Read Online Everyone's a Critic by Rachel Wise - Free Book Online

leaped around fake fire escapes. It was like a real Broadway show. Allie came on a little later, in a big dance number. She was fantastic. I was so proud of her. I looked at my mom and she was a little misty, like she gets when she’s really, really happy. My sister dances like nobody’s business.
    In fact, Allie was a lot better than Julia Gowen, who played Maria. Julia’s first number was strong, but her second wasn’t so great. She tripped once on a fake fire escape while dancing, and her voice cracked in a song. Then, after that, she forgot her lines, it seemed to me, about three times during the show. She would suddenly became silent, and the guy who played the male lead, Tony, would whisper in her ear. It was pretty bad. Then, toward the end of theshow, there was this huge crash offstage. It was hard to tell exactly where it came from, and the audience was so busy craning their necks to see what had made such a loud noise that they didn’t really pay attention to the scene. Plus there were a few weird prop problems. At one point, one of the fake fire escapes wouldn’t wheel off the stage and just sat there in the middle of the next scene. The lighting went dark on certain characters, and spotlights would show up on the ceiling.
    So, needless to say, the play had some problems. The drama club is great, but I think they might have gotten in a little over their heads with this one.
    â€œDid you like it?” I asked Hailey while we waited for Allie to emerge from backstage.
    â€œYeah, but it was a little rusty in places. Did you hear that crash?” she asked, her eyes wide and excited.
    â€œYeah. Well, at least no one got hurt. At least I hope not.” It wasn’t easy pulling off a production like this, I thought. School Play Opens, Everyone Survives. Sheesh. “How about whenMaria forgot her line and Tony had to practically yell it across the stage?” I said. I hoped it was only opening-night jitters and they’d pull it together tomorrow.
    â€œI know,” said Hailey, giggling.
    Allie came out, still wearing her stage makeup and her eyelashes. Lots of people came up to her and told her she was amazing. She was. I was glad to see her getting the attention she deserved after all her hard work. I saw Julia Gowen too, but it seemed that not as many people were surrounding her. At one point she walked over to where Allie was standing and kind of took over the crowd. Allie finally left her admirers and came over to us with a sour expression on her face. I gave her a huge hug and told her she’d rocked it.
    â€œThanks, sis,” she said, brightening up again.
    â€œDo you have time to come with us for ice cream before your cast party? We want to celebrate with you!” Mom said.
    â€œSure,” Allie said. “Let’s go.”
    At the ice-cream parlor, we gave Allie lots more kudos. She beamed.
    â€œBut Julia Gowen was a bit of a disaster. Memorize your lines much?” Allie said while she took a huge spoonful from the brownie sundae Hailey and I were sharing. I waved her hand away.
    â€œEat your own,” I said, pointing to the dish of double chocolate chip in front of her.
    â€œAllie,” Mom said, “that’s not nice. Maybe Julia just had an off night.”
    â€œWell, it’s not like Julia Gowen was that nice to me. She was competing with me the whole time, giving me critiques of my numbers when that’s supposed to be, like, the director’s job. Did you see how she totally took over my moment outside after the show? During rehearsals, she waltzed around like she was a Broadway diva instead of in a local school play. I mean, seriously, who acts like that?”
    â€œI can’t imagine,” Mom said, and gave me a secret smile.
    â€œIt’s just because she knows you should have gotten the part of Maria. She’s just insecure,” Hailey said, her mouth stuffed with ice cream and brownie.
    â€œThere’s