Exit: Stage Left

           Sarah Willowdale, known better by her stage name, Star Willow, was both nervous and saddened by the night’s performance. Not only was it closing night for the Broadway production, but it was also Star’s final performance forever.

           After a booming career on both stage and screen, Star was ready to settle down to a peaceful life without the early morning rehearsals, costume fittings, and paparazzi. She had purchased a cabin on Candlewood Lake in Danbury, Connecticut. It was a beautiful location. The lake was sixteen miles long and quite peaceful during the off season. Occasionally, there would be a fishing boat or two, or a water skier cruising by, but to Star, it was tranquility.

           The show was a modern version of the 1950 musical, Guys & Dolls. It was a story of a group of gamblers who were gathering in the city for an underground crap game. One of the gamblers was torn between his love for the game and his love for a dame. One day he would have to choose. Star played the dame, Adelaide; a high-maintenance blonde that stood by her man for years despite his broken promises of marriage.

           The final curtain was lowered at the end of the performance, and everyone took a sigh of relief. The applause continued, and the curtain raised once more for a final farewell. Two-by-two, the cast began to approach center stage and take their bows starting with the chorus and working their way up to the lead actors. The final two, were Star and her male co-star, Jack Leamington.

           They approached center stage and bowed. The audience was on their feet filling the auditorium with deafening claps, whistles, and cheers. Jack stood off to the side and gave recognition to Star. The producer of the show, Harry Barker, joined the cast on stage and presented Star with a large bouquet of roses. The cast took one more final bow as a group, then stepped back as the curtains closed. The show was over.

           Star hugged a few of her co-stars and tried to make her way off the stage, but with each step she took, another cast member reached out and embraced her tightly. She was well liked, and nobody wanted to see her go. Little-by-little the crowd on stage began to disembark, and Star eventually made it to her dressing room. The flowers that she carried had been crushed several times over by the hugs, but she salvaged the ones that were still intact and placed them in a vase.

           After showering and changing into her street clothes, Star headed toward the rear exit of the building. Before she made it ten feet, one of the stagehands stopped her and asked her what she planned to do with her life now that she was retiring from acting. Star simply stated that she was going to get some much-needed rest and relaxation. She thanked the young man and went on her way.

           She was almost at the door when Mr. Barker, the producer, stopped her. He informed her that there was going to be a final night cast party at his apartment in Midtown Manhattan. She told him that she may pop in for a nightcap but would not be staying long.

           Finally, she was at the exit. She pressed on the bar to unlatch the heavy steel door and pushed it open. Within seconds, her eyes were blinded by dozens of bright flashes. Paparazzi from all over New York were in the alley behind the theatre waiting for an interview with Star. She slipped on her sunglasses even though it was after eleven o’clock at night and pushed her way through the crowd of reporters and cameramen. Her car was in a parking garage around the block and she new that she would not be left alone until she posed for a few pictures and said a few words, so she stopped and agreed to take some questions.

           The first question was, “What do you feel was the highlight of your career?” Star replied, “I truly don’t know. I had found so much enjoyment acting, that every performance was a new and unique experience.”

           The second question was asking if she had any pets, to which she said that she had a goldfish named, Larry.

           The third question was asking about her personal life. The reporter wanted to know if she had a man in her life. Star simply stated that no man could ever keep up with her busy schedule.

           The questions continued for ten minutes until Star thanked them all and said goodnight. She then walked less than a block to the parking garage where her SUV was parked. The attendant took her ticket and called for a valet to retrieve it from its spot. Less than five minutes later, her 2020 Chevrolet Blazer rolled to a stop in front of her. The driver stepped out and handed her the key, commenting on the sleek style and sharp color. He began asking her things about the mileage that the vehicle gets, if five adults would be comfortable seated in it, and more car-related questions. That is, until another two vehicles began blowing their horns behind Star’s.

           She quickly used the distraction to scoot out of the garage and into the busy midtown traffic. Even at this hour, taxis raced through the theatre district like it was their own private Talladega Speedway. A yellow cab speeds up beside her and without warning, zips in front of her, barely missing the front bumper. Just then, her phone rang.

           The car was connected to her phone through the stereo, so she hit a button and said, “Hello?”

           It was her agent begging her to reconsider ending her career. She tried to convince Star that she had the perfect show. She claimed that it was going to be the greatest show that Broadway had ever seen. Star gracefully declined and told her agent goodbye.

           It was a twenty-minute drive back to Star’s place, and she was desperate to get there, but she felt obligated to make an appearance at the cast party, so she headed to Mr. Barker’s luxury apartment in Hell’s Kitchen. It was a towering, glass, triangular-shaped building, ornately designed with curved windows at each corner.

           The concierge greeted her as she entered and showed her to the elevator. Harry was on the twenty-fifth floor. As the elevator opened on his floor, she knew in an instant where the party was located. The music carried throughout the entire floor. She knew that it was only a matter of time before Harry received a noise complaint.

           She knocked on the door, but nobody answered. She rang the doorbell, but still the music was too loud, so she turned the handle and walked inside. The apartment was well past its capacity. There must have been over fifty people inside, many of which Star did not know. The walls were an off-white or a light grey. It was difficult to tell beneath the incandescent lighting. She neared the balcony and looked outside. The apartment provided an amazing panoramic view of the city. She stared in awe of it all for a few minutes until she felt a tap on her shoulder.

           It was Harry’s wife, Sandra. Sandra was in her late sixties, but still looked like she was in her early forties. She asked Star if she would like a drink, but Star informed her that she couldn’t stay long, so she would wait for another time. Sandra pointed toward the back of the room where Harry was supposed to be standing.

           She walked over and saw Harry surrounded by several men and women as he told his extravagant stories of the many actors that he helped become big on Broadway. Star knew that Harry was embellishing the stories slightly, but the crowd seemed to enjoy it.

           When Harry spotted Star, he excused himself and walked over to her. Star thanked him for the invitation and told him that she would keep in touch, but before she could leave, Harry told her that he had a couple friends that he wanted her to meet. Not wanting to hurt Harry’s feelings, she agreed.

           The first man was a United States Senator that was in town on business, but he had taken in the show while he was there and had nothing but rave reviews to say about Star’s performance.

           The second man was an Arab Prince that asked Star to be one of his brides. She declined his offer and quickly left without saying goodbye.

           When she finally arrived home, it was close to 2:00 AM. She took off her coat and kicked off her black leather Prada pumps. Her feet tingled with relief as she sat down and massaged them for a few minutes. She checked on Larry, the fish, and turned off the lights before retiring to the bedroom.

           She was just closing her eyes when her phone chirped to life. She picked it up and stared at the name through tired eyes. It was her sister, Jane. She wanted to see how the performance went and assumed that Star would still be out on the town celebrating.

           After the call, she turned off the ringer and went to sleep. The next morning, not long after the sun began shining through the window of her sixth-floor apartment, Star was awakened by a rap on the door. She dragged herself out of bed, haphazardly wrapped her robe around her, and went to answer the door.

           It was her landlord stating that her rent was due. She stated her annoyance because he called on her so early in the morning, but the man seemed uninterested in anybody’s complaints. Star assured him that she would drop off a check before the end of the day, then shut the door on him.

           She knew that getting back to sleep was an impossibility, so she brewed a pot of dark roast coffee and fried up bacon and eggs for breakfast. She found joy in such a simple task because most of her breakfasts over the last thirty years had been served on the table at the studio or theatre and consisted of donuts, muffins, and cereal. She could not remember the last time she had a home cooked meal.

           Before taking her last bite, she heard another knock at the door. When she answered, she immediately regretted it. It was another actress who worked on a past show with Star. Her stage name was Betty Moore. She was asked to change it from Isabelle Wanoski. Her agent told her that she would never get a gig with a name like that.

           Star secretly despised “Betty”. During the last performance they had together, Betty tried to sabotage Star’s costume by removing some of the threads. She was hoping for a wardrobe malfunction that would embarrass Star and drag her name through the tabloids in a long-lasting scandal. Then Betty would be able to step in as the new lead since she was Star’s understudy. Betty was sure that nobody knew about her plan, but after someone from wardrobe spotted her sneaking around the costumes, she investigated and found them tampered with. She repaired the damage then told Star.

           Star asked Betty what she was doing there, but Betty seemed to avoid the question and asked Star what smelled so good. Star knew that she was there to gloat about something. She could tell by the sound of her voice.

           “Can’t a girl just pop in and say hello to a friend unexpectedly?” Betty asked.

           “Listen, Betty, I am still trying to wake up. I haven’t even had my first cup of coffee…”

           “I don’t mind if I do,” Betty interrupted. “I take two milk but no sugar. The boys all say that I am sweet enough already.”

           “Sweet like tooth decay,” Star mumbled under her breath.

           “What was that sweetie?”

           “Oh, nothing. I was just saying your coffee is on the way.”

           Star poured two cups of coffee and wished that she had some laxative to pour in it as well, but then she thought that would only give Betty more reason to extend her stay…and stink up the bathroom in the process. She handed Betty the coffee and asked what the real reason was that she was there. Betty finally admitted that she was “bursting at the seams” to tell someone about the starring role she just received in a new film being directed by Seth Rogen. Star pretended to be excited for her, but inside, she couldn’t care less. After the coffee was finished, Star rushed Betty out of the house making the excuse that she had errands to run.

           Star finished packing up the first load of boxes that she was taking to her new cabin and loaded them into her vehicle. She dropped off the rent check to the landlord, hopped into her car, and in less than two hours, she was pulling up the laneway to her beautiful cabin. The exterior was grey-blue lapboard siding with a grey shingled roof. A stone chimney reached three feet above the peak of the roof. The cabin was surrounded by tall pines and fifty feet from the back door was the lake, shimmering in the sun. She unpacked the essentials and put them away, then walked down by the water. Slipping off her flip-flops, she sank her feet into the cool water, tilted her head back, and soaked up the sun. All she could think of was how peaceful it all was, and she wondered why she had waited for so long to make this move.

           It seemed like everyone she knew was determined to keep her around for one reason or another, but all she thought was, “Exit: stage left. This Star is born again.”