*Ellie*

This was it, I thought to myself as I stood onstage with my fellow actors. We were at the very end of our dress rehearsal before the big day tomorrow. Today, we were performing ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ with the full costumes and all the music and effects, but with no audience aside from the theater workers and the crew. Tomorrow was the real deal, our opening night when we would have a full audience to watch us perform.

The final scene was a beautiful mix of ...