Page 3 of Finding Finn
“Perfect name. How far is the trip?”
“Oh, not too bad. Maybe an hour if we don’t hit traffic. You just sit back and relax and tell me all about yourself. We’ve never had someone here at the playhouse who’s actually been on Broadway. It’s very exciting for us.”
“I was in the chorus, so it was not glamorous.” I laughed. “I shared a dressing room with five other guys. It was a greatyear of my life, and I got to experience quite a bit. But it was exhausting and really hard on my body.”
“But you were on Broadway. I mean, that’s the dream, right?”
“Most definitely.” This was just making me more depressed. As hard as it was, it was something I could never have again, and that just made me want to crawl into a hole. I mean, I was in Foggy Basin of all places. Maybe this was my hole.
“Did you meet any stars?”
“Sure. I met Bernie at Broadway Barks a couple of times when I volunteered.” I definitely didnotcall her Bernie! “I was in the show with Jeremy, which was cool. He’s very down-to-earth, just like he seems. I was in a show with Sutton and Kerry. But honestly, the stars and the chorus are two very different things. Sometimes you create a real bond with one of the leads, but the lives we lead are not the same. My friend Jonathan, who I was in Once Upon A Mattress with, became really good friends with Audra when he was in a show with her. Alas, that never happened to me. We’re friendly, but not actually real friends.”
“Wow, that’s not what I expected. You do a show here at the playhouse, and you become good friends with everyone.”
“Yeah. I remember that from when I did community theater as a kid. It was the same in college, too. But the professional world is very different.”
“That’s depressing.”
“Agreed. I thought I had really made it when I got my first Broadway show. It took me five years to book another, and in the middle of rehearsals, I had an accident. As quickly as it came, it can be taken away.”
“So, you were only on Broadway once?”
“Broadway twice, Off-Broadway three times, and I did two national tours.”
“That’s so cool!”
“I guess. As soon as one show closed, I went looking for the next. Sometimes I was lucky, and other times it was back to waiting tables at the Stardust. New York is feast or famine.”
“You’re going to love it in Foggy Basin. Everyone is really nice. We have great food and bakeries. There is a giant chalet that’s fairly new. It’s still under some construction, but some of the shops and stuff are already open. But when it comes to the playhouse, everyone takes care of each other. We’re really excited that you’re here, and we plan on doing wonderful things together.”
“I’m… looking forward to it.” I smiled wanly. “Hey, I thought some guy named Jim was picking me up. What happened to him?”
“Oh… He had something else that he had to do. Jim is… You’ll get used to him.”
I didn’t quite know what to do with that, so I nodded and stared out the window. After a short time, we drove into the quaint and small town of Foggy Basin.
“Welcome home, Finn.” Buffy smiled.
2
JIM
“What do you think, Jim? I thought it could be a great addition to the resort, and just consider the revenue the theatre could generate by performing for a single weekend here. You could open the show and run for two weeks at the playhouse, and then extend it for one weekend here for the guests at the resort. Our holiday bookings are filling up. By December, all four hundred rooms will be full. That’s between eight and twelve hundred guests each weekend.” Ben strode around the small theatre he had designed at the resort. “I’m really glad that you helped me with the specs for this place. I would have made a mess out of it.”
“No worries, and I think the idea is great. Hell, why only one weekend? We could probably do two weekends for the Christmas show and then, in the spring, extend our musical.”
“Why not even the summer show? I mean, if the playhouse could provide entertainment three times a year, that would bring in a whole lot of cash for the playhouse. The resort wouldn’t even charge you, Jim. The city would love to have you as part of the team.”
“I mean, that sounds amazing, Ben. But that decision will not be up to me. Our new executive director would have to agree to it, and then the board would have to vote. The board will say yes.”
“They’re all local business owners. Of course, they will. They all understand how good the resort is going to be for the town and its shops and restaurants. I’m surprised you’re not in charge now that Mister Gambin retired. God, that man used to scare the shit out of me.”
“I remember,” I chuckled. “You were great on the football field and terrified of giving a speech.”
“I had no idea that he ran the playhouse after he retired.”
“He was great at it. He mellowed quite a bit after leaving the school. He loved that theatre, and I do too. But I don’t really have the skills to run the theatre. I know backstage and technical aspects, but that’s about it. Can you imagine me directing a bunch of kids? I could teach them some cuss words, but that’s about it.”
