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Federico reexamined the clouds, frowned, and headed for St. Mary Magdalene's to do his part.
* * *
It had become apparent, early on, that even the stadium would not hold all of the spectators. Federico
and Adriane had decided to put the stage near one end, and fill the other half of the field with "orchestra
seating." Except in the "VIP section" up front, that was a fancy name for wood benches. The elevated
stadium seating behind the stage was reserved for the musicians. Two tents flanked the stage; they would
be used as changing areas-cum-stage wings. The area immediately behind the stage was reserved for
props and special effect equipment, some of which was covered with tarps.
The hundred-piece marching band paraded onto the field, and then ascended to their section, joining
assorted down-time and up-time adult musicians. The cheerleaders were next, strutting out, swinging their
pom-poms, and shouting out, as a cheer routine, a highly abbreviated prologue. In the meantime, the
food concessionaire, Grantville Freedom Arches, was doing a brisk business, both on the field and in the
stands.
* * *
The first act was supposed to simulate a typical court dance of a royal court. The couples were masked,
but several were prominent members of the community. The most notable down-timer was the Imperial
Princess Kristina Vasa, who would be eight years old in just a couple of months. She was partnered by
the thirteen-year-old Count Ludwig Guenther of Schwarzburg-Ebeleben. In addition, young Emilie von
Oldenberg had managed to coax her husband, Count Ludwig Guenther of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, into
participating. The down-time ranks were filled out by various pupils of Federico, Adriane and Bitty,
notably the duchess-ballerina Elisabeth Sofie.
The up-time contingent included Timothy and Lisa Kennedy, who had learned swing dancing when they
lived in Baltimore, and Ed and Annabelle Piazza. The Piazzas had been active in community theater
before the Ring of Fire, and therefore were experienced in up-time theatrical dancing. Ed had even
managed to squeeze in a few lessons in seventeenth-century dances, sandwiched in-between his many
tasks as President of the State of Thuringia-Franconia. If he forgot a move, well, Annabelle was there to
back-lead him.
The first slow-fast pairing was of a pavane and a galliard. Just your usual seventeenth-century "top forty"
stuff. These were followed by a slow waltz, and a medium-tempo jitterbug. Finally, the masquers polka'd
off. The masquers who were not needed for other acts changed hurriedly, so that they could claim their
reserved seats in the VIP section and watch the rest of the show from there.
The torches were quenched, the stage crew rushed in, and half the stage was transformed from the main
hall of a court to the common room of a tavern. The other half depicted the street outside. A series of
loosely connected comic routines followed, some acted out by members of the high school drama club,
and others by down-timers.
In one routine, a husband and wife were standing out on the street. The husband, a printer, explained
that he had a "rush" job at the printing house. Off he went . . . to the tavern. There he and his buddies
were, drinking beer and flirting with the barmaids, when in came his wife, broom in hand. She chased him
around the tavern, much to the enjoyment of the others, and finally cornered him. She swung the broom
low; he jumped over it. She swung it high, he ducked. They repeated these movements; suddenly, it was
a dance. They stopped to catch their breath. He grabbed a mug of beer and handed it to her; she took a
swig. They both grasped the broom and danced around it, first one way, then the other. His buddies each
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invited a barmaid to dance, and they all did a peasant couple dance, and then another folk dance, which
progressed off stage.
Another number was clearly intended to poke fun at the up-timers' love of gadgets. Some men were
sitting at a table in the tavern. A newcomer, dressed in twentieth-century clothes, entered. The locals
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