"Just ask what you need. I saw her in the Samuels show when she was startin' out. Know 'em all. Seen 'em come an' go—lot of them gone now. They keep cornin', but I see 'em all go."
"I'm sure you have," said Vida depressed, and made her escape.
Lucy stamped about the stage to discover any unevenness or loose traps beneath the groundcloth. "Imagine," she said, "if, as I was working up to an ovation, I went down a trap before I could hear it!"
"Hey, Pop," she yelled, "that light makes me look awful, how about a little red in the borders to make us feel good?"
"Ain't suppose to—"
"We won't tell on you."
He switched on one circuit of red. "You goin' into a new Samuels show?"
"No. I'm going to do concert dancing after this."
He looked at her dumbfounded. "Mean to tell me there's a call for that kind of stuff?"
"Lucy, I have to speak to you," Vida called. "I only wanted to rescue you," she explained in the dressing room.
"I'm glad you did because he was set for hours. Most doormen are like that. One told me once he coached Jack Barrymore. You have to humor those old boys. The crew too. They think they're the only ones who know what is good."
"You make them sound awful."
"Oh no, just human. You have to be careful to remember they're important too. I'm going through my solos now before everyone gets here."
By the time the crew arrived for the one o'clock rehearsal everything seemed insolubly disorganized to Vida. The dancers, unaccustomed to the proportion of the stage, different from the studio rehearsal space, seemed unable to readjust themselves. Lucy's clear high voice could be heard over and over pleading, "Now, girls, try it again. Rosie, you're too far over, you'll bump into the harps."
Leon Martock, the professional accompanist, threw back the canvas piano cover and played several chords, and was pained at what he heard. "It's out of tune! Don't forget, I need a piano light."
"The tuner's promised, and you can have a light when the electrician finishes with the foots," Vida said crossly.
"I'll go for lunch then."
"He's going to eat, and all everyone else does is run to the toilet," one of Lucy's girls giggled.
