Summary

Chapter 5 flashes back in time 20-plus years earlier, just after Flora has broken up with her first and only boyfriend since childhood and has recently moved in with Juilliard-graduate Margot. Margot has invited Flora to come to a friend's party later, but Flora often feels uncomfortable or inadequate among the pretentious theater folk who tend to look down on Broadway musical and is reluctant to accept Margot's invitation. Flora does respond to Margot's encouraging her to audition for that summer 's Shakespeare in the Park production of A Midsummer Night's Dream, after Flora's initial reluctance led Margot to work with her all day finding an appropriate monologue to audition with. Margot pulls some strings to get the non-union Flora a slot, and Flora ends up impressing the producers enough to get cast as a member of the fairy chorus.

Changing her mind about...