Peggy on the Road

1 The Break of a Lifetime 1 2 Katherine Nelson 16 3 The Inner Sanctum 30 4 “Innocent Laughter” 41 5 Tryouts 52 6 “Why Don’t You Quit?” 66 7 Peggy Turns Detective 76 8 The Search...

“First of all,” May began, “_Innocent Laughter_ has only four parts for women.” She ticked them off one by one. “There’s the lead, a brilliantly successful career woman living i...

Stalkey nodded. “Yeah, that’s it. It sounds real corny today, but they actually did it, and Tom Agate was one of the greatest.” As he walked back and forth, from one corner of t...

All empty theaters had the same unmistakable odor. It was a combination of stale air and fish glue. The glue, Peggy knew from many long hours in summer stock, was called “sizing...

“It’s simple,” Pam said seriously. “Oscar Stalkey was wondering whom to get for the understudy, and I’m the fair-haired girl who came up with the right name. Is he ever impressed!”

Johnny walked them to the door of his office. “You do that,” he said. “And when you find Tom Agate, give him my regards.” He held the door Open. “Tell him for me that he was a f...

“I don’t even know _who_ she is. I don’t know whether they were divorced or not. But they parted years ago. As a matter of fact, I once heard that there was some bitterness ther...

Peggy felt it was time to interrupt. “Look here, you two,” she broke in. “If you’re quite finished talking about me as if I weren’t here, maybe we can get back to business.”

“I’ve seen it happen before,” May said thoughtfully. They were entering the third week of rehearsals, and Peggy had made it a habit to report to May every night. The older woman...

Peggy leaned her head against the backstage wall. She was tired but exhilarated. The past ten days had been the most wonderful of her life. Even the confusion and the discomfort...