Broadway Baby Read Online Free Page A

me”?’ Periwinkle asked, whirling around and searching us all with mock anger.
    I tried to stare pointedly at Cadence to make it seem like she’d said it, but I could feel my face going red. I had to call on all my acting training to not give myself away.
    â€˜Well, whoever said that, I’ll make you regret it,’ Periwinkle teased. ‘What’s the first rule of Broadway?’
    â€˜Always be ready,’ Cadence said.
    â€˜You got it, honey,’ he said with a wink. ‘Let’s tap.’
    Never in my life had I heard that ‘Always Be Ready’ was the first rule of Broadway. Cadence probably paid him five dollars so he could say that and she would answer to look good.
    I set my jaw. Too bad, Cadence Kohdean. It took more than that to put me off.

Chapter Eight
    The first thing I noticed was that although Cadence had been just okay in the other dances, tap was obviously her style. Every sound she made was crisp and clean, and all her movements expressive. She seemed to know what tap step we were going to do, even before Periwinkle had shown it to us.
    I kept my competition antennae out. There were some good tappers, but I knew by farI’d been the best in the other dances. So the role of Jane could very well come down to me and Cadence. That’s if she hadn’t bribed the director, too.
    No! I would fight for the part of Jane. I focused on Periwinkle’s feet, mimicking his every ball dig, back brush and ball change.
    He started teaching us a short routine. His style of tap was very fluid – it wasn’t the straight-spine-arms-do-very-little kind of tap. Instead, all the tap steps flowed into beautiful body shapes and energetic kicks or jumps, taking up every inch of available floor space.
    I took a lot of joy in trying to copy Periwinkle’s athletic moves and the feeling of lightness his body created. My feet let me down a little when it came to catching and hitting all the tap sounds. A few times I just made something up and hoped it sounded okay because the feet totally lost me.
    Cadence, of course, didn’t put one shiny black tap wrong. But I didn’t mind. I felt a sense of achievement that a week ago I hadn’t tapped properly since I was a tiny, and now I’d just successfully completed a tap audition. The idea that I could make music with my feet was a bit of a thrill!
    But I still had the singing audition tomorrow. One more test to pass before I was crowned an official triple threat.

    I was feeling quite good when I walked into the foyer the next day, ready to sing my heart out.
    Ugh.
    You’ll never guess who was waiting before me.
    Cadence Kohdean.
    Today her long burgundy hair was pulled into two braids and she was wearing a prettywhite smock dress with little black booties. She looked like Jane without even trying. I was just wearing my favourite pink floaty top and my good luck silver leggings.
    â€˜Oh hey!’ she said. ‘Ellie, right?’
    â€˜Right,’ I said.
    â€˜I must be auditioning before you,’ said Cadence, like it wasn’t already obvious. ‘How exciting! What are you singing?’
    â€˜â€œThe Perfect Nanny”,’ I said, naming a song from Mary Poppins .
    â€˜Oh, that’s nice,’ said Cadence. ‘I’m doing “Green Finch and Linnet Bird” from Sweeney Todd . I feel it really shows my range. Plus it’s not always a good idea to do a song from the show you’re actually auditioning for.’ She smiled at me. ‘But I’m sure they won’t mind.’
    â€˜I know that,’ I lied, sweeping imaginary dust off the sleeve of my top. ‘I’m just beingproactive. That way I can really express the character of Jane while I’m singing her song.’
    â€˜Oh, absolutely,’ said Cadence, who got up as soon as I sat next to her on the couch. ‘Excuse me, it’s almost my turn. I’m just going to do some warming