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Post by Magician MacVee on Dec 12, 2011 20:37:06 GMT -5
His eyes cast to the stage and he grinned, "Aye lass I have.. many a times. But from other angles and sometimes in the back. Miss Sarah is a charmer that one, finer woman I've never had the likes of showin' a few card tricks too." As his eyes cast over the stage and the crowds he let out a low whistle. Many in there tonight then, seemed to be a doozy of show. He almost wished that he was back stage but then who'd guard Gia. She was a shy one and if his father had taught him anything it was the pay a kind word and head to ladies. Some could take out your eyes and others could but stars in them, but they deserved to be treated well.
"I've seen ya round the borough a time or two, always with the wee ones." his eyes darted away to where some men were talking before his shoulders relaxed and a grin crossed his features. "Well now lass, you've got a lad a wonderin why perhaps ya got stars in yer eyes when it comes ta the stage?" his brow raised, the smile warm and inviting as he looked down at her. The kind of man that most people trusted, was true he often conned stiffs out of their money with ease, and he wasn't always the kind of man you'd want to be around but-- he was good at his word. And he'd made a silent promise to himself to see that little miss Gia enjoyed herself.
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Post by Gianna Mancini on Dec 12, 2011 21:02:52 GMT -5
"Oh Miss Williams is lovely!" Gianna said, her face flushing a little as she realized how that might sound, but the truth was the dark haired performer was a favorite of Gianna's to watch. So graceful and at ease up on that stage, singing and dancing as though she had been born to do it - and Gianna had watched her working the floor afterward with an air of confidence that was astounding. "You've been backstage?" Gianna asked softly, finally registering the bit of information Mag had shared and she felt a flash of envy. She couldn't imagine what it might be like backstage, with all the hustle and bustle of the performers, with the buzz of the crowd behind the heavy curtain and the excitement and energy that must fill the very air.
"I keep an eye on the smaller ones around the lodging house sometimes," Gianna said with a smile, because it was true enough and often where she felt the most useful. "Give them my papes to sell sometimes too if I'm having trouble myself." She shrugged then, shifting in her chair a little so she could draw herself up on her legs to give herself a better view, still keeping herself in the relatively safe haven of Mag's frame. "Stars in my eyes..." She repeated, though she knew it was true enough, had been told it before, Prince having said much the same thing during their venture. "I think..." She began, pausing for a moment before catching her lip between her teeth and worrying it for a moment, not sure how much to share with this boy who was virtually a stranger. "I think, I might like to be on the stage someday." She breathed out, the words spoken softly, as though they could dance away on the air if she said them too loudly.
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Post by Magician MacVee on Dec 12, 2011 21:13:30 GMT -5
He watched her patiently, the way her face showed so much in a matter of moments. Giddy excitement, envy, nervousness, delight, it was all awash over her features and the thought made him smile. She had the knack for things, he could see that. She was so green, and yet he found himself enchanted by her. It was a sight really, grinning when she finished he nodded his head. "Well now, if'n ya be wantin ta go back stage and meet Miss Sarah I imagine I can arrange somethin' of a fashion. She's taken a shine to me.." Mostly in the one performer to another fashion, he enjoyed the woman, same as he enjoyed spinning Naomi into an impromptu dance when she wasn't paying him any mind. Mag had always been the type to just do and rarely asked for permission. It was just his way.
Looking down at her face, the grin didn't leave, it grew. "Well Gianna, perhaps you should speak your dreams a bit louder. You whisper them the stars can't hear ya ta help ya make yer wishes come true, aye?" He was gifted this one, the gift of blarney as some had called it in the old country. The way he spoke was the magic of a charmer, and he was very aware of it. He'd always been the one to weave a good tale, enjoy a good song and flirt here and there. But the way he spoke was just the staple of who he was. Charming and friendly, but mostly charming. Any man could take a turn for the unfriendly if pushed. "Stage is a big dream but you've got the face for it-- the light in your eyes too. i've the faith in ya and I've just met ya."
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Post by Gianna Mancini on Dec 12, 2011 21:51:36 GMT -5
"Oh! Could you?" Gianna said, breathless at the mere thought of being backstage before the reality of his suggestion set in and she shook her head. "Oh, but I wouldn't know what to say..." What did one say to a performer like Sarah Williams? Who had no doubt seen the world and knew much more about life than Gianna might ever have even dreamed about. The scope of her own life was limited to the orphanage, Sister Mary, and the streets of the city that she and Mag both walked - she couldn't imagine what it might be like beyond it. It was mind boggling and overwhelming to even fathom.
His smile seemed to grow wider with each passing moment, his handsome face warming by degrees and Gianna decided that she rather liked him. He had an easy way that settled her - a rarity for the notoriously shy girl - and she liked that he didn't mock her dreams. He seemed to embrace and encourage them, as foolish as they might have seemed to others. "I couldn't," Gianna explained with a shake of her head, her hands dropping into her lap as she looked down onto the stage and stared at the heavy red curtain that separated where she stood from where she longed to be. "I sing well enough, of that I am certain, but all the people and I'm not a very good dancer..." She shrugged lightly as she drifted off, before smiling up at him. "But I thank you kindly for what you said, means something coming from a performer."
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Post by Magician MacVee on Dec 13, 2011 1:01:12 GMT -5
"Sounds like a wee bit of stage fright then, you don't need to dance to let people hear an angel sing, lass." he was thinking as he tilted his head, watching the red velvet curtain for a sign that someone was about to come through. Just a wiggle or a jerk that it would be time to start the show, but he was concentrating again on Gia and the way she was speaking. Her hands dropping into her lap.
"But perhaps ya should try the small stage first, bunk room without anyone but a few watchin. Build yer confidence. Ya know confidence is what makes a star, lass. Can shine as bright as a star but if you don't know it, then it's a waist.." His hands stayed where they were and he chuckled at her last comment, feeling rather joly. "Aye, I am that. Though just a magician, most call it a con but people pay ya ta entertain em. They stand an watch because they canna figure you out. That's how it should be."
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Post by Gianna Mancini on Dec 13, 2011 20:57:58 GMT -5
"I would say perhaps more than a wee bit," Gianna admitted with a smile, trying to remember the few times that others had heard her sing. Occasionally on street corners when time was slow with the passing and she had a stack of papes and a penny to show for her trouble. Or the one time she had sang for that pretty girl from the Bronx, barely loud enough for her to hear she imagined. Yes, stage fright was something Gianna battled at nearly every moment - and it wasn't so much the actual singing in front of people, it was mostly the getting started that was the trouble. Because as far as Gianna was concerned, when she sang, she could do anything.
"Magic isn't a con," Gianna said with a slight shake of her head, furrowing her brow as she looked up at his handsome face - at least not as far as she was concerned. "No more than it is when Miss Williams sings a song, it's giving someone joy - the..." She searched for the proper word and finding none shrugged slightly and grappled to continue, somewhat haltingly. "...the magic of the unexplained. That's...that's not a con...that's...performing."
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Post by Magician MacVee on Dec 13, 2011 21:34:58 GMT -5
He looked down at her when she spoke, his smile growing as she continued to defend his profession and how he entertained. He could have hugged her, and deep down felt a kind of protection that he had felt with his younger sister and a variety of those in Queens. She was one more that he felt the need to protect, not to charm. Such a sweet girl, the kind his mother would love. Really, he chuckled and moved his hands to give hers a squeeze before moving them back to where they rested on the bar.
"Aye then, you're very right about that, lass. I think you'n I can agree on that." His voice hushed as the curtain opened and the owner of the house came on stage, Naomi had been a performer and from what they'd talked about she'd traveled all over from a very young age. He kind of envied that spark, but he was happy where he was. Home was where the heart is and his was in the streets of New York. "You could be up there with 'em, lass. I can see it." And he could. She had the sparkle and the spark, the conviction in her to do so. She just needed the confidence.
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Post by Gianna Mancini on Dec 13, 2011 21:59:58 GMT -5
His hands were warm and reassuring on hers as he gave them a gentle squeeze and she didn't shrink away from his touch as she so often did when it came to those she just met. Mag had a way about him, a charm she supposed, though she thought it was something more than that as well - that made her feel settled. Gianna was generally skittish, shy by her very nature and uncertain of those around her she tended to keep quietly to herself and found solace in her role as a guardian for the younger ones in their borough - and for the moments she took for her music.
There was movement by the curtain and then Miss Talbot was on stage and Gianna felt her heart began to beat a little quicker. The mere thought that the show was just about to begin enough to cause goosebumps to rise on her arms and the rest of the bustling crowd to fall away. Mag spoke then - of the dreams that she had held so dear for so long, and his belief that he could see her standing there alongside Miss Talbot and the thought took her breath away. "I'm not sure that I could," She said softly, her voice going almost dreamy as she took in the lights as Naomi exited and the dancers stepped onto stage. "But I'd like to think that maybe someday it's possible...." Her dark eyes roved over the stage, taking in graceful movements and the dazzling costumes. "...someday."
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Post by Magician MacVee on Dec 14, 2011 4:43:23 GMT -5
He watched as Naomi roped in the crowd and let some of the dancers on stage, moving off and doing what she did best. Get a crowd going. He could see her on that stage, this little shy flower, blooming up there. He wanted to hear her sing, see if she had the pipes. "After the show.." he said with a nod. "We'll go back stage. Talk ta Sarah and Naomi. Introduce you to them..." Performers were a special lot, Mag knew the ladies and if he'd ever been the kind to want stage time he knew Naomi would have given it to him. But he liked what he did.
He was quiet as the show progressed, half watching the people on stage and half watching Gia. This was something else, a total stranger. He was a total stranger to her and he was fascinated by her, watching her face-- the way her eyes glowed. He enjoyed watching her. A smile crossed his face, if she sang half as pretty as she was the world was in for something magical. And he knew about magic.
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Post by Gianna Mancini on Dec 14, 2011 20:16:12 GMT -5
"That would be....wonderful," Gianna breathed out, feeling the tiniest flutter of perhaps something that could be called hope at Mag's words. It was no doubt that later the spine tingling fear of meeting women that she idolized would hit her, but for now, watching the dancers down on stage, all Gianna could do was cling onto the promise of meeting the stars that she'd spent years in New York idolizing. Because this wasn't her first night tucked in a corner chair of the balcony, and it wasn't the first time she had looked down onto the stage with hopes and dreams and that special kind of fear all rolling around inside her - and she was certain that it would not be the last. For as much as Gianna knew it wasn't in her to be bold, she couldn't turn and run from the music that was in her soul.
She stayed riveted, just as she was, barely moving a muscle during the whole first number and halfway through the second; it wasn't until the music softened slightly that she realized that Mag was still there. Still standing behind her, almost standing guard, as she watched at took in the show. Turning her head, Gianna glanced up and studied him for a moment, the warmth that radiated from him, friendly and easy and much appreciated from a timid Gianna. "Thank you," She said softly, tilting her head and watching him for a moment more before returning her attention to the stage just as Sarah Williams stepped onto it.
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Post by Magician MacVee on Dec 27, 2011 23:03:49 GMT -5
He grinned down at her, this little lass was a charmer to be sure. If she sang as well as she glowed at this moment the entire of New York would be at her feet as much as it was at Sarah's. His eyes scanned the crowd before falling on Sarah coming onto the stage, a quiet look crossed his face as he watched the woman take command.
That was something else entirely. Being able to control a room full of rebellious men with a wave of a hand and a smile that could melt butter. There was a promise and a tease in a smile, the way she showed that she was more than what they thought. The confidence he hoped that little miss Gia would have one day. "That, lass, is what it is all about."
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Post by Gianna Mancini on Dec 28, 2011 19:12:38 GMT -5
Sarah Williams stepped on stage and Gianna's world dropped away - suddenly it was as though she was right there on stage with the beautiful performer. The way she moved and laughed and sang, it was like watching a little bit of magic except it was somehow different from the kind that Mag performed. It wasn't tangible or definable it just...was. And all Gianna knew was that she desperately wanted that, she wanted the power of that moment and the stage in the palm of her hand. And it felt both right at her grasp and light years away and the reality of that was almost paralyzing.
She nodded slowly at Mag's words, only tearing her eyes away from the stage after Sarah had left it and Gianna blinked, as though to bring herself back to the present. To the balcony in the Caprice with handsome Mag standing behind her and the bustling crowd beneath her. "I wonder how she does it," Gianna breathed out, her eyes darting briefly back down to the just vacated stage that was now beginning to fill with the next round of dancers. "It seems so...easy when you watch her."
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Post by Magician MacVee on Dec 28, 2011 19:29:18 GMT -5
He chuckled when she spoke, his shoulders shrugging when she asked him how she'd done it. How could you describe the kind of star power Sarah had? How could you describe the way that Naomi could come out on stage and do a number and the entire place stopped to watch? There was no way to describe those things, "Confidence, love. They know they have it and they go out and show it off." As the dancers come on he took Gia's hand in his and moved her a little, spinning her around. "Knowin' that they own the world for five minutes and nothin' can stop them. That... is what bein' a star is all about."
The magic and the glam, it wasn't the kind of things that Mag did, no. But it was performing all the same, you had to have a confidence to own it. When he looked at Gia he realized she had it all in spades but the confidence. He wanted to see her with that look on her face one day, with the knowing-- that came from being on stage. For five minutes the world is yours.
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Post by Gianna Mancini on Dec 28, 2011 21:33:40 GMT -5
Gianna let out a soft surprised yelp as Mag took her hand and spun her around a little, the movement unexpected and yet not unwelcome either. It was a strange sensation for Gianna, who had spent much of her life to terribly shy to talk to much of anyone, much less dance with them on the balcony of a theater. But Mag had set her at ease, and she rather forgot her usual concerns and nerves, caught up instead on the rhythm of his voice and the easiness of words. "But how do you know?" Gianna asked, giggling a little and somewhat breathless from their impromptu dance and she looked up at Mag with wide eyes. "How do you know that you have that...power?"
It was easy to say that she needed more, but Gianna had simply no idea where to even begin to find some. She thought about Mag's suggestion that she sing at the lodging house, or perhaps in front of a small group on the street - steps that she had taken little by little - though the nerves nearly ate her alive until she actually opened her mouth. "I want to find it," She breathed out, looking up at Mag and smiling at him, feeling shy all over again. "I just don't know where to go looking for it."
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Post by Magician MacVee on Dec 30, 2011 18:42:24 GMT -5
Mag was looking at her glow and he saw it, the way she lit up when she forgot to be nervous was the kind of thing he was talking about. She had big eyes, the girl was gorgeous and he could see that she was trusting too. Which to him meant a lot of things, an easy con-- if he was in the mind to do so, and someone that would get eaten alive if they didn't toughen up. And that was what worried him, a little confidence could go a long way but he did worry if she would get eaten before she was given a chance.
"Well Lass, it goes without sayin how a person can get enough confidence to shine. Sometimes they just need a nudge and support, ya got both in spades round here I'm sure." His voice was bright and a bit jolly as he smiled, grinning as he looked back out at the stage. "Seems ta me soon as the show ends, you can see what that kind of light is like up close. I think you've got it, pretty eyes, probably have a voice like an angel..." He hadn't heard her sing, she could be awful but something told him that she sang like a chorus of angels near Christmas.
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