thebackstage | IT'S CURTAINS TEST DRIVE

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test drive

IT'S CURTAINS TEST DRIVE

1) CURTAINS UP
You’ve just woken up in a small dressing room, which is certainly not where you went to bed last night. Actually, do you even remember going to sleep…? Regardless, this isn't where you last were, and if you leave your room you’re going to find a lot of other people in the same state.

Go out and socialize! Most of these people may be strangers, but you’re gonna all have to get used to one another. And who knows? There may actually be a familiar face in the crowd.

2) THIS PETTY PACE
By now, you're acquainted with everybody here and you're sloooowlllyyyy growing bored. Bored enough to kill? Hopefully not. You'd better try to find something else to do. You can always go hang out with your castmates, or maybe try and whip something up in the kitchen! There’s also a music room to keep you busy! I sure hope you like music.

3) BREAK A LEG
Comedies are fun and all, but that’s not quite what we’re about here. You’ve all just been handed this week’s motive. What do you make of it? Is it one that might actually tempt you to kill, or did you get off lightly this time? Either way, maybe you’d better look around the room and see who else is having a rough time.

4) CURTAIN
It was bound to happen eventually. Someone is dead, and now it's time to go off and investigate. Were they close to you? Are you, perhaps, feeling guilty? Either way, it's probably best not to leave anyone alone right now.

5) CUE MUSIC
Feelings in a murder-opera can get pretty gosh darn intense. Sometimes you’ve just got to let it out. And hey, if you sing a song about whatever’s going on in your head, maybe someone will hear and come help you? Either way, this is a musical – there’s not really any reason not to sing.

[Mod Note: The song mechanic is meant to be fluid and simple. You do not have to produce your own song lyrics, nor are you required to use show tunes (although we do encourage it!). If you want to rewrite existing lyrics to fit the situation, go for it! Anything goes - if Mumford and Sons expresses your character’s current emotions, then break out the banjos. We want to keep the musical mechanic as fun and simple as we can to encourage our players to use it as much as they like.]

6) WILDCARD
Make up your own prompt!

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1 | Curtains Up

"Well this is a pickle..." Jiminy Cricket had only been in a dressing room twice few times. Once when he fell for some actress and followed her backstage (in his defense, he was young and stupid) and later, with Pinocchio. He had vowed to avoid the acting business after that mess and he certainly didn't plan on waking up in one.

Before long, he was walking through the halls, trying to get his bearings. This couldn't be one of Stromboli's tricks, right? No, Stromboli couldn't care less now than Pinnoc was human. The Coachman maybe? Yeah, this seemed like a Coachman thing.

"Pinoc?!" Where was that kid? "Pinocchio, where are you?"

2 | This Petty Pace

Jiminy Cricket is a professional. He's an experienced cricket who's lived off the road. He has no trouble getting food for himself.

And he's definitely not having an increasingly annoying amount of trouble trying to get to one of the food cabinets. He's a high jumper and can easily reach the handle, but he doesn't have the strength to pull it open. And he keeps falling off. But he can totally handle this.

5 | Cue Music

He's trying to be calm, he really is. He has to be the moral center. The conscience. Its what he was meant to do. But even he finds himself trying to find a private corner to talk himself down.

"Just get it together. Stop thinking about it. Stop thinking about it." It'd be so easy to just... give in. Give a try. Who would suspect him?

He smacks himself in the face. No.

"Stop, look, and listen... and always use your head.
Look at all these people... Do you really want them dead?
First you stop, then you look, and then you listen hard.
You can't give into your fears, so just don't drop your guard..."

Edited 2016-09-15 17:42 (UTC)

[Curtains Up]

[This is not the Opéra Populaire. It takes a few moments for Raoul to realize this, his mind hazy and his chest still burning, his neck still aching from the Punjab lasso - but once he does, he's up on his feet, half stumbling and half barging through his dressing room door. He grips the doorknob like it's the only thing keeping him upright, and looks wildly around.]

Chris - [His voice is hoarse, and he lets out a rattling cough, ducking his head out of polite habit. Let's try that again.] Christine!!

[This Petty Pace]

[Being a rich, pampered young man from the 1880's, it's safe to say that Raoul has not ever had to cook for himself beyond pouring something to drink. If you come into the kitchen, you'll briefly see him staring down the microwave before turning to look at you and quickly walking over.]

Excuse me. Would you happen to know how to operate the...metal box? [He promptly holds up a Hot Pocket, still in its wrapper.] I've been told this is food that can be cooked quickly, and I would like to eat it.

[Break A Leg]

[Okay what fresh hell is this. Raoul watches the video playing, an eyebrow raised, scoffing and gesturing in confusion.]

What is this - foolish thing? This would never happen. Nothing happening in these images could ever exist!

[He laughs, thinly and lightly. It's not clear if he really thinks the video is stupid or that he's trying very hard to convince himself it's fraud. Someone's gotta give him a good nudge back into reality.]

[Curtain]

[The victim wasn't someone Raoul particularly cared for, at least privately. You don't make that sort of thing public in tense situations, lest you want to be accused of murder - and let it be said that a Viscount did not stoop to such a low as to stab a person in the back in the dark. He was no Phantom with schemes and machinations, he had honor! Common decency!

He knew, however, that the victim had friends in their number. Friends who would be upset. If you knew this victim, there's a knock on your door. Will you answer?]

[Cue Music]

Give up on Christine...?

[Uh-oh. Hear that music swelling in the background, buddy? It means that you just suggested something to Raoul that has given him Feels to Sing About.]

Why, I could never! Not for all the time on earth - I would do absolutely anything for her! All she'd ask of me is to love her, but I'd scale mountains and topple tyrants! I...I would...

[He bows his head, and...]

Love of mine,
Someday she will die,
But I'll be close behind,
I'll follow her into the dark...

[Oh boy. Someone calm him down please - or sing along, if you know how that kind of love feels.]

1) CURTAINS UP
[Mal groans a little, putting her hand to her head as if it would stop the feeling of pain stabbing through it. That had been a rough night of sleep, mostly because she got very little sleep. Blinking, she slowly looks around herself to see... not the disgusting pinks of her dorm room. She stand quickly, looking around warily.]

This is not Auradon

[She sees the door, and immediately heads for it, wrenching it open and looking out. She doesn't see anything familiar and steps outside. It isn't the Isle either, and she's sort of grateful for that. Mal's not sure how the Isle would be.]

So if it's not the Isle, and it's not sparkly Auradon, where the hell am I?

4) CURTAIN
[Someone's dead and people here actually seem to care about it. It's weirdly jarring. Back on the Isle... Well, it wasn't uncommon to see Hades hanging around. Mal just sits, staring around at how people are reacting. She's too used to people dying. So just sitting and staring is very much the normal reaction.]

[She wonders what happened though, to cause the death. That would be interesting to know]

5) CUE MUSIC
Can anybody hear me...

[Okay. What?]

Don't know what's going on...

[Mal looks incredibly confused, looking around herself to see who or what is causing this and how she can stop it all from happening. It wasn't that bursting into song wasn't an unusual thing - in Auradon they did it at the drop of a hat, and it happened occasionally on the Isle just to break from the dullness - but it wasn't exactly something she wanted happening, if that made sense]

Opened my mouth and it burst into song...

6)WILDCARD
[BRING YOUR OWN ADVENTURE!]

Edited 2016-09-15 17:53 (UTC)

1 - Curtain's Up
[Shilo looks around, panicked and worried. This isn't home. She's not at home and her Dad isn't here and she doesn't know where she is. She grasps at her wrist, feeling her watch there and running her fingers along it for comfort. Slowly, she opens the door and looks out. A wave of fresh air hits her and she's almost overcome by it. Her eyes widen and she looks around. A single thought comes to her mind: she's outside]

Where is this...?

2 - This Petty Place
[Shilo's never really had to cook for herself before, so she stands in the kitchen with a rather blank looks on her face. Her Dad had always taken care of everything, and even on the rare times he let her come out of her room to eat, the meals were always already for her to have and then return to her room. She looks around]

Um... do you know how to work... anything here?

5 - Cue Music
[Singing to herself was nothing new, she did it a lot in her room. Practicing Mag's songs into her mirror and dreaming stupid dreams about maybe one day getting up there to sing herself. She knew it could never happen but her dreams were all she had]

Now I am ... outside.
Not sure what to do ... outside.
Wondering if I should have stayed... inside.

[Having one of them come true wasn't as great as it seemed]

6 - Wildcard
[Bring Your Own Adventure]

[curtains up]

[This isn't his bed, it's too comfortable for that. After a few seconds, he realizes it isn't Hold-Me-Touch-Me's, Kiss-Me-Feel-Me's, Lick-Me-Bite-Me's, Yank-Me-Spank-Me's, and most certainly isn't Suck-Me-Fu...well, it isn't any of their beds.

That leaves one option, and thus, Bialystock can be seen roaming the halls with some sort of makeshift weapon. Not really so much of a weapon as he is holding the hat-rack from his room like a moron.]

Oh, Franzzzyyyy, oh Mr. Liepkindddd~! I know you're mad at Maxy Waxy about your play-e way-e, but you can't just kidnappp a famous produceeeerrr~

[the petty pace]

[Max Bialystock is a man of wealth and taste, who eats the finest foods and bangs only the richest senile old women. So when he comes down to the kitchen in his regal red bathrobe and starts going through the cabinets, he's pretty disappointed in the selection.]

Canned foods, let's see what we've got here! Mm. Oysters. Oil. [immediately groaning] Oy vey.

[cue music]

[So, all the murders might be getting to Max juuuusssttt a little bit. and a tune starts

Just watch them plot their schemes and plan for the slaughter,
I know exactly what I'll have to do,
It's undeniable, these guys are liable
And if I don't do something than I'll be the one who is dead...

[Dude. DUDE. Fucking same. What even is half this garbage, are they really expected to eat this? Raoul looks over from where he's rummaging around in the freezer, which is admittedly a wondrous device, but how even do you boil water? Raoul doesn't know.]

Those are by far the saddest looking oysters I have ever laid eyes on. [He shakes his head and goes back to digging, wrinkling his nose as he pulls out a box of fried clam strips.] Eugh. Is this really what passes for seafood here?

[Good God. Raoul's seen two dead bodies in his entire life, and now there's another one that's popped up. Granted, this one hasn't been hanged, but even death reminds him of Buquet and Piangi's corpses dangling before a sea of horrified opera-goers, of danger, of whispers in the night. So when he notices Mal just sitting there, looking around, he completely misinterprets her confusion for shock. He can't blame her for it, either - who wouldn't be shocked, especially a lady?

He comes to stand beside her, at a considerable distance.] Miss. If you are feeling faint, perhaps you might be better retiring to your room for now.

[A child in the middle of this mess. A child. It is absolutely deplorable, in Raoul's opinion, to throw a child (though she may be 17) into the middle of this. And when she sings...well, it's beautiful and small and a bit haunting in its words. If this was outside, then what was inside to her? He wants to ask...]

What would you do...outside
If this, to you, is outside
And not inside, which is inside to me

Inside of what I cannot say
But outside, where night and day
Can be seen is outside to me

[The words are well meant, she can tell that much, but they still cause the reaction of an eyebrow being raised and a scoff to be issued from her mouth]

Yeah. No. No 'feeling faint' going on here.

[Shilo looks over at the man. He's tall, she thinks. Not as tall as her Dad, but still tall. Or maybe just tall to her. What was inside to her?]

My life was my room,
Four walls that stood tall
Now they are gone, and I am here
When freedom rings, I seem to stall.

[Okay, so he's a bit calmer than he was when he burst into this place yelling for Christine, but Raoul is still relatively nervous. How can he know that this isn't some plot by the Phantom to confuse him? Or if there was some noxious gas wafting through the catacombs underneath the opera house that were making him hallucinate a whole other building and an entirely new group of people, to make up for the lack of oxygen in his lungs?

It certainly seems like that's a possibility when a dressed, talking cricket walks past. Raoul's not even sure he's seeing things correctly. He makes a strangled noise of alarm and stumbles back as the creature crosses his path.]

What the devil-?!

[Raoul's brows knit together.]

What manner of man
Kept you locked away
From all of freedom
Without a word of say?

[Shilo pulls at the hem of her dress, feeling uncomfortable with the words. They implied her Dad did something wrong, and he didn't.]

I'm infected... by my genetics
To keep me safe, my Father the medic,
keeps me inside, away from all grime,
away from anything that could lessen my time.

[Well that's an odd reaction, but...it's probably also due to the shock, he thinks, and nods respectfully.]

Ah. Good! Then surely you are made of considerable strength.

[He can respect women who can keep their heads like that. Not that he doesn't respect Christine - he loves her to heaven and back - but he does feel a fool for not having made sure to heed Madame Giry's advice for that moment the Phantom caught him unawares.]

[Oh, so she's sick...Raoul feels foolish immediately. Way to be rude to a young lady.]

Born unto illness
I offer sympathy, miss
And apology one hundred fold
If I offended you with questions bold

Your story rings familiar
Of the plot of another
Who would take someone dear to me and bind her forever
So my concern overrode what I should have done proper

Nah, I'm just used to seeing the dead.

[It's a shrug. Tilting her head slightly, the curiosity is clearer]

Anyone know how it happened?

...

[Ah. So this is not shock. This is complacency. Raoul shakes his head. Uh, yeah, don't think about that too hard buddy. Answer the lady's question.]

I'm afraid I can't say. The...the murderer would, of course, but I highly doubt he would be forthcoming if we were to ask. As for myself, I don't know.

You did not know,
There is no fault,
Please do not concern yourself, Sir.

But if you can,
Tell the tale,
Of the one who did suffer?

[It's shyly asked, because she did hear him say how this one would take someone from him but... she cannot help but be curious

[Mal leans back, looking thoughtful]

Cabin fever's always possible, people don't do well trapped in places.

1

While she doesn't have her broom in hand, Elphaba does have her hat in place and is knocking on ever closed door.

"Fiyero? Fiyero are you in there?" She shouts, there's a rising fear in her chest the longer she searches.

2

This definitely isn't Oz anymore.

"So... who wants to try to break down a wall to get out of here?" She suggests.

She might be able to get something going, if nobody's going to flip out about a try at magic.

[It's alright to ask - it was an open issue back home, one he was working so hard to stop. And hey, if this warns others of the Phantom, then they can only be safer if it is he who is behind all of this.]

...It is a tale of love
And of death, and of a monster
Who lives beneath an opera and stalks those who live above
But in particular, Christine

Christine, Christine...
Her song made angels weep
And no more beautiful a heart I'd seen
Since last I saw Christine

But the monster, he would take her
For his own and into darkness
Not caring for her whims
And ignoring all her distress

A monster of his own heart,
Or of others scorn?

[She's not sure why she asks, but she does]

Though to steal someone away...
His life must have gone so wrong.

"Now, that's one of the best ideas I've heard," Mal steps forward, a small smirk on her face. "What do you suggest, Green Girl?"

"Well, I have a feeling this isn't Oz anymore either." Elphaba replies, arms crossing.

"And before you ask, no. I didn't kidnap everyone."

"Build up enough power and knock it down, I don't have my grimmorie on hand to find a spell to turn it in to something else."

She's gonna frown at that green comment. "Also, I really don't think you have room to comment. You have purple hair."

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Page 1 of 10

IT'S CURTAINS TEST DRIVE

Jiminy Cricket | Disney's Pinocchio

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Mal | Descendants

Shilo Wallace | Repo! the Genetic Opera

Max Bialystock | The Producers

The Petty Pace

Curtain

Cue Music

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Curtains Up

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Elphaba Thropp | Wicked (Act 2)

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