The Strongman
24
New Coach, New Problem
WE SAID GOOD NIGHT to Nicole and our spotters, Jon and Steffan. It looked like we’d be seeing a lot of them over the next month or so. I took Sydnie home and we went in to tell Eva the good news. She was truly overjoyed. I hadn’t seen so much life and excitement in her since Sydnie and I started training together. They insisted I make a call to tell my family.
I hadn’t really told my family I was auditioning for a show. I mean, why get them all excited when I might be eliminated in the first round. I called Mikey first and she wondered why I was calling her in the middle of the night. Oh. Midnight was no big deal in Las Vegas. It was two in the morning in Minneapolis.
“I did a thing,” I said. “A pretty big thing. My partner and I auditioned for a Las Vegas Revue and we passed the first round of auditions. The next round will be broadcast on TV.”
“What partner?” Mikey asked sleepily. Trust her to get to the interesting part.
“A few weeks ago, I ran into a woman I trained with at the academy in Florida. We decided to put together an act that could be in a Las Vegas show. It’s really good. That was what we auditioned tonight.”
“Am I about to have a sister-in-law?”
Mikey was suddenly wide awake and alert. I had a feeling she didn’t care in the least about our audition. She wanted to know about my partner.
“Heavens, no! She’s my acrobatics partner, not my lover.”
“Well, that can change.”
“No, it can’t. She’s married and I love her wife, too. They are both listening in on this call. Sydnie and Eva, say hello to my one-track-mind sister.”
“Hello, Mikey!” they chimed in.
“Oh! Married. To each other. I understand. Wonderful! I’ll just welcome you both to the family. So, you auditioned and it went well?”
Once the interpersonal stuff was taken care of, Mikey wanted to know all about our act.
“I heard someone say the most popular acts would probably be posted online by sometime tomorrow,” Sydnie said. “It’s possible you’ll be able to see it.”
I hadn’t heard that and it sent a shiver down my spine for some reason.
“I suppose I should call Mom and Dad and warn them,” I said.
“Not until morning! Remember what time it is. Mom and Dad have been going to bed earlier every night it seems. Old people!”
“Well, I normally go to bed early, too,” I defended them.
“Bet that changes when you’re in a Vegas revue,” Mikey laughed.
We got our goodbyes out and I said goodnight to Eva and Sydnie. I half expected to get one of Sydnie’s friendly kisses, but when I turned at the door, I saw her and Eva engaged to the exclusion of the rest of the world.
I went out for Sunday brunch when I got up around ten the next day. I was alone, but not particularly lonely. I was happy for a little time to just absorb the high from what had happened the previous night. I had a nice slab of prime rib, a couple of eggs, fried potatoes, and just to celebrate, a mimosa.
When I got home, I started looking through social media posts and searching the web until I found postings of the acts from the previous night. Sure enough, I found ours. It was a little terrifying to watch through the eyes of the camera. I hadn’t actually seen a video of what we were doing. Our coach told us what we needed to know.
I decided I’d better call Mom and Dad immediately.
It was Sunday afternoon and Mom and Dad were in the entertainment room relaxing. They immediately found and watched the video as I told them about the competition.
“Paul! This looks far more dangerous than anything you’ve done before! Is it safe?” Mom asked.
“Um… Sure, Mom. You see the two guys dressed in black that scurry around on the stage moving equipment and watching us? They’re our spotters. It’s their job to catch us if we fall. You know, we aren’t working with the gymnastics rules for this. It’s a circus act,” I explained, only lying a little.
“It’s even riskier than what you did with your pairs partners or in cheerleading,” Dad said. “Why don’t you at least have mats?”
“Oh, you see that when we have a really high launch, one of the guys is there with a thick cushion for our landing. We just can’t cover the whole stage in the prep time we’re given. We can’t use a sprung floor, so we use a springboard. It can be moved in and out quickly,” I explained.
“Do you need an old engineer around to help with the setup and design? I could be persuaded to vacation in Las Vegas for a while,” Dad said.
“Dad, you know I’d always welcome you here,” I said. “I don’t know if there would be enough of a challenge for you to engineer the show. So far, it’s just a few mats and a couple of platforms.”
“But you got the vote? You’re moving to the next level?” Mom asked.
“Yeah. It was cool, Mom. I’ve never had so many people standing and cheering for something I did like this before. All four judges said ‘yes.’ The next round is in three or four weeks, depending on how many people get eliminated during the auditions. There are hundreds of acts auditioning.”
“I want to know exactly when it is so I can get tickets,” Mom said firmly.
“Are you sure you want to see it live?” I asked.
“If my son breaks his neck, I want to be with him,” Dad said.
Gee, thanks.
“Now tell us about this cute little girl who’s your partner. The titles said ‘Sydnie and Paul.’” Mom said.
“Yeah. She’s cute, but she’s no little girl. She’s just two years younger than I am. We met at the academy in Florida and had a chance to work together there a little. We became good friends, but her women’s group was on a very different path than I was, so they left the academy for a school in Montreal the second year I was there.”
“A women’s group?” Dad asked. “You mean one of those trios we saw performing when you were with Tara?”
“Yes. They competed and then toured and performed all over the world. They won a couple of World Championships. They were on their way here to train for the same audition Sydnie and I took. They were in an auto accident between LA and here and one of the girls, Lena, was killed. She was really a… She was…” I struggled a little as the pain of losing Lena washed over me again. “We were really close at one time. But… anyway… the base, Eva, was also hurt and felt she needed to retire, which left Sydnie with no support. I mean, she and Eva still live together. They’re married, but Eva isn’t going to perform. When I saw Sydnie in the gym it was like a compulsion to ask her to perform with me. I think she’s a real star. We really work well together.”
“Yes, you do. Remember, Sydnie and Eva will be welcome here, too, if you all want to come to visit.”
“Thanks, Mom. I’m afraid we won’t be going anyplace as long as we’re in this competition. We’ve got our work cut out for us.”
“Good luck, son.”
Sydnie and I were in the gym early Monday morning and started stretching and working out. Jon and Steffan were our spotters and when they got in, they immediately started rolling out mats on the hardwood and marking out the stage dimensions. Nicole came in with a sheaf of papers and directions regarding what equipment we’d need to start with besides our platform and springboard.
“I’ve cancelled all your massage and coaching for the duration,” she told me. It had been pretty limited over the past three weeks. I’d still massage Eva and Sydnie whenever they needed it, though. “The show is covering your expenses while you prepare the next performance. But that doesn’t include a salary. I’m putting you both on a scholarship that will put enough in your pockets to pay the rent and food for the next month. This is as important to the gym as it is to the revue.”
“That’s very generous of you, Nicole. We won’t let you down,” I said.
“I’ve been certain of that since the first day I met you. And you, Sydnie. A flyer like you could join about any act in Vegas. Are you sure you want to go through with this?”
“Oh, yes. There is nothing any act in town could offer me that could compete with what I have here,” Sydnie said.
“Then let’s start by going over a critique of your performance on Saturday. Staff! Let’s review.”
Apparently, everyone who worked at the gym had been at the event Saturday and took notes. They ranged from Jon and Steffan needing to either disappear or take part, to suggestions for another more difficult throw. Some liked our use of the full stage and some felt it diluted the performance. There was something we could take away from nearly every comment, though.
“Okay. I see our guest has arrived. Staff can go about your work. This is the acrobatics director for the New Trop Revue, Tara White.”
My head snapped up and I looked straight into the eyes of my former lover. It was like being punched in the gut. Sydnie saw my reaction and realized at once who this was. She grabbed my arm and squeezed.
“Tara,” I choked.
“Long time, Paul. You’re looking great.”
“You, too.”
In fact, Tara looked incredible. I noted that she had left a pair of walking canes by the front desk and walked across the floor unassisted. She was just so damned beautiful. It broke my heart all over again.
Sydnie jumped up and moved beside Nicole, who had a puzzled look on her face.
“If you two need a minute, we can take a break,” Sydnie said, pulling at Nicole.
“No. It’s not necessary,” Tara said. “I’m on a tight schedule and just wanted to stop by today to congratulate you on the performance Saturday. You really kicked it up a notch. I was impressed.”
“Paul is a wonderful base. I’d be flat on my face if he wasn’t so steady,” Sydnie said.
“I hear you. Let’s just sit down a minute and I’ll go over a couple of notes. I’ve looked over the list of acrobatic acts that made it to the live auditions over the next three weeks. I actually reviewed a couple of the acts myself and invited them to audition. Seeing your names pop up was a real surprise. Sydnie, I heard about the accident and I’m so sorry for you. I’m familiar with what that can do to you and I know the pain never goes completely away. I’m so glad you found Paul.”
“He’s a rock,” Sydnie said.
“Paul, you’ve made quite a name for yourself over the past few years. You can’t expect the judges to have known who you are. They aren’t gymnastics professionals. But you impressed them.”
“Thanks. I don’t really know what they are looking for,” I said. “We just followed Nicole’s advice and it worked.”
“Nicole is a fantastic coach and you’re lucky to have found her,” Tara said. “As to what the judges are looking for, they want a balance of acts that will play for a year or more together. Unlike some of the talent shows you may have seen, this isn’t a contest to arrive at the one best talent among the hundreds we’re auditioning. As good as your act is, you couldn’t survive doing ninety minutes of it.”
“I’ll say,” I said.
“For the show, you’ll probably have to put together about ten minutes of a dedicated act—maybe twice during a show. In addition to that, the troupe will interact with the other performers and may do a stunt or two that is not in their principal routine. We have a rough guideline regarding how many acts of what kind are needed for the revue. The final selection will include the mix for the production.”
“So, what does it take to be selected?” Sydnie asked.
“Audience plays a huge part in it all. The judges are looking for audience pleasers. But the audience is voting for their favorites; they aren’t trying to create a revue. Left to their own devices, the audience might choose six singers which would make for a boring revue. So, the judges are looking for balance among the acts, excitement, and a secret sauce.”
“A what?”
“I’m not being facetious. The secret sauce is that something that no one has seen before. The something that takes their breath away. They want people who see the finale at home in Pittsburgh to start thinking they need a vacation in Las Vegas so they can see the show live. It is very subjective,” Tara said.
“So, are you going to be coaching us now?” Sydnie asked.
“No, not as such. You have a great coach in Nicole. She has a lot of experience with acrobatics in Las Vegas shows and in touring shows, which this might lead to as well. What I’ll be doing is more general. I’ll make some suggestions about the overall performance, but not usually about the specific elements. For example: You showed a great use of the full stage Saturday. In putting together the revue, the director might decide he needs to reserve a large part of the stage for setup of the next act and want you to perform in a more limited space. So, now that you’ve shown us the broad performance, you might want to show us a narrow version. How many tricks can you do in a smaller space? Say, a space that can be lit by four spotlights rather than all the lights in the theatre.”
“I get it. I hope you’ll be sharing more with us, though. I have a limitless respect for your opinion—and for you,” I said.
There. I’d said something that maybe would let Tara know how I still felt about her. I knew nothing about her current situation. She was still Tara White, but lots of people get married and don’t change their names. She could have kids, or have discovered she preferred girls. Or have just fallen completely out of love with me.
“Among the things I’ll be coordinating with you is the kind of support you’ll need. For example, what would be the best backdrop to use? The best lighting and music? The best costuming? How many people do we need to provide besides your props spotters and coach in order to make you successful? What can you do to show that you could integrate into the show in more ways than your one act? Do you need to show more dance moves? You can’t even imagine the number of factors that will go into the judges’ final decisions.”
“Where should we start?” Sydnie asked.
“Work with Nicole. Each time you appear on that stage, you need to up the bar, not only for yourselves, but for everyone else competing for this slot. More breathtaking, more dangerous, more beautiful. Now, you also need to understand that I will be working with all the other acrobatic acts that pass the first audition. In fact, I’m meeting with a group that performed last night later today, before they fly home to New York to prepare for their next performance. I’ll be giving them the same advice and service to make their next performance better. What I personally want will not make a lot of difference in the selection. I’ll direct the acrobatics in the revue, not choose who the cast is.”
“Thank you, Tara,” Nicole said. “I believe we have our orders. When will we see you again?”
“I’ll plan on spending most of next Monday with you if you have built your plan for the next performance. I’ll let you know if there are things I think will or won’t sell well and talk about the next steps to the live selection,” Tara said. “Sydnie and Paul, you look great together. You have great chemistry. I’m looking forward to what comes next. See you next Monday.”
With that, she turned and walked back to the front desk, picked up her walking canes and left. No hugs. No kisses. No I love you and I’ve missed you so much. None of the things I was feeling.
We went straight to work with Nicole to determine what we could do that would be more spectacular than what we already did. The full floor passes were out, so our spectacular entrance wasn’t going to be the same.
“Dance!” Nicole said. “We’ll start with a nice slow dance, maybe to something soft and jazzy that gets wound up a little in the middle. Let’s try some moves.”
We started moving where we were told. Neither of us were professional dancers, but dance had been a significant portion of Sydnie’s performances. I picked it up pretty quickly, though it might have been easier if we’d actually had music.
“Now, when you spin out under Paul’s hand, the normal would be to spin back and have him wrap you up. We’ll change that up. This is where your sweet moment will explode. Paul, as she spins out, stretch your left leg toward her and lean away until you are at maximum extension. Sydnie, don’t spin all the way in. Half a turn and walk right up Paul’s leg and torso until you are on his shoulder.”
It took a couple of tries, just to get the mechanics down, let alone moving smoothly into the pose.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen a dance move like that!” Sydnie exclaimed.
“That’s because most dancers aren’t acrobats. Now that you are perched up there, what do we do with you?”
And that was how our practice session went. We worked on mats while we were learning new moves. Jon and Steffan were attentive and managed to keep us from getting injured. I was sure ready for my ice bath after that practice.
“I love it. Nicole, you’re brilliant as always,” Tara exclaimed on Monday when she visited us again.
“We just need music and a theme,” Nicole said.
“And something just a little more daring in the acrobatics. The dance is superb, but we need to up the thrill level.”
We talked for a while and brainstormed a few ideas for music. We’d all heard something different in our heads when we were practicing.
“How about a romantic rooftop setting,” Tara said. “The backdrop would be a nighttime cityscape low, fading into a dark night and a million stars in the sky. We can disguise your platforms as vents and air conditioner things that you’d find on a rooftop.”
“And a big moon,” Nicole said. Tara looked at her and both women shouted at once.
“Moondance!”
“When Paul throws Sydnie for the first time, she tries to reach for the moon. Every so often in the routine, maybe with the chorus, we should have her reach again, getting higher and higher each time.”
“There might be a limit to how high I can throw her,” I said.
“Not if we use the springboard,” Nicole said. “Throw her and let her land on the board to launch again. You just need to catch her when she comes down.”
We seemed to have the routine, music, and theme. Now we just needed to make it perfect. The next few weeks of practice were brutal.
Nor was the routine the only thing we worked on. Nicole and Tara kept trying out new moves on us, even if we decided we couldn’t have them ready for the next round. We got our assigned performance date and I let Mom and Dad know. They promised they would be there and we should get tickets for all five of them.
I wondered why Sydnie never spoke of or called her family. Trust Mikey to jump in where I was too polite to go.
“What does your family think of all this?” Mikey asked during one of our calls when Sydnie was listening in. “They must be as excited as we are.”
“Oh, I don’t see or talk to my family too often,” Sydnie said. “They’re still in New Zealand. If we make the final cut, I’ll ask them to come for the finale. We only talk about once a month when we can coordinate our time and schedule.”
“That must be terribly hard on you. How long have you been apart?” Mikey asked.
“I moved to the US alone when I was fourteen—eleven years ago. Oh, my mother came with me, but as soon as I was settled at the academy, she went back to New Zealand and my four brothers.”
“That must have been really difficult,” I said.
“I was a little wild,” Sydnie laughed. “I guess that’s when I started giving out friendly kisses. It was amazing how quickly I made friends. I’d only been there a year when Eva, Lena, and I decided to start working as a team.”
“And some friendly kisses became a lot friendlier!” Eva laughed.
“Friendly kisses?” Mikey asked.
“You’ll find out,” Sydnie giggled.
My sister was going to have an experience!
We met my family at the hotel the day before our performance. Mikey found out quickly what a friendly kiss was in Sydnie’s parlance. Eva was with us, too, and Mom just wrapped both girls in her arms. Eva’s family was in Canada, where they’d moved after immigrating to the US. They found a warmer welcome in Canada, they said. They planned to come to Vegas for the finale if we made it that far.
“You have a new family in the U.S.,” Mom declared. “If we had known who Paul was hanging out with in Florida, we would have adopted you then. Please, always feel you can come home to us, even if you and Paul aren’t working together.”
“You might not want to go in December, though,” I laughed. “It’s cold.”
“You won’t have to worry about that much longer,” Dad said. “We’ve found a nice little place in Sedona, Arizona. As soon as the house sells, we’re moving.”
That sparked a lot of questions and discussion of the relative merits of the two places. We kind of all decided right then and there that we’d meet in Sedona for Christmas if we could.
The next day, of course, we were focused on the performance. Eva was with my family at a VIP table. She’d watched our audition on the internet and decided she wanted to be closer this time.
It was great to have our families in the audience to watch us. I always felt I did better when the family was present. History might not have borne that out, but I felt better when they were there.
Of course, this was an audience selection competition (with caveats). The judges asked us questions after our performance and complimented us on raising the bar even higher. They encouraged everyone to vote for us, but the results would not be available immediately. The show was taped for broadcast starting in a month. Just prior to the beginning of the broadcasts, they would run a compilation of the winning auditions.
We would find out who was moving on from this performance when Tara called us on Monday. In the meantime, there was nothing to do but enjoy a relaxing day with our family.
“Uncle Paul! Throw me!” PJ exclaimed when we met for Sunday brunch. I picked the tyke up and tossed her in the air and caught her. “Again! Again!”
“Monster,” Mikey said. “I’ve already enrolled her in a toddler tumbling class. If she goes further than that, I’m sending her to live with you!”
“I can think of worse things,” I laughed. “I managed to survive living with her mother!” Mikey slugged me in the shoulder.
We settled in for the buffet champagne brunch, laughed, reviewed the performance from the night before, and eventually my family left for the airport.
Sydnie and Eva left me and I headed back to my little bachelor pad. I’d never gotten around to getting a larger place.
Please feel free to send comments to the author at devon@devonlayne.com.
