Peggy began carefully to inspect her make-up and touch up her eyebrows.
“Don’t get so shy all of a sudden,” Randy said. “Besides, I didn’t come here to ... well, I mean, I had no intention....” He paused awkwardly. “Anyway,” he finished, “at least not now, I didn’t. I really came to tell you that I’ve been to see Paula’s parents in the projection booth, and I’ve never seen two happier people in my life. If they glowed any more than they’re doing now, they’d throw the whole lighting plan out of kilter!”
“Then they don’t mind having waited to see Paula?” Peggy asked.
“Not at all. They feel sure now that you were right. Mrs. Andrews said that she wouldn’t have done anything that could have hurt Paula’s performance. And what a performance!”
The lights flicked off and on, warning them that curtain time was near.
“I’d better go,” Randy said. “I just wanted to tell you I’d seen them, and also to tell you that we’re all invited to a party they’re giving after the show. They want to wait up for the first editions of the papers to see what kind of reviews we get.”
“Will we get reviews in the first editions?” Peggy asked. “I thought only the first-string critics did that, for important show openings.”
“That’s right,” Randy said, helping Peggy up the circular stair. “And we’ve got the first-string critics! That’s the one piece of ‘interference’ that Mr. Andrews indulged in. He called the newspaper reviewers and told them that he had heard of the show, and that it would be worth their while to cover it themselves, instead of sending assistants the way they do with so many off-Broadway openings. Apparently a word from him is all it takes, because they’re all out there ... and a lot of other important people, too!”
“Oh dear!” said Peggy. “I wish you hadn’t told me! It’s going to make the whole thing difficult all over again!”
“Places!” Murphy called.