All's Well

This opening night feels very different from prior ones. Usually, Miranda dreads this day, feeling immobilized by her pain and emotionally crushed. However, this time, she feels calm and strong. She arrives late, and her students seem shocked as they take in her salt-crusted dress and hair and her bleeding shin. However, she insists she feels wonderful, telling them “all’s well.”

Having lost the dressing room key, she kicks the door open for her students. Grace is conspicuously absent, so she informs them that Grace is resting at home. Miranda observes a full house but notices that the three front seats she reserved for the three men are still empty. The usher reports that guests with unfamiliar red tickets are demanding entry. Miranda instructs him to let everyone in and even cram in extra chairs by the fire exits to accommodate the overflowing crowd.

Backstage, a student reports that Briana is gravely ill, but when Miranda talks to her, Briana insists she can still perform. Shortly after, Fauve confronts Miranda about Grace’s absence; she is suspicious and threatens to call the police if she can’t locate Grace after the show. Miranda agrees that she must do so.