mess and then locked the doors to the new co-star dressing rooms. The plumber had roughed in the toilet and shower stall drains, the new walls were in and looking good. It was Tony who suggested that the old flooring ought to be replaced so Dennis had asked the man at the building supply store how hard it was to lay tile. He came back with the supplies and did the work.

The needs of the show were fairly simple, stools on stage and microphones. The lights were just a simple up and down so Mike brought his book of crossword puzzles, Pat would watch the show. Kenny would escort the talent up and down the aisles; Dennis figured he would provide security at the backstage door.

The talent would arrive around six for a quick microphone check and then would roll out to Lombardy's for dinner, hosted by the theatre. The two performers had been booked into the local Holiday Inn, eighth floor adjoining suites. Gina and Todd were just as Dennis had remembered them from some HBO special he'd seen. Television, something he hadn't watched since the beginning of his theatre days.

Gina Roland was all hair and tight clothes, escorted by several of her lady friends. Dennis had never met a famous lesbian before; all he got now was a curt nod. Todd shared the star dressing room with her; he was gay so Tony figured it wouldn't matter.

Gina wasn't particularly enamored of working a theatre in the round; she didn't know where to look. The show opened at ten minutes after eight and Gina quickly had them rolling in the aisles with laughter. At intermission Pat slid down to the orchestra pit and set up a spare microphone on a tall stand. Dennis watched from his post at the stage door and then was shocked when Pat turned his way and motioned.

"See that microphone, we might need it before the evening is over," Pat said. "If she keeps turning in circles like that it's gonna yank the plug right out of the floor. If that happens you slide into the pit and hand her the spare."

"Me? Uh, all right, just hand it to her?"

"Come on, Dennis... you got stage fright?" Pat asked.

Dennis laughed. "No, I'll do it."

"Good man. I can't leave the controls. Just remember if it cuts out she'll freak a little, you get down there in a flash, OK?"

"Will do," Dennis said.

But Todd took the stage after intermission. He paced the perimeter of the bare turntable.

"Now I know how the lions feel at the zoo, I'm on display and surrounded," He joked. "I want all you folks in this section to close your eyes and count to ten... ready? Go." He then turned his back to them and began to scratch the seat of his pants. There was laughter behind him.

Todd turned around. "No fair, you peeked." And the theatre broke up.

Dennis chuckled. It must feel strange to be out there in the middle of all those people. And later he would see that thought as a curse, the plug came out of the floor and the microphone died.

Because of the dome acoustics the audience could still hear Todd talking as Dennis crouched and ran down the aisle to the orchestra pit.

"Oh... I say, Mr. Sound Man... I broke something here," Todd said.

Dennis dropped into the pit and pulled the spare microphone off the stand. He held it up at arms length so Todd could see it. The man walked over and looked down at him.

"You better bring it up here," Todd said. "If I bend over half the men in this theatre will look at my tush." That got him a laugh.

Dennis smiled; this guy wasn't going to make it easy. He climbed out of the pit and stood on the apron of the stage, microphone in hand. Todd walked over with a smile.

"Thank you, what's your name?" Todd asked.

"Dennis."

"Dennis... you look like you're still in high school, I don't suppose you're the sound man here?"

"No sir."

"Sir? Oh please, I call my father that, you may call me Todd... say in my dressing room after the show?" The audience snickered, Todd was flirting and Dennis blushed before turning away and running up the aisle. The audience applauded and Todd sighed into the microphone.

"The story of my life... all the cute ones run away." That got a large laugh.

Dennis stood at the backstage door and quietly groaned. He would never hear the end of this, and then Kenny appeared silently beside him.

"I should have mentioned this, don't talk to the talent when they're onstage, you get used."

Dennis nodded. "My fault."

"If Todd liked that bit he'll pull the plug on the microphone every night just to get you up there," Kenny said. "It happened to me."

But Todd didn't do that again over the next four nights, in fact he was a very nice guy backstage. He joked with Dennis and apologized if he'd caused any embarrassment. It was all good, and when Sunday night rolled around he quietly slid Dennis a small white envelope with a hundred dollar bill in it.

Monday they were back working on the dressing rooms and the plumber moved ahead finishing his installation. Kenny set about painting the walls while Dennis installed the mirrors, by Tuesday they were done and had two hundred dollars left over.

Tony had a pick up truck and so Kenny set off to find some good used furniture, at least a couch and tables for both rooms. They left the doors open to air out the place and so Dennis remained behind. He was mopping the floor when he heard a voice out in the dressing area.

"Wow, this is new... when did you get this done?" Dennis recognized the boy, but the name eluded him at the moment.

"Only took us four days," Dennis said.

"Dennis... right? I'm Ted; we met your first day here."

"Ted, well it was your first day too."

"I saw you on stage last week, bet that wasn't any fun," Ted said.

Dennis smiled. "Yeah, he got me good. What brings you here?"

"I promised Kathy I'd come by and clean out the programs room, she's my older sister," Ted said.

"Kathy... the head usher?" Dennis asked.

"Yeah, that's her. I had to wait for my mom to bring me over, I don't drive yet."

"I just got my license in January."

"I just got my learners, being fifteen sucks. Kathy said you go to Cabot, I'm at Fremont."

"I went to Fremont in ninth, I started tenth grade at Cabot last year. I think I'll stick with it. I already had a position as Assistant Stage Manager last semester. I take it you're not interested in theatre," Dennis said.

"I used to play trumpet in the band, doesn't mean I want to be a musician... I don't know what I want," Ted said.

"I didn't either. So Kathy got you this job?"

"Yeah, said she'd keep an eye on me so I don't get in trouble."

"You don't look like the type to cause trouble," Dennis said.

Ted grinned. "Oh, I can be a handful. But that's the ADHD; they give me medicine for that. I used to be off the wall... so what's real theatre like?"

Dennis began to explain his experience at Cabot as he finished the mopping. Then he followed Ted out to the programs closet under the control booth stairs. They took a rolling trash can and dumped old programs in it as Ted talked about himself.

Maybe it was because the boy was handsome, at least in Dennis' opinion, but he wanted to know Ted better. He could sense something beneath the surface, something in those warm blue eyes. Ted was appraising him; looking for something... did he have feelings for other boys?

Ted had a gentle manner, or was it the medication? He wasn't effeminate, just not a very physical person like Kenny. As he spoke about Fremont High Dennis got the impression that Ted wasn't athletic at the school but kept himself on the honor roll. If the boy was gay Dennis wasn't about to ask, he had all summer to check Ted out.

So what if he was gay... would that mean anything between them? They were much the same height, although Ted was very slender while Dennis already knew his strengths. It was the eyes; there was something mysterious going on in the boy's head.

"Thanks for the help," Ted said. "You didn't need to do this."

"Oh... we got to talking and it just seemed natural... "

"You have a smudge on your cheek," Ted said. And then he pulled up the hem of his T-shirt and wiped away the dirt on Dennis' cheek. It brought them close, closer than they had ever been. Dennis looked down at Ted's stomach and smiled.

"Nice abs... " And then he stopped talking as he looked up and their eyes locked.

"I... I feel comfortable around you, but I don't know why," Ted said. "I've always been so shy... that's why my sister got me this job so I could be around people."

"You're a good person, Ted... I like you," Dennis said. "And you have a smudge on your lip."

The eyes drew him in, and Dennis leaned in and kissed the boy. Ted's hands were pressed between them and then he slid them around Dennis' back, pulling them together. The kiss went from soft to passionate in mere seconds, and then they came up for air.

Ted was the first to smile; Dennis was still shocked at what he had done. "I hope that means what I think it does... I was hoping you were gay," Ted said.

"Shh," Dennis said. "Let's keep that between us, OK?"

Ted nodded, and then pulled Dennis back in for another kiss. This was one interrupted by Kenny yelling for Dennis from across the theatre.

"I have to go... but we need to talk," Dennis said.

"We will, I'll be back on Thursday for the show."

"What are you doing Saturday... can we spend the day together?" Dennis asked.

"Yeah, I'll get you my address."

"Dennis... where are you hiding?" Kenny called out.

"He probably shouldn't find us here like this," Ted said.

"I agree... are you... are you gay?" Dennis asked.

Ted smiled. "I don't know... you'd be my first."

Dennis smiled. "OK, yeah... we definitely need to talk."

He left the closet and walked around to the backstage door, Ted was leaving through the lobby. Kenny had a truck load of furniture and a smile on his face.

"Wow, you got all that for two hundred dollars?" Dennis asked.

"Yeah, and a few show tickets," Kenny replied.

They unloaded the furniture and set up the dressing rooms, everything looked great. Tony walked back to get his truck keys and smiled.

"Good job... that really looks great and none too soon. I just got the spec sheets on Camelot, we're going to be busy," Tony said.

Every show came with a sheet of requirements from the production company. For the single acts it was usually a list of things the singers or comedians would like to see in their dressing rooms, food and beverages. For the touring companies of shows it was usually technical things, Mike got those.

"I have something for you guys to do on the show, but you ain't gonna like it," Tony said.

He handed Kenny an envelope which contained a card about eight inches square. On it were painted little round stones in various shades of gray and brown. Kenny handed Dennis the card and began to read the single sheet of paper which had been attached.

"They want the stage painted to look like this," He said.

"Pebbles?" Dennis said.

"Looks like it," Kenny said.

Tony shook his head. "That will take a while, they load in next Monday."

Kenny nodded. "Feels like an all night job to me, you up for it, Dennis?"

Dennis rolled his eyes. "That's a little over seven hundred square feet of stage, it'll take hours."

"Ahh, a smart man," Kenny said. "But we don't have to paint the whole thing."

Mike was not amused when he came in for the sound check on Thursday afternoon. Stage painting wasn't part of the union contract. Normally the surface was painted a chalky blue, a good surface for the colors they had in the lights. Looking at the card he knew the show would start off being problematic, he was already looking at having to change most of the colored gels in the lights.

"Better you than us," Mike said. "Just be sure you have enough painters, and a few fans might help. Talk to Pat when he gets here, he knows paint."

Betty Kline was the headliner for the weekend, the American version of Celine Dion. Dennis admired her talent, as did the sell out audience. She arrived with a small entourage of musicians who would be in the orchestra pit for her, and some young talent. The opening act was a pianist, a boy of about sixteen.

A piano had been delivered that morning, a nine foot grand that took four men to truck down the aisle and set up. The tuner arrived and spent two hours working on it before leaving around noon.

"I see a problem here," Kenny said. "How do we get that thing off the stage on Sunday night so we can paint?" He took the problem to Mike.

"It figures... I said problems, here's the first one."

The painting didn't have to cover the whole stage, there was a fixed set that would be in place, and all they had to do was figure out where it went. They had a drawing at a scale of half inch to the foot so Kenny figured they could do a chalk outline and make sure the piano was inside it. By the time the piano company returned on Monday morning the paint would be dry, or so it was hoped.

Pat had some suggestions. "The stones vary in size from three inches down to an inch, that's a bitch. Go buy a large bag of potatoes and some natural sponges, that way you can stamp the shapes out ahead of time and go back for touchups and texture."

"Yeah, we did stuff like that in first grade," Kenny said.

Pat nodded. "Exactly, I'd wear knee pads; you'll be on the floor all night."

Ted arrived at six-thirty and Dennis was happy to see him. The past two days he had thought of little else except those kisses, and he felt a little guilty as well. Ted was the innocent here, the same place Dennis had been when he first met Bobby. The last thing he wanted to do was push the boy into something.

But they would have little time to talk that evening. A house full of audience members would keep the ushers busy, and Dennis would be just as busy backstage. The bright spot of the afternoon came when Neil Stone walked down on stage and sat at the keyboard. The ushers were laying out their programs, Mike and Pat were going over the list of cues for the evening, and then Neil began to play.

Within seconds the whole theatre paused to listen, the boy was a genius. Betty had heard him in New York and invited him to tour for the summer, it wasn't a hard choice. Neil played a ragtime piece, something composed a century before he was born, and then segued into a soft modern composition Dennis recognized as one of Betty's signature songs.

Neil finally stood up and nodded, the piano was just the way he liked it. Dennis showed the boy to his dressing room.

"Do I have to stay in here?" Neil asked.

"Of course not," Dennis said. "This is just a place for you to wash up and dress for the show. You can hang out backstage or sit in the back row and watch Betty if you want."

"Cool," Neil said. "I wonder where Bob went?"

"Bob?" Dennis said.

"My chaperone, Mom insisted he come along to keep an eye on me... you know, protect me from all those fans." Neil laughed at that.

"We won't let anyone backstage, you're safe with us," Dennis said. He looked at his watch and it read seven o'clock. "You have just over an hour before show time."

"I'll go hang out with Betty," Neil said.

Cute and talented, Dennis thought. Yeah, he'll have a fan problem in no time. It was something a technical person never worried about, no one noticed them. Dennis walked out into the house and saw Ted was busy so he walked over to the control booth and climbed the stairs.

"Everything good backstage?" Mike asked.

"Just fine. Wish I could play the piano like that boy."

"No you don't, that kid probably practices six to eight hours a day. It takes a lot of sweat to get that good. I wanted to be a musician... just don't have the guts," Mike said with a smile.

"Have you seen Bob Phelps yet?" Pat asked.

"Bob, the guy chaperoning Neil? Dennis asked.

"I don't know about that, he's supposed to announce the show and I wanted to show him the stock opening," Pat said.

Every show opened with the same announcement. That old 'look for the exits in case of emergency, no smoking or photographs, and welcome to Spring Grove' speech. Dennis had heard Tony do it most nights, now there was Bob.

"You want me to find him?" Dennis asked.

"If you would, I need to see if he can talk," Pat said.

Dennis walked down to the front office to see if Tony knew where Bob was, there was an older gentleman sitting in the office but no Tony.

"Excuse me, Mr. Phelps?" Dennis asked.

"No, he just went backstage with Tony... I'm Arthur Pierce."

The owner, yikes, Dennis thought. "I'm Dennis King, sir, one of Kenny's crew."

Pierce stood up and shook his hand. "I saw you onstage with Todd Burke."

Dennis sighed. "I guess everyone saw my embarrassing moment."

Pierce laughed. "You handled it well, I've seen a lot of those moments around here, and you're not alone. Tony and Bob should be back at any minute."

And just then they walked in. Tony gave Dennis a curious look. "Mr. Phelps is wanted in the control booth about the announcements," Dennis said.

Tony nodded. "I'll bring him up in a few minutes."

"Thank you," Dennis said, and left. He should have said goodbye to Pierce, but it looked like they were going to have something private to discuss. He wasn't there to rub elbows with the management or ownership; he was behind the scenes... one of the invisible people.

It was one of the things Dennis liked most about theatre. He could stand backstage and peek at the audience from the darkness. He felt invisible, cloaked in black clothing behind black curtains. But at the same time he knew that what he did made the shows possible and gave the audience the image they had paid to see. It was powerful stuff being one of the invisible people.

He returned to the booth to give Pat the news and found the man lurking behind the control board. He looked over at Mike and saw him grinning.

"What?" Dennis asked.

"Shh, you caught our resident bootlegger in action... say nothing," Mike said.

Pat crawled out from behind the rack of amplifiers with a silly grin on his face. "I still have two hours left on the disk," He said.

"Tony will bring Bob up here in a few," Dennis said.

"Thanks for the warning," Pat said. "You don't know anything."

Dennis laughed. "I guess I never did, is that the correct answer?"

Pat smiled and looked up at Mike. "I like this boy."

"He's going to record Betty's performance for me. It's hush-hush and illegal to boot," Mike said.

"Oh, I know nothing about that," Dennis said.

"About what?" Pat said.

"Nothing," Dennis replied.

Pat slid up in front of him and Dennis smiled. "Ve haff vays uff making you talk," Pat said with a heavy accent.

"Talk about what?"

"Good boy, I'll let you listen to it on playback later on," Pat said.

The door at the bottom of the stairs opened and Bob followed Tony up into the booth so again Dennis left. He slid down the stairs and found Ted standing below the booth in his uniform.

"You look fine this evening," Dennis said, and that won him a smile. It might just be a good evening.

Ted reached in his pocket and pulled out a folded note. "Directions, as promised... for Saturday."

"What's Saturday," Kathy said walking up behind them.

"I'm going to show Ted a real theatre," Dennis said.

"Does mom know what you're doing?" She asked.

"And how does this involve you?" Ted asked.

"Don't talk back to me, Ted," Kathy said.

"Is there a problem here?" Dennis asked.

"None of your business, don't be an asshole."

Dennis gave her a hard look. "You want to keep your job then you better chill out, Kathy."

"Who the fuck are you? I don't have to listen to you."

"No, but maybe Tony won't like the kind of language you're using to the employees," Dennis said.

"I'm not worried about it," Kathy said.

"Well maybe you should be," Tony said from the doorway to the control booth. "In my office now, Miss Cavanaugh."

Kathy followed Tony out to the lobby and the door closed behind them.

"OK, what's with your sister?" Dennis asked.

Ted sighed. "My parents are splitting up, she has to live with mom and I go to my dad's. I'm getting the better end of the deal and she knows it. So for the past few weeks she's been a total bitch. Sorry, Dennis. What did you want to do on Saturday?"

"Well I was going to suggest we stop over to Cabot so I could show you the theatre. But if that's a problem then we won't go, can we hang out at your house?"

"With her around, no way... I'll ask mom and if she says no then I'll ask my dad, we could drive over and visit with him. They have a nice clubhouse, we could do lunch."

"Just don't get Kathy all riled up, OK? I need to work around her all summer," Dennis said.

Ted smiled. "Then be careful, I heard her tell one of the other girls that she likes you."

"Oh, that is not going to happen, you can count on it," Dennis replied.

"I know," Ted said. "I didn't see Tony come in, how did... "

"I see everything, it's my job," Dennis said.

The show opened at ten minutes after eight that night with Neil's performance leading the way. Bob did the opening very well and introduced the boy to the two thousand eight hundred people sitting around the stage. Neil walked on to a smattering of applause... and then blew them all away.

Betty stood at the back of the theatre just outside the stage door and watched, Dennis was there as well. When Neil was done with his third song she strode forward and as she hit the aisle Mike lit it up for her entrance. During the applause Bob introduced her.

"Ladies and Gentlemen... Miss Betty Kline." And the applause filled the dome. She strode on stage and Neil got up to hug her, then she motioned for the audience to quiet down and took the microphone off the stand.

"I'm not out here to perform... that comes later. This is Neil's moment to shine and I came down here to tell you a little bit about him," Betty said. "I found Neil at a little music school in New York, you may have heard of the Julliard... he's been there two years.

"I love showcasing young talent, that's how I got started in this business. Neil has worked very hard to get where he is with his music, I thought he needed a vacation this summer. So we're off across the county for the next ten weeks just so he can write about what he did on his summer vacation when he gets back to school." That got her some laughs.

"Seriously, the great pianists of our time began at an early age. Neil not only plays the piano, he writes music as well. I met him because my manager came to me one day with a piece of sheet music that had been sent in by a fan. Are you still my fan, Neil?" And the boy nodded with a grin on his face. She walked around behind him and put a hand on his shoulder.

"I recorded that song last year, it's called Butterfly Dreams... and Neil wrote it."

With that announcement there was thunderous applause. Betty won a Grammy for that recording, and she leaned down and kissed the boy's cheek. When the applause died down she looked around the house and held up her hand for silence.

"This is Neil's moment... I just came down here to tell him something. Baby, I'm your biggest fan."

The audience went wild over that and Neil got up to hug her again, and then Betty made for the aisle where Dennis sat crouched with a flashlight to guide her steps. They quickly moved up to the backstage door and pushed through it. Betty immediately turned to Dennis.

"How was that, was it over the top?"

Dennis shook his head. "Neil will never forget it, and neither will they." The applause had continued after she left.

"You're sweet, thanks," Betty said and slid into her dressing room.

Dennis looked up and saw Tony watching. "Oh... Hi," Dennis said.

Tony chuckled. "You have the stars thanking you, good going," He said. "What's with you and Kathy?"

"Her parents are divorcing, I got dumped on," Dennis said.

"I figured something like that; she started crying in my office. I told her to apologize to you."

"I hate drama unless it's theatre," Dennis said. "I hope she didn't get herself in trouble."

"She's a spoiled little bitch, keep your eyes open," Tony said.

"Understood," Dennis said and Tony walked back through the door into the theatre.

Come hell or high water Dennis was going to start spending time with Ted. He walked back to his post outside the door and looked down at the stage where Neil was performing. The boy was the same age and yet they were worlds apart.

He wouldn't trade shoes with Neil for anything; it wasn't a life to envy. The boy was admired; he was going far in his chosen field. But his life was going to be much too public; he wouldn't be able to walk down the street. Dennis looked across the circle of the theatre and saw Ted standing by the lobby doors.

Neil couldn't have a relationship with someone like Ted, but Dennis knew he could. On Saturday he would find out what that meant, even if it meant placating Kathy for the time being. She would be off to college in the fall; Dennis hoped it would be someplace far away.

Dennis didn't go anywhere near the control booth during Betty's performance, he didn't want to see what he wasn't supposed to know that he knew was happening. Instead he sat on a stool outside the stage door until Neil joined him and he relinquished his seat to the boy.

Betty and her small band of musicians ran thru the litany of her popular songs from the past ten years, and there were a lot of them. Dennis knew it was almost Neil's turn to join her on stage for the finale. He was to escort Neil down the aisle and then wait at the bottom until after their curtain call.

One of the difficult things about playing to a theatre in the round was finding the right exit off stage. There were seven main aisles, only one used by both audience and performers alike. A crew member was assigned to run the aisle ahead of the performer in case an audience member stood up to move into the aisle, that had to be prevented. Dennis' only symbol of authority was the flashlight and the bright Xenon beam it cast.

Neil strode onto the stage and Betty shook his hand before he sat at the keyboard. Dennis squatted down at the bottom of the ramp next to a startled lady who hadn't seen his approach. But he was dressed in black and did his best to be invisible.

Everyone in the audience knew what was coming, and there were smiles across the many faces as Neil began the opening bars to Butterfly Dreams. A few moments later Betty took up the melody. Dennis could tell this was a well polished performance because Neil followed her vocals. Singers liked to set their own cadence and the boy was completely with her all the way through.

They ended with a flourish and the audience rose to its feet. Dennis stood with them and awaited his moment, he felt a presence beside him and saw Kenny standing there. That was a relief; it might be difficult getting up the aisle with this adoring crowd.

Betty had Neil take a bow and then she did the same while holding his hand. It was a gracious gesture; the boy was being treated as an equal. The audience loved it and kept applauding, but Dennis knew there would be two encore songs. Neil sat back down at the piano and played for Betty who sang her heart out. Again they took bows and then she looked around and Dennis lit his flashlight so she could see him.

Kenny walked ahead as the ushers came down the aisle and held people back in their seats. Betty and Neil smiled and said thank you a million times as they made their way up the aisle. The house lights in the theatre were out, only the aisle was lit to aid their escape. And then they were up and hurrying towards the backstage doors which opened to admit them.

To Dennis' surprise Betty hugged him and Neil shook his hand.

"Thank you... wow," Neil said. "I didn't know how exciting it was to be surrounded by an audience."

"You did a wonderful job, sweetie," Betty told the boy, and Dennis turned away as they walked into the star dressing room. He joined Kenny outside the stage door where dozens of fans had gathered, hoping for an autograph or another glimpse of Betty.

"Will she come out?" A woman asked.

"I don't know, Ma'am," Kenny said.

They stood there for a while before Bob and Tony slid through the crowd and went backstage. Several ushers approached as the audience started to clear out. There would be the usual crowd outside the back door, they needed to turn over this post and move outside. Dennis saw Kathy in the group.

"Thanks, Kathy," Dennis said.

She smiled. "I just... "

"Let's talk about that later, OK?"

Dennis followed Kenny through the door and sighed. "Busy night," Kenny said.

"I'll always like it when we have a good show, I don't know about next week," Dennis replied.

Kenny led him out on the back porch where the usual crowd waited in the truck dock, several of them waved and Kenny stopped short of the steps.

"I was going to wait until the weekend, but I told Tony I'm making you the official assistant crew chief. He agrees with that. It will take a few weeks but your name will now appear in the program, something for your portfolio. You have the people skills, Dennis. It's always more about people than tech here; we still have Mike to cover all that."

Dennis smiled. "I ought to thank you, but I have the feeling that this is more complicated than that."

"It is, we have a crew next week. Gina will be here as will Matt, Bobby and John. It will take all six of us to handle Camelot. I also need your help because Alan Truman is the production manager with the show, he was here last year," Kenny said.

"I gather this is the complicated part," Dennis said.

"You got it, Tony hates his guts. Alan is flamboyant, over the top gay and a real bitch. He won't do anything to upset the union, but he'll drive us crazy. I'm surprised he's still doing tours, there must be crews all across America who would love to kill him."

"So I get to babysit him, is that the assignment?" Dennis asked.

"I couldn't do that to you... but would you... please?"

"I will," Dennis said. "Things like this just make the job interesting."

"I never thought of it like that," Kenny said.