“Why did you buy a ukulele if you couldn’t play it?”
“I’ve always wanted to learn,” Gwen admitted, shifting to the much easier C chord. “It was only $20, it was on sale. It’s not the world’s best ukulele ––”
She shifted into F, followed by A-minor, but the latter chord had a rogue note stuck into it. Gwen held out the uke to observe her fingers.
“I see that” Eleanor commented.
“That was me,” Gwen said, referring to the note. “Maybe if I can curve my thumb around under the neck…”
“Why is everyone wearing the number 82?” Dania asked, as a waitress with a knotted-up jersey passed by their table.
“It’s the year it was founded. See?” Eleanor held up her menu, where the number was printed again, with the word “SINCE” imprinted into the bottom of the 2.
“Huh.” Dania looked back at the waiters. On one of them, walking towards their table, she could see the words “B-DUBS” printed across the chest, just above the number.
“You ever have those art pieces that you just sorta wander back to every time you’re here?” Dania asked.
“Like a favorite?” Eleanor said.
“Not necessarily a favorite,” Dania murmured, as they descended into the courtyard of marble statues that marked the beginning of the “American Art Before 1900” wing. “Just one that you like and you always go back to to each time you’re here. I don’t know if its any good, but it’s… a nice sculpture, I guess?”
It was Dania who had convinced the others to sit in the front row. Gwen typically preferred at least a row of distance between herself and the action, especially in a blackbox as small as the McKaw. But Dania was insistent.
“They wouldn’t put chairs out if they didn’t want people sitting there,” she said, excitedly bounding to the chairs just by the edge of the stage. “Come on, Gwen.”
Eleanor, impartial, followed Dania, and so Gwen tagged along. It meant she had to crane her neck upwards to see Olivia, when Chelsee Carter held court from her chair on the platform. But for most of the action of the play, the actors remained in the sweet spot at center stage.
The Hanslick Girls 