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With only a few weeks left until the first preview of “Juliet’s Curse” on Broadway, the show was pretty much patched up and ready to go. Rehearsals were busy, and everyone was doing their part, nearly perfect! Looking back at all the hard work they had put in, Dorothy couldn’t help but feel proud of the entire cast and crew, and herself of course. At the start, it might’ve seemed hopeless for both Dorothy and Julie to make something good out of this show, but after a conversation at the park led them to a plan that involved sheer determination and disruption of rehearsals, they were able to pull through and polish this disaster successfully in such a short amount of time! From the god awful writing, to the unmemorable music, the intermediate level aerobics class choreography, the tacky costumes, and of course the sole fact that it was yet another adaptation. (It’s like Broadway was allergic to originality!) With Ron’s second-rate directing out of the picture, and his second-rate presence minimized, the new Juliet’s Curse was feeling a lot less “cursed” and more like a work of art. And with Dorothy herself as thee star of the show?! It really did feel like this was the universe’s way of apologizing for the last 2 decades of an agonizing career and inexistent success.
However, it wasn’t all perfect. There was still one major issue; The stunt-cast reality TV star, Max Van Horn. Making his debut as Romeo’s brother Craig (Formerly Juliet’s love interest, now The Nurse’s), while lacking all the talent and experience needed to do a broadway show and fresh off his big win on “Race To Bachelor Island”, he was cast for the sole purpose of selling tickets.
Max wasn’t like other snobby celebrities Michael had the displeasure of working with, at least, not intentionally. He was actually a really chill guy. The problem was that despite being freakishly tall and incredibly handsome, it was clear he didn’t have much going on in his head…Though it would’ve been rather convenient for Dorothy for him to be recast, it was far too late for that. Plus, it would be bad publicity for the show and Max if he got the axe right after they fired the last actress playing The Nurse for “issues relating to substance abuse”. But he HAS improved his acting over the last month. It took a lot of yelling and physically abusing the poor himbo (that stopped after the 2nd week of rehearsal) and accidentally triggering his thing for strong older women, but Max eventually reached the skill level of mediocre. He was just unfortunately unintelligent and hard to get through.
That first week of rehearsal with him was rough, on top of the fact that Dorothy was a last minute recast and the other actors had already had three or four weeks together, she probably wouldn’t have made it out alive without Julie. She had a really tough time keeping her cool with Max every time he was around, it was hard enough getting through his thick skull, and talking to him was even more obnoxious. He’d just blab and ramble about pointless things to the point that she avoided talking to him as much as she could to prevent herself from getting enraged and breaking character both as The Nurse and Dorothy Michaels. In fact, Max was one of the first things she ever complained about to Julie..
“The bigger tragedy is that Max! He must be quite talented to be able to conceal it so well…” Dorothy sneered.
“I tried to work with him.. sadly, I could explain it to him. I couldn’t understand it for him.” Julie sighed.
“I witnessed that,” Dorothy noted, “I admire how… patient you are with him.”
Patient. It wasn’t something that Dorothy had any desire to be with Max, but there were going to be obstacles she couldn’t handle the way she usually does; even if yelling at him repeatedly to get it right worked the last time she and Max rehearsed together. Patience was something she had to have with a scene partner, especially the man playing her love interest. She already barely knew the guy, and she didn't want their lack of connection to bring down her performance. Max was playing her love interest whether she liked him or not.
He definitely had potential, considering how hard he had been working this week! Dorothy has endured a lot in her short time here, so she’s already practically mastered patience, right? Tackling Max’s skill in a more personal matter will be incredibly easy when he’s got a coach as brilliant as her, and forming a connection with him will be even easier. Sure, she wasn’t big on Reality TV, and the only reason she cared this much was because she was a raging perfectionist, but the hope that there were reasons he had so many fans that weren’t because of his good looks and perfect body was there! The belief that there had to be some personality, or at least a tolerable trait, hidden beneath his handsome face, and Dorothy was determined to find it!
…Unfortunately, her hopes were crushed when she decided to ask the others about Max’s character and she discovered that their opinions of him were just as mixed as hers:
“He’s hot” said Leslie, from the ensemble,
“He’s just hot” said Drew, from the ensemble,
“There’s really nothing else to it.” said Diana, from the ensemble,
“He’s nice but I kind of wanted that other guy to win Race To Bachelor Island. You know, the beefy dude from Australia. He was hot.” said Shina, from the ensemble.
“I don’t know what he’s saying half of the time.” said Drew.
“He’s nice and very cute, though” And the cast agrees with half hearted yeahs before returning to their chattering.
“I chav no comment on that sexy buffoon.” said Paula Laguardino Stevetskya, the costume designer.
“That guy is a real bummer! Intelligent and ugly people like him aren’t very fun to be around.” said Suzie and Stuart, the writers, while snickering at each other.
“Why do you ask?! Don't you dare tell me you want him out, Precious. Never! He's our only hope of survival if this mess flops!” protested Ron.
“Oh..I know what you’re thinking, but don’t worry Dorothy, he’s only here for a short while to bring in the money,” said Rita. “But I thought you’d be more excited considering a large part of his demographic is apparently middle aged women.”
“He’s something, alright..” said Carl, the stage manager.
They were around 5 minutes into their 30 minute break and Dorothy was chatting with Carl. She asked him about his opinion on Max, having no idea why she was still doing this. Carl sighed and leaned against the call board, munching on his sandwich. “But he’s not an inconvenience, you just have to go easy on him…Oh, who am I kidding? Just yesterday I overheard him ask Ron if he was allowed to use the bathroom.”
Jesus Christ…
Carl shook his head, still talking with his mouth full and irritating the hell out of Dorothy in the process. “But with all the improvement he’s been making since you started, I assume you actually found a way to knock some sense into him? You must really have faith in him.”
“Of course I do.. he’s my scene partner and I believe in him.” Dorothy half-smiled, trying her best to ignore Carl shoveling down his sandwich like a beast as if she wasn’t there. “..Max is trying his best” Which was true, despite his immaturity, Max WAS taking these new changes greatly and adapting quickly, he’s almost got his delivery down in every line, and he’ll be ready to go by their first preview. It’s impressive for an incompetent reality star.
“Great. Thank you Dorothy. I really like the guy, he’s fun to talk to, but It can get..overwhelming. It feels good to have him off my leg and not have to give him constant approval whenever Ron’s not around for him to take orders from like a puppy or because he doesn’t really, you know, fit in with the rest of the cast… being a reality star and all..” Carl sighed in relief as he stood up, his response making it clear that he was passing the responsibility of being Max’s friend rather than thanking her for supporting Max. “Take pride in being the famous guy’s mentor, you gotta— MAX YOU’RE HERE!!! Oh look at the time! Better head back!!” He says as he fumbles with his stopwatch before checking it and running off.
Dorothy watches as Carl sprints upstairs, and turns around to find the tall hunk standing in front of her. She flinches in surprise. How long had he been standing there?!
“I didn’t know you could check the time on a stop watch..I kinda want my own now.” Max said, and then turned to her with an excited look on his face. “You know how you said you wanted to rehearse together, Dorothy?”
Dorothy smiles awkwardly. She had texted him earlier asking to meet at her dressing room to run some lines together, eager to bond with and fix him, and she was especially motivated after all this. She wasn’t fond of the guy, but the way everyone talked about him made her feel a sense of pity for him. She clears her throat and nods.
“Yes, you got my text?” Dorothy asks passively as they start walking up to her dressing room, looking up at the beanstalk of a man.
“Uh, no.” Max looked at her with that same expression of utter confusion he always had.
“Oh. You didn’t?” Dorothy tilted her head in confusion, wondering how the hell he knew about her request to run lines privately.
“..I don’t know your number. I’m asking because you didn’t look busy and you said you wanted to rehearse together when we met a few weeks ago.” Max clarified, “But you did try to get me to exchange my number with yours that day too, remember? You didn’t go through with that when you wrote down my number did you!? I haven’t been responding to anything since then to respect your privacy. I hope I didn’t miss any calls..”
Dorothy stops and stares at him for a couple of seconds, dumbfounded “….What are you talking about— No! I didn’t literally exchange our numbers!”
“Oh. So my texts and calls are still mine?” Max asks, being 100% serious.
“….Yes!!?”
“Oh okay.” Max looks down at a crumpled piece of paper with a number written down on it that he’s holding “Then whose number is this? It’s been in my pocket for weeks..”
“It’s mine..! I gave it to you to text me?!” Dorothy almost yelled, she couldn’t believe this man was real.
“Ohhhh! That makes sense. I thought it might’ve been mine.” Max continues walking towards Dorothy's dressing room. Dorothy stands there, once again completely dumbfounded. She snaps out of it after hearing Max yelp after bumping his head on the door frame. “I’m okay!” He says, giving her a thumbs up while rubbing his head. Dorothy sighs and follows him inside, almost dreading having to put up with this guy for even a minute longer.
Max looks around at Dorothy's humbly decorated dressing room, “Yours is almost as big as mine!” He sits down on the blue couch, taking up most of the space with his manspreading. (Although, with Max being a 6 '4 inch tall hunk, he would probably still be taking up a lot of space even if he wasn’t manspreading.) “I think my couch is a few inches bigger than yours though.”
Dorothy smiles uncomfortably at that, and then sits down on her chair. “Right..” She turns to her vanity and shuffles around a pile of notes she had written down for Max, “You’ve been doing great, Max, for someone of your skill. You’ve got down almost every scene in 4 weeks! There’s always room for improvement, of course..but I wanted to focus on what you haven’t gotten down, I think I know what the issue is—“
“It’s my new clothes, right?” Max chimed in excitedly, like a kid who knew the correct answer to a math problem.
“What?” Dorothy was not expecting to be interrupted this early on.
“My old acting coach, Randy, told me that as an actor, you have to be comfortable in your own skin. And I’m comfortable in my bare skin. I think I could do even better without it!” Max exclaimed, sounding really sure of himself. (But when does he not? Or does he ever?)
“Why do you think that?” Dorothy asked, not surprised that Max hadn’t given up on going shirtless, she was wondering why he hadn’t spoken up about that yet. She wondered if she’d get an actual response.
“I always do things better without a shirt on! I look good, I can move my arms easily, I can…what is it?.. express myself better! Watch—“ And before Dorothy could even react, Max had already popped his shirt off, exposing his rock hard abs like slabs of fine granite. “See? Besides, don’t tell anyone but..I think shirts are super itchy. I don’t like the way they feel.”
Dorothy scowled in disgust and tried her absolute best to maintain eye contact and not look right at his pecs. “Jesus, Max! Put your shirt back on!!”
Judging by the surprised, confused and almost offended look on the pretty-boy’s face (or at least, that’s what it looked like, you could never really tell with him) you’d think that Max had never been told to put his shirt back on in his entire life… not by someone he was into, and especially not by an old lady. Middle aged women were a large part of his demographic.
“Uh, okay.” He does as told, not buttoning it up all the way. “Should I save it for when we’re doing the show..?”
“No, Max.” She groans, finally looking away “Your clothes shouldn’t affect the way you act. I understand that you might feel more confident in yourself without a shirt on but you can’t distract the audience from a mediocre performance by stripping. They’re coming to see you, to see the story you’re going to put on. Not your chest.”
Despite the irritation in her voice while saying that, Max’s look of rejection turned into surprise.
“You can get these lines right without having to show off your body. You already have, you did wonderfully during our last rehearsal.” Dorothy gives him a sincere smile, “Your…commitment to this show really does astound me, usually the stunt cast celebrities I’ve worked with— I mean…have..heard about from other actors..don’t put half as much effort as you have.”
“You really think so?” Max asked eagerly, excited by the approval from his hot mentor. “Thanks, Dorothy!”
“Of course. Max, if there’s anyone out in the audience who only showed up to look at your body, then it would be an insult to you! Take it as one!” She exclaimed, “And to hell with them! You’re more than just your looks.”
“But I like my looks..” Max’s excited mood quickly soured, or at least, it seemed like it did. “And so do they..”
“No, no, I KNOW they do, the whole world knows you’re handsome Max. You’ve got to show them that you’re worth more than just your beauty. That you’re not just on stage to be a pretty boy for them to gawk at.”
“Pretty? Awh thanks!” Max looked very pleased, then his expression turned contemplative, uncommon for him, “So… the audience is kind of like how Ron didn’t want me to fall in love with you in the show because you’re super old?”
Dorothy’s brow furrowed in annoyance, though it was a good parallel.. “Yes, Max. Like that. But you get my point now, right?
There was a quiet pause for a few seconds before Max spoke up again.
“Nope.” Max replied confidently. Dorothy was taken aback.
“What?”
“That’s different.” Max says as if he’s disagreeing with Dorothy, even though he himself had just made the comparison a moment ago. “You’re a really good actress, so you can probably stop being old, but I cant just stop being hot! Its what I am. And I don’t want to stop, ya know? I’d have to rip my skin off and stop working out.. And that wouldn’t be very comfortable. What if… I become an even better actor, all while still looking the way I look!” Max grins and nods, as if he just came up with the most mind-blowing solution of all time.
“That’s what I meant I—!” Dorothy could cry, “I just said that!”
Max grinned as he excitedly bounced his leg, “Oh I'm even more pumped now! You’ve really turned me into an actor, Dorothy! You know, now that I think about it, I’m pretty sure I might’ve already been an actor even before I met you! Not as good of an actor as I am right now, though. Uhh..wait let me remember… Well, I don’t really think those tapes I shot count. Hey, are you allowed to be naked on stage?”
“I don’t—“ Dorothy tried to speak up before getting interrupted again
“I also had to shoot an audition tape for Race To Bachelor Island! I just did 3 backflips off my cousin Matthew’s swimming pool’s diving board and sent them a nude and I was in. But it was different for this musical, they just asked me if I wanted to be in the show. I didn’t wanna take the role at first though, unless the character was also named Max. You know, so no one would be confused…”
Max continued his yapping, Dorothy was utterly infuriated and at wits end with this guy.
ALMOST!!! We ALMOST had something! A connection— a mutual understanding! But dammit that boy has the attention span of a goldfish!
Dorothy’s patience was wearing thin. She could not hold a conversation with this douchebag for more than 5 minutes before he cuts her off and starts rambling on and on about himself or what he thinks is good for this show or anything that was incredibly pointless! For a guy who was apparently very interested in her, he never seemed to be interested in listening to her…were all men like this?!
…
And that’s when it hit her.
“Oh god. Is this what it’s like to have a conversation with me?!” Dorothy blurted out, in a voice slightly deeper than her usual falsetto.
“Wha?” Max stopped mid-ramble, he didn't seem annoyed that he was interrupted.
“Oh- did I say that out loud?” Dorothy covers her mouth in slight embarrassment, “I'm sorry, Max.”
“All good, I sometimes say things out loud too.” Max nodded with that absentminded smile he always had on, “Like the time me and my friend were playing a Call of Duty match against some people, and he shouted “You want some of this action?!” and I said ‘Yeah.’”
Dorothy sighs.
Usually, It was on Dorothy and Julie’s wine dates that he would discover things about himself that he wasn’t familiar with before. But who would’ve thought that a few minutes spent with Max would reveal such a big problem? Dorothy frowned, as Michael slowly began realizing something else about himself…
Recalling several instances where he would drone on and on about the legitimacy of theatre and his true artistic ability and the state of show business to his friends, his agent, directors, anyone who’d listen and didn’t dare disagree..who’d all have the same exasperated expression in their eyes after one of his many rants. He couldn’t deny it any longer.
Michael Dorsey, the most unappreciated and misunderstood actor in Manhattan… was a self-obsessed douchebag just like Max.
Well, they share a trait. at least they've finally reached common ground.
Max, just barely taking notice of the distressed look on Dorothy’s face, spoke up again. “Uh... you okay?”
Dorothy snaps out of her little trance and clears her throat, “Ahah..yeah. Sorry..I just, got a little distracted”
Max nods and finishes buttoning up his shirt. “Oh, no worries. It happens a lot”
“No— that’s not-“ Dorothy scoffs “Nevermind.”
“..Well, as I was saying,” Max leaned back into the couch as he prepared to continue his babble “When I was a kid, I was in this play. I wanted to be the dragon slayer, but they made me the prince instead.” His brow furrows and he crosses his arms, “It was dumb. The play was dumb. I could’ve been the prince AND the dragon slayer. But I guess that wouldn’t have been fair to the kid playing the dragon slayer…”
Dorothy taps her heel on the ground, sounding less restless and more interested in what Max was saying, “No, that would’ve probably made more sense..what was the show about?”
Max tried to recall that specific memory from his childhood, “Uhh..It was about a prince and a princess who were about to get married, but a dragon was coming to destroy their kingdom, so the kingdom’s dragon slayer had to kill it.”
“What is it with youth theater and its insertion of unnecessary filler roles!?” Dorothy scoffed “Exposing the youth to awful writing and forcing them to take on one dimensional roles for what? The sake of inclusion? The sake of making sure nobody is left out? Well guess what? The children might not know it but the pain of not being included in a crappy 5th grade play is incomparable to the pain of having to play a horribly written part!”
“Uh..yeah!” Max chimes in hesitantly, before nodding excitedly “Hey, you’re right Dorothy! I never thought of it like that!”
“It’s every actor's first nightmare..” She grumbles “Sure, we can look back on it with pride since it’s our first play, I busted my ass and did the most I could with that flanderized version of Tin Man in The Wizard Of Oz. If they want a show with 25 roles then they better write a goddamn show with 25 well written roles! There are no excuses, they just don’t care about the next generation of artists. And they sure as hell didn’t care as much as they should’ve 40 years ago too..but I made the most of my roles. And I continue to do so.” She smiles, beaming with pride.
“40..!?” Max exclaims, mouth wide open in shock of how old she is. To avoid knocking him out, Dorothy takes a deep breath and smiles softly at him, thinking of her epiphany.
“Maybe being obnoxious jerk can be useful, I never quit being outspoken about what I think would be better for a show, and sure it might’ve gotten me nowhere for most of my career and err..temporarily blacklisted. But now I’m playing Nurse Nurse on broadway.” Dorothy says thoughtfully, “You and I might be annoying obnoxious jerks who think the world revolves around them, but… maybe we can put that to use.”
“Uhh…. are we still talking about acting..?” Max asked confusedly, not acknowledging the blatant insult.
Dorothy chuckled, smiling softly at the man. “And you, you really enjoy talking about yourself, don’t you, Max?”
Max wasn’t sure what was going on anymore, but he responded anyway
“Uh..Yeah! I do. I don’t really know about anything else. I think. Well, besides all of Return Of The Jedi, it’s my favorite Star Wars movie— I know the whole thing by heart. I could recite it right now if you asked me to..!” Max pauses to think, “And all the episode titles to the teenage mutant ninja turtles cartoon from when I was a kid!!! And the—-“
“you know what?” Dorothy sighed, “Neither do I. I don’t ‘know about anything’ other than myself, Besides acting, and theatre..and Shakespeare...”
“…We have something in common!” Max cheered, both of them blissfully ignorant of how cheesy this conversation was.
“We do,” She smiled. “I never would've thought we would.”
”Hey..I’m really learning a whole lot from you, Dorothy!” Max says pridefully
“About acting, I hope.”
”And myself!” He smiles proudly.
“Really? I guess I learned something about myself from you too.” She laughs softly, and then pauses for a bit. “Max, I didn’t want to let you down but— we’ve still got a long way to go.”
”To learn about ourselves?”
”No— well. I meant in our chemistry on stage, your acting, and being able to put on a believable performance together.” She pondered a bit about Max’s question, “But I think that applies to ourselves as well.”
Max and Dorothy smile at each other. It was nice to know that they understood each other to an extent, and had managed to form a real connection.
“You’re so friggin sexy.” He blurts out.
Dorothy frowns “Okay— maybe you’re getting a little too into character. Let’s take that to our advantage and run act 2 scene 3, shall we?”
“Okay!” Max sat up, as the two got ready to finally run the scene.
The two rehearse lines together for about 5 minutes before Carl calls back the cast. It wasn’t like they were gonna get much done on a 15 minute break, so they agree on another date to rehearse together.
They walk to the stage together, Max is once again blabbering about something and Dorothy is making an effort to listen this time, he even manages to make her laugh.
The half hour spent with Max had surprisingly changed Dorothy’s perspective on him, and had her wishing the rest of the cast would give him a chance too. It’s odd, but she feels like she’s been in his shoes before. Being an outcast, despite believing you’re an important person, and getting ridiculed for it. Max was a real nice guy if you actually try to get to know him, maybe he wasn’t the most seasoned guy in the building, but just because he wasn't on the same level as everybody else didn’t mean he didn’t deserve respect from them. Max is as focused on the journey, the risk, as he is on his looks, it was almost admirable. A lackluster reality star thrust unprepared onto a broadway stage for a huge paycheck, and genuinely putting in the effort to improve himself and become an actor! Unafraid of the embarrassment of being highly unqualified and of the critics that’ll eventually rip him into shreds, ready to do whatever it takes to fully commit to this new role, Dorothy had gained a new sort of respect for the man.
He may not have a lot going on in his head, but he was determined in a way that was honest. Maybe Michael could learn a little from that.
Dorothy and Max arrive on stage and wait by the wings, the rest of the cast is warming up on stage before continuing their rehearsal.
“I’m excited for the first preview! I can’t wait to do that stage-dooring thing, it’s gonna be packed!” Max peaks at the stage, and then out at the seats. “And the seats probably will be too.”
“I sure hope so, I’m looking forward to it too.” Dorothy smiled as she looked at the stage she’d be performing on very soon. “I really hope they love our show.”
“They will, it’s funny, it’s got songs, and it's got the best new actor EVER in it.” Max boasts.
She rolls her eyes, “I’m sure it does..”
“You!” Max turns to her, all cheery.
“Oh,” Dorothy was caught off guard, “Thanks, Max. You’re sweet.”
Max grins at her, and then turns around suddenly, “Oh! There he is!! I gotta go ask Carl a question now, Dorothy. Namaste.” Max bows at Dorothy while she gives him an odd look, “Now imma go—“
“Max?” Dorothy speaks up before he leaves
“Wha?”
“I think you’ll do great today.”
Dorothy leans in and pats his shoulder, then gives him a small kiss on the cheek.
Max lets out an unintelligible noise, Dorothy just smiles and starts to walk towards the stage. Max snaps out of his trance after a second and catches up to her, completely forgetting his plans to go bother Carl.
“Hey— Dorothy, wait!!” Dorothy turns around as Max calls for her excitedly “You know, we should hang out together again sometime..you know..somewhere…else. Maybe we can go to a restaurant…or see a show together! How about tonight? After rehearsal?” Max was beaming like an excited school girl with a crush, despite trying to come off as alluring.
Ah shit. “I’m sorry, Max. I have plans with Julie tonight” She laughs nervously, “perhaps another day…or week..or month..actually now that I think about it— I’m busy for the next couple of months!!!”
“Oh, that’s ok Dorothy. I’ll wait for you!”
She cringed internally, but it was pretty hard to deny his charm. Michael always liked the ones he could fix.
“Sure, Max. I’ll see you on stage.” Dorothy waves at him, watching him smile stupidly before excitedly scurrying off to find Carl