Amber Wallin - Cinderella’s Nightmare

 

 

Growing up, I loved to perform exclusively in front of my family and friends. And even though I had siblings, baby, I was a one woman show. If I was performing Annie, I would be Annie, Miss. Hannigan, Daddy Warbucks, Sandy. If there was a stage, I wanted to be center and solo. But senior year of high school, I decided to audition for my first school play. I was walking past the auditorium, and I saw an audition flyer for Roger and Hammerstein's Cinderella. Or, as we in the African-American community like to call it, “That's the Black Cinderella.” You know, the one with Brandy. Woo. 

 

Even though I didn't really want to act with these other actors and perform with them, I felt immediately called to audition for this role, because first of all, I look like Brandy, if you squint a little bit. And I could sing, or at the very least, I could command a stage. And lastly, I had played that VHS tape no less than a thousand times, because Brandy made black people believe in fairy tales. As you can imagine, my parents were thrilled that I would no longer be hijacking their dinners and Saturday morning with my one woman shows. 

 

Another big reason that I really felt called to audition for this show, because it would mean for the first time in a long time, our school's production would be diverse. Y'all, know we didn't have Hamilton. [audience laughter] So, I looked at this audition flyer and I realized that the audition song for the production would be Getting to Know You from the King and I. I don't know nothing about the King and I. I know the King and Lion, The Lion King, but nothing about the King and I. So, I went home, I start rehearsing this song, learning it, feeling it in my bones. But then I said to myself, “Amber, now wait a minute. If everybody is going to be auditioning this song and you want to be the lead, you got to give them a little something different in this rendition. I need to do a version of Getting to Know You that helps the judges get to know me.” 

 

So, a couple days later, I walked into that audition and I gave them a rendition of this song that could best be described as a cross between Christina Aguilera and a Southern black Baptist church choir, [audience laughter] if there's a difference between those two. I confidently walked into that audition, I said, [clears throat] [starts singing] getting to yeah know you. Getting to know all about you. [singing stops] [audience laughter] [audience cheers and applause]

 

A few days later, the cast sheet was posted outside of that same auditorium. And my friend, she auditioned for the show as well, so I was like, “After lunch, girl, let's go check this cast sheet.” But in my mind, I was thinking like, “Why these other girls checking this sheet?” We know who's going to be casted as Cinderella Jones. So, the cast sheet was about four pages long. I went up to this cast sheet, I see my name immediately and I discover I had been cast as the hat lady in the village, a member of the ensemble. And my friend, my friend, she was cast as the cheese lady. And that's fine for her. [audience laughter] 

 

But I was devastated. I ran to the bathroom. I started crying for two big reasons. One, I don't even perform outside of my home. I took a chance on something. I was cast as the hat lady. And two, I realized this cast sheet was four pages long, because everybody who had auditioned for the show had been cast. So, this was really like receiving a participation certificate. I'll be completely honest with y'all, the girl who got the role of Cinderella, her name's Kendrea, she can sing. She could sing the pipes off this place. But also, they heard that audition that I did and said, “Godmother? No. “Stepsister?” No. “Hat lady, because we all remember all those fedoras that Cinderella wore.” [audience laughter] 

 

But that's fine. It's my first production, so I accepted the role as hat lady. But a couple weeks into rehearsals, I just start feeling a little less content in the role of hat ho in these streets. [audience laughter] So, naturally, I did something about it. I went to our high school drama teacher. Her name was Harriet. She went on a first name basis. And I said, “Harriet, I love being a part of this show, but I am bursting open with passion and talent. And this role, this whole story really resonates with me. Surely, there's something bigger I could do to contribute to this production. I know all the roles have already been cast, but is there anything additional I could do to contribute?” 

 

And Harriet says, “Yes, there is something.” I'm like, “Good.” “You know that scene? It's the denouement of the production, the ballroom scene. Cinderella enters at the top of a grand staircase. It's the first time everyone lays eyes on her, the prince, the villagers. She's right in the center of the stage.” “Yes, I do. I'm very familiar with the story. Say more.” She says, “Amber, you could be the person that rolls that staircase out and places it right in the center of the stage.” [audience laughter] 

 

I now know that Harriet was giving me busy work, but honestly, at the time, I heard center stage and I didn't really hear her say anything else. [audience laughter] I was like, “Harriet, I don't know what a denouement is, but I'm going to take your denouement and I'm going to put a hat on it. Okay, girl?” [audience laughter] So, we're a couple weeks into rehearsal. We're running the show. We would run act 1, and Harriet would say, “Amber, it's intermission.” And every time she said, “Amber, it's intermission,” this staircase was huge, so I get a couple friends to help me roll it out, put it right in the center of the stage. Then, a couple more friends the next day, picking different people every single time. But it was ultimately my responsibility to make sure that piece was set right in the middle of the stage. 

 

It's opening night. I kill it in act 1. You know me. The prince [unintelligible [00:21:47] accessorizing everybody with hats everybody. [audience laughter] Then, we have intermission and it's the top of act 2, the Grand Ballroom scene. We're all in our long gowns, and we stop mid waltz to turn and see Cinderella at the top of that grand staircase. It was at that moment I realized I forgot to put the staircase in place. [audience laughter] You know, what tipped me off was the gaping hole in the center of the stage where you could see all backstage. So, we're all frozen with fear on stage like, “Well, what happens now? Unless she grows wings, there is no way this show can keep happening.” 

 

So, we stand there for at least two solid minutes like, eh. And then, out of our peripheral vision, we uncomfortably turn to see Cinderella walking in from the audience and then slowly make her way on stage. And as you can imagine, Cinderella is visibly just frazzled, completely shaken. She's trying to keep it together, but she's so upset. When I look down in the tool of her dress, she's shooting a bird to everyone in the show. She doesn't know who's responsible, but she's like this, and I'm like, “Uh-uh.” [audience laughter] 

 

The rest of the show after that was absolutely horrible. We're high schoolers. We don't know how to recover after major mistakes are made. So, the singing was off key, the blocking was bad, the choreo was missed. I had single handedly ruined this production. After the show, obviously, all the actors were gossiping about stage like, “What happened? Where did we go wrong?” And Harriet was furious. I will tell y'all right now, 80% of me that day genuinely got nervous. It was my first production. My parents were in the audience. I might have missed a couple cues. I was so nervous. But 20% of me was still harboring some resentment that I had not been chosen in the role of Cinderella. [audience laughter] 

 

So, the next night, we did the show again. Everything went fine, because I was recast in the role. I was stripped of my staircase duties. [audience laughter] I learned so much from that very first performance that I did. It's okay to audition for something and not be cast as the principal role in your first show. It's okay to get on stage, and get nervous and miss your cue. But the biggest lesson learned that day was this. If I can't be Cinderella, [laughs] no one can. [audience laughter] Thank you.