Chapter Text
Olina was on stage, performing the main cadenza of this play. Anna watched from the back with fascination, and mentally took notes on how to do that.
Once the cadenza was done, Anna followed the other dancers out to the front of the stage to do their routine. She loved dancing - really, she did - but she always wished she would be given a major singing role as well. Still, she couldn’t complain, and danced with a wide grin on her face.
All dancers knelt down, and Kai came on the stage to sing his solo. Mattias came running on stage halfway through to stop Kai, and Anna was grateful this was just a practice and not an actual performance.
“The word is Rome, not Roma!” the director instructed. Anna turned her head to watch the action, and saw the stressed look on Kai’s face.
“Rome? Rome is hard for me to say,” Kai contradicted.
“You will pronounce it the right way, or we will find someone to take your place who knows how to pronounce ‘Rome’ correctly,” Mattias threatened. Kai clenched his jaw, but nodded in understanding. The director gave a signal to the pianist, and the music started back up from where they left off.
Kai was able to pronounce “Rome” correctly, though he emphasized the correct pronunciation and shot a glance over at the director every time he did. Anna bit her lip to resist the urge to laugh at the defiance in Kai’s tone.
Once his solo was done, all of the dancers were able to stand up and continue their routine. Olina and Kai started doing their own dance on the side.
Anna was caught up in the dance, and she was too busy twirling to realize the music has stopped. Yelena’s staff connecting with the wood stage made Anna come back to reality. She blinked a few times, and looked around to find everyone staring at her.
“Anna, while we are glad you enjoy dancing, you must be able to recognize your cue to stop,” Mattias informed her. Anna knew this, of course. It wasn’t often that she got lost in her own world while on stage, but this certainly wasn’t the first time.
“My apologies, Mattias. I will strive not to do it again,” the young strawberry-blonde said, her head lowered to show she was truly sorry.
“Thank you,” Mattias said, and Anna ran back to join the rest of the cast. “Now that I have your attention, there has been a change in management. Mister Hammerstein has retired, but not before finding two wonderful replacements.” Mattias extended his arm in the general direction of the left right stage, and two men walked up. One was a short, stout man with pure white hair. The other was a tall, average-sized man with brunette hair. “The shorter one is Mister Olaf Larsen. The other one is Mister Sven Nilsen.” The two men bowed as they were introduced.
“It is a pleasure to meet all of you,” Sven spoke. “I have heard many great things about you, and have even attended a few of your shows over the years. I look forward to witnessing all of your rehearsals and shows moving forward.”
“Yes. I especially look forward to hearing the high-acclaimed Olina as well,” Olaf said. Despite his hair color, he looked and sounded like a young man. Anna wondered if he simply dyed his hair.
“Actually, I believe there is a wonderful number in Act 3 of this show that Olina sings,” Sven said. “If it would be alright, we would love to hear a sample of that song. Unless it causes some sort of problem...”
“There is no problem here, I ensure you,” Olina interrupted, striding up to the piano. She gave a curt nod to the pianist, who turned to the correct page and began playing.
“Think of me. Think of me fondly when we’ve said goodbye!” Olina began, her voice sounding inhuman as always.
Halfway through the song, Olina is interrupted by a sandbag falling from above. Anna jumps at the noise, and a few of the dancers start screaming.
“Everyone, please, calm down! It is nothing to be frightened about! It was just a little trick from our stagehand Oaken,” Mattias soothed. “Oaken, get down here right now!”
Oaken showed up 20 seconds later, huffing and puffing from running. He was a more heavyset man, and he was just wearing a white T-shirt with black jeans. Anna had seen him in passing a few times, but he was almost never around them very long.
“Oaken, what is the meaning of this?!” Mattias questioner, pointing at the sandbag. Oaken looked between the director and the sandbag, and a look of confusion formed.
“Mister Mattias, please, don’t look at me. I had left my position for a few moments. I was not responsible for that falling,” the stagehand answered.
“Well if you didn’t do it, who did?” Mattias asked, crossing his arms over his chest. Anna has seen that look before. He was starting to get annoyed.
“Perhaps it was the Opera Ghost, sir,” Oaken offered. Mattias and Yelana laughed, but many of the rest of the cast became scared and started whispering about it.
“Opera Ghost?” Olaf asked, sounding a little intrigued.
“No one has met the owner of this building. Some speculate that maybe there isn’t an owner, and that it is just a ghost,” Mattias explained.
“It is not speculation! It is the truth!” Olina shouted. The expression on her face made it look like she actually did just see a ghost. She was standing in front of Mattias, anger evident now. “You said you had gotten rid of the ghost!”
“I never said such a thing. I don’t know where you got that from,” Mattias countered.
“Well, if you are not going to get rid of it, then I quit! I refuse to have my life at risk because of some ghost who refuses to leave this place!” Olina exclaimed. Before anyone could stop her, she ran off stage, leaving Mattias disgruntled.
“Wonderful! We lost our star performer! Now how will we be able to do the show tonight?” he asked aloud.
“Surely you have an understudy for the part?” Sven replied.
“An understudy? Olina never needed an understudy. She was always here, on time and on key. We never even considered having a replacement for her,” Mattias replied, running a hand through his hair.
“Anna Andersen can sing it!” a voice said from behind the redhead. She turned her head to see Elsa, one of her fellow dancers and best friend, looking over at Mattias excitedly. Before she could protest, Elsa was pulling her towards the center stage. “She has been getting a lot of private lessons recently!”
“Private lessons? From whom?” Mattias asked. Anna bit her lip. She had never told anyone about her private tutor before.
“I don’t know, sir,” she lied. Mattias sighed and walked away, still grumbling about having to cancel the show. Sven walked up to the young girl.
“Andersen? That’s a peculiar name. Any relation to the pianist Iduna?” he inquired.
“She was my mother,” Anna replied, smiling at the memory of her mother, and the fact someone knew her.
“Let her sing for you,” Yelana spoke up, walking towards them. “She has been well-taught.” Anna opened her mouth to protest, but Sven cut her off.
“Very well, then. Let’s replay the song, from the top!” the new manager instructed. The pianist obeyed, and began playing the tune.
Anna took a deep breath, but her voice still came out shaky as she sang the first few notes. She turned to try and run away, but Yelena hit the stage with her staff again, stopping her in her tracks. She looked behind her to Elsa, who gave her a reassuring nod and smile. Anna nodded back, and when she continued to sing, her voice slowly became stronger - more confident.
After the first chorus, the music stopped, and there was a grand round of applause from everyone.
“That was beautiful, Miss Andersen! You will sing the role tonight! Go get ready for tonight. I look forward to the full performance,” Sven announced. Anna gave him a wide smile, but was quickly pulled away by Yelana as they went to her dressing room. Anna was so excited. This was her first major role in the stage! She couldn’t wait to do the full performance, even if the idea was still a little scary for her.