Gordon Korman Bruno & Boots 02 Go Jump In the Pool

[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

took their trays off to their table.
* * *
Tickets for the big show, scheduled for a week from Saturday, went on sale
immediately. Invitations were mailed out to the parents, and quite a few
agreed to attend. Rehearsals began in earnest.
Bruno had appointed himself Master of Ceremonies, and in addition to running
the rehearsals, he and Boots were hard at work putting together short comedy
routines to spot in between the various acts. Late one night, after
lights-out, Bruno hauled Boots out of bed with an idea for yet another
hilarious skit.
"I finally get to sleep after writing one of those ridiculous letters to my
parents about how happy I am at the Hall the fourth one in two days!" Boots
moaned, " and you have to wake me up! Why can't you get your ideas in the
daytime?"
"Because in the daytime my head is all balled up with math and geography and
junk like that. Now, listen. You'll come out and say: 'Good evening, ladies
and germs.'"
"Are you crazy?" Boots exploded. "People stopped laughing at that fifty years
ago!"
"Comedy doesn't change," Bruno lectured him. "If it was funny fifty years
ago, it'll be funny in our show."
"We'll be lynched," Boots predicted mournfully. "That's even worse than your
'ugliest man in the world' routine."
"Oh, go back to bed!" .Bruno grumbled. "You have the sense of humour of a
loaf of bread! You'll be happier at York Academy where nobody laughs because
they're too stupid!"
"And what about some of the acts?" Boots continued. "What about Wilbur? He
doesn't come to rehearsal. How do we know he can lift a piano?"
"Don't worry. Wilbur could lift the auditorium and everybody in it."
"What about the Scrimmettes?" Boots persisted. "We haven't even seen their
act!"
"They're rehearsing privately," said Bruno. "That's Cathy, Bruno!Cathy !
There's no telling what they'll do!"
"They dance," Bruno replied calmly. "They have all kinds of ballet lessons at
Page 26
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
Scrimmage's. I'm sure they'll be good."
They were interrupted by a tapping at the door and the voice of the House
Master, Mr. Fudge. "Hey, knock it off in there. It's past midnight." Bruno and
Boots went back to bed.
On stage, please
"Boots, we're playing to a full house!" exclaimed Bruno as he peeked through
the curtains.
"I saw," replied Boots, trying to ignore the nervous quivering of his
stomach. "Bruno, do we really have to do all that stupid stuff, especially
'the ugliest man in the world'?"
"We do the showas is ," Bruno insisted. "We'll be great." He turned as Diane
Grant rushed up, all a-twitter. "What's the matter?"
"Bruno," she said breathlessly, "Cathy says we have to have a pair of large
scissors or our act is ruined!"
"Boots, get a pair of scissors for the Scrimmettes." Bruno walked away to
check on his other acts, reflecting that the life of a stage manager wasn't
too hard after all.
A last-minute addition to the cast was Perry Elbert, a gymnast. He shrank
back at Bruno's approach. "No offense, Bruno, but please go away. In the past
our relationship has been a hazardous one for me, that is."
"Really?" Bruno said in surprise. "What have I done?"
"Nothing actually," sighed Perry. "You give me a chocolate bar and I lose a
filling in it. You help me with my suitcase and the lock disintegrates so I
have to pick up clothes for half an hour that kind of thing. Things just
happen to me when you're around. I'll probably break my neck out there!"
"You're going to be great," Bruno soothed him. "Five minutes, everybody. Five
minutes."
Bruno made a last-minute check of the lighting crew and the boy who was
operating the record player. Everything was ready. The time had arrived. The
house lights dimmed, the music started and Bruno Walton, clad in his best suit
and a large bow tie, stepped out into the spotlight. The applause was
deafening. Bruno was delighted he hadn't even done anything yet, and he was
already a success!
Click! A camera flash momentarily blinded him. When the green spots faded
from his eyes, he recognized Mrs. Sturgeon, waving her camera and smiling
encouragement at him from the front row.
"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the first annual
Macdonald Hall-Miss Scrimmage's Talent Show. Proceeds will go towards our
swimming pool fund. We have a great variety show planned, starring students
from both schools and featuring as ourpi�ce de resistance , the world premiere
performance of the Scrimmettes."
In his front row seat, Mr. Sturgeon winced. Beside him, Miss Scrimmage
beamed.
"So let's swing into our first act," Bruno went on enthusiastically, "a dance
Page 27
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
team with four left feet. Ha, ha, little joke there. Our soft-shoe dancers,
Hughie and Louie!"
Bruno scrambled off stage, and the curtains parted on Hughie and Louie. For
the first sixty seconds or so, Hughie and Louie were doing quite well. But
then Mrs. Sturgeon leaped up and again her camera flashed, blinding Hughie,
who turned the wrong way and rammed face-first into Louie. They never quite
got back on track after that, but nevertheless they received deafening
applause when they finally stumbled to a finish.
Bruno reappeared, applauding wildly. "Weren't they great, folks? And this is
only the beginning. There's plenty of talent to come, so please don't walk out
on us. Ha, ha, another little joke."
He beamed and continued. "You know, because this is a school project, we
wanted to use something in our show that would demonstrate how concerned we
are about our environment. And here to show us all what our environment sounds
like is our impressionist of nature, Elmer Drimsdale!"
Stricken by stage-fright, Elmer walked out onto the platform like a wind-up
toy. Once there, spurred on by the applause, he took a deep breath and
launched into his imitation of a hump-backed whale, forgetting the
introduction he had planned. The spectacle of a skinny, crew-cut boy making
faces and mooing at them without explanation shocked the audience into awed [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

Wątki