Newvit High School

“I suppose I’ve never really thought about what my favorite species of snake would be. Probably some form of constrictor, there’s something to be admired in an animal with no venom or claws still finding a way to capture prey using the length of their body as their only weapon. As for birds, did you know that some scientists consider the Kiwi to be an honorary mammal?”

(I have something really weird that would fit Leia, but it's a french play, so I just did a quick research for something else instead. It has no source, but it's supposed to be a horror monologue from something. Actually first result if you search for Horror Monologue and I thought it was pretty close to something Leia-ish)

Leia tries to convey through her monologue that she is herself a ghost unaware of being a ghost and that she is talking about a human she met. She tries to convey that she herself is scared when she talks about some "BEAST" and her emotion seems to be a little too real for a few seconds, as if she was really scared of something. She actually tears up a little bit, but thankfully for her, nobody can see it under her bedsheet.

Dewey

Tia seems pleased that you like constrictors, and confused about the kiwi.  "Kiwis are... mammals...  Like Dogachu...?"  She flicks her tongue several times in quick succession.  "If you say so..."

You help her study a bit more, then decide to call it a day.

"So... um... before we go do the thing, I need to go take care of Ssssssproink.  Want to come help?"


Nora, Karl, Leia, Sam

Kiran proceeds to deliver Romeo's famous speech... badly.  When he's finished, Avalon proceeds to give him his second piece to perform... which he's surprised to find is a singing piece.  Avalon signals for a backing track to begin, and he tries his best, but his voice cracks several times trying to figure it out.

"Musical pieces?" Mattea asks Avalon quietly.  "That's a bit much to drop on someone out of the blue, don't you think...?"

"Of course it is!" Avalon answers.  "But I'm not looking for perfection.  I want to see how people react to being surprised.  Why do you think we've been drilling improv so hard?  Besides, an actor must be prepared for anything!  Mareena, you're up next."

"The GREAT MAREENA, thank you," she says as she takes the stage.  "Ah, how ironic.  I chose a musical piece as my performance in the first place."

"That's... That's not really the same as a monologue..." Avalon points out.

Mareena smiles.  "Didn't you just say an actor should be prepared for anything?  So should the director."

Avalon shrugs.  "Well, go ahead then."

Mareena throws her arms out and launches into a loud, passionate song about a member of the clergy falling to the temptation of a beautiful young woman, prancing across the stage and controlling her presence to highlight the shifts in tone.  When she finishes with that, Avalon presents her with a second piece.  After she scans over it, Mareena smiles and begins a second performance in a different voice to show off her range, acting as if she's sung the song a dozen times before.

Somnis goes after, doing Juliet in answer to Kiran's Romeo.  She somehow manages to be even worse, butchering and leaving out a few lines, but somehow being surprisingly competent at the singing part.

Leia manages to get through her monologue with a surprising show of emotion, though so quietly that most of the auditorium can't hear her.  Avalon starts to hand her a musical piece, then reconsiders, ruffles through her stack, and hands her a different piece.  "I think this is more your style.  Oh, but, well...  Costumes are all well and good, but I need you to try without the sheet for this.  Your delivery was good, but it's really hard to hear you."  Leia tries to get through the piece, but her nerves get the better of her and she trails off after a few lines.

Alice takes the stage and begins her monologue without introduction.  A few people start giggling as they recognize it from Alice in Wonderland, and she turns bright red.  Her performance is less than stellar, and her singing isn't much better - her voice is technically fine, but flat.  It's clear she doesn't want anything more than to get off the stage.

Tom gives the king's speech from Henry V, promising that anyone who sheds blood with him will always be his brother.  Passable, but nothing exceptional.  Similarly, his singing is confident enough but nothing exceptional.

Lisa tries to give a monologue about something about a science-fiction set on some orbiting station, but she loses her nerve partway through, stutters for a painfully long time, then ends up running off the stage before even getting to her singing.

Karl proceeds to improv a piece about pop-tarts and how delicious they are, seemingly oblivious to the crowd.  It's impressive how mindlessly he does it.

"You... didn't prepare a monologue ahead of time, did you?" Avalon asks.  "Oh, well.  That was an impressive bit of bullshittery.  Let's see how you handle singing, though!"

Karl looks nervous, but gives it a try.  His singing voice is shockingly good, but he keeps floundering, losing his place in the song, and having to restart a few bars later.

Mattea seems completely confident when she walks onto the stage.  She pauses, takes a breath, and immediately launches into an admission she's been a terrible, fake, petty person, and announces that she's scared to change.  She tells whoever she's speaking to she knows all this, and she blames them for changing her for the better, finally demanding that they leave her to be bad.  More than a few people are laughing by the end, while Alice has a tense, neutral expression.

When Mattea's given her singing part, she glances over it then tosses it aside and proceeds to deliver it in a smooth, confident voice from memory, shrugging through any slips of the tongue.

Raine gets up on the stage and freezes.  "Um...  Sorry, can I have just a moment to change into my costume?"

"You really should have done it sooner..." Avalon says with a sigh.  "But I don't see any harm in it.  Katie, you're up while we wait."

Katie bounds on stage and begins to deliver a monologue from the perspective of a housecat.  To anyone familiar with the work, it quickly becomes apparent that she has completely forgotten the script halfway through.  To everyone else, it just seems like that cat is beginning to ramble more and more.  She stalls until she remembers the ending, and manages to bumble her way there in a way that feels natural.  Avalon seems impressed.  As for her singing part, she dives into a complicated piece without anywhere near the skill required to back it up, but with the confidence of someone who is entirely unaware of her shortcomings.

Raine returns dressed in a leotard one would expect her to wear to wrestling club, not to give her performance.  But she gives it anyway, a speech to her fake husband, challenging his courage and entreating him to murder someone in his sleep, and promising she'll surreptitiously deal with the guards.  Her fake evil persona is more believable than anyone seemed to expect, and there's a number of stunned faces among the crowd.  Raine, blushing furiously, attempts to run off the stage as soon as she's done and Avalon has to call her back to sing.  Her voice is soft and sweet, but she manages to keep her tone just loud enough to be heard.

Sam repeats Romeo's speech, the same one as Kiran but quite a bit smoother.  She gets a few claps, which helps when she has to do the singing.  It's not easy for her, but she manages to stumble through the song well enough.

When Natsumi comes out, she places down a small pillow, pulls out a fan, and kneels down at center stage, then announces she's going to be doing an excerpt from the tale of Okuninushi.  She proceeds to tell the story of a rabbit that tricked a bunch of sharks into acting like a bridge, giving the characters voices and using the fan to pantomime movements.

Anyone sitting behind Avalon noticed her quietly writing a note to explain to everyone what exactly a monologue is later.

As for the singing, Natsumi misses a few beats and goes off-key once or twice, but has one of the smoother performances.

Nora's monologue is a long accusation against a lover who has been accusing her of being unfaithful, claiming that he's making things up to hide his own failings and jealousy.  She ends with an invocation of the seasons themselves.  Her singing is good enough to wake up the people who'd begun to lose interest.

Fox gives a speech about feeling like he woke up as a new person, about feeling like his family has abandoned him and are treating him like a stranger.  In the end, he announces that he has, in fact, be transformed into a giant bug.  His singing is good, loud enough to be heard.  Better than most, but not much of a follow-up to Nora's performance.

Avalon double-checks her list against everyone who's here, then nods emphatically.  "Alright, I'm ready to make my decisions!  I'll post the list in just a moment if you all want to wait around."  With that, she trots off back stage and disappears.


Nora

Alice smiles as you retake your seat.  "That was... impressive," she says.  "I expected a treat, but I never would have guessed you were that talented."

Mattea butts in to the conversation.  "Oh, yes.  Nora put on quite the performance.  So, shall we head to the mall to celebrate?  My treat."

"The results haven't even been posted yet," Alice says.

Mattea waves her hand.  "I'll be happy with whatever role I end up with.  I made my point.  So, you two in?  I'll invite Tai and that Nutty girl, too."

Alice sighs.  "Very well."


Leia

Natsumi waves at you then steps out of the auditorium.  Mareena slips into the seat behind yours.  "Hmmm.  Sorry.  Your performance was pretty good!  But the singing was...  This doesn't seem to be your strong suit, no?  But perhaps THE GREAT MAREENA could help you improve at this sort of thing?  My fortune telling is... quite powerful."


Karl

A few people seem to be looking at Karl with interest, but no one approaches him.  Lisa and her friend are making a quit retreat towards the exit.


Sam

Raine sighs and sits next to Sam.  "Well, I'd say that went pretty well, right?  I still can't believe Freya talked me into this... but it wasn't as bad as I expected."  She sighs again.  "Oh, but what am I going to do if I get a part?  I hadn't even thought about that...!  Auditions are one thing, but putting on a performance in front of-"

Fox jumps into the seat on her other side.  "That was fun!  Oh, hi Sam.  You did a good Romeo."

Leia is about to run off and follow Natsumi, but something Mareena said catches he attention.

"Huh... Huh... I'm... I'm not really an actor or a singsingsinger... Natsu-girl just convinced me to trytrytry this...

Ab... About fortune-telling... Are... Are you the one who... Hum... Helped? Are you the one who helped Jimmy with... with... Hum... His love life?"

Tai

You get a text message from Mattea inviting you to join in a post-tryout celebration at the mall.


Dewey

Move to Home.


Leia

Mareena wags a finger at Leia.  "Now, now.  The difference between a Mareena and a GREAT MAREENA is professionalism.  What sort of fortune teller goes around disclosing her clients' innermost desires, no?  If you were to have your fortune read sometime... you'd of course have the same confidentiality."


Nora

Mattea smiles.  "Oh?  I do love a challenge, but I wasn't planning to tryout for the next performance.  Of course, if you were to insist I could never say no to a private challenge... if the stakes were interesting enough, anyway.  People perform so differently when there's something they actually care about on the line.  It's kinda fascinating, really."  Mattea takes out her phone and sends a quick message.  "Fo-o-o-o-or example...  I bet Alice she wouldn't even get a proper named role.  Wonder if it made her do better or worse?"

Alice sighs.  "I'd like to think it didn't impact my performance."

"I wonder," Mattea says.  "You might have a solid poker face, but I know you, and you looked - still look - pret-ty nervous to me."

Alice glares at Mattea.  "I'm not."

"Oh?  You sure?  Because I'll let you back down from our bet if you admit you're not feeling confident..."

Alice bites her lip.  "No deal."

Mattea turns to Nora.  "She's really too easy.  You want in on our bet about if Alice got a part?  Guess right and... well, you can tell me what you want."  She stretches casually and gives her a devilish grin.  "Bu-u-u-u-ut, lose and you have to join me for a round of strip poker later."

Alice rubs her temples.  "Mattea, don't tease Nora like that."

"Fine, fine."

Nora casually flicks a bang out of her hair and smiles, unfazed. "Tempting offer, but I'm afraid I have to politely decline, my dear. Straight gambling isn't my style. I'm much more of a 'ace or three up her sleeves' kind of girl. I only gamble if I know I'll win."

Leia seems to smirk a little.

"Oh... I'd like to have my fortune told, where would we do that?!"