Kasey watched the Tony Awards with Carleigh in the loft when the time rolled around. She hadn't actively looked up the nominations, but she'd heard that Dear Evan Hansen and Great Comet had been huge. 

"Who do you think will win Best Musical?" Carleigh asked.

"I don't know, from what I've heard, Great Comet seems like it's the Hamilton of this year," Kasey commented. "But I personally loved Dear Evan Hansen."

"Same."

Halfway through, Kasey got a text from Jace.

Jace: Kasey, I haven't been completely honest with you about myself.

Kasey: what do you mean?

Jace: I have depression, which is partially why I got so angry about the show. I should have told you earlier, I'm sorry.

Kasey: i don't know what to tell you

Jace: Just, try to understand. I'm really trying to be better about taking it out on people, and it's a pretty recent diagnosis. I didn't want to tell you because I didn't want you to see me differently.

Kasey: you know i've never judged people like that. i'm not upset, i just wish you could have trusted me.

Jace: Trust me, it's not about me not trusting you. It's about me not being comfortable in my own skin.

Kasey: i know what it's like. 

Jace: How?

Kasey: i spent most of school without my parents. people stared at me because i was known as the 'girl whose family died'. then at julliard, i was 'the british girl that took over drama class'. at hamilton, it was 'your foster parents died' and now it's 'you're the one who caused tangled's closing'. so i know what it's like.

Jace: I never meant for anything like that to happen. I overreacted and didn't do anything to change what happened. I'm sorry.

Kasey: it's not your fault.

"Andy's category is about to go up," Carleigh told Kasey. Kasey took a deep breath, turning off her phone. She focused back on the TV to watch the awards. 

They both cheered when Andy Blankenbuehler won for Bandstand, and screamed when they saw Morgan Marcell in the Bandstand cast.

Ben Platt's performance of 'Waving Through a Window' was astonishing. Kasey had heard that he was on vocal rest before the awards, which made what he did even more impressive. She wasn't even surprised when he won Best Leading Actor.

When Bette Midler won for Best Actress, Kasey was a little surprised. She hadn't heard much about Hello, Dolly, but she assumed that it was a good show. Then again, it was Bette Midler.

"That will be you someday," Carleigh said, nudging Kasey. "Not even someday. Next year."

"I think Jess is going to win, though," Kasey confessed. "Her 'Let it Go' is just amazing and I almost cry every time."

"If it were possible, I'd want you two to tie. I'm confident that at least one of you will get it, though. Frozen is basically a shoe-in for Best Musical and Best Orchestration. It's amazing," Carleigh told Kasey. 

"Thanks, I'm glad you have faith in it."

"Of course I do. Anything with you in it will go a long way."

"I could say the same thing about you."

~~~~~~~~~~~

The next day, Kasey had principle cast rehearsal with Jess, Sebastian, Jacob, Dylan, Reed and Quentin. The rest of the cast, including the four young girls, had the day off. 

"Alright, guys, this rehearsal is just for the leads. We're going to run through your songs first, work on some trouble spots, and practice some of the blocking," Ryan announced. "Gary won't be here today- it's just me."

"I want to start with 'For the First Time in Forever', so everyone else can just chill out," he continued.

After cleaning up the song, they moved on to 'An Act of True Love' which was the amazing quartet in the second act. It was a new song, but it was one of Kasey's favorite numbers in the show.

"I also want you all to be aware that rehearsals are going to pick up a little bit. We're in May now- we just have June, July and some of August before previews. Time is really ticking. However, I'm confident that we'll be ready. Don't worry if Gary yells at you. He's under a lot of pressure."

"You all are doing such an amazing job. Your leadership has really carried the cast and crew forward- I think without all the leads, no one would have wanted to stay on for this show. Thank you for your tremendous effort and perseverance. It's definitely not easy to handle Gary sometimes, but you're doing a great job."