The whole week of Wicked performances had gone by in a blur, and Julie couldn't believe that they were two performances away from the end. It was about a half hour from curtain before their Saturday night performance, and Julie was bouncing with the same anxious, performance-high energy as she had all week.
Julie was already tucked and tied into her opening scene costume, this huge glittering ball gown with an actual crown woven into her hair. She hadn't finished her make up yet, but that was always her last thing, especially since she felt so thirsty before every performance and she didn't want to get lipstick all over every straw or cup.
She found Sabrina getting ready in the backstage area too, and lifted her dress up to maneuver her way to her. "I can't believe it's already almost over," Julie said by way of greeting.
The nice thing about being a witch meant that Sabrina didn’t have to sit through over an hour of makeup to become green each night. She’d seen what the makeup concept was for Elphie and had been able to create a glamour for it saving herself and the makeup team a lot of headache. Being able to spin into any of her costumes to get them on was also a big timesaver. Which was why she hadn’t actually changed yet, wanting to make sure she had a chance to use the bathroom before the performance started.
She smiled at Julie in greeting when the other girl found her. It had been nice getting to work with her and getting to know her a little better throughout the rehearsal process. Unlike Into the Woods this cast didn’t have any gigantic jerks for her to work opposite with. Sabrina had been so happy to find that Dean hadn’t auditioned for anything.
“It’s a hard high to come down from,” Sabrina replied as Salem made his way over to curl up on her lap. He’d head back to the mortuary in a few minutes, but having him around helped calm her nerves a bit before each performance. “How are you feeling?”
"It really is. I'm always like this when the band performs but this has so much more going into it," she said. "It's so cool getting to be someone else entirely every night like we get to." Julie had figured she had the vocal chops to pull off Galinda, but she hadn't been sure about learning all those lines. Or the choreography. Usually when she was on stage, she just moved where the music took her or played off of Luke. This whole experience had been very different.
"Nervous," Julie admitted. "Like every night. Oh, I didn't get a chance to tell you last night but you were so awesome at the end. I didn't even have to force tears out during 'For Good,' which I was worried about. I'm so glad we got to do this together."
Sabrina knew that the jitters were a common experience for everyone before the show each night. It was hard not to feel at least a little anxious about what might happen. Every night was different and so many things could go wrong. Lines forgotten, cues missed. But that was half the adventure, feuling Sabrina’s adrenaline rush.
“Make sure you drink some tea before going on or have mints. They really do help calm the stomach,” Sabrina suggested. “And thanks. I couldn’t pull it off without you. You really have to play off one another in that kind of song.”
"I know, I've been sucking on these great ginger candies every night - they work really well! And don't make me have to go to the bathroom after already getting into costume!" Julie laughed a little about that, gathering up the folds in her huge skirt.
"I don't know if I would have wanted to be Galinda if you weren't Elphaba. It's so perfect. And everyone's saying so. I know we aren't supposed to worrying about what everyone else says, not all the time and especially if they aren't saying great things, but most everyone has been saying great things."
It definitely would have been an ordeal to try and get in and out of that dress. Sabrina was happy her outfits weren’t too elaborate. She’d done that enough when she’d played Cinderella in Into the Woods. The costume changes had been fun but also crazy to get through from time to time. Though definitely less revealing than her costume for Six.
“I think people try to be pretty positive around here when it comes to performances. None of us are getting paid to do this. It’s all for fun.” And maybe some people’s portfolios but performing really wasn’t a long term goal for her.
Julie wanted to sit down but this dress made it fairly hard for her. She smiled. "I just - I wish my papi and tia and my brother Carlos could be here. Well, I don't know if I mean I want them to come here, to Vallo, and be uprooted and stuff, but I think they'd like to see this performance, if they could." Julie tried not to dwell too long on who was missing, but she was fifteen and really missed her dad sometimes.
"But Luke's in the show, and I'm sure Reggie's going to come see it, too!"
Not having family around could be hard, Sabrina knew that. She had one of her aunts and Ambrose around now but there had been long stretches without either of them. Thankfully she’d built up her own family with Dan and Allison and a community of others around her as well. It helped to be able to share the show with all of them. It also helped to have Nick and Roz in it as well.
“I think someone is filming it so maybe you can get a copy of it to show them when you do see them again.” She had no idea if stuff could go back to their own world’s with them but it was worth a shot.
Julie smiled in relief. "That's a good idea," she said. "Maybe - maybe one day they will get to see it. Thanks, Sabrina," she said. "Oh gosh - I need to go finish this makeup. Guess you just get to go -" She waved her hand a bit, not really knowing how magic like that worked. "- and be done with it, huh?" Julie grinned. "I'll see you on stage soon!"
“Yep, makes the whole makeup thing a lot easier.” Otherwise Sabrina would have needed to head to the theater earlier than everyone else to get that much green paint done. “But you’re going to do great. Break a leg!” She still thought that was a weird phrase to say to people but it was the way they did it in the theater.
She waved one more time to Julie before turning around, intent on finding Nick before it was time to get on stage.