The Backstagers and the Theater of the Ancients (Backstagers Book Two)

Actor and writer Andy Mientus returns to the world of the Backstagers with this second novel in his series based on the BOOM! Studios comic book. Now, I'm going to be up front and honest - as I started to read this book, even though I read the first one and remember pretty much the plot of that story, I did have a difficult time remembering each of the characters. Because I don't read the comic book, so am not overly familiar with the Backstagers, I had to refer back to the cover with the introduction of each character in the story, so that I could get a visual image of the characters as they appeared in the book.  Once I had them in my mind, though, the story flowed pretty easily.

The Backstagers and the Theater of the Ancients once again finds the backstage crew at St. Genesius Prep up to their necks in trouble and adventure. Having resolved the mystery of the ghost light, it now safely tucked in the great auditorium down the halls behind the "Unsafe Door," the crew is ready to get to work on the next play, Tammy - a rock opera about a young deaf girl! But what at first everyone thinks will be an easy show - after all, these kinds have become experts in their respective backstage positions - becomes a near tragedy, because everything is thrown into chaos when everyone has to assume new roles!  Beckett suddenly finds himself in the director's chair when Blake throws a temper tantrum and storms out! Sasha unexpectedly finds himself on his own in the lighting booth, having to figure everything out for himself. Aziz is forced to create and build the entire set by himself, while Reo must handle not only the props, but costumes as well!  Hunter has his hands full with stage managing, and Jory? Well, Jory has suddenly become obsessed with social media - so much so, that he his work as costume designer has been passed on to Reo, and the magical Designer's Notebook has been laid to the side, unused. But not unwanted....

An unexpected invitation to Greece has Jory quitting the backstagers and flying off on his own to what he thinks will be a fantastic opportunity. He takes the Designer's Notebook along (just in case he gets inspired to do some designs for the show, despite his having quit the show), unaware that he is walking into a trap.  Someone wants the Notebook, someone who's intentions are not exactly benevolent in nature. And back at St. Genesius, Tammy is not coming together at all.  Even the idea of having two actresses handle the leading role - one deaf and one hearing - does not seem to be enough to save the show. Everything that can go wrong does go wrong, and Beckett is beginning to realize that this may be the first show at St. Genesius to never actually make it to the stage.

Mientus provides another look at the chaos that is the backstage life of the theater. He hits the nail on the head with a lot of the conflict that occurs, the mishaps, and the many, many, MANY trials and errors when it comes to costuming, lighting, and props, as well as blocking and set-building. While the finished project may come across so seamlessly, anyone who has ever worked in theater can attest to the fact that what these backstagers go through in their production of Tammy is pretty much an every day thing for actors, directors, stage managers, and every other backstager. With my own experience in the community theaters here locally, it makes the reading of this series all the more enjoyable.

However, all that being said, the one thing about this book that TRULY made me smile and captured my interest even more than the theater aspect is the use of Adrienne, a young deaf girl who takes on the lead role in the production of Tammy! Mientus captures so many nuances about deaf culture and how people view deaf people and the accommodations that can be made to utilize a deaf actress to actually play a deaf character on stage - there is no way I can imagine Mientus not having had some experience with deaf people in his own life.  Adrienne is portrayed very realistically, and the use of sign language throughout the book (with artist Rian Sygh providing some great visuals of the signs themselves!). Kudos to Mientus for remembering that this idea of "all-inclusiveness" should also include deaf people!

The gang, of course, rescues Jory and save the day (in quite a wild and fun way), and the overarching story becomes a bit more clear, as the kids now have three of the magical theater artifacts that a certain unknown someone is trying to get ... and if that cliffhanger at the end is any indication, the backstagers may end up having to fight someone they thought they could trust over those artifacts in upcoming books!

RATING:  9 God mics out of 10 for creating a story with a wide variety of characters who are there for one another through thick and thin and can solve a mystery amidst all the chaos that is theater!