The Actor By Abby

To act is to live, she thought while spinning slowly to better her vision of the theatre. The sats where the audience would sit were hardly visible in the darkness. Yes, to change your personality, give the gift of entertainment, to be loved by all, THIS is the life.

Since the age of 6 and through her childhood, Matilde Valdivia wanted to be an actress. She was born to a family of 7 children, and with older siblings, younger siblings, and more that would come, she always felt forzed in the middle. Nobody had the liberty to break the sense of seriousness; there was too much work. "Don't make those faces, little girl! My goodness, you won't achieve anything in life if you are always imagining that you are someone else. Wash the clothes!" The penetrating voice of her mother was always in the background of Matilde's thoughts. But Matilde escaped from that prision and now, years later, and just graduated from a university of drama, Matilde was following the deepest dream of her heart.

"You are the new Prima Donna, right?"

The resonating voice caused the woman to turn in alarm, the folds of her dress swishing with a soft whisper. The voice originated from an old man that was doubled over from years of working in the cellars under the stage. "Yes, sir... pardon me, but..who are you?"

"Mr. Victor." He bowed his head, that was suffering from baldness. "I have worked in this theatre for a long time, child. It's a pleasure to meet you. Everyone says that you will be our new star,that you will attract the masses." He gave her a wrinkled smile. Matilde blushed, but said nothing. Such praises, she hadn't even sung or acted yet! After a few minutes of silence, the man's face brightened. "I forgot." he said, and produced a pile of papers. "The director asked me to bring you this manuscript. It's for the new opera Of Dreams. You play the part of Sophia. The part is perfect for you!"

Matilde frowned. "Of Dreams? I just talked with the director, and she told me that we are going to do Faust. I didn't hear anything about what you are talking about."

Victor interrupted her. "Sorry, she made a change at the last minute. She feels that the manuscript is going to be better for you." He gave her the manuscript. "Practice begins at 7 every night, and the opera will open in three weeks. Good luck." and with that, he bowed and left, leaving the girl confused and alone.

The following day, Matilde appeared for the first practice, so nervous that she was surprised at the welcome that she received. The choir introduced themselves, 20 or more young girls who nearly tripped over each other in their anxiousness to meet the Prima Donna. The director of the choir gave her as much praise as the timid girls. Little by little Matilde became comfortable.

She was taked with the choir, answering the many questions that came from every angle, when a man, more or less the same age as her, with dark hair and eyes to match, entered the group. He saw her and extended his hand. "Hi." He smiled. "You must be my girlfriend."

Some giggles from the choir.

A blush from Matilde.

"Excuse me?" She asked him.

"Oh, I think I need to explain." said the man. "I'm Bruno. I play Roberto in the opera." Matilde's face was expressionless. "Um, we are lovers in the opera, aren't we?"

Matilde's eyes dialated in realization. "Oh! Of course." She took his hand. "Yes, yes, delighted to meet you, Bruno. I'm Matilde. You are right. I play Sophia, your girlfriend."

He nodded his dark head of hair in satisfaction. "I have heard that you sing very well."

"I don't know if I sing that good, sir." She lost herself when Bruno's mouth opened to reveal a brilliant smile.

"Don't underestimate yourself." Bruno answered. "Honestly, I think that we are going to work well with each other. I anticipate with pleasure when I will hear you sing."

Something was different about him, nothing physical, but a feeling, and this feeling caused her heart to flutter. The entire situation had a dream- like quality about it, confusing and exciting. First, she had gotten the position of the Prima Donna, she was receiving so many compliments, and now, the more surprising element, a man who appeared very interested in her. So much to believe. So, she decided to take advantage of every moment until she awoke. She touched Bruno's hand.

"Yes, Bruno. I think so too."

The three weeks passed quickly and before the actors could realize it, the last rehearsal had arrived. The stagehands where in a state of panic, running across the stage, preparing the backgrounds and polishing the lights. The entire choir was practicing harmonies, almost as nervous as the Prima Donna, who passed them, followed closely by the Lead Tenor, laughter floating in the air. Immediately the music converted into gossip.

The two stars hid themselves behind a curtain, waiting for the yell that they knew would come when the director noticed that they were not practicing. They could not hide very well, since the two always were laughing. Bruno leaned against the wall, and tucked aside the locks of his hair that was obstruction his sight. "Are you excited?" He asked her.

Out of breath, Matilde adjusted her costume that was adorned with glass jewels, and lifted her eyes to see him. In three weeks she had learned much about this man, and every day she was learning something new. He wasn't like the other men that she had known in her life. He was intelligent, kind, always the gentleman, and by accident, one day, she discovered that he was born in the same town as she, Cantalejo. She felt a connection with him, and, she could confess, that she was in love with him. But Matilde didn't know if Bruno was in love as well. So she simply smiled and gave him her hand. "I am trembling, I am so nervous."

"Don't be nervous." He responded, although he was trembling as well. He carressed her hand. "I am sure that you are going to be fantastic, outstanding, enchanting, and more..." She blushed. It seemed that she was blushing with more frequency these days. It was obvious her reason for behaving this way. If only... "Don't worry." Said Bruno, and Matilde was torn from her reverie.

Matilde gave him one of her best smiles. "Thank you, Bruno. You are always so good to me."

"That's the way I prefer it."

A long silence had passed between the two when they heard a shout sounding in the distance. "Where are the stars? I told them to perform the final scene, and what do they do? They run off!" Together Bruno and Matilde peeked out their heads and saw Director Muñoz, who was having a fit.

Matilde sighed. "Let's go, Roberto." She did an extravagant curtsy and left from behind the curtain, Bruno following behind her.

The director was furious when she saw them. "Ay, we open tomorrow and you two..." She snorted, but gave Bruno the bronze ring used for the scene and turned to direct the choir and the orchestra. "Get ready to perform the song, The Proposal."

Bruno and Matilde found their spots, and waited for the scene to start. Bruno knelt down on one knee, and smiled widely, obviously in a jovial mood. "Sophia, tell me, are you ready to knock them dead?" If there was a hidden intent in his words, Matilde didn't notice them.

The music started and she winked. "As always."

The next evening, the crowds had formed a long line to see Of Dreams. Rumor had it that the new star, Matilde Valdivia, had the sufficient talent to become a diva of the opera world. Nobody could deny the rumor, the lovely woman sung with a voice of an angel. Her trill was comparable to that of a nightengale, high and sweet. With every explosion of applause, it was clear that Of Dreams, and the Prima Donna, were box office hits.

The third act was nearing conclusion, the audience nervous in their seats. In the final scene, Roberto had returned from the land of fantasy and now was searching for welcome in the arms of his lover, Sophia. The woman that waited for him watched while Roberto kneeled down on one knee. The choir resounded:

The doors of heaven are open And the soldier is nearing, The love that he left deserted, for his promise is now waiting.

The limelights were pressing down on the pair, the heat intense, raising the feeling of anxiety. Bruno, like Roberto, contemplated the beauty of the figure covered in extravagant clothing, crimson silk, adorned with glass jewels. He sang:

Sophia Woman that is my life So long I have been lost Sophia Now I return to you For I promised to be yours

The audience gasped in unison when the tenor raised the golden ring, the diamond solitaire set in it surpassing the brilliance of all the lights and false gems on the stage. A silence followed. Matilde, in a state of shock, forgot her character of Sophia and, suddenly aware of the people in the seats, leaned down towards Bruno. "This isn't the ring that we have always used." She whispered.

She only received a smile and a phrase mummured to her in return. "I await your answer after the final curtain."

And with that he slipped the ring on Matilde's finger.

The choir, with its final verse, dissapeared in the background and to Matilde, the applause of the people was only a breath in her ear, vague and indistinct. The only person that mattered to her was the man in front of her: Bruno.

The curtain fell, and everything fell into shadow. The audience was shouting for an encore, and the choir was congratulating each other, but the two stars were deaf to the world.

Matilde laughed.

The night was filled with celebration for the opera and the engagment of the two stars. Glasses of red wine and sherry were passed around in honor of the occasion, and by dawn, songs from the drunken choir could be heard in the streets near the theatre. Matilde and Bruno were besides themselves with joy, and they hardly paid attention to the comments from the director and the others. The lovers only had eyes for each other.

Finally, tired and in good humor, Matilde and Bruno arrived at the doorstep of her house. The rays of the sun made everything appear like gold, the light reflecting on their faces. In this scene the two seperated so that Matilde could rest before the second presentation of Of Dreams. Bruno left her with a kiss and sweet promises, and although Matilde knew that they had another presentation that very night, she had the feeling that she would not see Bruno again for a long time, almost as if everything was surreal, the climax before the tragic end. But she forced those thoughts from her mind and prepared to fall asleep and dream of her new future with Bruno.

In the afternoon, after a good rest, she entered the theate, refreshed and anticipating when she would be able to speak with Bruno again. Forgetting the warnings of her heart earlier that morning, Matilde emerged on the stage and was surprised to see that the scenes for the opera had been dismantled and the stage was empty.

She was meditating of the significance of this when Mrs. Muñoz entered from the door to the right. Matilde was relieved to see a familiar person that would have the answers to her questions. "Director!" she exclaimed.

"Aha! Miss Valdivia, there you are..." The woman said with a smile. She quickened her pace and the tail of her ancient dress trailed behind her. "I was hoping I could talk to you this afternoon. We need to discuss your schedule so that we can organize the practices of Faust."

"Faust? So early? We just started the presentations..." Matilde didn't finish her sentence. She was completely confused.

Muñoz appeared confused as well. "What are you talking about...what opera?"

"Of Dreams." Matilde answered, frustrated that the director couldn't remember anything.

"Of Dreams? I haven't heard of it. And you say that we presented this...Of Dreams... last night?"

"Yes, it was a great success..." Matilde was at the point of crying, beyond confusion, now frightened.

There was a long silence. Finally, after thinking, Mrs. Muñoz spoke. "Are you crazy?"

The young lady laughed loudly, almost as if she really was crazy. "This is a terrible joke...I know that we presented it. I have the manuscript, and Mr. Victor said that..."

The expression on the director's face turned grave. "Mr. Victor?" She whispered.

"Yes, an old man that works here. He brought me the manuscript." Matilde replied uneasily.

The color left the director's face. It was obvious that she was alarmed. "Child," she said quietly. "Mr. Victor died 20 years ago."

Matilde couldn't speak. The revelation of this ridiculous fact caused her to reconsider everything that happened the last two weeks. The only this she could do was blanch.

At this minute someone appeared on the stage. Matilde heard the footsteps behind her, but she didn't turn to see who it was.

The director, happy that someone was interrupting the strange conversation, welcomed the newcomer, "Mr. Guzman, you are early." She motioned towards Matilde. "Miss Valdivia, I want you to meet our new tenor, Bruno Guzman."

At the name of this tenor, Matilde whimpered, turned, and embraced him so fast that the man couldn't do anything but be surprised. "Oh, Bruno. I am happy that you are here. Everything has changed. I think that this is a joke or that I am in a nightmare... I don't know which... It's all so confusing. But now I know that what she said isn't true because you are here now..." The poor girl continued talked not to convince him, but to hope for the impossible. In her mind, she feared that if she stopped talking, her love would disappear. "I am not crazy, I am not crazy..." She muttered.

A moment passed in whih noone spoke. The director simply watched the situation, worried about the sanity of her Prima Donna. Bruno looked for someone that could explain what was happening while Matilde tightened her grip on him, murmurring barely audible prayers. Finally Bruo interrupted the silence with a nervous laugh. "Pardon me, miss, but I think that I am not the Bruno that you know."

Matilde winced, now totally convinced that this was reality. It appeared that the past two weeks, full of so much emotion, didn't not exist, although Matilde felt that inside of her that something did happen, because she still couldn't admit to herself that she was crazy. The pain in her heart was testimony to that. In time, maybe she would understand what happened. but first she needed to face the present.

Matilde smiled weakly and seperated from Bruno, laughing to show that she was not upset. "I'm convincing, aren't I?"

Mrs. Muñoz and Bruno watched with with looks of incomprehension.

"It was an act." She lied.

The director and Bruno paused for a second, and to the relief of Matilde, Mrs. Muñoz started laughing with her. "Oh, child, you are very talented. For a moment I thought you were drunk or something." The woman and the man appeared amused. "Good. Bruno, this woman is our new Prima Donna, Matilde Valdivia. She will be a good addition to our cast, don't you think?"

In a playful manner, he made a dramatic bow. "It's a pleasure to meet you, miss." He kneeled and took Matilde's hand. "And yes, I think that you will be a perfect addition here." he said, laughing.

Matilde did not say anything for when Bruno took her hand, she noticed the gold ring with the diamond solitaire on her finger. The ring that, in another time, Bruno gave her. Grateful that she had this symbol for memory's sake, Matilde watched the man in front of her, in the same position on the same stage where she proposed to her, and a tear trickled down her cheek. With a feeling of deja vu, she began to sing quietly:

The doors of heaven are open And the soldier is nearing, The love that he left deserted, for his promise is now waiting.

Bruno smiled at her. "How beautiful." he said in a hushed tone. "What is it from?"

Matilde felt an emotion that she could distinguish, but she knew, for some reason, that everything would be okay. They had the opportunity, one day, to fall in love with each other once more. With this hope, she gave Bruno a gentle smile. "It's from an opera, Of Dreams."