CHAPTER TWO

Despite the absurdity of what had happened that evening, I didn’t immediately want to tell anyone. Galen would obviously be first in line, and though I knew he’d be thrilled for me, I think he’d be first and foremost…confused.

Frankly, so was I. Never in my imagination did I picture myself being cast as a leading female role — particularly in such an iconic musical. Maybe I should do a little more research and preparation into this role so I could better justify it to Galen, to everyone… and to myself.

When I got home that evening, Galen wasn’t even home. Good. That would give me the opportunity to research in peace.

Though there was a movie version of Phantom, I opted for one of the recorded stage versions instead. I downloaded the Royal Albert Hall recording from 2011, starring Ramin Karimloo as The Phantom and Sierra Boggess as Christine.

In addition to being a lovely performance from some of the best performers and musicians in the world, I found myself noticing Christine far more than I ever had before. Sierra moved with such grace, such elegance. In the first act when her character is called into action to take over for Carlotta in the leading role of the in-Musical opera, Hannibal, Christine is dainty, hesitant, and cutesy. But as the performance goes on she gains agency and becomes sultry, confident, and intense as she grapples with an impossible love triangle.

I never had to play a female character before, so I knew it would require much rehearsal and a good team around me. But the immediate prospect was discouraging rather than inspiring. How could I completely transform into a leading lady even close to the caliber of Sierra Boggess…

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Galen came home later that evening as I was making dinner for myself. He looked like he had big news.

“Dude, you are NOT going to believe this,” he began, “Jocelyn apparently went to Horace enraged that she was cast as Carlotta and not as Christine. Which is crazy because they haven’t even released the cast list for it yet. I think they’re still doing callbacks.”

I gulped. Seems like he hasn’t heard the news yet. But I was not quite ready to reveal it to Galen.

“That’s crazy, man… Usually Jocelyn’s nice to me but she can be a diva sometimes,” I added. Fortunately for me I hadn’t encountered Jocelyn’s rage yet, but I can only imagine how furious she’ll be when she finds out they cast a boy in her dream role.

We gossiped about the cast list, and I went along with Galen’s kind attempts to lament my failure to be cast as the Phantom. Though rather than lie completely to him, I decided to share that I was indeed offered a role in the ensemble — that way, we could discuss the play freely and still buy a little time to tell him about my upcoming appointment to perform en femme.

We got in a few games of Mario Kart after dinner and some homework as usual. It was nice to avoid talking about playing Christine, but with the first rehearsal tomorrow, how long could I realistically hold this off?

My second thought was whether I should even be expected to perfectly transition into that role on day one. The director’s job is to coach and mold, and even though Horace thinks highly of me, there’s no way he could reasonably expect me to just become Christine — it’s going to take some work.

But then again, I’m an actor. Above all it is my duty to arrive prepared, regardless of how nerve-wracking it may be.

The thoughts raced in my head throughout the night as I laid in bed, waiting for the news bomb of my casting to the entire theatre program (and possibly all of DePaul University).

I will allow myself to withhold this information from Galen — for now— but I will make a conscious effort to do little “Christine things” here and there. If I do them right, I’ll hopefully convince Horace, the show’s producers, and the rest of the cast that I can indeed play this role.

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Due to his early classes, Galen left before I even got a chance to see him. That gave me the opportunity to be alone in my thoughts as I waited for the Christine announcement. I knew eventually my voice would need to be ready for rehearsals later, so I sang alone in the apartment. It was incredibly strange to be singing the female role rather than the male, but with all my might I made sure to soften my voice and sing in a higher pitch.

I recorded using Voice Notes on my phone to play back and listen to my singing. Sure, it sounded higher pitched and somewhat more like a woman, but I wasn’t even close to sounding like Sierra Boggess or any other stage actress for that matter.

I walked to campus for class feeling fairly bummed out. But when I arrived in the theater building, I had no time to feel bummed. I was confronted by a fellow theater student who had a huge grin on his face.

“There’s Jesse Harris, the new girl in town!” the theater boy exclaimed to others.

Everyone in the hallway turned towards me. Obviously they had heard the news. From there it was a mix of jeers, cheers, laughs, questions, and an overall massive amount of attention from my peers. I pushed through the crowd of theater students to the posting on the wall. Right next to the original cast list was a separate piece of paper that read in big black letters, “The part of Christine Daée will be played by Jesse Harris.”

The shouts and questions continued but I yelled out to get everyone’s attention, stepping up on a crate to elevate myself.

“Alright listen up!” I shouted as the room silenced. These kids couldn’t wait to hear my thoughts on this. “Yes, I told Horace that I would accept the part of Christine. For whatever reason, he envisioned me in the role. I’d appreciate it if everyone moved on with their days, please.”

“But you’re not a girl!” correctly claimed a member of the peanut gallery.

“Yes… that is correct… but good actors can play any role. They just need to work towards it. I hope everyone can support me as I move forward.”

“Yeah, but you don’t deserve it,” said a female voice emerging from the back. I could see someone moving forward through the crowd of students. It was none other than Jocelyn Price.

“Jocelyn, what do you want? Carlotta is a great role,” I said, speaking over the rest of chatty students.

“Because I earned the role. Horace loved my audition. Until you showed up I was set to play Christine. You didn’t even audition!”

“Let him be, Jocelyn,” it was none other than Galen.

“Oh, Galen, I meant to tell you…”

“Little late for that, huh?” He rolled his eyes at me, and said so pretty much only I could hear.

“YOU are defending this?” she shrieked, “You’re the one playing Raoul. You want Jesse, your roommate, to be your love interest?”

The other students laughed. I hadn’t really considered that until now and by the look on his face, neither had Galen.

“We’ll cross any of those bridges when we get there, but for now Jesse earned the part and he’s a solid actor. His attitude is great, which is a lot more than can be said about you, Jocelyn,” Galen added triumphantly. ‘Ooooohs’ came from the crowd.

Whether she genuinely had no more to say or she was just holding her tongue, Jocelyn stormed off, and the many students scattered off to their classes.

Galen stopped briefly before me. “Guess I’ll see you at rehearsal today. Whatever that’ll be like…” And then he abruptly left.

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CHAPTER THREE

Word spread fast around the DePaul theater department that a boy would be playing Christine, and that made many of my classes a lot to handle. My non-theater classes — which were typically the dullest of the day — were a collective relief, since nobody seemed to know or care about the upcoming production of Phantom.

My playwriting class was the trickiest of all. Many underclassmen happened to be in this class — most of whom had no idea who I was before today. Their initial introduction to Jesse Harris would be the gender-bending stage star.

A few shot questions my way: “Did you even audition for that role?” and “Do you think Horace is just doing this as a bit?” were common ones. Neither of which I had a solid answer to. All I could reply with was “I’ll learn more at rehearsal today after school.”

Everything about this wasn’t normal and I’d have to learn on the fly. But one thing I definitely knew from doing theater all my life was that cast chemistry is crucial. If a cast can’t get along, it makes the rehearsal and performance process unbearable. I had a massive target on my back from Jocelyn’s vitriol and my normally closest ally, Galen, wasn’t sure how to feel about having his roommate be the romantic lead.

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All that we were given via email in advance of the first rehearsal were the script and songs. Nobody but the producers knew how Horace was going to tackle directing the play.

The rehearsal room was the same one where I auditioned (and where many classes were held) in DePaul’s theater building. Folding chairs were set out in a large circle so the entire cast and crew could get a good view of each other. Students trickled in and sat in their assigned seats. They were either labeled with the character names, or simply “Ensemble.” Naturally, I found my way to the one marked “Christine”.

I immediately noticed that I was to be seated between Noah Hackett (playing the Phantom) and Hannah Moon (playing Madame Giry), though neither had arrived yet. For the sake of avoiding awkwardness, it was nice not to be right next to Jocelyn, so hopefully these seating assignments would remain. I mostly kept my head down as the rest of the students arrived. Thankfully no fights or arguments.

“Alright, alright, listen up,” Horace said, quieting the chatter. “I want to begin by congratulating all of you on being selected to be in this year’s production of The Phantom of the Opera. It is an absolute pleasure to be directing you over the next couple months as we prepare for show week. Each one of you earned your roles, and I’m already proud to be working with this cast.”

As he concluded his opening statements, Jimmy and Sarah handed out physical copies of the scripts to each cast member in the circle.

“This is not a particularly easy script, but many of you have been at this for a long time, so I trust you to be off book with the dialogue as soon as possible. Having said that, once everyone has their scripts, let’s do a full read-through of the show. We will skip the songs for now. Jimmy, please read the stage directions and everyone, please be in character to the best of your ability.”

My character is not in the opening prologue, so I got to watch the others as they rid their jitters, starting off the play.

It also hit a little close to home when Jocelyn’s character, Carlotta, storms off in an early scene, frustrated with the conditions of the show and the theater being haunted by the Phantom. She read it well — almost as if she was pulling her anger from a real source (likely my own doing).

But I’m a serious actor, so I managed to not think it weird when I spoke my first few lines in a softer, girlish voice.

“I don’t know, sir…” I muttered, in character.

I could tell that several students were anxiously awaiting my debut line as Christine. Multiple heads perked up with interest and from my quick glances, they looked impressed.

Some cast members couldn’t help but smirk watching Galen as Raoul and Noah as the Phantom, directing their romantic lines toward me. Noah seemed comfortable enough, but I could tell it was a bit weird for Galen. Though he’d defended my casting earlier, I think even he was a bit uncomfortable sitting there as Jimmy read “Raoul and Christine kiss” as part of the stage directions. Even though there was no physical acting involved this time, looking over at Jocelyn, she had a rude smirk on her face — as if for the first time she could revel in the two roommates’ clear discomfort.

Though I felt I got off to a good start, watching Galen’s discomfort and the looks from the other actors started to get to me. My feminine voice didn’t waver, but I stopped reading the lines with the necessary emotion — as if I were suddenly afraid to be Christine. And as the play went on, my discomfort further discouraged his emotion, and so on.

Eventually, the read-through came to an end and after a few notes from the producers and from Horace, we were sent on our way with the specific note to begin memorizing our lines and prep the necessary songs for rehearsal.

“I’ll see you at home,” Galen said without emotion, walking by quickly. Normally, we’d walk back together from these sorts of things. Did this read-through make him that uncomfortable?

On our way out, the cast was instructed to sign up for a time slot to take body measurements, as our costume department needed as much time as possible to prep our wardrobe. All of the outfits are late 19th-century European garb: dresses, petticoats, cloaks, suits, and the like.

I signed up for a slot two days from now, on Friday. Maybe that’ll give me a good send off for the weekend. Just as I finished signing up for a time slot tomorrow evening, Horace pulled me aside for a word.

“I’m very impressed, Jesse. Very impressed.” He said, to my surprise.

“You are? Wow, I definitely had my share of nerves… I guess they didn’t show!”

“Oh, no, they certainly showed.” Horace added bluntly. “You were the most nervous in the entire cast, outside of maybe Galen.”

Ouch… I guess I wasn’t as invisible as I thought.

Horace continued. “But that doesn’t mean you impressed me in other ways. Your speaking voice is quite marvelous and when I closed my eyes, I almost envisioned Christine Daaé. Truly, truly a step above. Did you grow up with sisters or something?”

“No, sir. I’m an only child. But I’ve watched so many incredible actresses over the years… it must’ve just stuck.”

“Well I’ve heard you sing already and I’m sure the voice will stay pure on that end… But we need to do something about your manner. I know read-throughs aren’t blocked or require physicality, but I was hoping I’d see a shred of it from you, considering you’re playing the opposite sex. And unfortunately I didn’t see much that excited me.”

Horace gestured to Sarah, and she scampered across the room to grab a box.

“I’m sorry it came across that way,” I interjected. “I’ll gladly go home and study some more actresses. Is there anyone you have in mind of whom to observe their mannerisms?”

“You could, but I actually have an additional homework assignment for you,” he explained. Sarah walked up holding the box. “It is my belief that a simple change of movement has the unique power to get a person in a new mindset.”

Sarah opened the box she was holding, and revealed a simple pair of black high heels.

Sarah smiled, “I made a guess that your feet were an 8. Was I right?”

“Uhh… I’m a 6 and a half… and what? Is this part of the wardrobe? Already?”

“Horace had the brilliant idea to get you started wearing heels early. You’ll be wearing them in the show anyway, and it’s a simple trick to subconsciously move in a more feminine way. Here, take off your socks and try them on.”

She pulled up a chair and guided me to sit, untying my shoes.

“Oh, uh, okay. But like I said, I’m a 6 and a half size.”

“In men’s,” Sarah corrected, “Eight is the women’s size equivalent. I mean look at these — do these look like menswear to you?”

I laughed. “I guess not.”

“These are 3-inch black pointed-toe pumps. Not exactly what you’ll be wearing in the show, but we wanted to get you started somewhere.”

Sarah helped me take off my shoes and socks and neatly fitted my foot into the first heel.

“A perfect fit,” she commented.

“Like Cinderella!” Horace added in a rare joking tone that I hadn’t heard yet.

I stood up with both heels on and stumbled around a bit. This was the first time I’d ever worn a heel this high, as any mens’ shoes that had a heel tended to be lower and with more support. These felt like stilettos.

“No need to prance around too much right now. You’re free to go.” Horace said. “But please wear these every time you read the script, practice your lines, or rehearse your songs. I believe it will go a long way in putting you physically in character.”

Sarah told me to keep the box and walked off with Horace.

Uncomfortable read-through? Check. Rocky familiarity with the script and my fellow actors? Double check. But I definitely didn’t foresee walking out of my first rehearsal with a pair of black pumps — for me to wear at home nonetheless. I guess if it’ll help me become Christine…

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