Funeral

The Glass Penny is dead.

Zeke called me yesterday to tell me the bad news.

“Eddie won’t sell, Faith. The offer Hazel made to you and everyone else is off the table. You’ll probably get a phone call from her lawyer on Monday. I’m sorry it didn’t work out.”

I could hear the disappointment in his voice. Each word was weighed down with it.  Honestly, I was just as bummed. I had already started day dreaming about having a checking account with more than twenty dollars in it.

“Me, too, Zeke. At least we tried, right?” I said trying to cheer him up.

“Yeah…I guess. Will you tell Molly?”

“Sure.”

I told Molly when she got home that night. She wasn’t that surprised and had a feeling it was all too good to be true. We decided to eat our feelings. They tasted like Chinese takeout.

The worst part is, though, I think the fact that I signed on to this project has ruined my relationship with Eddie. He called me about a week ago and told me that he didn’t have a position available for me for the fall show even though he basically promised me as much in the summer. I thought it was because he’d decided to sell the theatre but now, after Zeke’s phone call, I think it’s because I was part of this project. I’ve also spent the last week sending out my resume to every job opening I can think of, even the freelance ones, and I can’t get anybody to even respond to me. I’ve left messages, I’ve sent e-mails, and I’ve called.

This is bad. I think Eddie had me blacklisted. I can’t get work at ANY theatre. I even applied for some unpaid positions (thinking I’d be fine to do those what with the Glass Penny being salaried) and didn’t even hear back about those. Unpaid “internships” are basically a dime-a-dozen. I did a ton in college and they will, literally, take anyone who is willing to work for free. Usually the people they hire barely have experience. Any unpaid internship would be happy to have me what with my experience in college and professionally. I think Eddie sabotaged me and badmouthed me to all the other theatres in town, you guys.

“Molly?” I asked with chopsticks full of beef fried rice.

“Mmm?” She said eating an egg roll.

“Have you heard anything bad about me at any other theatre houses?”

“What? No. Why?”

“Because I think Eddie has blacklisted me.”

I gave her all of my evidence and suspicions and explained all the different places I’d applied with zero response.

“Well, Faith, it’s hard to break into theatre, you know that. They could just not be responding because they don’t want you. I know that’s harsh but it’s the truth.”

I pointed out that even the unpaid “internships” didn’t even want me and Molly looked really surprised.

“I’m not being picky, Molly.” I said, “I’ve applied, literally, everywhere. Something is going on.”

“Look, I’ll ask around, okay? If Eddie has blacklisted you, maybe I can convince some friends to take you on as their assistant stage manager or something.”

“Thank you.” I said reaching for a wonton, “If Eddie did that, I can’t believe it. I wonder if he did that to everyone else. I know we all had a history with him at some point.”

“He hasn’t done it to me. I’d know.” Molly said.

“Yeah, but you’ve been working professionally for a lot longer than I have and you have a lot more contacts than I do. If Eddie tried to badmouth you, they’d know he was lying or think it was just a fluke that you were difficult to work with.”

“Fair enough. I’ll see what I can dig up.” She said.

I’m really worried about this. When Zeke called me to set up that meeting with Hazel, I’d never thought it could’ve led to me burning a bridge with Eddie. If it turns out I’ve been blacklisted, this could mean my career has been ruined to a point where I’ll never be able to recover. In theatre, your reputation is everything, especially as a stage manager because you don’t have audience demand for your work like an actor, designer, or director does (hence why Tucker has a career), so you’re completely replaceable. This is bad, guys, REALLY bad.