Remember, Dad and I are both working late tonight.
Dinner's in the fridge, 350 for 20 minutes.
You excited about that field trip today?
ELLA'What a beautiful theater.
I don't think I've been back there since...
Yeah, since we took you and Zoe to see Annie.
That was such a fun day.
You two girls belting out "Tomorrow" on the way home.
And your dad went and got those magic beans
and put that awesome beanstalk in the backyard.
-I was listening. -Oh, she speaks.
It's a miracle.
Oh, hey, there's Zoe now.
-Mom, what are you-- -Wait, I...
I was just gonna say hi.
No. No, me and Zoe aren't friends anymore.
Yes, I know you're not as close as you used to be...
We're not close, period.
She's all about her clothes, and the tennis team,
and her amazing new bestie.
Listen, I'm... I'm sure that's just a phase and--
I don't wanna be friends with her.
I just...
I don't know, let's not talk about Zoe anymore.
Okay, love you.
MS.Okay, guys, listen up. For your performance pieces,
it can be a... poem,
it can be a monologue.
It can be a movement piece,
just so long as it's about you.
I want you to lay your souls bare.
MS.Okay?
Now, for today's field trip.
As theaters go, the Fox is hallowed ground.
So, I expect everyone to be on their best behavior.
I'm gonna do an interpretive dance about Alan.
That's my tortoise. I named him after Alan Turing,
you know, like the father of AI.
My Alan's smart, but not like Alan Turing smart, obvi.
Do you have pets?
-I have a dog. -MS.Ella and Sydney?
Do you mind chatting some other time?
Oh, not at all.
MS.Um, okay. Off to the buses, everybody.
Um, Ms. Cornish?
I was wondering if I could write something
-and submit it to you-- -Uh-uh.
This is a performance class.
Everybody performs.
Off to the buses.
Come on.
Every architectural detail
was painstakingly recreated after the fire of '38.
All based on the original blueprints which, if you care to see,
are on display in the upstairs lounge.
-So boring. -Sadly, the fire claimed
the lives of an acting troupe
that was rehearsing at the time.
Behind me, you'll see a tribute to their memories.
-Ella's been staring. -Speaking of which,
who here likes ghost stories?
If you join me in the theater,
I'll tell you a ghost story that will make you shake in your shorts.
She keeps staring.
It's rude to stare.
I wasn't staring.
Kinda were.
But I wasn't, I was just looking at something behind you.
What? Was it a ghost?
It's said the spirits of these dead thespians
haunt the theater to this day.
Legend has it, they're looking to pluck the living
and drag them into their phantasmal acting troupe...
forever.
Late at night, their wailing can be heard emanating
from this very stage.
During a 2014 production of The Music Man,
the lead actor was so spooked, he quit the show.
I won't divulge his name.
But it rhymes with Keil Datrick Tarris.
TOUR GUIDE Could that be them now?
Oh, and what's this?
Unfinished Business?
Why, that's the play they were rehearsing.
It appears the ghosts wanna hold auditions.
Who among you is brave enough to risk winning an otherworldly role?
The young lady down front and...
you in the back.
Why don't you join us?
Um, I, I have to go to the bathroom.
I'm sorry, I can't.
Keep it together, Ella. Keep it together.
-MS.Keep moving!
Hey, stop fighting!
-Sam and Noah, really? Come on. -She said what?
Stop fighting!
-Come on. Come on.
Hello?
Sorry, excuse me, I was on a field trip when I got lost.
What on earth is that racket?
We have a visitor.
It's a girl.
I'll say.
Can she see us?
Of course, she can see us.
Why else would she be terrified?
This isn't happening. This isn't happening.
This is a dream. Please be a dream.
You can see us, can't you?
A bit of a mumble mouth, isn't she?
No worries.
We'll have her transformed in no time.
No. No, please, please, please, do not turn me into a ghost, please.
I meant transform you into an actor.
You see? That tour guide.
Always making us out to be the phantoms of this forsaken opera.
We're dead, sweetie.
But we're not scary, really.
I'm Rosie.
That's Vivian, and...
Raymond... hi.
Hi.
I suppose I... need no introduction.
Uh...
Oscar Anderson.
Oscar was in a bunch of movies before they had sound.
Or decent actors.
What'cha doing here all alone?
Um, I'm not sure. I, um...
I was, I was scrolling through TikTok,
and, and then I was listening to a podcast.
I don't know, I, I must have fallen asleep.
I mean, now my phone's dead, and I don't have an adapter
so I can't reach anyone but...
Anyone follow that?
I heard "phone".
Wait a minute.
You...
I recognize you.
Yeah.
Yeah. You're, you're those actors.
The ones that died in the fire.
Yeah, we're them.
What's your name?
Ella.
Well, tonight, you're Agnes.
Someone find her a script.
Eighty-two years stuck in limbo and we finally have a full cast.
We can rehearse our show the way it was meant to be rehearsed.
Here she goes. Stand back.
As actors, we are heirs to a sacred tradition begun by the Greeks,
handed down to Shakespeare, and entrusted to us.
"The show must go on" isn't merely an expression,
but a promise that we will persist in even the most...
Hello?
It's everyone. They say we get it.
We're getting married this weekend in Tahiti.
Well, it's about time.
You've been together a whole week.
Do I detect a note of jealousy?
-Do I detect a note of jealousy? -Oh, um...
Can't we all please stop fighting?
No!
Bigger!
They have to hear you in the nosebleeds. Again.
Can't we all please stop fighting?
No, you stand up straight.
I...
Oh, forget it.
I'll show you.
Viv, what are you...
-You want to project like so. -You want to project like so.
-Can't we all please... -Can't we all please...
I don't want to.
-Don't fight it, dear. -Don't fight it, dear.
-Can you please stop this... -Viv!
Leave the girl be!
-Fine. -Fine.
Well?
Go on.
Can't we all please stop fighting?
I don't...
-I'm not an actor.
It can't be.
-What's happening?
Run!
Ella!
It's been decades.
I thought we were done with it.
Done with what? What is that?
We call it "The Critic."
Because only a critic could be so cruel.
I can't believe it's back.
Probably couldn't bear another minute of Oscar's overacting.
But why tonight?
Think it's because of me?
That's the only explanation.
We've got to get her out of here.
How? The doors are locked.
There must be some other way out of this old firetrap.
Does this place have a basement?
You've been here 80 years,
and you don't know if this place has a basement?
Yeah, we don't do much exploring.
We're actors, not architects.
Architects.
There's got to be a way out somewhere.
I have an idea.
You have a hairpin? You could try to pick the lock.
Sure,
or there's... that.
"Use in case of emergency."
You're trapped with a bunch of ghosts,
and a demon skull could show up any minute.
I'd say it's an emergency.
That was actually kinda fun.
Great swing, Ella.
Very powerful.
Easy, tiger.
Well, surely you've seen some of my films.
The Pastor Plays Pinochle or my turn as a farmer in Do Re Moo.
Don't worry, dear.
Nobody saw them back then either.
You never met a line you didn't butcher.
You chew up so much scenery,
-it's a wonder you still have teeth. -Oh, hey.
There's a door down here that looks like it leads to a fire escape.
Have they always been like that?
Every night for 83 years.
This is nothing. You should have seen Vivian in her heyday.
Boy, she could rip you to shreds.
There was a girl in our troupe.
Vivian made her cry almost every day.
How come?
Vivian said it was 'cause she wasn't a good actress.
But between you and me, I think she was jealous.
-Hmm. -Yes, you have. You have...
There's the door.
What happened?
Vivian kicked her out the night of the fire.
Funny thing is, she ended up saving her life.
You kinda remind me of her.
Her name was Dolores Fiotakis.
-Dolores Fiotakis? -I heard that.
How dare you mention that conniver's name in my presence.
That frivolous flapper couldn't act her way out of a paper bag.
-She was a joke. -Viv, it's not her fault.
Uh-oh.
"Please, stop."
What does it want us to stop?
You mean besides Vivian's acting?
Oh, that's rich.
Coming from a C-list Valentino such as you?
-C-list? I'm one of the great actors of-- -Yes.
-Tell me all about your list. -Oh, put a sock in it, you two!
Don't worry, honey.
If there's a way out of here, we'll find it.
We best split up.
Um, me and Ella could go together?
Um, mm-hm.
Then when I was seven, I played Little Jimmy in a production
of Here Comes Big Jimmy at the Fontaine.
But we closed after two performances.
It wasn't all bad, though, 'cause that's where I met Teddy.
He was one of the other kids.
Me and him became best friends.
We did everything together after that.
Told each other jokes, secrets, got into all kinds of trouble.
We were like brothers, you know?
He's probably a...
ghost, by now.
I had a friend like that.
We met in elementary school.
My mom said it was like we both found our twin.
We did everything together,
but our favorite thing to do was sing.
You sing?
I mean, I...
I sing just for fun sometimes.
Me and Zoe started out singing old musicals.
When we got older, we eventually just started writing our own songs.
They were whatever at first, but...
they were starting to get... pretty good, actually.
And then everything changed.
How?
Zoe didn't wanna hang out as much anymore.
She had her new friends.
So, I, uh...
I wrote a song about how much I missed her,
and I recorded myself singing it, and I sent it to her.
And then the next day, I walked into school,
and I saw Zoe and all of her friends.
She was showing them my video.
They were all just laughing at me.
I mean...
I wanna move on.
I wanna make new friends, but it feels like I'm just,
like I'm stuck in a sort of, um...
Limbo.
Yeah.
I used to beat myself up
if I missed a cue or messed up a line.
I'd go off and sulk.
But Dolores?
She set me straight.
Dolores...
That's the one that Vivian...
Kicked out, yeah.
Can I hear one of your songs?
Oh, um...
Please?
Okay.
Wow.
What's wrong?
There's something I need to show you.
When did you find it?
You always knew it was here, didn't you?
It's just...
It's been a long time
since I got to talk to somebody my own age.
-I'm, I'm sorry, I shouldn't-- -Don't be.
It's fine, really.
I'm glad we had time to talk.
I'll go get the others.
Okay.
Boy, are we gonna miss you.
Promise you'll come back and visit?
-I promise. -And soon.
We can't properly rehearse without an Agnes.
Tonight, with you, all of you, I've...
I've felt more like I used to.
Like me.
Thank you.
You're shameless.
Stop trying to upstage her, you ham.
Hurry, dear. Go.
What?
What do you want?
Dolores.
-- Honey, run! -- Quick, run!
It's coming back!
-Run!
Ella!
So many regrets!
So many things left unsaid!
I have something I need to--
Milking your big death scene for the second time, I see.
Oh, let's talk about milking!
Can I please just tell you--
Your soliloquy in Susquehanna, that was milking!
Will you just shut up for one second?
That they heard in the nosebleeds.
I know who The Critic is.
"Please, stop.
Can't we all please stop fighting?"
It's an Agnes line from the play.
Dolores's line.
She was here during the fire, and ever since.
The Critic is Dolores Fiotakis?
But why would she come back now?
I was playing her part.
That's no surprise.
She was a demon on Earth, too.
Was she?
Dolores wasn't a demon, she was a sweetheart.
And you hated her.
Perhaps I wasn't as kind
-as I could have been. I-- -Oh, stop, Viv!
You were threatened!
It's not too late.
You can tell her you're sorry.
Excuse me?
Dolores?
Can you please let them down?
Hi, Dolores.
Viv, why don't you take it from here?
-No, no, no. -Great idea.
-It's about time. -Go ahead.
I'm sorry.
Uh, Viv?
They need to hear you in the nosebleeds.
Try it again.
This may come as a shock, Dolores.
But even though I'm an actor, I have insecurities.
I saw someone young and talented with a bright future.
Made me jealous.
So, I took it out on you by being cruel.
For that, I'm truly sorry.
You deserved better from all of us.
I should have been there for you like you were there for me.
Dolores, I...
I knew you were suffering.
And I did nothing.
I'm sorry.
No, no!
Dolores, you're hurt and angry.
Look, I get it.
I really, really get it.
I've been there,
but sometimes you gotta make peace with people,
with the past.
And start thinking about what's next.
Otherwise, you'll just stay stuck in one place...
forever.
Hi, Dolores.
It's great to see you.
It's great to see you, too.
All of you.
Gosh...
It feels good to let go of... that.
I'm sorry about tonight.
You taking my role, it...
I guess my demons got the best of me.
I've been there.
You really were quite terrifying, Dolores.
Sublime performance.
Oh, speaking of.
Can't help but think, we finally have a full cast again.
We're through, Martin.
You hear me?
It appears I have an extra ticket to Tahiti.
-Know anyone who might be interested? -Oh, hmm.
I do.
Bravo.
Whoo!
MS.Okay, class. We have Ella's performance up next.
They say that friends are for a reason,
a season, or a lifetime.