In the west of the city of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, in a beautiful old theatre way down beneath the stage dwells a small community of mice who have lived and performed generation after generation. Many a musical, opera, ballet and play have been produced by these talented and dedicated “mice-tros” below the hallowed workings of the old stage where you and I go to boo evil pantomime villains and cheer hilarious comics. Sit down, make yourselves comfortable and I will tell you a story about these miniature thespians …
One evening the members of the Rodent Shakespeare Company were holding auditions for their latest production, a musical called Barnum which was based on the colourful life of the Great American Showman, PT Barnum. PT Barnum was no ordinary human being and his adventures included running a circus. Putting on the show would involve turning the stage into a vibrant Big Top with tightrope walking, unicycles, clowns and plenty of acrobatics. It was exactly the kind of spectacular show that Dame Evie Doe loved to stage and she was super excited to be in the director’s seat ready to audition the hopeful performers.
“Right, who do we have singing first?” came the rousing tones of Dame Evie from the auditorium.
Onto the stage walked an upright, confidant mouse “Evening all! Marvin S. Muscrat the Third at your service! I’ve just come back from a stint at the National - ready to go when you are maestro! A 1-2-3-4” and into song he burst forth, moving about the stage with ease as the music played. He finished the song with a backflip (which happened to be his signature move) and a flourish - pulling a huge bunch of flowers out from within the depths of his overcoat and throwing them towards Dame Evie who gave a whoop. “Excellent audition!” she cried enthusiastically. “Just like your father - I directed him in Pirats of Penzance years ago. Wonderful!”
“Tough act to follow” observed Barty Buck the technical director before yelling “NEXT!!
A very timid looking young mouse shuffled onto the stage “Er, he.. he.. hel ..hello” he stumbled over his words nervously.
“Name?” bellowed a voice from the stalls
“It’s it’s it’s S..S..Solomon, Sir .. I mean Ma’am” stammered the mouse, somewhat blinded by the spotlight shining on him from above “S..Solomon Sh..Shylaw Ma’am if you please”
“Do begin, Sullivan- when you’re ready” said Dame Evie more gently to put young the young mouse at ease.
Solomon nodded at the musical director who counted him in “and a 1-2-3-4” then struck up a song from the show called “Come Follow The Band”. Solomon performed his audition piece as well as could be expected given how nervous he felt in the spotlight. This was his first time singing in a large theatre in front of such eminent company. He quite forgot to do his tricks during the song until the very end when he suddenly launched into a high kick followed by a cartwheel into a tumble and fell off the end of the stage into the orchestra pit with a crash, bang, wallop.!
“Sorry!” a voice echoed from below then up popped Solomon’s little mousey cheeks from out of the pit. “I.. I didn’t quite judge that one..r..r..right” he stuttered.
“Don’t worry, dear - off you go. Thank you we’ll be in touch” was the reply.
Poor Solomon slouched out of the theatre red-faced, berating himself on his performance. His one chance to impress and his nerves had got the better of him. “Well, back to the drawing board. I’ll just have to practice and practice and get rid of these nerves once and for all” he said, literally brushing himself off (it had been pretty dusty down in that pit! Musicians are never the tidiest of creatures.)
The following week Solomon was surprised and delighted to get a call from Dame Evie herself offering him a small role in Barnum - she could sense he had tried his best and there was something about him, a sort of underlying quality and determination that intrigued her. He went along to the first rehearsal and joined in energetically with proceedings, helping clear up afterwards and taking his script away to practice. Week after week Solomon was reliable as a clockwork mouse while more seasoned and relaxed performers like Marvin, who had been cast in the lead role of PT Barnum, amiably encouraged him.
In the blink of an eye it was show week and things were coming together. “I don’t quite believe how smoothly this show is going”, pronounced Dame Evie. “Marvin did your father ever tell you about the Pirate ship? There was a terrible storm on tech night, the whole stage flooded, and off went the pirate ship sailing through the theatre with your father trying to steer it to safety!!”
Everyone celebrated a great dress rehearsal and when Solomon arrived at the theatre for opening night he was full of anticipation, hardly nervous at all. Just then Dame Evie appeared looking frantic, pulling at her tail in anxiety. Something was very wrong. Marvin had done his signature backflip outside the stage door and slipped on a stray chip from the nearby takeaway. He had been taken to hospital for X-rays and the show would have to be postponed!!
“I’ll do it” said a strong brave voice. To everyone’s surprise it was Solomon. “I can do it - I’ve been to every rehearsal, I know every word inside and out. I can even do the backflip - Marvin showed me and I’ve been practicing. Watch” and before their very eyes Solomon did a perfect flip.
“But what about the costume - it won’t fit” said Dame Evie.
“We can fix that!” cried the costume department mice and with alarming speed and precision they dressed Solomon as PT Barnum, sewing and pinning the ringmaster jacket in place. All finished off with a smart top hat!
And so it was that evening that young Solomon swallowed any remaining nervousness that might have lingered within and stepped up to the challenge of playing the lead role of Barnum. He was virtually unrecognisable from the shy young mouse who auditioned three months before and tumbled into the orchestra pit. Every step was just right and he danced and sang his little mouse heart out. The audience cheered and applauded, with some people even standing and shouting “Bravo!”
Marvin got the all clear from the hospital to perform the rest of the shows that week and a sterling job he did too as might be expected from one as experienced as he - but everyone agreed that opening night had seen the rise of a new star and that as PT Barnum himself declared “The noblest art is that of making other people happy”. There really are no rodents quite like show-rodents.
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