Backstagers and the Theater of the Ancients (Backstagers #2) , livre ebook

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82 pages

English

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After all the backstage ghost drama during Phantasm, things are quiet at St. Genesius Prep. Too quiet. But when that quiet is filled by a mysterious voice that haunts the Backstagers day and night, they set off on a globe-trotting adventure to discover the ancient secrets of the legendary artifacts of the theater. Can they solve the mystery in time to open their production of the rock musical Tammy? Each Backstager brings unique skills to the team: Mischievous Sasha is impossibly positive, no-nonsense Aziz makes sure everything runs smoothly, whiz-kid Beckett is a perfectionist through and through, flirtatious Hunter knows the backstage better than anyone, and sweet Jory can think his way through any problem. Effortlessly inclusive and full of adventure, The Backstagers and the Theater of the Ancients is sure to have readers calling, "Encore!"

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Publié par	ABRAMS BOOKS
Date de parution	19 mars 2019
Nombre de lectures	12
EAN13	9781683354833
Langue	English
Poids de l'ouvrage	5 Mo

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PUBLISHER S NOTE: THIS IS A WORK OF FICTION. NAMES, CHARACTERS, PLACES, AND INCIDENTS ARE EITHER THE PRODUCT OF THE AUTHOR S IMAGINATION OR USED FICTITIOUSLY, AND ANY RESEMBLANCE TO ACTUAL PERSONS, LIVING OR DEAD, BUSINESS ESTABLISHMENTS, EVENTS, OR LOCALES IS ENTIRELY COINCIDENTAL.
CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA HAS BEEN APPLIED FOR AND MAY BE OBTAINED FROM THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS.
ISBN 978-1-4197-3365-9 eISBN 978-1-68335-483-3
TEXT AND ILLUSTRATIONS COPYRIGHT 2019 BOOM! STUDIOS BOOK DESIGN BY CHAD W. BECKERMAN

THE BACKSTAGERS CREATED BY RIAN SYGH JAMES TYNION IV. THE BACKSTAGERS AND RIAN SYGH JAMES TYNION IV.
PUBLISHED IN 2019 BY AMULET BOOKS, AN IMPRINT OF ABRAMS. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. NO PORTION OF THIS BOOK MAY BE REPRODUCED, STORED IN A RETRIEVAL SYSTEM, OR TRANSMITTED IN ANY FORM OR BY ANY MEANS, MECHANICAL, ELECTRONIC, PHOTOCOPYING, RECORDING, OR OTHERWISE, WITHOUT WRITTEN PERMISSION FROM THE PUBLISHER.
AMULET BOOKS ARE AVAILABLE AT SPECIAL DISCOUNTS WHEN PURCHASED IN QUANTITY FOR PREMIUMS AND PROMOTIONS AS WELL AS FUNDRAISING OR EDUCATIONAL USE. SPECIAL EDITIONS CAN ALSO BE CREATED TO SPECIFICATION. FOR DETAILS, CONTACT SPECIALSALES@ABRAMSBOOKS.COM OR THE ADDRESS BELOW.
AMULET BOOKS IS A REGISTERED TRADEMARK OF HARRY N. ABRAMS, INC.
ABRAMS The Art of Books 195 Broadway, New York, NY 10007 abramsbooks.com
FOR THE ENTIRE COMPANY OF DEAF WEST S PRODUCTION OF SPRING AWAKENING AND FOR EVERYONE WHO WORKS TO MAKE THEATER MORE ACCESSIBLE FOR ALL
PROLOGUE
When you enter a theater to see a show, take your seat, power off your phone (hopefully), watch the lights fade, and see the magic begin, you probably think you are seeing a story from the beginning. It s a common misconception. Yes, if you think in the most basic terms, that two hours traffic of the stage will present you with a complete story from start to finish. But that s not the whole story.
When you enter that theater, you enter the history of that theater, from the day it was built through every production-triumph and flop-and every performance leading to the one you are about to witness. You also enter the history of theater itself , from its ancient origins through every innovation that has made your show possible. When the actors enter the stage, you are seeing every step of the journey that brought them there: the years of training, the failures and rejections, the glory of that one yes that got them to your theater on that day, the grueling weeks of rehearsal that prepared them to give that performance. You even see the effect that the very hours leading up to that night s curtain have had upon the actor. Those hours had some effect on you, too, and so you, and the actor, and everyone on the crew, and everyone seated around you bring that history into the theater with you. The play you see is a story from the beginning, but the act of seeing a play is very much a story beginning in the middle.
This book you are reading is also a story beginning in the middle. This is important to remember, because this story begins with two mysterious figures meeting under a full moon on some ancient hallowed ground, wearing stone masks contorted in the most monstrous interpretations of comedy and tragedy. It s an ominous scene, and anyone who happened upon it would likely assume the two were up to no good. But if they knew all that had transpired before this night, they would know that these two believed that they had gathered in this lonely, dark space to do the greatest good they could possibly do.

Just try to imagine it, said the comedy-masked figure. The voice that emerged from the stone mask s snarl of a smile was a young man s, full of wonder at the ancient ground on which he stood. It was a ruin perched on the edge of a jagged cliff, hanging over the black expanse of a surging cold sea. Rows of crumbling stone benches wrapped, arena-style, around a well-trodden half circle of earth. The rows faced what was left of a primitive proscenium stage cut into the edge of the cliff itself. The comedian s voice cut the atmosphere, because other than the ebb and flow of the sea below, the space was deadly quiet.
Just try to imagine what it was like to come here to see a play when no one even knew what a play was. When the only lighting was elemental-the sun, or roaring fires and the moon and the stars. When once the action began, no ringing cell phone or technical mishap could break the spell. It was pure theater. It must have been-
Magic, the tragedy-masked figure interrupted in the voice of a young woman. It was the real magic of the theater, and it s something we can t imagine, because we ve never known a world without all of those distractions. But hopefully we ll know soon enough.
She reached into her white draped robes and produced a weathered wooden box.
I can t believe you swiped that, the comedian said.
Borrowed, the tragedian corrected. We ve had this thing for generations; I don t understand why no one is actually using it.
Still, if management found out-
If we succeed in this, we ll be the new management.
Despite his hesitation, the comedian nodded solemnly.
Okay, he said. No turning back now.
The tragedian opened the box, revealing, for the first time in many, many years, a dark stone carved into a shape not unlike a handheld microphone. It was covered in strange sigils and glyphs from a forgotten language.
At that exact moment, in a part of the world where the sun was still high in the sky, the Backstagers all let out a terrified scream.
CHAPTER 1
Jory and Hunter were the first to crest the hill, as they had won the drawing to get the very front seat of the first car. They were followed milliseconds later by their friends Beckett and Bailey, Aziz and Adrienne, Reo and Sasha, and Timothy and Jamie, seated in pairs as the roller coaster car plunged downward at an impossible speed. Their screams turned to cheers and laughs, and almost as quickly as it had begun, their roller coaster ride came screeching to a halt and the Backstagers stumbled out of the car and on to the rest of what had already been a glorious spring day.
In case you are joining this story in the middle (of the middle), the Backstagers are an indivisible group of outcasts who form the backstage crew at St. Genesius Preparatory High School. Together they have had many adventures exploring the mysteries that lie beyond the Unsafe door that separates the normal world from the enchanted world of the backstage. Not enchanted like the way some lovesick guy sings about enchanted evenings in a musical- literally enchanted, as in monsters, portals, danger, and magic.
Those adventures had occasionally gotten them into terrible trouble but had also bound them as friends for life. There was Jory, the costume designer of the group who was perfectly average in every way, except that he possessed a magical notebook that could make any sketch he dreamed up manifest instantly into reality. His boyfriend of almost six months, Hunter, was the head builder and stage manager-in-training. Hunter towered above the others, both due to his impressive height and his mountain of thick brown hair, expertly molded into a perfect pompadour. Beckett, the master electrician, had shocking green hair, flashing black glasses, and a constant current of caffeine from the innumerable Diet Cokes he drank. Aziz, who could fix literally anything if he hadn t already built you a new one, was usually the stern voice of reason in the group, but today he was uncharacteristically giddy as he enjoyed a sunny day off with people he loved. His best friend from childhood, props master Sasha, was the smallest of the bunch, but his heart and energy were as vast as his giant blue eyes. The newest Backstager, Reo, was a real-life witch who was actually afraid of the dark, forests, and until recently when he helped save the others from a nefarious ghost, his own power. Timothy, a very tall, very thin, very blond senior and his bearded boyfriend, Jamie-shorter, rounder, and brunet-were the stage managers at St. Genesius and had led the group through all kinds of wonderful mayhem for the last few years.
This was the regular crew, but today there were also two very special guest stars: Adrienne and Bailey. Both were students at the nearby Penitent Angels School for Girls and both were theater kids, though Adrienne was a Backstager and Bailey was an Onstager-that is to say, an actor. It was always awesome when the Genesius crew got a chance to hang with the Penitent crew, but today it was extra awesome because recently, Beckett and Bailey had started hanging out as more than friends, and Aziz and Adrienne were full-out dating. The Backstagers tried to act like it was any other group hang, but with a new season and so much new romance blossoming all around them, love was undeniably in the air.
You know those times when you look around and realize you re inside a memory? Bailey asked, still catching her breath as she exited the coaster, her sleek dark hair waving in a fresh spring breeze. Like, you re aware as something is happening that you will remember it forever? That was one of those moments!
Bailey was known around the Genesius backstage as the Coolest Girl in the World, and she often said beautifully insightful things like that without even realizing it. It made you want to be around her. Beckett was all too happy to get that chance more and more as the days grew longer and warmer and they explored their relationship in a new way. Beckett and Bailey had been close friends since their freshman year together at Penitent Angels. For a while after Beckett s transfer to Genesius, they only got to see each other when Bailey would come over to play the female lead in the Genesius shows. There were a million excellent things about starting to think of each other as maybe more than friends, but the most excellent was definitely spending more time together.
Right now I m remembering that hot-dog-eating co