“And Fritz?” I remind Cody. “At Grauman’s Chinese Theatre?” The tour guide told us that the famous theater has a resident ghost who’d worked at the theater years before and never left. Everyone there knows Fritz. They aren’t even afraid of him.

I look at Mike. “So who’s haunting this place? Do you know their name? Do they try to be in the scenes? What do they want?” My mom often says that when I get excited, I ask so many questions and don’t give the other person an opportunity to answer. But I just want as many facts as possible. I want to understand.

Mike chuckles. “I’ll try to answer as much as I can. Gather round.”

He gestures to a small couch near the craft services tables, and we sit. Well, Aubrey, Salmon, and I sit. Cody leans against the couch with a frown like he thinks all of this is nonsense. I also spy Paul down the hall. I remember that he wanted to speak to us, but now he’s deep in conversation with Monique, our show’s director.

Mike rubs his hands together. “First of all, Silver Screen Studios was founded about eighty years ago, during the golden age of movies. Back then, many of the films were big, spectacular productions—musical numbers, dancing, great costumes, the works.”

“I love musicals,” Aubrey gushes.

I give her an encouraging grin. Aubrey is a beautiful singer, but for whatever reason, she’s afraid to sing in front of other people. Her secret, deep-down goal is to be on Broadway someday, or maybe cut a record.

Mike nods. “Long ago, Silver Screen Studios was filming a big musical. There were two teen starlets, Betty and Ella, competing for the same lead role. The director couldn’t figure out which girl he wanted to cast, so he had both of them come to the first days of shooting, figuring he’d decide then.”

Cody makes a face. “That must have been rough.”

I agree. Casting is the toughest part of being an actor. That’s when you go to “try out” for a part. The competition is fierce. There are so many talented people competing for the same spot.

“It was day one of rehearsals,” Mike says in a low, spooky voice. “Betty and Ella were dancing their hearts out on this huge spiral staircase on the set. The director said he was going to decide which girl got the part after this particular dance number, so it was important they both did their best. Their feet were flying. The dance had them climbing to the top of the stairs. The music got louder and louder. Both the girls wanted to prove they deserved the role. But then…”

He takes a deep breath and looks around at us. We’re all on the edge of our seats.

“Then what?” Aubrey cries.