Chapter Text
Her first day at Richard Rogers was incredibly nerve-wracking. Only the best of the best got to work on Hamilton. It wasn’t just the actors—lighting, sound, musicians, stage management—everyone was top tier. So here she was, a first year student at NYU, clinging on for dear life to the hope she wouldn’t embarrass herself.
The best part about NYU’s theater tech program was the clerkships. Students got to work on actual shows. Clara was lucky enough to be placed on Hamilton. She had an apprenticeship over the summer working on Wicked, so her experience bumped her to the top of the class.
One of the audio techs, Reggie, was showing her around. He was a taller guy, very cool and casual. He was probably in his late twenties.
“Hey Reggie,” a voice called.
They turned around and Clara saw it was Tommy Kail, the director of the show.
“Hey Tommy!” Reggie replied, “This is Clara, she’s doing her NYU clerkship with us.”
Clara was shocked. On the set of wicked, she kept her head down. She certainly never talked to the director of the show.
“Oh awesome,” Tommy said happily, “Welcome, welcome!”
“Thank you,” Clara managed. Before she could get anything else out, a new voice approached.
“What’s up, guys!”
Clara immediately recognized Lin-Manuel Miranda’s voice and her heart skipped a beat as she looked behind her.
“Lin!” Tommy invited him over, “I was just meeting Clara. She’s our new tech from NYU’s program.”
Clara was honestly surprised that Tommy had actually listened to her name and remembered it.
“Cool!” He replied, extending his hand, “I’m Lin, it’s great to have you!”
Clara was sure she was about to pass out from the shock of it all. She never talked to any of the talent while working on Wicked, much less someone of Lin’s caliber. For all intents and purposes, she considered Lin a Broadway god. It was honestly humorous that he introduced himself, as if she didn't already know exactly who he was. She managed to shake his hand.
“T-thank you,” she stuttered, “I’m happy to be here.”
“Is this your first time working on a show?” Lin asked.
Oh god, he’s making conversation. Clara was only 18, so she wasn’t offended that Lin assumed she was inexperienced. She desperately held herself together. No fan-girling. It would be unprofessional.
“I actually was an apprentice at Gershwin over the summer,” she replied hesitantly, not wanting to sound conceited.
“Oh shit,” he said, impressed, “Wicked’s tech is way more complicated than ours. You’ll settle in just fine here.”
Clara could only smile and nod. Lin turned to Tommy.
“Ready to go over those notes with Alex?”
“Yup,” Tommy nodded and added as the two started to walk off, “Nice to meet you, Clara!”
“You too!” Clara said with a small wave.
Sweet Jesus, did that really just happen?
“You coming?” Reggie’s voice sounded.
Clara realized she had been frozen in place and that Reggie had already made it halfway down the aisle.
“Oh!” She exclaimed and quickly caught up.
I guess that really did just happen.