Musical Chairs : The Sylvan River (1)

The premiere of the musical The Sylvan River was approaching. Naturally our anticipation was mounting and we were wondering about the practical details. 

 

Darcy Fielding had spoken to the Truffle brothers and had tentatively arranged a bus to take us to the theatre in Calico New City. Everton Hopkins was agreeable to be our driver. However, there had been no real details about tickets. There was a collective sigh of relief when a letter arrived one morning.

This was short lived. The good news was that we had been allocated a small theatre box. The bad news was the number of tickets. Four. One for Chris Snow-Warren, one for me. And two "Plus-Ones". Cecile and Charity, obviously.  

It was probably naive of us to think that we'd be able to take our families. Had I misunderstood producer Grant Foxworth's words when he phoned a few weeks ago and mentioned tickets for friends or family? I had assumed Beverley and Brendan would accompany me; probably Orton, Merlin and Eliza too. Similarly, Chris had thought Hope and Susan would go with him and Charity. Also, with my nephew Figwort showing such an interest in music and my songwriting, I'd even considered taking him and his sister.

Four chairs. 

A phone call to Grant Foxworth (via Pearl Babblebrook on the village switchboard) didn't resolve the issue. The tickets were already allocated: there were some for a small number of VIPs, some for the press (including Darcy - he was more pro-active) and the rest had gone to assorted sales outlets. They had sold out. Whilst that was great news for the musical, it didn't help me.

We hadn't promised the children anything, but I didn't like the idea they would have their expectations dashed. When I told Cecile the result of the phone call she sighed. Her brother Rowan was visiting and his gaze followed us,  switching back and forth.

"Can't be helped, mate," he said, presumably an attempt to make us feel better.

"I should have checked earlier."

"By the sound of it, it wouldn't have made much difference. How many additional tickets were you hoping for?"

I did the mental arithmetic. "Nine, I think."

"Oh."

"I would have liked Figwort to come. He's so interested."

He smiled. "Yeah. You've done a great job with him, mate. I'm so grateful he's opened up. Angelica is too."

"Hmm. She said something similar when she visited, a few weeks ago."

"Right." He pursed his lips. "You know we met some arty types when we were travelling Sylvania in our camper van?"

Cecile spoke up. "How could we forget? It led to Beverley's portrait of the mayor."

"Yes. Well, Angelica's maintained some contacts. Maybe they have suggestions."

"Right," I acknowledged, although I didn’t hold out much confidence.

o 0 O 0 o

That afternoon we had a visit from Angelica. She had a free period from her teaching  at the school and she had something to report.

 

"Rowan came to see me at lunchtime and explained the problem. I've made a few calls and have some news."

Cecile stared. "You're not saying you've found some more tickets?"

 

"Sadly no," she grimaced, "but I have made an arrangement with the school. I have arranged for a school trip for the children to see a matinee in a couple of weeks. It's not the premiere, but Beverley, Brendan and their pals will get to go together. They'll like that, won't they?"

I smiled. "It will lessen the blow about not going with us, certainly."

"Thanks, Angelica," said Cecile. "I imagine they'll enjoy a bit of showing off about their dad's musical."

"Yes, thanks Angelica," I said. "I thought Figwort would particularly have enjoyed the premiere, but this goes some way towards..."

"Oh, don't worry about that. I did have a tiny success with my contacts. I'd hoped Lucian Frogg - as a VIP - might have a spare seat. He didn't, but my old chum Maudie Fox-Brown does, and Figwort knows her. She's agreed he can sit with her. So if we could travel with you..."

"Of course! But what will you do whilst we're in the theatre?"

"Maybe I can convince someone to let me help backstage!" she said with a straight face. Seeing our reaction she laughed. "No, but seriously, I could go out for a posh meal. Treat the bus driver, perhaps."

"That would be Everton Hopkins," said Cecile.

"Roger and Rosa's uncle? Doesn't he usually drive the long distance routes? We should have plenty to talk about. Maybe Rowan could tag along, if there's room on the bus..."

o 0 O 0 o

So, although it wasn't an ideal situation, the children would be able to see the end result of their daddies' work over the long months they'd worked on The Sylvan River. Brendan was delighted that Lucky, Nolly and Hughie would share his reflected Sylvan River fame. Beverley was a little saddened not to attend with her daddy, but the combination of her friends' company and a possible visit to a city ice cream parlour (open daytime but not in the evening) helped just a bit.

o 0 O 0 o