The train stopped and the conductor yelled for people to get on board. Lu gave Ricky a quick kiss, climbed the metal steps, and found a seat, the way she had so many times when she and Pop used to go to Manhattan. She wished Pop was with her now. She wished Paulie was with her. For a moment she even wished Mama was there. She looked out the window and saw Ricky standing on the platform. As the train pulled out of the station, she waved frantically at him until he was out of sight. Then she opened the McCall's magazine and began reading as if her life depended on it.

The train trip to Manhattan was the longest one she'd ever taken. She knew she was having a massive attack of stage fright, and the problem was, this was her first experience with it. When she'd appeared in Maestro DiTullio's recitals, she'd seen other students become mindless with terror before they went on; some of them even threw up. She could never figure out why—she couldn't wait to get in front of an audience. But that was before Mama slapped her and Ricky warned her about making a bad impression. When the train finally roared into Grand Central Terminal, Lu's brain was frozen. There had even been a couple of times when she'd been afraid she might throw up. The conductor had to tell her twice that it was the last stop before she could make herself get off the train.

LU HAD NEVER played a real theater. The Children's Workshop performed in the auditorium at St. Mary's High School, and Maestro DiTullio held his recitals in the hall at St. Anthony's Social Club. Ricky had tried to prepare her for what she would find backstage at a professional house.

“The stage will be deeper than what you're used to,” he'd said. “The wings will be wider, and it'll feel like there isn't any ceiling when you look up. That's because they hang the backdrops and the curtains above the stage on riggings—the space up there is called the flies. Even though the theater where you're going to audition isn't a big Broadway house, it's going to seem huge to you, so don't let it throw you.”