No one was excited for the rehearsal after the first preview. Everyone knew that Gary would have plenty of petty notes to go over. At least the other directors would have an actual performance that they could compare to what the cast had done in rehearsals. Gary's notes tended to be ignored.

When Kasey got to rehearsal, four huge tables had been set up in the square, with a nametag and a packet of paper in front of every chair. 

Kasey searched for her name. She was sitting right next to Jess, and next to Ryan, the orchestrator.

The packet was filled with pages of notes. As Kasey was flipping through, she noticed that there were four sets of notes- one from Gary; one from Emmaline, the set designer; one from the stage manager, Jackson; and one from Kate Drescher, a dance captain. 

More Than Just the Spare- this is not Hamilton, those dance moves do NOT belong in this show. Keep it to choreography used in the waltz. Gary.

MTJtS- accent drop :) ~Jackson

First Time in Forever- accent drop on 'there'll be magic', careful ~Emmaline

FTiF- I know it's a quick change, but your entrance could have been cleaner. ~Kate

FTiF- out of tune with Jess ~Kate

Arendelle Waltz- where is the energy? you look like a sack of potatoes that someone tossed on the stage. Gary. 

Arendelle Waltz- You almost missed your cue, focus. This is not a chatting opportunity. Gary.

Love is an Open Door- cute, but make sure your silhouette still looks good, be aware of the spotlights and where they are ~Jackson

Great first act, Kasey! We have minor details, but they're not bad at all. We think that you'll be fine. ~Emmaline/Kate/Jackson

"Hey," Jess greeted when she sat down. "You did amazingly on the first preview, by the way. I didn't get a chance to tell you since I had to meet some people."

"Thanks! You did well, too. 'Let it Go' was so beautiful," Kasey said brightly. "Ready for notes?"

"Ugh, don't remind me. Who did yours?"

"Gary, Emmaline, Kate, and Jackson."

"Mine was Gary, Andy, Evelyn and Micheline," Jess answered. "Andy gives great notes, but Gary, on the other hand..."

"Honestly, same," Kasey laughed. "His notes are the least helpful."

"At least I got Andy and Micheline. Evelyn's good, too. I'm glad I didn't get Don Peters," Jess admitted.

"He's a little strange, but he's a good dancer," Kasey said thoughtfully. "Maybe next time Gary won't do our notes."

"I mean, I hope so."

"Alright, attention, cast!" Gary shouted. "I was disappointed in the first preview. It was sloppy and there was an extreme lack of enthusiasm onstage yesterday. I noticed a lot of choreography flubs and some people who forgot blocking. I expect better. Additionally, I want the accent slips down to none, Kasey, because you spent more than half the show in a borderline British accent that makes you sound neither American nor British. It's sloppy. Fix it."

"You didn't sound sloppy," Sebastian reassured Kasey, leaning over Jacob to talk to her. "I didn't even notice your accent. I only noticed it in 'More Than Just the Spare', but that's understandable. Don't worry about it."

"We're going to start with 'Vuelie' and give detailed notes for every song, and I will be calling people out. You deserve it," Gary snapped. "Now, flip your music up to the first page. Ensemble, those harmonies were horrific. Sopranos, it clashed so badly with the altos that I almost walked out right there and then. There's this wonderful thing called key signature that you all need to learn about."

Kasey glanced over at Elizabeth, Kaira, Danielle, and the other ensemblists. None of them looked very happy, and she didn't blame them. 'Vuelie' had sounded just fine- even yet, it was one of the best performances that they'd done. That said a lot. Gary just liked to look for mistakes that weren't even there.

Gary was yelling at the ensemble guys for 'Frozen Heart'. 

"It sounded like garbage! This is not a British boy band, this is Disney music, alright?!" Gary exclaimed. 

"Gary, you need to calm down," Ryan, the orchestrator, said. "Take a minute to appreciate what they did yesterday. It's not everyday that you go into first previews of a Broadway musical. Cut them a little slack."

"Slack didn't win anyone a Tony award. Now, ensemble, we're running 'Vuelie', and then we'll run 'Frozen Heart' until they're both perfect!" Gary shouted.

~~~~~~~~~~

When Kasey got home, Carleigh wasn't there. She was in Bandstand now. Kasey had gone to her friend's first show, and it had been amazing. Now that they were both busy, though, they didn't get to see each other as much as they'd gotten to before. 

Jace: want to get together sometime this week?

Kasey: i have preview rehearsals, and gary's kind of picky about attendance, but i'll see if there's a time that i'm free

Jace: how about tomorrow afternoon?

Kasey: i'll check

Kasey consulted her rehearsal schedule. 

Kasey: that should be alright, but i'm only available for a few hours. i have a rehearsal that morning and then a show

Jace: that's okay, i have spongebob rehearsal that morning too.

Kasey: sounds like a plan, where should we meet?

Jace: central park? i'll need fresh air

Kasey: that's fine, see you then

Kasey sighed. She had to get ready for another preview. She quickly grabbed a sandwich out of the refrigerator and stuffed her phone charger into her backpack. She also snagged Carleigh's Hamilton baseball hat on her way out. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The second preview did not go as smoothly as everyone expected. Gary was working backstage this time, to 'help' the ensemble with their opening songs. He then stayed afterwards to improve on everyone else's show. At least, he thought he was helping. In reality, he was just making it worse. He was in the way most of the time, and he made people almost miss their cues because he was yelling at them. Gary even made Elizabeth trip when she was running backstage for a quick change. 

Gary spent most of the preview yelling at the four leading actors- Jess, Sebastian, Jacob, and Kasey. Kasey was getting thrown off by Gary's presence in the wings, since every time she walked offstage, he would scold her for her apparent 'accent drops'. She knew for a fact that her accent drops had become less and less frequent since her Hamilton days. 

He even went down to the pit once to criticize their playing. 

Overall, no one in the show was happy with the second preview. At least they still received a standing ovation. From the audience, the mistakes probably weren't that major, but everyone in the cast knew that they would have a rough rehearsal ahead of them. And that was because of Gary.