Ok, folks, let's get to that audition. Everyone ready to show Mammoth Pictures how to REALLY rock? ;)

Micky: You bet! :D

Mike: Let's get this revue off the ground! :)

Peter: I want to play! :)

Lauren: Yeah! :)

Davy: Let’s roll!

(The group walk into a room where several men are working on microphones and record players. The room is filled with instruments, sheet music, and chairs.)

Mike: We're here for the audition. We're....

Peter: The Eight Pearls Orchestra!

(Mike has to hide his smile. Emma twirls her own long beads, and Valerie smiles and fingers her pearls. ;) )

*Daphne grins, fingering her own pearls. Micky plays with Lauren's pearls...and receives a glare for it.* ;)

Man: (Smiles and puts out his hand) Nice name. I'm Jack Baker, the head of the music department (grins) and one of it's three members at the moment. Really, I just got the job because I like fooling around with mechanics and my sister was in despair I'd ever be able to do something with myself. ;)

Mike: (Shakes Jack's hand) Nice to meet you, Mr. Baker. I'm Michael Nesmith, and this is my wife, Emma. (Indicates Emma)

Emma: Nice to meet you, sir.

Jack: (Shakes his head) 'Jack' will be fine, ma’am.

Valerie: (Shakes Jack's hand) Valerie and Peter Tork.

(Peter gives Jack one of his bear hugs. :D)

Peter: Thanks for letting us audition! :D

Jack: (Panting when Peter lets him down) No...problem...son. :o

Micky: *laughs* Gotta watch out for Peter's hugs. ;) *grins; shakes Jack's hand* Micky Dolenz. *motions to Lauren* And this is Lauren, my wife.

Lauren: *smiles* Hi, Jack. :)

Jack: (Still breathing hard) Nice to meet you both.

Davy: Maybe we should get Jack a bag to breathe into. ;) *shakes his hand* Davy Jones and...

Daphne: *interupts Davy; also shake Jack's hand* Daphne Morgani. Nice to meet you.

*Daphne grins at Davy.* ;)

Jack: You guys aren't from around here?

Mike: You MIGHT say that... :p

Lauren: *mutters* No kidding.

Jack: So, did you bring any music to audition with, or do you want to use one of our house songs?

Mike: Um, we've got one of our own songs. Thanks anyway, Jack. (To the others) How about 'Cuddly Toy?' Davy and Daph can even dance, if they want. ;)

Davy: Would love to! ;)

Emma: (Nods) I know enough of it to get by. :)

Peter: "Cuddly Toy" is fun! :)

Micky: *nods* Sure, why not? :)

Valerie: I'm game. :)

Lauren: I'm up for it! :)

Peter: I think we'll need sheet music, though...

Mike: (Whispers) Someone go imagine us some! :p

Davy: I'll do it. It IS my song. ;) *sneaks away*

*Davy goes back into the hall, looks both ways, then makes sheet music appear in a muted dark blue light. He returns to the room with the sheet music in hand.*

Mike: Good. They even say "1927" instead of "1967." We'll just tell people we've been traveling around, playin' in dives...which isn't entirely a lie. ;)

Davy: Hey, I think of everything, Mike. ;)

*Micky scoffs.* ;) :P

Jack: So, what's the number, guys?

Mike: It's somethin' a friend of ours wrote for our own Davy Jones to grace with his presence, "Cuddly Toy." ;)

(Peter and Mike take acoustic guitars. Micky takes the drum set. Lauren and Daphne find tambourines and maracas as Valerie sits at an upright piano.)

Emma: (Whispers to Mike) What about me?

Mike: (Nods at Davy) Hey, Davy, wanna make this a duet? ;)

Davy: Sure! I love singing with pretty ladies. ;)

Emma: Aw, Davy... (Grins and blushes) :) :">

Davy: Anytime, luv. :)

Jack: (Turns on the microphones, which let out a burst of static) Everyone ready?

(He fiddles with the large record players.)

Micky: You bet! :D

Peter: I'm always ready to play! :D

(And so we go into our next romp, "Cuddly Toy." Davy sings the first verse, dancing alone. Emma joins him on the next one, a bit nervous.)

*Lauren and Daphne start off swaying to the tune.*

(They sing together, doing some soft-shoe. Emma begins to loosen up a bit as they dance. Mike watches her so intently, he almost misses a few notes.)

*Micky DOES miss a few beats watching Lauren swaying in front of him. She leaves Daphne, and goes around to stand next to him. Lauren picks up an extra set of drumsticks and helps Micky out.* ;)

(Peter shakes his head and sighs softly at Mike and Micky. Valerie tries to hide her smiles.)

(The song ends with Emma on Davy's knee. Jack stops the machinery and applauds.)

Jack: Very nice! You kids ever do the vaudeville circuit?

Mike: Sort of.

Jack: There's a couple of movies we could use a small band in.

Mike: What about "The Mammoth Revue?"

Jack: Well, we could use you for that...IF it even gets off the ground. :p

Davy: We heard something about gangstahs...

Jack: Buncha jackasses keep causin' trouble on the set. We've gone through two directors. The first one left in frustration, the second out of fear for his life. Curt Del Mar is fearless, I'll give him that. He said worse happened to him in his native France and that he won't give in to a bunch of low-life ruffians, or the French equivelent.

Micky: *smirks* Good for him. ;)

Jack: From what I've gathered, they may be considering shutting that production down entirely. The whole thing is just a bunch of skits with our contract players. Most of the studios have better or bigger movies in the works. I heard around town that Warners is doing something HUGE, and Fox and Paramount are in the midst of filming theirs, too.

Emma: (Nods) I'm a writer. Maybe I could somehow connect the skits into a plot?

Jack: We've tried that. Basically, it's just half the lot doing...well, what they do. We even have Nikki the Wonder Pup doing tricks!

Mike: Is there the possibility someone on the inside might be telling Big Eddie's men where and when the production will be filming?

Jack: (Sighs and nods) Yes, there is. I don't know why anyone on the lot would have it in for the "Mammoth Revue," though. Sound is the world of tomorrow. It's the future of film. We're putting out our last batch of silent films in October. Most people around here have either accepted this, retired, or gone back to wherever they started out.

Peter: Maybe we can help!

Jack: How?

Micky: We have our ways. ;)

Mike: Let's just say we've played detective before.

Jack: Guys, this isn't a Nancy Drew or Hardy Boys book! These are GANGSTERS! Bootleggers! Murderers! And who-knows-what else!

Valerie: We've handled worse. :p

Peter: Yeah! We put the Devil in jail!

Lauren: Ix-nay... :P

Valerie: (Puts a hand over his mouth) We helped put the female criminal "The Devil Woman" in jail. She was in charge of a kidnapping ring.

Mike: Trust me, a couple of gangsters ain't gonna scare us.

Jack: (Sighs) We're still waiting for word if the production's going to go on. In the meantime...(grins) you're hired, guys. :)

Emma: Yeah! (Hugs Mike, who just nods)

Mike: Thanks, Jack.

Micky: All right! *whoops* :D

Peter: Wow! We're gonna be in the movies! :D

Valerie: This is so exciting! :)

Daphne: This is great! :)

Jack: Ok, gang, we'll need you in an hour on the set of "Stage Door Girl," and you'll go from there to "Campus Cuties."

Mike: (Makes a face) What kinda names are those?

Jack: (Shrugs) The first one is about a girl who hangs around a New York nightclub, trying to get into the chorus. The second is one of those wild collegiate stories. Hopefully, by the time you've done "Campus Cuties," they'll have figured out what to do with "Mammoth Revue."

Lauren: Would be nice.

Jack: I'll walk you to "Stage Door Girl" and introduce you to some of the crew. You'll get to meet the actress, too, Caroline Harris. She's a bit of a pain to work with. Lives as high as Molly Martine, but isn't as pleasant the morning after. :p

Mike: (As they follow Jack across the studio) Who?

Emma: Molly Martine was the preeminent flapper actress at Mammoth in the late 20s. Caroline Harris specialized in gold-diggers and simpering good girls who want their fifteen minutes of fame...and NOW.

Micky: Can hardly wait to meet her. :P

Peter: Why wouldn't they be pleasant in the morning?

Emma: I read that they both were fond of rather...outrageous...parties, where people bathed in champagne, had origies, and did drugs...if the stories are to be believed.

Valerie: I've heard about some of this, too.

Mike: Swell. Sounds like a blast. :p

Lauren: *mutters* I guess times don't change much after all. :P

Emma: Ironically, though it was said that Harris partied harder, she ended up managing a decent supporting career at Mammoth and elsewhere after the nightclub-oriented musicals she specialized in went out of style. Poor Molly Martine fell complete out of vogue when the Depression hit and flappers started seeming awfully silly.

Mike: So, Molly Martine...

Emma: Ended up in a sanitorium, forgotten for the rest of her life. :p

Peter: Poor girl! :(

Daphne: That's awful. :( :P

Micky: Ouch. :P

Emma: Everything just happened too fast. Some silent stars did cope. Even Molly did for a while; her Toledo, Ohio accent fit her good-time-girl persona. Others couldn't, either because their voice or their persona didn't fit the suddenly changing times. And some just decided they were already rich enough and retired.

Mike: Like Velma La Blanque.

Emma: (Nods) From what I've read, she came from Romania and had a very, very thick accent that she either couldn't or wouldn't tone down for the screen. She retired to Paris with her then-husband Baron De La Tourne and stayed there until her death, and in fact, never acted again.

(They arrive at a large, box-like building. The area around the building is deathly quiet. Even the roof says "All air traffic please quiet your engines.")

Jack: Ok, kids. First thing you HAVE to remember is there must be absolute silence on the set, except for the actors and you guys. The microphones are extremely sensitive and WILL pick up any extra noises...usually before they pick up the ones we need. Oh, and watch where you step. If you blow out a microphone, we could lose a whole day's shooting. That's how damn sensitive the equipment is.

*Lauren quirks an eyebrow at Micky, grinning. He sticks out his tongue.* ;) :P

Jack: And it's not even as bad as it was when we started making part-talking films last year. If someone even breathed wrong into the damn microphones, they'd blow. They can move the camera around a bit more, too. They've started to use camera blimps.

Peter: Blimps?

Jack: Thick padding to keep them quiet.

Mike: PART-talking films?

Jack: (Nods) Before Warners did "Lights of New York," most of the studios experiments by putting sequences with sound into otherwise silent movies or movies that were silent with a syncronized score. Most studios have more-or-less stopped doing that. After the first couple of flicks, they stopped registering with audiences. The public wants either all sound, or no sound, and I can't say I blame them.

Emma: So, say, there'd be a half hour of movie, and then maybe twenty minutes of sound?

Jack: Sometimes as little as two or three minutes.

*Micky makes a face.* :P

Peter: What's "Lights of New York?"

Jack: The first movie that was completely all-talking. Warners put it out last year. It wasn't very good, but it made a mint anyway.

Mike: Because everyone's into sound, right?

Jack: (Shakes his head) No, because everyone's into novelty. It's something new and different, or at least, it WAS. People are starting to look more and more at the actual movies, and well...it's hard to do anything fancy with your movie when the equipment is this cumbersome.

Micky: Makes sense.

(He finally lets them onto the soundstage. It's set up to look like a typical elaborate nightclub, with fanciful Art Deco scenery where young women in short, feathered costumes mill around, working on steps, and a main floor where people in evening wear sit and chat quietly at tables. A tall, slender man with an eye patch stands and gets from behind one of the three huge, heavily padded cameras sitting at three different angles on the set. He goes up to Jack, nodding at the set.)

Man: We're just about ready for the rehearsal, Jack. (Nods at the kids) Who're these guys?

Jack: Little traveling band called the Eight Pearls Orchestra. Just hired them. Thought they'd make a nice nightclub band for the big "Runnin' Wild" number. Mrs. Nesmith (indicates Emma) will handle the vocals for the first chorus, then Caroline can take over the second, and the girls will do their routine after that.

Man: (Nods) I'm Larry Keller. I usually specialize in action pictures, but everyone and their grandmother's grandmother made at least one musical on the lot this year. I figured it wouldn't be long before my name got thrown in the hat. Besides, I have some (looks at one luscious blonde girl sitting on the center step of the "nightclub stage") personal interest in this film.

Peter: How'd you lose your eye?

Valerie: (Shakes her head) Peter...

Larry: (Shrugs) I get that question all the time. Car accident while shooting a movie in the Valley. It wasn't fun. I lost my footage AND my eye. :p

Micky: That's awful. :P

Larry: (Mutters) Wish I could have at least kept my footage. I got some damn good stuff that day. :p (Out loud) I can see enough to film just fine. :)

Lauren: That's good, at least. :)

Blond Girl: (Puts her hand on her hips) And can we get this started while WE can still see? We've got to rehearse. We'll be filming this number in an hour!

Larry: We'll be starting in a minute, Car. (Nods) Ladies, gentlemen, this is Caroline Harris, one of Mammoth Studio's major up-and-coming stars.

Caroline: Charmed, I'm sure. (Cozies up to Larry) Well, honey, are you ready?

Larry: Of course, Caroline. We just need to give the kids the music.

Caroline: Of course. We wouldn't be able to do a musical without it! (Giggles a bit too hard; some of the other chorus girls roll their eyes)

Emma: (Makes a face and goes to Lauren) Someone's tryin' to work herself up the corporate ladder the EASY way. :p

Lauren: *mutters* No kidding. :P

Emma: She didn't even try for our guys. They aren't far enough up in the studio hierarchy to make her a full-fledged star (grins a little), thank goodness. We've had to fend enough love-crazed females off our men.

Lauren: Yeah. I don't really feel like beating off another woman off Micky with a stick. Thanks goodness for small favors. :P

Emma: I'm wondering who could be in league with the gangsters. It could be anyone on the lot. Jack seems nice enough, but if they promised him more leeway with his machines...or even better machines...he might go along. Same thing with Larry. Caroline would probably jump into the lap of the first man who promised to make her a star.

Lauren: *small grin* I could definitely see that happening with Caroline. ;) *shakes her head* It could be ANY of them.

Emma: We'll have to keep a close eye on everyone at the rehearsal.

Lauren: Right.

(The girls finally join the others at the circle of chairs, instruments, and music stands just off the set.)