Today had been a good day. He had not needed to go into the Ministry for even a moment. It was definitely a great start to the week. Instead, he’d had obligations that he much preferred. He was almost done with the final changes on his latest musical. Already it was in rehearsals to be performed at the Palace Theater this summer. The opening show was only a few weeks away. It was the first time that this musical would be performed at all, since he had very recently finished it. But as always, seeing it come to light on stage would be an unforgettable experience. It always was. There was nothing quite like that feeling.

But there was nothing like the nerves leading up to opening night either. He knew that it was good enough for Palace Theater to want to show it at all, which was something. But there was no way of knowing for sure that the audience would be receptive to it. There was no way of knowing if it was going to end with booing or applause until the night actually came along. And he knew that there was little reason for him to stress about it. He could not change it or guarantee that everyone would like it. He could just do his best to make sure that everyone was sufficiently prepared.

Obviously, he was not the director or anything having to do with that side of the production. Once the musical was in their hands, it was out of his. But he had told them that he could come in if they ever wanted his take on it, or if any of the actors wanted any advice or opinions on their character in particular.

And that was why he was here today. Michael had a meeting with the lead actress—Graciela De la Vega. She was someone that he had not worked with before, but he had heard nothing but good things about her in passing weeks. She was playing the main character, a woman by the name of Silence, who witnesses a murder. Executing a mystery on stage was a lot more difficult than it was in writing, but he thought it could be pulled off. The entire story followed the murder, its coverup, and the investigation that she starts up herself to find answers. There was no more important role in the entire show, so he was glad that they had a chance to meet. He wanted to be able to answer any questions that she had.

He did not know the rehearsal schedule, but the stage was empty as he headed down the rows of chairs. This meeting could have been scheduled hours before the rest of the cast would get here, or perhaps they had been here hours earlier. There was no way to know for sure, and that didn’t matter today. Michael dropped down into the front row of seats, figuring he was early and that she would be along eventually.

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Graciela loved being an actress. It was so much more natural and fulfilling than the work she did with la seva mare. Valentina De la Vega was an absolute icon--and working at Vexed was fun, but gossip and scandal was just entertaining. The stage was so much more than that. It was beauty and passion and escape. Graci could become someone else. She could draw beautiful, powerful reactions out of the crowds. She could see the thoughts in their mind so vividly sometimes that she was sure she felt what they felt watching her. Being a natural legilimens was not exactly like being an empath, though. So she did not actually feel the emotions the audience felt, but having the rush of thoughts come over her, especially since she had lost pretty much all of her control of her talents since she lost her other magic, it was almost like feeling what they felt. It was certainly intense.

She kept what she could do private, though. People at Beauxbatons had known, but that was mostly because she had been put into occlumency lessons really early on to try to be taught how to shield herself from the onslaught of other people's thoughts. They had also made her take tests alone so she wouldn't cheat. But no one at the Palace knew...and she wanted to keep it that way. She used her ability to hear the thoughts of others to manifest herself as exactly what the directors wanted. The choice earned her a series of leading roles.

Including, the new musical the Palace was preparing by the illustrious Michael Parkinson! Heathers and Spring Awakening had both gone smashingly. Her rendition of Veronica had earned her wide praise the publications--not even only in Vexed. Truly, she wasn't sure her mother had even ran any of the pieces about the play. Musicals and theater were not really what most of the magazine's readers cared about.

Whatever, it didn't matter. Val was not standing in her way--and that was practically like supporting her. Graci skipped out of the Vexed offices and hailed a cab over to the Palace. She was meeting Michael Parkinson today. She wanted to get more of his commentary on Silence. The director had encouraged her to embrace the character, but had given very little direction so far on what his vision for the woman really was. So, hopefully, between her interpretation and Michael's intention, Graciela could craft a portrayal that would blow the director away.

The petite Spaniard sashayed down the low aisle. All smiles and cascading waves of long blonde hair, Graci walked over to where a young man was sitting. "You must be Michael Parkinson," she declared, her natural Catalan accent lacing the words. A delicate hand was extended to him. "It is a pleasure to meet you. I am truly quite the fan. Crown in the Dusk is so poignant." It was most impressive for him to have such success so young, but Graci knew the same was true for her. She had only studied in Barcelona for two years before she come to London to visit family and for her role in Spring Awakening. But she had her 'talent' to thank for some of her quick success, but she could not have done it without her natural voice talent. Her range, even with only minor voice lessons over the years, was incredible. She could always improve with training, but she had a wealth of natural talent. The same had to be true for Michael Parkinson.

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He had loved to write for as long as he could even recall. Not everything got to see the light of day. Most of it didn’t, actually. The only writing of his that had ever been published or performed in any way had been his most recent musicals. The poems from his Hogwarts days, his short stories—those were all hidden far from view. There were a few journals of poems from darker days. Pieces that would likely worry anyone who read them, and those were hidden even better. He was not at risk of acting on any depressing thought that sprung from those bad days. If anything, he thought that writing them down helped. It helped to get them out of his mind and onto paper. Or so he had found, anyway.

It was for the best that nothing, but his musicals saw the light of day. Michael was just glad that people seemed to enjoy them. He knew that musicals were not everybody’s taste to begin with. And even then, his musicals tended to be a little different than most. They tended to be a little bit darker, tended to have some amount of social commentary if he could pull it off without it being too pointed, and it was always up in the air whether or not there would be a happy ending. He wouldn’t let the audience down and make everyone cry for no reason—but if a story called for a more depressing ending, then he wasn’t afraid to give it. If it called for a happy ending, then of course he had no problem giving the audience that either. Though, admittedly, he had more bittersweet endings than he did purely happy. That just tended to be how his pieces worked.

Silence The Midnight Hour did not have a happy ending. He didn’t think that anyone would necessarily expect one with a title like that. Silence would find the answers that she was looking for by the end of the second act, but not without loss along the way. He had toyed with the idea with the perpetrator of the coverup killing her when she got too close to those answers. In the end, he had decided against it. Instead, they kill her husband as a warning of what would happen if she kept on investigating.

But it would be her husband’s murder that would give her the evidence that she needed to track them all down. It was bittersweet—she found justice for those who had been killed, but her quest to do so added the name of someone that she loved deeply to that list. He was most interested in meeting the actress that was going to be playing Silence. He would give her any advice she wanted, but he also wanted her opinions. And he was curious if she had any ideas on her own portrayal of that crucial scene: the one where she finds her husband.

“It’s nice to meet you, Graciela,” he smiled, taking her hand to shake it. “Thank you—I appreciate that. Did you get to see it while it was performed here?” He asked, curiously. He didn’t know how long she had been at the Theater, or in London. He supposed it was possible that she had seen it before working here.

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