Front Row Seats

[Administrator]

Great seats right near the stage!

[Gianna Mancini]

<New Day - Reserved for Prince - continued from Lodging House>

"I know you'll still be around," Gianna said, smiling lightly as they stepped outside, the cool air refreshing and she took a deep breath because of it. "I just will miss you being...here." She waved a hand at the lodging house before turning to look over at Prince. She knew that the girl would still be checking in on occasion, it wasn't in Prince's nature to leave them all entirely - but Gianna didn't really know Styx all that well, save the few times they'd seen each other around the lodging house. And Gianna was beginning to consider Prince something of a friend, which as they had noted before wasn't exactly a strong suit for Gianna. "I'm sure Styx will do fine I just...don't really know him," She explained, letting Prince lead the way down the street towards Caprice. She had no worry that Queens wasn't in good hands, if Prince had hand picked Styx to take over for her then Gianna knew he had to be a good soul, but being as new to the borough as it was, she had yet to officially meet everyone.

"It is lovely out," Gianna agreed as they drew closer to Carpice, it wasn't do far a walk and though the air had an underlying crispness to it, it was far from uncomfortable. And though Gianna longed for the days of spring and warmer weather, this would do nicely, especially when walking with a friend.

They arrived at Caprice soon enough, the place bustling with activity for the early show and Gianna subconsciously took a step closer to Prince as they moved inside. It was crowded and noisy, Gianna wasn't surprised by that as she had often noted the bustle from high above, but being in the middle of it was something else entirely. The stage looked massive and imposing from up close and she felt her heartbeat pick up a little as she though about seeing the show so close - acts like Sarah Williams and maybe talking to Naomi Talbot after. It was almost more than she could manage and she couldn't help but practically beam over at Prince. "This is amazing."

[Prince]

"Well then," Prince said as they entered Caprice Hall, keeping her voice in a low tone. "Guess we'll just hafta introduce ya," she said with a small smile. She opened the door for Gianna to go inside. She couldn't help but smile at the small girl as she got slightly closer to Prince. She chuckled and swung an arm around her shoulders again. She had guessed that Gianna wasn't a big fan of crowds, but she didn't think the girl would be scare of them, not with the profession that she had. If Gianna was feeling nervous, Prince would make it her goal to make her feel better.

Prince released her again, however, for a moment when she paid for their tickets on the floor. The price wasn't that bad, and they were going to sit on the right side of the house, in about the tenth row. Prince looked at her again in time to see her beaming face. She couldn't help but smile back at her just about as big and just glad to see the girl excited, and trying to come out of her shell a little, it was nice. "I'm glad you're excited," she said with a nod. "C'mon, let's go find our seats!"

Prince lead Gianna over to the right aisle of the house and then down the side. Upon reaching the tenth row she paused and allowed Gianna to go in first. Prince was really quite the gentleman really. "After you," she said with a small smile. After she went into the row Prince followed her in and sat down beside her. "So, ya excited?"

[Gianna Mancini]

Gianna smiled a little at the prospect of actually meeting Styx, as Prince had said it would probably be a good thing for her to know the new leader, especially if he was the good person that Prince said he was. Gianna desperately wanted to fit in, to be part of what made things work in Queens and being introduced to Styx would be a small way to start she supposed. It was her instinct to move closer to Prince in the crowd, at five feet and two inches she was smaller than most and she only felt tinier when engulfed in the large crowd.

Prince paid for the tickets and they moved together towards the stage to find their seats, Gianna's eyes getting a little wider the closer and closer they got to the stage. Tenth row and by far the closest that she had ever been, the stage looked massive with the large red velvet curtain that hid most of it from view. But she was fascinated to see everything - the costumes, the dancing and listen to them sing. Excited? Oh she was more than excited.

"I used to find ways to sneak into the balcony," Gianna said softly, once they were seated and she turned to look at Prince. It was a secret that no one knew about, once she had never shared for fear of getting caught and because she wasn't sure that anyone really cared to know. But there was something about Prince - and this moment - that made her want to divulge this tiny secret. "I'd slip up there and sit in a corner and watch the girls for hours," Gianna explained, casting her eyes upwards to the balcony and the narrow corner which had so often been her vantage point. "The view is much better from here."

[Prince]

In all honesty, it had been a stupid question to ask if Gianna was excited it was written all over her face as the girl gazed around Caprice. Of course, Prince had been here before, but at the same time, then it had been more of a sick house, and it had been when someone else was running the show. She actually knew her way around the place very well from when she was taking care of the kids who had caught tuberculosis. And as she thought about it a small pang hit her heart. She couldn't help it, it was another thing that tied her to Queens, another thing she'd never forget. But at the same time, she quickly released her sadness about leaving. After all, she may not be leaving Queens behind just yet, just the newsies. All the same, she'd wait until after the show and would avoid jumping to conclusions.

She looked at Gianna as the girl's voice got lower and she told her small secret to Prince who couldn't help but smirk and glance up at the dark corner of the balcony where she was sure Gia had hid out more than once. She chuckled quietly under her breath and she couldn't help but find the small girl nothing short of endearing. "I gotta say," she said to her quietly, "it dun surprise me that you got up there unnoticed," after all, Gia was small enough to slip by without anyone even noticing.

"However," she said with a smile as she put her arm around the girl and gave her a friendly hug, "I'm glad ya enjoyin' yaself with the view from here." She really was too. Prince was always happy to put such a big smile on one of her newsies' faces, even if it wasn't one of hers anymore. She was still glad to make a kid smile. Maybe she could help Gianna out more often too, depending on what happened with employment and such. She hoped she'd be able to at least.

[Gianna Mancini]

"There are certain advantages to being shorter than most," Gianna said with a soft smile when Prince noted that she wasn't surprised that she slipped up there unnoticed. Often Gianna found her height to be another reason for shyness, making her smaller and easier to ignore - but in the moments where she had wanted to get by without being seen it was a benefit. Gianna had squared with the fact that she wasn't going to be growing much taller, it often gave her cause to wonder about her mother and if she had been short too, but that was a question that could never be answered so she shrugged it off like always and smiled at Prince. "If you tucked up in the corner there, where the balcony meets the wall? No one pays you any mind." Her eyes caught that tiny corner and her smile turned smaller and a little more secretive, remembering the times she'd stowed up there, once falling asleep for a few hours and waking up when the crowd had thinned and the place seemed to be shutting down.

Prince gave her a hug and Gianna couldn't help but return it, finding she had something of a friend in the Queens leader - or former leader as the case might soon be. And though she was saddened that the girl wouldn't be around perhaps every day, Gianna hoped that perhaps wherever Prince might be, Gianna would be able to visit her still, talk to her. "The view is quite lovely from here," Gianna announced, settling into her seat and sweeping her eyes over the stage. "I know you said you know Ms. Talbot...do you know any of the other performers?"

[Prince]

Prince shook her head in response to Gianna's question. "Naw, I dun really know any one of the performers. And I barely know Ms. Talbot," she answered honestly. It was more of a passing thing. Sold her a paper every other day as she walked by the hall sort of thing. "It's more of a... casual acquaintance sorta thing," she said with a small smirk. Either way, Prince had decided to be optimistic about the whole thing, and figured she would at least hope for the best. That was really all she could do, right? A job would be a job after all. She'd take what she could get.

"I'm glad ya like it here," she said with a small smile to her friend. "I gotta say, it's been a real long time since I been to a show here." Paid for or other wise, and Prince really did like seeing the shows and such. "It'll be kinda nice to see some real good performin' again," she said nodding."So..." she glanced at Gianna, "I'm assuming you like the singing most, but how about any of the other vaudeville acts?" she asked. "Like the man who can make any drink come out of a martini mixer? You ever seen him?" There were all sorts of weird tricks, and gymnasts and such that performed on the vaudeville circuit these days. She hadn't seen too many of them, but she had heard about a lot of the performers, and they sounded so very interesting, she wished she had the time and money to see them all. Maybe some day she would, if she played her cards right, she hoped so anyway.

[Gianna Mancini]

Casual acquaintance was still further than Gianna had ever gotten, mostly she'd watched from afar and would never had dreamed of getting close enough to speak to any of the performers. She'd seen one of the girls once, out walking around in Queens and Gianna couldn't help but stare, she had been so beautiful and graceful and Gianna was overwhelmed with the desire to say something. But words and nerves had failed her and the courage to walk across the street had faded as quickly as it flared and then Gianna was watching her walk off down the street with the sort of confidence that Gianna could only some day hope for.

"Oh yes I like the singing most of all," Gianna confirmed when Prince asked, nodding her head with a smile once again on her features. Though she did have a certain fondness for all the acts that crossed the Caprice Hall stage - in some small way Gianna had sort of come to think of the place as her own - not in the way it was Ms. Talbot's of course. But in that way when you had something secret and special, like a place or a thing that could fill you with warmth and make you feel like you could fly all at once. That was Caprice Hall for Gianna - and she thought of all the times she'd watched from above and considered Prince's question. "Oh he is very good yes, I have a fondness for the magic shows there is a...wonder to them," Gianna said, her eyes wide as she remembered the last one that she had seen. "And the dancers! They glide across the stage and seem to dance in the air, I haven't seen anything like it!"

[Prince]

Prince couldn't keep the smile at her face as she watched the girls excitement grow as she talked about act after act. It just made the wheels in her mind turn. This young girl, only sixteen, had her whole life in front of her, God willing. The way Gianna talked about the acts at the hall reminded her of how she would talk about the kids at the lodging house when she got half a chance. So excited, so ready to experience more it was all so interesting to see someone else so excited about something so important to them. However, Prince often thought too much or too hard about things like this. And while she was excited for Gianna she wondered if she'd ever be this excited about something again. Being a leader was something she'd made a life of it really scared her to have it change sort of over night.

All the same, as she thought she kept her smile on her face. She didn't want Gianna to worry. Besides, when someone was this excited about something, it was difficult not to be as excited as they were, especially in a case like this. "I wonder who all is playin' tonight, I mean besides the regular acts. Did you check the poster outside the theater before we came in?" she was trying to remember what was the headliner act. She sort of sighed and sort of settled more into the seat, after Gianna's excitement Prince was even more excited for the show. She hoped it started soon, it had to be about time.

[Gianna Mancini]

Gianna dreamt about the stage, late at night when the others had gone to sleep and she was hovering on the edge of it herself, she imagined herself donning those beautiful gowns and belting out the songs she loved. She wondered what it might be like, to look down from the lights and see eager and smiling faces applauding, see a man watching just as she had seen them watching Ms. Williams or the other performers. And most of Gianna wondered what it might be like to sing underneath of those lights, to hold a captive audience in the palm of her hand and know they were hanging on every word. It was a dream that she kept cradled in the back of her mind, and quietly scribbled in the margins of her journal that she had been writing in when Prince had found her.

Prince had gone quiet beside her and Gianna glanced over and wondered what she was thinking about - she didn't seem sad exactly, more thoughtful and as Gianna appreciated that sort of mood, she waited for her friend to break the silence. She shook her head at the question, she'd been to enthralled with the idea of being up close to pay attention to the poster. "I didn't see, but I hope it's Ms. Williams, she's real good," Gianna said, remembering the dark haired performer that seemed to be like magic on stage. "And maybe that one you were talking about with the martini mixer," She added hopefully with a smile, hoping that Prince would enjoy the show as much as Gianna knew she herself would.

[Prince]

Prince chuckled a little. The excitement in the room truly was contagious. Prince didn't realize that she had been so quiet that long, she often didn't when she got into thinking deeply. "You really like that Williams girl huh? Well maybe if we're lucky she'll be on tonight." She started to think of who else might come on stage when the lights started to dim, signalling the start of the show. She smiled to her friend. "Ready set," and she leaned forward slightly in her seat ready for the show to start.

As previously stated, it had been a while since Prince had been in attendance for any show, so this was a treat for her as well. She wasn't used to the decadence of the outfits, the lighting, heck even the soft seats were things that she couldn't quite wrap her mind around. What could it be like to be able to come here every day if you wanted. She couldn't even begin to imagine, or perhaps, remember. She glanced over at Gianna who she was expecting to be on the edge of her seat with excitement. It was endearing to be quite honest.

[Gianna Mancini]

"Ms. Williams is amazing," Gianna breathed out, just as the lights started to go down and she snapped her mouth shut and turned to face the stage, instantly engrossed. It wasn't just the singing, though Gianna would be the first to admit that was her favorite part and what she connected to the most. She also loved the spectacle of it all, the pretty costumes and the bright lights that beat down from above and the way everything seemed to shimmer if you squinted just right. Everything about the atmosphere had a way of changing and shaping and coming together to form a magical picture that Gianna didn't ever want to let go of.

It was awe inspiring to watch from her perch up on the balcony, but up close like this, it absolutely took her breath away. She knew that she'd never be able to explain it, and really she wasn't sure if anyone would truly understand it, a girl as quiet and shy as she was longing to be up on that stage. But it was the reality of the whole thing and she felt it down to her very core - which was why when the lights went low, Gianna all but forgot Prince sitting beside her. It wasn't until the house lights flickered up during intermission that she recalled where she was and how she had gotten there and she looked over at Prince and blushed. "I'm...I'm sorry..."

[Prince]

Prince leaned back in her seat to enjoy the show. But she couldn't help but glance over at Gianna occasionally. The young girl was hypnotized, and Prince found it quite interesting to watch. Who would thought that a young girl, a quiet introverted girl would have the dream to stand up in front of a million people in her life time and sing her heart out? It just didn't connect in Price's mind, but maybe it wasn't as odd as she thought. Sometimes people can surprise you after all. She knew that about as well as anyone.

After a while Prince found herself glancing at the stage but paying more attention to Gianna. Honestly, she thought it must look rather silly, but upon further reflection it probably looked normal. A young boy staring at a young girl. However, upon the realization she started watching the stage a little more. As the intermission lights flickered up Prince smiled and turned to Gianna. Just before she could ask her what she thought so far, (as if she needed to ask) Gianna apologized. Prince couldn't help but chuckle a little. "What on earth are you apologizin' for?" She shook her head a little with the bright smile still on her face. "You enjoyin' the show, and there is nothin' wrong with that missy," she said smirking.

[Gianna Mancini]

"I...sort of got caught up..." Gianna waved a hand at the stage and bit her lip as she felt her cheeks flush red with a touch of embarrassment at forgetting her companion. But she felt a smile tugging at her lips as Prince assured her that there wasn't anything wrong with enjoying the show, a sign of acceptance from her newly found friend. For that's what Gianna was beginning to think of Prince as, not that she hadn't always had a healthy respect for the Queens leader -- but she had been just that, the leader. But Gianna was seeing another side to the friendly, sweet girl who dressed in boy's clothing and welcomed everyone into Queens with open arms.

"How...are you liking it?" She asked softly, idly toying with the material of her skirt as her eyes flickered back to the cloaked stage and then returned to Prince. The crowd had gotten thicker since they first sat down, chatter filling the room as some of the dancers not scheduled to be on stage walked through the throngs and entertained the guests. She grasped for a topic of conversation, feeling suddenly awkward and dropped her eyes away from Prince. "When was the last time you were here, to see a show I mean?"

[Prince]

With a smirk, Prince chuckled a little. Gianna seemed to be having an amazing time and Prince wasn't going to protest. Something that Prince was accomplished at it was being a leader. She took care of her kids and she considered all of them to be her friends. True, some were a bit better friends to her than others, but all the same, she looked after them all. Personally, she felt as though she was making a great friend that night too. It was interesting to think of people as just friends, and not people she had to look after, or felt obligated to look after. It was something she'd have to get used to, that was for sure.

"I'm likin' it alright," she said with a nod, answering Gianna's question. As previously stated it had been a while since Prince had seen a show so she was enjoying it quite a bit. Prince glanced around the room not really feeling awkward or out of place or anything like that, but as she looked back to Gianna she could tell the young girl was feeling sort of awkward. It made her chuckle a little as she asked her next question. "Last time I saw a show huh?" she thought for a bit. "Probably... about a year ago or so. I didn't go see anything over the winter I know that, but I'm almost sure that someone took me to see something last summer... so it's been a while since I've been familiar with the circuit I guess," she said with a smile at her lack of knowledge of the state of Vaudeville at the time. "So..." she said as she folded her arms and glanced at the stage, "you think you could do that huh?" she asked teasing Gianna a little bit. It was all in good humor, so she hoped Gianna didn't take it personally or negatively for that matter.