Sergei and the Beast! PV Cast & Crew Closed

It was as if he had entered a state of euphoria once Aurelia had distracted the Bulgarian Transfiguration Professor. It was like a 500-kilogram weight had been on his shoulders since he heard the ominous footsteps approached him. The shiver that ran up his spine had caused the density of the situation to finally come into focus, and with a simple makeup distraction, maybe he could get this show on the road, quite literally.

If only he stopped being nervous.

"Yeah! Maybe you should go...I'm sure whoever's running the costume department might need you for some fitting..." He laughed, scratching the back of his head. His head had already imagined the bear in the dress. "Especially if you're going to be the bear..." Anatole stood back, waiting for the man to independently escort himself backstage since he thought it would be rude to shove the large man towards Aurelia. It would probably give off a bad image.

Hoping that the situation above was handled correctly, Anatole got up on stage (using side stairs since he couldn't push himself up). With a loud clap of his hands, he began to run this, making his voice louder and commanding the entire room. "Alright everyone! Let's begin! We only have so much time before we perform!" He shuffled through his sheets, finally deciding on an option with bright eyes. "So! Since...uh...I think that Professor Yornikovych needs to do some things backstage or something, maybe we should start from a scene he's not in..." He raised an elusive eyebrow, eyeing his LeFou. "Starting from the 'Gaston' song? I'm assuming that since we're running a little short on people, most of you, uh...castle-folk could change out of those costumes and into some common clothes and be the people at the..." Anatole knew he couldn't say that the scene happened in a tavern, especially with Professor Yornikovych possibly overhearing. "At the restaurant! Yeah, those ones dancing on the tables and such! We'll go a capella and just maybe improvise some stage directions for now. Does that sound good to everyone?"

He hoped that everyone, even Adam, would reluctantly agree and they could begin practicing. "Also, does anyone mind helping me move a table onto the stage?"

.

Oh my god. Why did Rosie agree to this?

Rosie also realized she was late. With a big gasp, she turned on her foot and the little girl sprinted down the corridors, her long curly hair whipping behind her as she trekked down the long dark hallway. God, Rosie what are you DOING? You lost track of time again! They're gonna be mad at you now! With a groan, she turned around another corner and ran down the last hallway.

Her shoes unfortunately, from the frequent movement of her feet for the past five minutes, Rosie's shoelaces had started to become undone as she reached the room. She was so, so, close. But as soon as she could come into view of her friends who had been conversing among themselves, she tripped over her shoes and screamed, tumbling into the room. The young Hufflepuff groaned as she pushed herself up by her legs, laughing the tumble off. She was just kinda happy she made it to the room, anyway. With a smile, she moved her hair out of her face and rested her hand on top of her head. Rosie walked forward, and clapped her hands.

"So, are we gonna get this show on or what?"

Hey cast and crew!

For the "Gaston" scene, I think it would be better if all of you Owled/Discord DMed me a summary of what your character is doing in the scene, either as a common person/extra, or even an onlooker. I think it would be more efficient if it was one long post describing everything rather than a million 200-word posts about just what your character was doing in the scene. After all, how long could you withstand writing 200 words about dancing on a table and singing a few lyrics?

I'll write up a whole post (if any of you would like to help me, I'll write it on Google Docs), joining what all of you said together into one long post describing the whole number once those owls are in.

I'll set a due date for those owls at May 24th, 12:00 A.M. EST.

I expect the reply to be up as close to that date as possible.

Thanks for your cooperation! Let's put on a great show!

Anatole stood up and began talking, and Mia listened closely. He seemed mildly nervous, and Mia was sympathetic. She had been in a few plays before, and even managed one, and it was always tough. No matter how much practice you got.

"Also, does anyone mind helping me move a table onto the stage?"

Anatole looked at the crowd of people and Mia raised her hand just as a small Hufflepuff girl stumbled in. While everyone gazed towards the new girl-Mia recognized her from somewhere-she walked towards Anatole. When she got in front of him she grabbed the other end of the table. She wasn't extremely strong, but she was just strong enough to help Anatole with this job.

"I'm Mia Alexander. I don't think that we've met before. I'm a Lumos caster. It's nice to meet you."

She brushed the hair out of her face and looked up at him, sending him a half smile. Mia then glanced awkwardly towards the crowd. No one seemed willing to lend a hand, so Mia just lifted the table and motioned start walking to Anatole.

The table was getting heavy, but Mia continued to hoist it in the air, determined. She wanted to be as helpful as possible, and plus, she would have to ask one of the professors how to cast Lumos because she had never done it before. She didn't want to be just THAT girl.

Amadea had a bad habit of being late. It wasn't always her fault; sometimes she was too busy reading a book or she got lost in the many twists and turns of the corridors trying to find the correct room, but for this she really didn't have an excuse. 

To be completely honest, she had no idea why she signed up for this play. She couldn't sing and she definitely couldn't dance. Sure, she could wiggle her arms and tap her feet to the beat, but she couldn't manage to make it look graceful like all of the other dancers probably could. She had inquired about joining a pit band, though she wasn't sure if the play was a play or a musical. She hoped someone in the rehearsal room had some answers.

She stood outside of the entrance and peeked in, trying to scout for any familiar faces. She unfortunately didn't recognize anyone except for the tall curly haired Ravenclaw that she had met in the abandoned classroom. He seemed to be in a conversation, however. It looked like everyone had already started. She wondered if she should go in now or wait until there seemed like a break in whatever they were talking about. 

She decided to just walk in and ask whoever was in charge what she should be doing. Picking out who was in charge was easy enough. It appeared to be the Gryffindor boy that was asking for assistance in moving something. He looked quite overwhelmed from what Amadea could tell, and she hated to distract him from his task, but she did need to know what she was supposed to be doing. 

She headed over to where he was and stuck out her hand. "Hi there," she said. "I'm Amadea. I think I'm listed as an extra, though I would prefer doing something involving the music, like a pit band or something like that. Though I will do whatever you need me to do. Also, sorry for being late," she added, all in one breath. She realized she was probably bombarding the poor boy with all of this information without even giving him a chance to speak, so she shut her mouth and waited for his response. 

Amadea glanced around and realized everyone was getting ready to start rehearsal. She hoped she would get her assignment quickly so she could join in. Falling behind would not be good, as the show seemed to be coming together quite quickly. She turned back to the Gryffindor and smiled again, waiting for him to speak. 

Wesley arrived, pushing open the door to the Rehearsal Room as lightly as he could, though it still gave an irritated squeak. He winced, shutting his eyes and scrunching them up wildly. He desperately hoped everyone was too busy talking or reciting their lines to notice, and that no one had heard or seen Wesley. Shoes tapping almost silently on the wooden floorboards, Wes approached a ginger girl, who was much shorter than him, but he recognised her; it was Rhea Bishop - the girl with nice red hair in which he had gratefully met in the Gryffindor Common Room!

“R-Rhea?” He asked quietly, though a bit louder than usual since there was chatter all around him, tapping Rhea’s shoulder. “Do you know what I have to do? I have signed up to be a Photographer, and - goodness, I’m annoying - who should I go to if you don’t have the answers to any of my questions?”

Behind Wes there were different varieties of students: short, tall (well, not as tall as Wes); plump, skinny; straight hair, curly hair; blue eyes, brown eyes, green eyes; red hair, blonde hair, brown hair, black hair! It was fascinating, especially since Wesley was quite locked away and chose to willingly not talk to many people, so he never saw many people. Amazing! He looked at Anatole - he recognised him from the Sorting - who was playing as Belle; he looked back at Rhea; he looked over at Eris, the ex-prefect-or-whatever; he looked over at Amadea, admiring her bouncy-looking red hair; his gaze turned to look at Mia, and he couldn’t help but chuckle inaudibly at her piercing icy blue eyes. So many people that he really wished he could have the confidence to go up to and introduce himself to!

Verla walked into the rehearsal room, literally shaking. Being in the play would definelty help her anxiety. Though she wasn't looking forward to it at all. "So, am I an extra in the town?" Verla asked. If she could just get her part done in the beginning, then she could ditch the rest if she wasn't needed. She hated being in front of people. In front of everyone. But this was a good start, at least she showed up. She saw Wes and wanted to run up and hug him for not seeing him around, and slap him for ditching her. But overall, hug him because she missed him. He was a good kid, and he was kind of cute. 

Verla refrained from doing so, and she just smiled and waved politely at him and walked over to him. She was still shaking when she was standing next to him and said hi. 

She wished she had seen him around more often than most, but she was glad to be by him now, which helped her shaking since she was comfortable around him, though not comfortable enough to blabber on about herself quite yet, or maybe, at all. Maybe she'll just be quiet for now.

Wow, this had really gotten bigger than Anatole had intended. There was now what felt like half the school in the small rehearsal room, most on the makeshift stage, others backstage tending to Belle, and still more in the audience waiting for Anatole to give them a role. It was Beauty and the Beast for Merlin's sake, not some sort of celebration.

Well, it was the effort that counted.

There were so many deeds that had to be done, so Anatole decided to take it a step at a time. It was like dancing--small steps made a flattering whole. "Alright everyone, if you're a commonfolk or legitimately anyone but Belle and the Beast, hop up here and we'll move through the Gaston scene's choreography, I suppose. Stay right where you are and make room for this table coming in."

He pointed toward Mia, jumping down off the stage (and hurting his feet a little) as he took the end of the table. "Hey Mia, nice to meet you! I'm Anatole, as you might've heard. I...uh...accidentally created this whole thing and am playing Gaston in the play. Lumos caster, huh?" He turned around as they went up the stairs, looking back as they moved up towards the center of the stage. "We could really use some of those. Thanks for helping out!"

Next, Anatole addressed the growing crowd on the stage. "Let's see how I remember the song from the book and the movie. Uh...maybe we start with the table with the long end facing towards the front and maybe it could move during the song. That would be cool! Any two people want to volunteer to move the table near the...second chorus? You'd be in costume." Anatole took a breath, growing weary from directing so many people. Serena seemed a little out of it, and hopefully she was taking notes. He'd converse with her once they did a first run-through. "Adam! Yes, Adam! You start off the song, right?" He smiled at the boy, slinging an arm around him as the two moved towards the table. "How I think the scene could start is that all of you are here at this...restaurant and conversing like it's a normal day. Maybe make up a character for your commonperson and just chat. Once Adam's ready to start the song, he could get up on the table, signaling you all to cease the chatter once he begins to sing. The good thing about this song is that you guys are free to laugh, clink glasses, cheer, and joke around. Got that? Good! You all can go ahead practicing the chatter while I run and handle a few more things." Anatole jumped off the stage again, this time a little softer.

If only Sergei saw him now: flustered and stressed, trying to direct this thing in a direction he didn't know where. He would probably shake his slim head, staring down at the boy with disappointment. He shut his eyes, muttering a quick wish that the ladies backstage were distracting him enough.

The first piece of chatter came from Amadea (she introduced herself), a Hufflepuff eager to do something with music. Anatole addressed her as best and as quick as possible. "Actually, that's perfect! Right now, we're setting up to try our first run-through for 'Gaston'. Here's some sheet music, and maybe you could try moving that piano closer to the stage. If you need help there, I'm sure Mia could help you. Tell me if you need anything more!" With a smile, he ran over, sliding toward the next person to help.

[Wes, since you didn't address me directly, I didn't write a blurb here about you.]

She was shaking, and Anatole initially watched her with wide eyes. Nervous. Stage fright, much? Maybe Anatole could try to coax her out if necessary. Hopefully she could make some friends. "Oh, hey. Yeah, if you're comfortable with it, you can be an extra in the town. What I'm having everyone do right now is find some people to converse with right before the song begins. Once Adam, that blonde Ravenclaw over there who's playing LeFou, gets up on the table, you can stop talking or maybe whisper to the person next to you. I just said that my tip is to make a character for your townsperson you're comfortable with. Stand over that table or sit in those chairs on the stage if you want to be an extra. If you don't want to be an extra, I'll find you something else. Okay?" He smiled at her once again, dashing back up the stairs, out of breath.

"Alright team! Let's see how far we can get with this. If anyone wants to plan out some choreography for us, feel free to and just tell me. There could be a lot of fun dancing options here. Want to try it from the top?"

Anatole's heart was racing as he slid to the back of the stage, leaning against the curtains for his starting position. He laughed a little, wheezing as he knew Adam would have to address him as who he was from now on...

Gaston.

Adam glared at Anatole through his entire explanation, but internally, he was growing excited to start rehearsing his number. This scene was pretty much LeFou's only screen -- er, stage -- time, and if he was going to have to play this role, he was going to do it right. As the Gryffindor boy finished giving out instructions, Adam approached him and waited for a chance to talk. "Hey, there, director," he began, forcing a smile, "you do know that we kind of need Gaston for 'Gaston', right? After all, I am singing this whole number to give you a little ego boost. Feel like practicing with me?"

Personally, Adam couldn't wait to see how Anatole pulled this entire production off. He knew that the first-year had been planning it for some time, and it had taken a little bit of time for everyone to gather in the rehearsal room and get themselves settled. Now, as everyone ran around with their various assignments, Adam struggled to remember the tune of the song he was supposed to be leading. The lyrics in front of him were no use if he didn't know how to sing them, and he trusted Amadea -- who he hadn't seen come in earlier, he'd have to say hi to her after they finished -- to play the music well, but he figured he should still try to do it himself.

"Where's your big fur chair, Gaston? Wouldn't want you to have to sit uncomfortably while the entire tavern literally sings your praises." Adam winked at Anatole, hoping he wasn't coming off too cruel, and made sure that he was on the right page of the songbook before speaking again. "Anyways, I'm ready whenever everyone else is. Let's do this thing."