I don't know how it started. I don't know when it started. I only know when I realized that I wasn't like all the other boys. This is the true story of my first sexual encounter.
Before the budget cuts, my high school used to stage an elaborate outdoor theatrical production each spring. A professional set designer would be hired and long nights and weekends would be spent by the students and their dads to get the whole thing built. Rehearsals would start in February and run right up until the day before the show on the first of May.
My senior year we decided as a troupe to select a Kennedy Center Playwright Award winning show by a local playwright and musician. It was a musical about pirates, mostly about Jean Lafitte and his Baratarians who helped General Stonewall Jackson win a war. For my 18th birthday my parents had let me go to Washington DC with a civics class and we had seen this musical at the Kennedy Center. A couple of us were in drama and music and we all fell in love with the show. Because it had local ties made it all the more special.
The head of our theatre department was a relatively young teacher. Mr. Abbott was in his third year of teaching and directing for our school and he was open to young, wild, expressive ideas. He didn't think that The Pirate and the General was in a catalog yet, but he said he knew someone who knew the playwright. Preliminary discussions for the Spring musical were always held right after the Fall Drama Festival. But the discussions were pretty heated and we didn't come to a consensus before the Christmas break.
When classes resumed in January, the first afternoon all of the drama students gathered in Mr. Abbott's classroom to continue the discussion. We were already in a debate over whether "Pirate" would be as well received as something more popular, like "Oklahoma" or "A Chorus Line." Each of the other shows had huge ensemble casts and lots of great songs. We had a large number of seniors in drama and we all wanted that one last great song before we graduated. Mr. Abbott came into the room with someone we had never met, but I recognized from somewhere.
"Ladies and gentlemen, this is Layne Douglas, the man who wrote The Pirate and the General and winner of the Kennedy Center Young Playwright Award. He's here at my request. Let's give him our fullest attention." We all applauded and cheered as we sized him up.
Layne Douglas appeared to be scarcely older than us. He had fine blonde hair that he pulled back into a pony tail and was wearing a white collared shirt that tied in the front at the neck. It had long sleeves and French cuffs folded up his arms. He wore tight gray pants down below his knees and black leather boots from his knees to the floor.
No sash, no bandana, no eye patch, no sword, but Layne Douglas was all pirate.
"Thank you all for considering my musical for your Spring production. I understand some of you saw it performed in Washington DC. I would be honored if you decided to put it on, but there are a few conditions that I want you to be aware of. First, I am attired in the typical garb of the day. Young men, you must be comfortable in tights."
I had never seen a man in tights before and I didn't know anything about a dance belt, but I could clearly see the outline of his cock as it lay against his leg. I was a bit surprised that I caught myself staring so long at it. When I looked away, I could see many of the girls in the class still hadn't looked away.
"Second, I will be the musical director and choreographer for the production. I have written six more songs, two in the first act, four in the second. I have also included cannons in the sea battle and flying from ship to ship."
With more songs to fight for, and more action, all of us were mesmerized as we tried to visualize the scene.
"Third, I will be playing a part on stage with you. It will not be a lead role, but it's a vital role for the success of the show. I will play the part of 'Pirate with a guitar.'"
That brought it back. Now I could remember where I had seen him before. He had played the same role in Washington DC. All of the songs were accompanied by the playwright himself on an amplified twelve-string Applause guitar. He was great.
"Finale, before you decide, you must listen to the new finale." He nodded at Mr. Abbott who punched a key on his computer and we could hear forty voices bringing forth this wonderful tune about the sea and loyalty and thieves and fighting and victory. When it was over he waited for us to stop applauding before he continued.
"Are there any questions?"
Really there weren't. We had decided that "Pirate" was our Spring musical by popular acclamation and all thirty of us started firing questions rapid fire. Layne answered each one with a bit of smile and broad gestures with his hands. It was clear to me he was comfortable being the center of attention.
Mr. Abbott walked over to the desk where I was lounging and leaned in close, "I hope you try out for Lafitte. It would be the perfect capstone to your career here." I knew Lafitte was the primary male lead and had a solo and two duets. I also knew I wasn't the best voice in our cast. I said I'd try. Mr. Abbott slapped me on the shoulder and said he looked forward to it.
We received the music for the tryouts a week later. Casting would begin on Feb 1 and we only had two weeks to prepare. With a new show like this, you can't go rent a DVD of the Broadway production or watch it on AMC and get a hint on how it's done. This would be a cold read for everyone except those of us who had seen it done in DC. The show would have more than 100 roles. Some of the younger actors would be in several roles throughout the night. Some would be pirates in one scene and British soldiers in the next, then citizens in the second act. Everyone would be required to sing and almost everyone would be required to dance.
For the male actors, there were four lead male roles. There were also six "flying" roles where in the big battle fight before the finale, they would fly from ship to ship on ropes. These were highly coveted. I mean, who wouldn't want to fly?
For the female actresses, there were two primary leads and four secondary leads. Women of ill repute, Lafitte's mistress, and the mayor's wife. The auditions were scheduled for the entire first week of February with callbacks on Saturday and Sunday. The afternoon of the first audition the theatre was half filled. Almost 150 people showed up. Everyone who wanted to audition to be a pirate or townsperson was asked to fill out a form and turn it in. They were in. That left 30 people for the ten leads and smaller speaking roles. This is when the auditions get tense.
One by one each actor and actress got up, did a scene, sang part of one of the songs, and then did a cold read from different parts of the play with Layne himself. While they were auditioning, Layne was on stage, playing the guitar and giving encouragement. Occasionally he would stop a performer, give them a word or two of direction, and then let them start again. If the woman was singing one of the songs by Madame Isabella he would tell them to sing it deeper, more sultry, slower, and let it smoulder. For Lafitte's mistress, Catalina, he would try and get them to sing it simply and strong.
Finally it was my turn. I had chosen to sing Lafitte's Lament, the song he sings from the beach as he watches his ships burn at the hands of the British. I started by singing it softly, partly because that's the way I had seen it and partly because I am just not a good singer. I heard Layne stop playing.
"David, if I may interrupt for a moment," he said in a voice only I could hear. "I've seen THIS performance before. I didn't really care for it in DC. I never wanted Lafitte to bemoan the loss of his fleet, I wanted him to feel the righteous anger well up inside of him. As the fire burns brighter, so does his wrath. Does that make sense?" I nodded. "Start off the song with a declaration and then just rip it. Don't worry about the phrasing, it should be passionate. I wouldn't expect a blood-lust pirate like Jean Lafitte to have a singing voice, just a strong passionate one."
I looked at him and tried to understand what he was saying. What would Jean Lafitte say or think or feel if he saw his entire life's work going up in flames?
"There's a fire on the gulf that lights the sky like a sunrise" I half-sang, half shouted.
"There's a cry on the wind that means a man has just died." I felt the passion like a fire in my belly.
"There's a sigh on the shore when the victor is sighted."
"And there's not beach, cove or bay where the hunted CAN HIDE!" When I finished I was on the edge of the stage staring out at the other actors, there was a fire in my eyes and I was breathing hard. I had never felt that passionate about a song before.
The next day the audition sheet went up for that afternoon. The mayor and his wife, General Jackson and the ladies of the evening, the British commander, and Lafitte's sidekick, Beauregard St. Bonivenue. The auditions for Lafitte and his mistress were closed.
When I got to auditions, I wasn't sure who Lafitte was going to be, but I thought I had a good shot at General Jackson or St. Bonivenue. So I waited for my turn to read but my name was never called. I waited until all the other audtioners had performed and then I pulled Mr. Abbott aside.
"Sir, I never got a chance to read for General Jackson or St. Bonivenue."
"David, you've already been cast."
