Backstage (2016) s02e17 Episode Script
Best Idea
[Jax.]
Previously on Backstage Will you, Julie Maslany, let me take you out? [Julie.]
I'd love that.
Julie Maslany, are you a babysitter now? [Julie.]
Miles is plenty mature.
Aw, totes adorbs.
[Alya.]
What's Frances' deal? This is my life, not drama she can manipulate for a class project.
[George.]
I lost my wristband.
I'm useless without this.
I'm not great with change.
[Mindy.]
Carly isn't a Prima.
We're not dancing with her.
She tried to bribe us, but we're not that easily manipulated.
As of today, there are no more Primas.
Mr.
Bradstreet, aren't you supposed to be in Prima practice? [knocks.]
[Sasha.]
I can't believe he skipped.
You're amazing, Vanessa.
[Vanessa.]
You're not the worst, either.
[Vanessa.]
He kissed me.
Now he's tuning you out.
[Vanessa.]
I just don't know why he's acting like this.
What is happening right now? A literary explosion.
[both chuckling.]
Yay! Boom! [chuckles.]
[Sasha.]
Hey! Yellow books in the house.
- I believe, you mean school.
- Same dif, man.
But there is a dif.
You said "house.
" I mean, this is a school.
- Senior dance studio? - Me too.
Follow me.
[Helsweel.]
The more perceptive of you may have guessed, the books on your locker are color-coordinated for a reason.
Look around.
The people around you are your collaborators for the next few weeks, in which time, you will produce an interpretative performance of your story that marries dance, music, drama and visual artistry.
You will be graded by a panel of teachers that includes me.
Blue group, your story is that of The Steadfast Tin Soldier.
Google it.
So she's terrifying.
You have no idea.
[girl.]
Never heard of it, okay? [sighs.]
Uh, Bianca.
- Vanessa.
- Alya.
Nice to meet you.
Dance gods, couldn't you have put one of my people in this group? [chuckles, indistinct chattering.]
This the Tin Soldier group? [sighs.]
Just not him.
["Spark" playing.]
My eyes are open but I cannot see And I'm up and walking Still feels like a dream Until our eyes adjust, I guess We're only feeling in the darkness Oh, oh, oh - We just need a spark - Oh, oh - To light up the dark - Oh, oh I can feel you with me I can feel you with me - We just need a spark - Oh, oh - To light up the dark - Oh, oh I can feel you with me I can feel you with me We just need a spark [strumming.]
Oh, great.
The bailer.
Oh, great.
The traitor.
- Mindy Dobson.
- Miles.
[girl.]
Hi! Looks like I've landed myself in kindergarten.
This guy seems awesome.
- [Matteo.]
Julie.
- [Miles.]
Julie.
What's up, my fellow Little Red Riding Hooders? Did you bring crowns for the kids? Yep.
Awesome.
You seriously need a new joke, Matteo.
Should we start with a little brainstorming session? Great idea.
Um, maybe we should split up into pairs.
Uh, come up with a concept.
Love it.
I'll partner with Julie.
Sure, you need as much help as you can get.
- Hey, Miles, do you wanna partner up? - Sure.
Ah, best idea wins.
Wouldn't want it any other way.
I remember this story.
A boy has a broken toy tin soldier who falls in love with a paper ballerina.
Doesn't he think she's broken too, 'cause she stands on one leg? That sounds right.
And there's this manipulative jack-in-the-box who tries to keep them apart.
Sounds juicy.
Right? In the end, their love was so strong, they combined to form a tin heart.
- Aw.
- [chuckles.]
Well, the casting seems pretty obvious.
- Fine, I'll play the ballerina.
- [laughs.]
[laughs.]
You'll do it, right? It's perfect.
One-legged ballerina played by the dancer with a hurt ankle.
Yeah, of course.
It's just my dance moves are going to be limited.
We'll make it work with the story.
Fine, already.
You can borrow my tutu.
[chuckles.]
[scoffs.]
I know hate is a strong word, but in this case Don't be brokenhearted about it.
You can be the tin soldier.
[mutters.]
Seems more like the jack-in-the-box.
Ooh, salty.
I just think we're being too literal about this.
I mean, the two dancers in the group play the leads.
Shouldn't our performance be interpretive? Do you have any better ideas? Yeah.
Avoid Beckett for the next thousand years.
Well? Um - [girl.]
Yeah? - Puppets? - [girl mutters.]
- Okay.
Everyone in favor of Vanessa and Beckett playing the leads? [Azadeh.]
And me.
Great.
Then let's get to it.
[strums.]
[George.]
Now the story of The Ugly Duckling written by Hans Christian Andersen - deals with themes of transform - No way am I the ugly duckling.
I want nothing to do with the story that has "ugly" in its title.
Hello? I think that perhaps we're looking at this Well, I am not the ugly duckling.
I can't even be near a bird, let alone play one.
What? It's a phobia, it's real thing.
Jackson Gardner, I can assure you, there will be no live birds.
- Maybe Sasha should do it.
- [scoffs.]
Excuse me? 'Cause, you know, the whole theme of the story is transformation.
Exactly, Jenna Cristinziano.
- Transformation is a process - I know.
We get Park to transform our story into a better one.
- Yes, let's do that.
- [girl.]
All right.
But [strumming.]
[girl humming.]
So let's try to convey the longing that the soldier and the ballerina feel for each other when they're separated by the jack-in-the-box.
I know, I may be sounding a little repetitive, but seriously, the only thing I'm longing for is to get away from Beckett.
It might help if you guys look at each other.
[Bianca.]
There you go.
- You cool? - Of course I'm cool.
Why wouldn't I be cool? Of course I'm not cool.
You know what else isn't cool? Ignoring someone after you kissed them.
But I have to remain professional.
I can do this.
Pretending Sasha.
[door opening.]
That soldier isn't exactly steadfast.
[Bianca stammers.]
Is he coming back? Don't hold your breath.
[classical-style music playing.]
I love the tone of those last couple of phrases, Carly.
I've been imagining something slower.
[Carly.]
That's great.
We have to find a place for it too.
What if the three of us dance to a section of the story as Red Riding Hood? Oh, like, uh, the Red Riding Hood relay.
I can shift tempos for each dancer.
We can explore the shifts in Red Riding Hood's perspective as she sets out on the path, confronts the wolf and finally defeats him.
Great idea, guys.
I've got it.
Let's tell the story through a different perspective.
The wolf's.
The villain's perspective.
Shocking.
But no one's gonna go for it.
- Interesting.
It's subversive.
- [Matteo.]
Exactly.
We approach the classic story, with an anti-hero aesthetic.
[Carly.]
Hmm.
If the wolf's the hero, then could I play the evil angry grandmother? I've still got some pent-up anger about the Primas getting disbanded.
Our youngest playing the oldest character.
Feels pretty subversive to me.
I could play Red Riding Hood with some menace.
Uh, yeah, she could.
I love it.
I have some great ideas for costumes.
[Julie.]
Me too.
I can see the wolf mask in my mind, which I'll wear, if that's cool with you guys.
Wait.
Are people actually? You okay with this? Yeah.
Sure.
Best idea wins.
Right, Miles? - Mr.
Park, the story is childish.
- [girl.]
Yeah.
We have no connection to farm animals, and it's made us fight constantly.
- No, it hasn't.
- [Jax.]
Yeah.
See? - Do you all feel this way? - I do not, I love the story.
- It has a personal - [all groan.]
I connect with its themes.
Its themes of loneliness, of transformation.
- [girl.]
He's kinda right.
- And ducks? I'm sure if you look deeper into the story, you'll feel the same way.
And I'm sure I won't.
George, you're the only one who wants this book.
- It's called democracy, little man.
- [Park.]
All right.
- I agree with George.
- [all groaning.]
You've missed the point of the assignment.
It's about collaboration.
Making the source material your own.
- It's a story for little kids.
- So is Sleeping Beauty.
Didn't stop Angelina Jolie from doing Maleficent.
It's a lot harder to win this argument if you make good points.
[chuckles.]
Take another look at the story.
I will facilitate.
- [Jenna groans.]
- I'm an excellent facilitator.
Hi.
[sighs.]
This is ridiculous.
The story is called The Tin Soldier.
We need a soldier.
He can do it.
Yes.
No, I'm not a dancer.
I'm a musician.
At least you have two functioning legs.
More than some of us can say.
Okay.
Um here.
- Learn this.
- Ugh.
[guitar music playing.]
Drop your arm a little.
Why don't you go find Beckett? With all due respect to "Fred Astaire" over there, we need Beckett back.
So he can bail again? - That's his move, you know.
- How is bailing a move? It's a move when you bail on projects, dance partners, or girls after you kissed them.
Search up "bail" on Urban Dictionary and scroll down to see Beckett's face.
It's just what he does.
- I get it.
You guys had a thing.
- We did not have a thing.
No things.
Zero things.
Okay.
It's just I used to have the same issue with my ex getting in the way of my music.
- But I'm not a musician.
- But you're an artist.
And if we wanna be professionals, we can't run from complicated feelings.
We have to use them to fuel the art.
Well, I'm not the one who needs to hear this.
- Beckett is.
- I agree.
So go tell him, or you're gonna be stuck with Freddy over there.
[Azadeh.]
Yeah.
That's it.
[piano playing.]
[Matteo.]
This is the wolf's forest, right? She knows it inside and out, and that's why she feels that she can outsmart Red Riding Hood.
[Julie.]
Yeah.
We should design a set where I can appear everywhere, while I track Red Riding Hood.
I can get my hands on some plywood and two-by-twos.
We can build hidden entrances.
That way, you can disappear and reappear as you dance.
Nice.
Maybe the look is Bauhaus modernist.
I love it.
[snickers.]
Unbelievable.
This dude's taking the wolf thing way too far.
[Carly.]
You okay? I know it's hard to get ideas through when there's a couple in the group.
What? It makes sense that Julie would side with her boyfriend.
I'm her boyfriend.
Sorry.
I just assumed because - Well - [sighs.]
don't be sorry.
It's an easy mistake to make.
I just wish there was more for us to do.
They're building their forest and we're lost in it.
Yeah.
Maybe the way we can beat the wolf is to take away his forest.
Who's the wolf in this scenario? Him.
- If that's good with you.
- Well Hey, guys, come on.
I have an idea.
For the good of the group, Vanessa.
For the good of the group.
I don't care if you don't like me and I don't care if it's hard to dance with me because of it.
- Vanessa.
- No.
You've ignored me for the last how many weeks? If we wanna dance professionally, then there's gonna be times when feelings get felt.
- Sure, but I just - I'm not finished.
You have to let that fuel our dance.
I can't do that.
Then you're gonna have to come up with another solution, 'cause as much as I hate to admit it, you're a better dancer than Fred Astaire.
I am pretty much certain that's not true.
My point is, we need you back in the group 'cause it's an interdisciplinary project, and I don't know if you've noticed, but I can't dance.
What are you doing? I didn't leave the group, because I don't like you.
It's that I like you too much.
What? I've spent all day trying to put my baggage aside so we could work and you drop this on me? Could you be any more selfish? I've bounced around a lot.
Okay? City to city.
It's hard to get close to people and when I let myself, someone's always leaving.
And it's usually me.
Congratulations.
You're consistent.
I'm trying to apologize here.
Well, I don't need an apology.
I need a dancer.
[knocks.]
Come on, George, let us in.
- You may enter.
- George, I [water trickling.]
Please, sit.
No birds, okay? You'll trigger the bad place.
[sighs.]
Now I connected with the story because like the ugly duckling, I always felt left out for being different.
[snaps.]
I've always loved magic, the art of illusion.
But in grade school, kids would make fun of me by making my textbooks disappear or challenging me to escape from my locker.
But what hurt the most was that they didn't see it.
See what? My illusions were an attempt to connect with my audience.
To create a community.
Even if it only lasted until the performance was over.
- I think that's why we all perform.
- Exactly, Sasha Roy.
When I came to Keaton, I belonged.
Like, the duckling became a swan, I became an artist.
And I met other swans.
Would anyone else like to share? I figured we could have an entrance here and another one here.
Let me mark and tape that so we know how much plywood we need.
[strums chord.]
[Matteo.]
Miles, wanna keep it down? We're trying figure out the set dimensions.
[music playing.]
- Man, we trying to work here.
- Shh, listen.
[music continues.]
- That's cute, but I think we should - I love it.
It's like an audio forest.
Miles, you're a genius.
- This is so cool.
A set made of sound.
- Totally unexpected, right? I don't think we need plywood.
Best idea wins, right, Matteo? I guess someone just outsmarted the wolf.
[music resumes.]
And then everywhere I went people would just give me one look.
- And then, "Quack, quack.
" - [Sasha.]
Hey.
It's okay, man.
We've all been there.
Well, not there, there.
But close enough.
[Jax.]
Does anyone else wanna hold the sharing swan? [George.]
Or maybe we should just give up on this story and talk to Mr.
Park [others.]
No! You were right, George.
We're all ugly ducklings, in a way.
No, Scarlett Dunn.
We're all swans.
[Jenna.]
Now about the time I was mocked for over-plucking these magnificent eyebrows.
[voices humming.]
[indistinct chattering.]
[guy.]
Then they're just gonna tell us [Vanessa.]
Alya, let's do this.
You ready? You're gonna be great.
- Again, I've never really danced before.
- I talk, you listen.
[guitar music playing.]
Again.
So now, here's where things get a bit complicated.
You're gonna extend your arms like this and What are you doing? You need a dancer.
Here I am.
I think Fred was doing just fine.
I think he might be a better option.
[guitar music resumes.]
[sighs.]
Uh-oh.
[group applauds.]
Are we cool? Yeah.
Totally cool.
[upbeat music playing.]
Na-na, na, na, na, na, na-na - I wanna feel it - Ooh Na-na, na, na, na, na, na-na - I wanna feel it - Ooh Na-na, na, na, na, na, na-na - I wanna feel it - Ooh
Previously on Backstage Will you, Julie Maslany, let me take you out? [Julie.]
I'd love that.
Julie Maslany, are you a babysitter now? [Julie.]
Miles is plenty mature.
Aw, totes adorbs.
[Alya.]
What's Frances' deal? This is my life, not drama she can manipulate for a class project.
[George.]
I lost my wristband.
I'm useless without this.
I'm not great with change.
[Mindy.]
Carly isn't a Prima.
We're not dancing with her.
She tried to bribe us, but we're not that easily manipulated.
As of today, there are no more Primas.
Mr.
Bradstreet, aren't you supposed to be in Prima practice? [knocks.]
[Sasha.]
I can't believe he skipped.
You're amazing, Vanessa.
[Vanessa.]
You're not the worst, either.
[Vanessa.]
He kissed me.
Now he's tuning you out.
[Vanessa.]
I just don't know why he's acting like this.
What is happening right now? A literary explosion.
[both chuckling.]
Yay! Boom! [chuckles.]
[Sasha.]
Hey! Yellow books in the house.
- I believe, you mean school.
- Same dif, man.
But there is a dif.
You said "house.
" I mean, this is a school.
- Senior dance studio? - Me too.
Follow me.
[Helsweel.]
The more perceptive of you may have guessed, the books on your locker are color-coordinated for a reason.
Look around.
The people around you are your collaborators for the next few weeks, in which time, you will produce an interpretative performance of your story that marries dance, music, drama and visual artistry.
You will be graded by a panel of teachers that includes me.
Blue group, your story is that of The Steadfast Tin Soldier.
Google it.
So she's terrifying.
You have no idea.
[girl.]
Never heard of it, okay? [sighs.]
Uh, Bianca.
- Vanessa.
- Alya.
Nice to meet you.
Dance gods, couldn't you have put one of my people in this group? [chuckles, indistinct chattering.]
This the Tin Soldier group? [sighs.]
Just not him.
["Spark" playing.]
My eyes are open but I cannot see And I'm up and walking Still feels like a dream Until our eyes adjust, I guess We're only feeling in the darkness Oh, oh, oh - We just need a spark - Oh, oh - To light up the dark - Oh, oh I can feel you with me I can feel you with me - We just need a spark - Oh, oh - To light up the dark - Oh, oh I can feel you with me I can feel you with me We just need a spark [strumming.]
Oh, great.
The bailer.
Oh, great.
The traitor.
- Mindy Dobson.
- Miles.
[girl.]
Hi! Looks like I've landed myself in kindergarten.
This guy seems awesome.
- [Matteo.]
Julie.
- [Miles.]
Julie.
What's up, my fellow Little Red Riding Hooders? Did you bring crowns for the kids? Yep.
Awesome.
You seriously need a new joke, Matteo.
Should we start with a little brainstorming session? Great idea.
Um, maybe we should split up into pairs.
Uh, come up with a concept.
Love it.
I'll partner with Julie.
Sure, you need as much help as you can get.
- Hey, Miles, do you wanna partner up? - Sure.
Ah, best idea wins.
Wouldn't want it any other way.
I remember this story.
A boy has a broken toy tin soldier who falls in love with a paper ballerina.
Doesn't he think she's broken too, 'cause she stands on one leg? That sounds right.
And there's this manipulative jack-in-the-box who tries to keep them apart.
Sounds juicy.
Right? In the end, their love was so strong, they combined to form a tin heart.
- Aw.
- [chuckles.]
Well, the casting seems pretty obvious.
- Fine, I'll play the ballerina.
- [laughs.]
[laughs.]
You'll do it, right? It's perfect.
One-legged ballerina played by the dancer with a hurt ankle.
Yeah, of course.
It's just my dance moves are going to be limited.
We'll make it work with the story.
Fine, already.
You can borrow my tutu.
[chuckles.]
[scoffs.]
I know hate is a strong word, but in this case Don't be brokenhearted about it.
You can be the tin soldier.
[mutters.]
Seems more like the jack-in-the-box.
Ooh, salty.
I just think we're being too literal about this.
I mean, the two dancers in the group play the leads.
Shouldn't our performance be interpretive? Do you have any better ideas? Yeah.
Avoid Beckett for the next thousand years.
Well? Um - [girl.]
Yeah? - Puppets? - [girl mutters.]
- Okay.
Everyone in favor of Vanessa and Beckett playing the leads? [Azadeh.]
And me.
Great.
Then let's get to it.
[strums.]
[George.]
Now the story of The Ugly Duckling written by Hans Christian Andersen - deals with themes of transform - No way am I the ugly duckling.
I want nothing to do with the story that has "ugly" in its title.
Hello? I think that perhaps we're looking at this Well, I am not the ugly duckling.
I can't even be near a bird, let alone play one.
What? It's a phobia, it's real thing.
Jackson Gardner, I can assure you, there will be no live birds.
- Maybe Sasha should do it.
- [scoffs.]
Excuse me? 'Cause, you know, the whole theme of the story is transformation.
Exactly, Jenna Cristinziano.
- Transformation is a process - I know.
We get Park to transform our story into a better one.
- Yes, let's do that.
- [girl.]
All right.
But [strumming.]
[girl humming.]
So let's try to convey the longing that the soldier and the ballerina feel for each other when they're separated by the jack-in-the-box.
I know, I may be sounding a little repetitive, but seriously, the only thing I'm longing for is to get away from Beckett.
It might help if you guys look at each other.
[Bianca.]
There you go.
- You cool? - Of course I'm cool.
Why wouldn't I be cool? Of course I'm not cool.
You know what else isn't cool? Ignoring someone after you kissed them.
But I have to remain professional.
I can do this.
Pretending Sasha.
[door opening.]
That soldier isn't exactly steadfast.
[Bianca stammers.]
Is he coming back? Don't hold your breath.
[classical-style music playing.]
I love the tone of those last couple of phrases, Carly.
I've been imagining something slower.
[Carly.]
That's great.
We have to find a place for it too.
What if the three of us dance to a section of the story as Red Riding Hood? Oh, like, uh, the Red Riding Hood relay.
I can shift tempos for each dancer.
We can explore the shifts in Red Riding Hood's perspective as she sets out on the path, confronts the wolf and finally defeats him.
Great idea, guys.
I've got it.
Let's tell the story through a different perspective.
The wolf's.
The villain's perspective.
Shocking.
But no one's gonna go for it.
- Interesting.
It's subversive.
- [Matteo.]
Exactly.
We approach the classic story, with an anti-hero aesthetic.
[Carly.]
Hmm.
If the wolf's the hero, then could I play the evil angry grandmother? I've still got some pent-up anger about the Primas getting disbanded.
Our youngest playing the oldest character.
Feels pretty subversive to me.
I could play Red Riding Hood with some menace.
Uh, yeah, she could.
I love it.
I have some great ideas for costumes.
[Julie.]
Me too.
I can see the wolf mask in my mind, which I'll wear, if that's cool with you guys.
Wait.
Are people actually? You okay with this? Yeah.
Sure.
Best idea wins.
Right, Miles? - Mr.
Park, the story is childish.
- [girl.]
Yeah.
We have no connection to farm animals, and it's made us fight constantly.
- No, it hasn't.
- [Jax.]
Yeah.
See? - Do you all feel this way? - I do not, I love the story.
- It has a personal - [all groan.]
I connect with its themes.
Its themes of loneliness, of transformation.
- [girl.]
He's kinda right.
- And ducks? I'm sure if you look deeper into the story, you'll feel the same way.
And I'm sure I won't.
George, you're the only one who wants this book.
- It's called democracy, little man.
- [Park.]
All right.
- I agree with George.
- [all groaning.]
You've missed the point of the assignment.
It's about collaboration.
Making the source material your own.
- It's a story for little kids.
- So is Sleeping Beauty.
Didn't stop Angelina Jolie from doing Maleficent.
It's a lot harder to win this argument if you make good points.
[chuckles.]
Take another look at the story.
I will facilitate.
- [Jenna groans.]
- I'm an excellent facilitator.
Hi.
[sighs.]
This is ridiculous.
The story is called The Tin Soldier.
We need a soldier.
He can do it.
Yes.
No, I'm not a dancer.
I'm a musician.
At least you have two functioning legs.
More than some of us can say.
Okay.
Um here.
- Learn this.
- Ugh.
[guitar music playing.]
Drop your arm a little.
Why don't you go find Beckett? With all due respect to "Fred Astaire" over there, we need Beckett back.
So he can bail again? - That's his move, you know.
- How is bailing a move? It's a move when you bail on projects, dance partners, or girls after you kissed them.
Search up "bail" on Urban Dictionary and scroll down to see Beckett's face.
It's just what he does.
- I get it.
You guys had a thing.
- We did not have a thing.
No things.
Zero things.
Okay.
It's just I used to have the same issue with my ex getting in the way of my music.
- But I'm not a musician.
- But you're an artist.
And if we wanna be professionals, we can't run from complicated feelings.
We have to use them to fuel the art.
Well, I'm not the one who needs to hear this.
- Beckett is.
- I agree.
So go tell him, or you're gonna be stuck with Freddy over there.
[Azadeh.]
Yeah.
That's it.
[piano playing.]
[Matteo.]
This is the wolf's forest, right? She knows it inside and out, and that's why she feels that she can outsmart Red Riding Hood.
[Julie.]
Yeah.
We should design a set where I can appear everywhere, while I track Red Riding Hood.
I can get my hands on some plywood and two-by-twos.
We can build hidden entrances.
That way, you can disappear and reappear as you dance.
Nice.
Maybe the look is Bauhaus modernist.
I love it.
[snickers.]
Unbelievable.
This dude's taking the wolf thing way too far.
[Carly.]
You okay? I know it's hard to get ideas through when there's a couple in the group.
What? It makes sense that Julie would side with her boyfriend.
I'm her boyfriend.
Sorry.
I just assumed because - Well - [sighs.]
don't be sorry.
It's an easy mistake to make.
I just wish there was more for us to do.
They're building their forest and we're lost in it.
Yeah.
Maybe the way we can beat the wolf is to take away his forest.
Who's the wolf in this scenario? Him.
- If that's good with you.
- Well Hey, guys, come on.
I have an idea.
For the good of the group, Vanessa.
For the good of the group.
I don't care if you don't like me and I don't care if it's hard to dance with me because of it.
- Vanessa.
- No.
You've ignored me for the last how many weeks? If we wanna dance professionally, then there's gonna be times when feelings get felt.
- Sure, but I just - I'm not finished.
You have to let that fuel our dance.
I can't do that.
Then you're gonna have to come up with another solution, 'cause as much as I hate to admit it, you're a better dancer than Fred Astaire.
I am pretty much certain that's not true.
My point is, we need you back in the group 'cause it's an interdisciplinary project, and I don't know if you've noticed, but I can't dance.
What are you doing? I didn't leave the group, because I don't like you.
It's that I like you too much.
What? I've spent all day trying to put my baggage aside so we could work and you drop this on me? Could you be any more selfish? I've bounced around a lot.
Okay? City to city.
It's hard to get close to people and when I let myself, someone's always leaving.
And it's usually me.
Congratulations.
You're consistent.
I'm trying to apologize here.
Well, I don't need an apology.
I need a dancer.
[knocks.]
Come on, George, let us in.
- You may enter.
- George, I [water trickling.]
Please, sit.
No birds, okay? You'll trigger the bad place.
[sighs.]
Now I connected with the story because like the ugly duckling, I always felt left out for being different.
[snaps.]
I've always loved magic, the art of illusion.
But in grade school, kids would make fun of me by making my textbooks disappear or challenging me to escape from my locker.
But what hurt the most was that they didn't see it.
See what? My illusions were an attempt to connect with my audience.
To create a community.
Even if it only lasted until the performance was over.
- I think that's why we all perform.
- Exactly, Sasha Roy.
When I came to Keaton, I belonged.
Like, the duckling became a swan, I became an artist.
And I met other swans.
Would anyone else like to share? I figured we could have an entrance here and another one here.
Let me mark and tape that so we know how much plywood we need.
[strums chord.]
[Matteo.]
Miles, wanna keep it down? We're trying figure out the set dimensions.
[music playing.]
- Man, we trying to work here.
- Shh, listen.
[music continues.]
- That's cute, but I think we should - I love it.
It's like an audio forest.
Miles, you're a genius.
- This is so cool.
A set made of sound.
- Totally unexpected, right? I don't think we need plywood.
Best idea wins, right, Matteo? I guess someone just outsmarted the wolf.
[music resumes.]
And then everywhere I went people would just give me one look.
- And then, "Quack, quack.
" - [Sasha.]
Hey.
It's okay, man.
We've all been there.
Well, not there, there.
But close enough.
[Jax.]
Does anyone else wanna hold the sharing swan? [George.]
Or maybe we should just give up on this story and talk to Mr.
Park [others.]
No! You were right, George.
We're all ugly ducklings, in a way.
No, Scarlett Dunn.
We're all swans.
[Jenna.]
Now about the time I was mocked for over-plucking these magnificent eyebrows.
[voices humming.]
[indistinct chattering.]
[guy.]
Then they're just gonna tell us [Vanessa.]
Alya, let's do this.
You ready? You're gonna be great.
- Again, I've never really danced before.
- I talk, you listen.
[guitar music playing.]
Again.
So now, here's where things get a bit complicated.
You're gonna extend your arms like this and What are you doing? You need a dancer.
Here I am.
I think Fred was doing just fine.
I think he might be a better option.
[guitar music resumes.]
[sighs.]
Uh-oh.
[group applauds.]
Are we cool? Yeah.
Totally cool.
[upbeat music playing.]
Na-na, na, na, na, na, na-na - I wanna feel it - Ooh Na-na, na, na, na, na, na-na - I wanna feel it - Ooh Na-na, na, na, na, na, na-na - I wanna feel it - Ooh