Billy répond, arguant un sourcil quizique en réponse à la question de Maddie. Déjà, Roméo attirait plus d'attention qu'ils ne l'avaient promis. Même les membres moins enthousiastes de la cast paraissaient frappés par les canines joyeusement grésillantes. Mais il décide qu'il est probablement préférable de donner à Romeo de la place pour courir, de peur qu'il ne se vante. Au moins de cette façon il sera hors de leurs cheveux pour la durée de la réunion. Billy espère juste qu'il n'aura pas à gérer les rideaux mâchés. Dans un mouvement lisse, il tombe à un squat à côté de Roméo, et décroît la tête. L'effet est immédiat. Comme une chauve-souris hors de l'enfer, Roméo s'approche de l'arrière du théâtre, des clous fraîchement cloués tapotant un rythme erratique contre le plancher de bois franc; et s'il se branlait, Billy pouvait presque voir un nuage de poussière de dessin animé qui traînait derrière lui.
Billy se contente de planer autour des franges de la conversation, mais se calme sans caractère quand la carte finit par atterrir dans sa main. Il le lit une fois, deux fois, les yeux scrutant au-dessus de la boucle, le texte violet comme il tenait une sorte de secret qui change le monde. Est-ce la chance qu'ils attendaient? Un miracle pour arracher Abracadabra! De retour des griffes froides et impitoyables de la mort? Il parvient à peine à supprimer un rire incrédule, le refoulant dans ses poumons, et le transforme en toux beaucoup moins visible. Billy ne veut pas avoir trop d'espoirs - c'était juste flirter avec le désastre - mais ça sonnait comme la vraie affaire. Il y a juste un petit problème - un mois n'a pas été beaucoup de temps pour préparer une performance du tout.
Un mois... Il fait écho, les dents s'inquiètent à sa lèvre inférieure. Tout le monde a dû jouer son rôle, rester concentré, et si rien ne s'est mal passé, ils pourraient faire en sorte que cela se produise. Si quelque chose s'est mal passé - il n'y a pas grand-chose qu'il puisse faire à ce sujet, n'est-ce pas? Billy se penche contre la scène, les bras croisés lâchement sur sa poitrine. Ils n'ont pas eu assez de temps pour trouver quelque chose d'original, mais ils ne pouvaient pas non plus retomber sur un classique essayé et testé. Ses pensées retour à la note leur mystérieux bienfaiteur les avait laissés, à trois mots en particulier - « prendre un risque ». Mais il n'a pas d'importance ce qu'ils choisissent s'ils ne parviennent pas à faire de ce spectacle un succès déchirant.
À vrai dire, Billy ne connaît pas grand-chose au théâtre. Il avait malheureusement passé une bonne partie de la Littérature à obtenir un peu de silence. C'était inévitable, vraiment. Quand vous deviez prendre soin de deux jeunes frères et sœurs, travailler à temps partiel, et aller à l'école tout en même temps, vous dormiez quand vous le pouviez; mais il se souvient juste assez pour rédiger une opinion de sa propre.
Billy commence, gesticulant vers Ziggy et Noah dans un mouvement large et balayant pour l'accent. Pendant un moment, il s'arrête, arrange ses pensées en quelque chose de plus concis. Gardez-le simple - le script, l'ensemble, tout. Un mois n'est pas assez de temps pour construire quelque chose de fantaisie, pas quand il ya tellement d'autres choses à traiter.
Après cela, il s'affranchit, et se grouille autour du cou pour chercher Roméo, ce qui explique probablement qu'il finisse par sonner un peu distrait. Mais je suis cool avec les appels d'un inspecteur. Sinon, le piège de la mort ou l'attente de Godot pourrait être bon. Juste mes deux cents.
Male | 31 | Homosexual
𝗔𝗣𝗣𝗘𝗔𝗥𝗔𝗡𝗖𝗘
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Billy Halford stands at an impressive 6’2”, though with his tendency to slouch, he usually appears a little shorter than he actually is. It’s mostly out of laziness, and his posture is terrible; shoulders rolled forward, hands stuck deep in his pockets. Pretty much the only time he grows to full height is when he feels threatened, and has been known to be truly terrifying when he does so. Fortunately, however, this side of him is not something people see very often.
Turquoise green eyes always seem to glimmer with something akin to amusement; and these days, Billy can often be seen chewing away at tabs of gum in an attempt to break a near-lifelong smoking habit. While he used to be a tad insecure about a crooked front tooth, he’s long since gotten past it. He likes to keep his dirty blonde hair cropped close in a messy undercut, though it inevitably grows out into a loose shag when he forgets to pay a visit to the barber. While he prefers to stay clean shaven, he often gets lazy and gives his scruff free rein. Upon closer inspection, one will also find a light smattering of freckles across the bridge of his nose and cheekbones. Other than that, he does have a few notable scars. One of which is an inch or two under his right eye, stretching from the top of his ear, and another, smaller one cutting vertically through the eyebrow. Both of them were from a fight he’d gotten into a couple years back, where he ended up with the pointy end of a broken bottle to the face. Additionally, the surface of his skin is peppered by a maze of tiny battle scars, most of them souvenirs from past altercations.
That said, he’s not super built, but still pretty solid, and it’s largely due to his genes rather than trips to the gym. He’d almost have a swimmer’s physique, but lately, it’s been softened by one too many Big Macs, though he likes to think his latest part-time gig as a mover keeps him fit enough. His voice, as is befitting of his appearance, is a deep, rumbling timbre, but Billy doesn’t quite sound like he used to, after years spent away from his hometown. Most of the time, his accent can be described as generic - bland, even - a monotonous mix of North and South. In times of extreme emotion, however, he reverts back to the lazy, slack-jawed inflection characteristic to a native of the Appalachias.
‘Accidental Hipster’ is probably the best way to describe Billy’s non-existent fashion sense. He doesn’t put much effort into keeping up appearances, but somehow, still has a knack for turning his déshabillé to his advantage. When it gets chilly, he resorts to heavy flannels and/or ugly woollen sweaters. Paired with his positively ancient jeans and work boots, the whole aesthetic almost seems to scream ‘lumberjack’. On warmer days, well, he dresses exactly the same - except instead of hideous, moth-eaten sweaters scavenged from the thrift store, it’s ratty, old t-shirts and wifebeaters. Billy also seems to wear a lot of jewelry for a guy, though it’s mostly leather and beaded bracelets, steel rings on his fingers, and of course, those douchey seashell necklaces.
𝗣𝗘𝗥𝗦𝗢𝗡𝗔𝗟𝗜𝗧𝗬
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Billy enjoys a bottle of whiskey on the weekends, loves his dog a little too much, and could probably do with seeing a barber more than once every six months. But for all his tactlessness, he really does mean well. When he asks a question, he really does want to know the answer, and when loves, he loves pretty ferociously. His sense of humor, however crude, will never fail to bring a smile to people’s faces, and even if that doesn’t work, his laugh is deathly infectious. Billy is one of those guys you hate to love, and he knows it well. Even so, he can be unpredictable, adamant, and dislikes making commitments, especially those he is not sure he can keep. But whatever one might be led to believe, he’s an extremely passionate, and emotional person. When he truly takes interest in something (or someone), he puts all of himself into it, and momentarily forgets about everything else.
This, however, means that he is very bad at relationships – really, really bad. He often comes as pushy and overly aggressive, in both his work and his life outside of it. One of Billy’s defining traits is his volatility, though he’s mellowed out a little with age. No longer does he get into barfights (well, less than he used to, anyway), but he still makes a point of saying what he thinks, and will rarely sugarcoat his words to win people over. He’s never uncomfortable; in fact, his boldness often verges on brash and crosses into downright crude, thanks to his lack of a filter. If he likes something, he'll let you know it, and if he doesn't, well, he's never been shy about voicing his opinion in that matter either. Try as he might, Billy’s never really had the best poker face in the world, and it tends to give him away, more often than not.
If there’s one thing he can’t stand, it’s being talked down to. Of course, this isn’t to say he’s all bad, just that he’s hard to like. He does have a few soft spots here and there, even if they aren’t exactly the easiest things to find. Yet for all his flaws, he’s never met a boundary he wouldn’t cross, and he’ll go to the absolute ends of the Earth for you if he thinks you’re worth it. Billy is, by nature, extremely impulsive, both in the things he does and says. As far as he’s concerned, life’s too short to just sit around and let shit happen. He often states that no one should take life too seriously because in the end, everyone ends up in the same place - even if he doesn’t believe what he’s preaching. At the very core of his personality, Billy is kind of a bleeding heart, and often puts the needs of others above his own.
Not many people know this, but Billy is deathly afraid of horses, courtesy of a rather unfortunate incident during his teenage years. Fortunately, horses aren’t something you see very often in the city. The next one’s a little less obvious, but he’s terrified of becoming his father, and what he’s going to do if everything with Abracadabra! ends up falling through.
𝗟𝗜𝗞𝗘𝗦 & 𝗗𝗜𝗦𝗟𝗜𝗞𝗘𝗦
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✓ French fries
✓ Dogs
✓ Coffee
✓ Warm weather
✗ Broccoli
✗ Horror movies
✗ Vodka
✗ Horses
𝗛𝗜𝗦𝗧𝗢𝗥𝗬
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Born the oldest of three children in rural Kentucky, childhood wasn’t quite as picturesque for the young William Halford as most others’. His father, like everyone else in town, was a coal miner who spent more of his free time getting drunk at the local bar than taking care of his son. His mother, meanwhile, managed to juggle two different jobs at the same time. Suffice to say, Billy didn’t exactly grow up surrounded by sunshine and rainbows. But still, that was something he genuinely wanted - a loving, close-knit family, just like one of those obnoxiously American Norman Rockwell paintings he’d seen in the pages of his textbooks. His father’s idea of a bond with his son, however, was keeping the women he brought home a secret from his mother, while she thought quality time with Billy was handing him a list of chores to do as she spent her afternoons bussing tables at the local diner, and her nights at the gas station.
It wasn’t long before his father took off up north with a rouged-up tart on his arm. For a few years, Billy, his siblings, and his mom got by. He had to grow up fast, of course, but he never blamed his mother, not even for a second. Carol Ann Halford was a real good parent, if you could look past the fact that she wasn’t much of a parent at all. She was still his mother, and she worked her ass off to keep a roof over their heads. Most days, Billy tried to convince himself that having no father was better than having a drunk, deadbeat loser as one. There were people all over the world who had a hell of a lot less, and Billy knew he had to count his blessings each night and say a quick prayer to whoever it was that listened, if anybody at all. That, of course, left Billy to take care of his siblings while she was away, and he was a good sport about it, too - never fussing, never complaining - at least up until high school, anyway.
In school, he started to struggle, both academically and socially, though if he had to be honest, he saw that shit coming from a mile away. As his grades slipped, his frustration grew, and soon, he began to take his anger out on the people around him. There were too many things about him that could be picked on for his liking, and so he grew louder, more boisterous, and was forever throwing the first punch in a fight. You had to be living under a rock to not know his name, in fact, and Billy loved every second of it, no matter how many times he was sent to the principal’s office, knuckles bruised and bleeding. Everyone was divided when it came to Billy - you either loved or hated him, and oddly enough, he was okay with that. It put him on the map and gave him the attention he craved; the attention he lacked. Back home, his mother was none the wiser, too busy with trying to make ends meet to pay any heed.
At age seventeen, Billy found himself with no real higher education prospects. He was uninvolved in extracurricular activities, uninterested in his studies, and shovelling horse poop at a neighbour’s farm for a few dollars a day. For all intents and purposes, it looked like he was heading down the same path everyone else in town did - that of a coal miner. It was a respectable living, sure, but did he really want to spend his entire life stuck in a dank cave somewhere, chipping away at rocks? But his siblings were getting old enough to take care of themselves, weren’t they? It wouldn’t hurt to take a week out of his life for a short holiday. And so, with what money they could scrape together, Billy and a few friends embarked on a trip NYC, as one last hurrah before they finally settled into a life of mundanity. Once they got there, however, things were a whole lot different from what they saw on TV. By the end of their second day there, Billy and his friends had gotten thrown out of more places than he could count for causing a ‘public disturbance’.
Billy’s first brush with show business (if it can even be called that), came in the form of a bespectacled casting agent from a modelling agency. I know what you’re thinking, but however hard it might be to believe, he did use to be the hot, young thing once. Instead of returning home with his friends at the end of the week, he signed a contract with the modelling agency after an audition. For a while, that was what he did - editorials and runway modeling. It was easy enough to stand around and look pretty, but no one ever fell over themselves to book him for a show. Still, he earned enough to get by, and every month, he would send an envelope filled with some money back home. Of course, nothing lasts forever, and when his problem with authority started to catch up, job offers slowly dried up.
Billy eventually turned to various odd jobs to keep himself afloat - moving furniture, mopping floors - he even worked as a morgue technician, at one point. In search of his next meal, he ended up auditioning for a bit part in an commercial. Not exactly the most exciting stuff, but it wasn’t hard to smile, look surprised, and act like the simple act pouring a drink was instead an insurmountable mountain, impossible to anyone but the most nimble of humans beings. The director was apparently sold by Billy’s ‘blandly handsome’ appearance, and called him in to do another commercial for some strange, mechanical mop.
It’s around this time that Billy starts to lose it, his accent; the accent he hadn’t even realized he owned. It flavored his words with an odd, downward lilt that people noticed immediately, their attention shifting from what he’s saying to how he’s saying it. At first, they say it’s charming. That he is charming. That it’s a ‘quaint’ little accent, like they’re speaking to a child. After that, they say other things. Things in the ballpark of ‘uneducated’ and ‘uncultured’, without being so obvious. No one took him seriously. How can they, his housemate argued, when you sound like that? He started to bleed it out after that. Loud, rough words smoothing themselves out into something that’s a bit more monotone, a blend of North and South that made him sound like nothing at all. As soon as he started doing that, he managed to pull together a semi-stable career as a commercial actor.
During one of the many dry periods in his life, Billy found himself sweeping floors at The Lawrence Theatre. That was also how he found out about Abracadabra!. Come to think of it, they were probably pretty desperate to fill their ranks, at that point. He still doesn’t know what possessed him to audition, but lo and behold - he actually got the gig through an impromptu, acoustic rendition of Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door played on a badly tuned guitar he found in the depths of the janitor’s closet. Truth be told, he didn’t even know that was a possibility. The schools he’d went had been ridiculously underfunded, and any art or theatre programs were but a far-off dream. Well, that was what he had to do now, anyway. And you know what they say - there’s no time like the present.
𝗧𝗔𝗟𝗘𝗡𝗧𝗦
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● Accents - Billy has a real knack for accents. Most acquaintances don’t even realise he’s from Kentucky until they hear how he sounds completely shitfaced.
● Singing - He’s actually pretty good at singing, just that he still has a bit of trouble with actually projecting his voice across the room. Billy doesn’t like to tell anyone, but he spent a good part of his childhood as a choirboy at his town’s congregation. Billy’s vocal color can be categorized somewhere between a dramatic and lyric baritone.
● Sturdy - Billy handles most of the heavy-lifting in Abracadabra!. It’s no sweat off his back, really, he’s been doing that kind of thing for a long time. And if he ever ends up getting into a fight, he’s happy to note that he still packs a mean right hook.
● Quick-witted - Billy is quick-witted, able to think incredibly fast on his feet. While his long-term planning isn’t quite up to par (read: terrible), he’s rather good at making split-second decisions that rescue him from sticky situations.
𝗪𝗘𝗔𝗞𝗡𝗘𝗦𝗦𝗘𝗦
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● Untrained - Billy’s never had any formal training in acting, and it shows. In fact, his approach to most things can be summed up with an age-old adage: “just wing it”. It’s been getting him by well enough, but how long that lasts is a question that’s yet to be answered.
● Tactless - Diplomacy is a huge problem for him, and he makes a terrible habit of saying the wrong thing at the wrong time. Try as he might, he’s never really had the best poker face in the world, and it tends to give him away more than not.
● Stubborn - Above all else, Billy values his pride. His facade of confidence is (mostly) unwavering, and he likes to think of himself the alpha dog in any social situation he’s in. Even in the most dire of situations, he rarely resorts to asking for help.
𝗥𝗢𝗟𝗘𝗦
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Supporting Actor - Billy’s acting isn’t anything to write home about, but he can still follow stage directions and say his lines. Most of the time, what he ends up doing is more of a glorified bit part than anything, but his skill at accents comes in handy for that.
Stagehand - When he’s not on stage himself, you can often find Billy running around backstage, moving props, setting up lights, and making sure no one gets killed and/or maimed by any falling scenery.
𝗠𝗜𝗦𝗖.
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● Billy owns a 2 year-old rescue dog named Romeo. He's a mutt, mostly Rottweiler and American Bulldog, but he loves him all the same, because come on - look at that face.
● Benjamin Coffin III in Rent, or Adolfo Pirelli in Sweeney Todd.