Part II: Preparation
August 18th, 10:00 a.m., Miami
Today was the first day of rehearsal for the reunion performance. Justin wasn’t looking forward to this for the sheer reason the he was still tired from the final show of the “Legends of Summer” tour Friday evening.
This will be planning day, anyway. We don’t know what the hell we’re doing for this show yet. So, chill Timberlake. It’ll be alright. He pulled his Escalade into a parking space outside the rehearsal studio.
Chris happened to park the next space over. He smiled when he saw his friend. “Hey man, how’s it going?”
“I’m hanging in there, Tricky.” They hugged. “Is anyone else here yet?”
“Not that I know of. Lance and Joey will probably arrive together. They tend to pair off. And who knows when Shazam will show up.”
Justin chuckled. “Hah. I haven’t heard that name in years. I’m kind of nervous about today.”
“Why? It’ll be fun.”
“It might not be the same since it’s been so long.”
Just then, they heard a honk behind them. A navy Lexus was driving into the lot. “Let me guess, that’s Joey.” Chris said.
The car stopped a moment later. Joey stepped out of the driver’s side, with a sheepish looking Lance on the other. “Wazzup homies?” Joey greeted.
“Well, well, well. Isn’t it Joseph Anthony Fatone?” Chris said with a smile. “Always one to make an entrance.”
They spent the next few minutes greeting each other with hugs and playful jabs. “Where’s JC?” Lance asked.
“Last I heard, he was on a plane flying cross country. The flight’s overnight. He might not be here for a while.”
“Oh wow. Hopefully he’ll be functioning.” Lance replied.
“You underestimate the guy’s ability to sleep anywhere, my friend.” Joey teased. “He can sleep on buses, cars, planes, hotel beds, floors. He’ll be fine.”
“Come on inside, y’all. I think there’s coffee and donuts.” Justin told them.
“I’ll never say no to free food,” Joey smiled. “Let’s go.”
In the studio, Johnny was already waiting for them, along with WEG Vice President Melinda Bell, Kevin Antunes, NSYNC’s former musical director, and Stephanie Jones, Robin Wiley’s best friend and also a vocal coach. Whoa, I feel like I’m in a time warp right now.
Justin pointed his three friends. “Hey, look who I brought with me, Johnny.”
“I see that. Welcome, guys. Have a seat. There’s breakfast over there.” He motioned to a table set with plates, coffee and Dunkin Donuts. “Where’s JC?”
“He’ll be here. I got a text in the middle of the night telling me he was boarding his second plane.”
As if on cue, the studio door opened. A tired and ragged JC walked in. He waved causally. “Hey everyone.”
“OMG It’s Shazam!” Chris exclaimed and rushed over .
JC laughed and hugged him. “I’m glad to see you, too”
The next hour passed with breakfast, settling in and visiting with each other. Justin was wrong about the dynamic being awkward: it was as if nothing had changed at all. Everyone reverted back to their old group roles and it felt like he had teleported back 15 years.
“Alright” Johnny called in his most business like voice. “Let’s talk logistics. We have a week to put this together. That’s a time crunch. What limits the time even more is Justin has his own show to rehearse for on top of this. So, my idea is since this section will most likely be first, we’ll do our rehearsals in the morning and early afternoon and Justin’s solo stuff in the evening.”
“I hope without the 6 a.m. wake up calls,” Chris muttered.
“Oh, trust me. 10 will be the magic time we meet every day. I won’t be able to handle any earlier than that. And I’m the youngest here.” Justin joked.
“We’ll probably have a never ending supply of alcohol and pain killers.” Joey said.
“It’s probably the only way we’ll survive,” JC replied with a chuckle.
“Guys, focus.” Johnny barked. “What ideas do you have?”
“We should do a medley, like we did in 2000. Showcase a variety of songs.” Lance suggested.
“I was thinking the same thing.” Justin replied. “Our 2000 performance was well received. I want you guys have standout moments.”
“But it’s about your career, Justin.” Joey countered.
“Yeah. But you guys helped me get here. I got at least 10 minutes for my own songs. In our time, it’s about all of us as a unit.”
“Do we have to dance?” Chris groaned.
“Well, yeah.” Justin replied. “Isn’t that what we’ve always been about as a group? Giving a whole show instead of just standing there the whole time.”
“You know what would be cool?” JC chimed in. “We use the blues version of “I Want You Back” from the Celebrity tour as Justin’s entrance.”
Justin’s eyes lit up. “That’s a great idea! I’ll improvise the first verse like I did then and on the last word ‘Back’, you walk in with the other guys while belting out a note.”
JC grimaced. “I’m not so sure.”
“Come on! It’ll be epic. The audience will be lulled into thinking this will be a simple performance. Then BAM, your voices wakes everyone up. People will love that. You still have a bigger fan base than you realize.”
“I haven’t done that in a while. I don’t know if my voice is up to par.”
“That’s what the vocal coach is for.” Lance said, “We know you can still sing your ass off and the world needs to know that, too.
JC shrugged. “Touche. I used to do that at the end of the song and you guys told me the old visualize the audience in underwear trick?”
“Although knowing the age group of our fans… that might not have been the smartest idea.” Joey commented.
The group laughed. “Ah, I think I better leave that one alone,” JC said. “Anyway, what comes next?”
A half hour later, the group had a tentative performance plan: start with the “I Want You Back” blues version with Justin while JC cues everyone else’s entrance. Then the song switches back to the original version with a transition via the last chorus into “I Thought She Knew”. The set would finish with “Bye Bye Bye” before the other four guys exited through trap doors.
Lance sighed. “I wish Robin were here. She’d enjoy this so much.”
Their vocal coach, Robin Wiley, died of cancer in 2006. She was a multi-talented fiery redhead who could keep them in line while wisecracking with the best of them. All five guys went to her funeral; the group dynamic was still tense them and they didn’t spend too much time together.
“She was a special lady, indeed. I’ll do my best to get your voices up to the same standard,” Stephanie said.
She nodded. “I know. But Robin wouldn’t want us to dwell on her absence. We have a show to put together in a week. We have to keep on!”
“That’s right,” Johnny said. “For the rest of today, you’re hers. We’ll start the hardcore dancing tomorrow.”
“Bye Bye Bye” and “I Want You Back” came together rather quickly, since the guys still had the songs in the back of their mind. “I Thought She Knew” was a doozy, on the other hand. Luckily Robin had written down all their parts in piano for rehearsal use. They spent an hour tweaking the harmonies and getting comfortable with the song again.
On the fourth run through, Justin got chills down his spine. He was 14 again and had only met Lance hours prior. It was their first time singing a whole song together, after Robin taught them their parts. It was that same feeling he had then: these five individuals had something irreplaceable. “I thought that she…” Everyone stopped for a second. Each had the same knowing smile as Justin. “Knew.”
“Damn, I got goose bumps.” Lance said, “It almost felt like the first time we sang together.”
August 19th, Miami, 1:00 p.m.
“Hey JC, do you think you could still do a backflip?” Justin asked.
JC frowned. “I don’t know about that, man. I can try but I can’t guarantee any results.”
“Well, can you try?”
“Yeah. I need a mat, though.”
“I brought some in case we needed them.” Justin motioned to the side wall. “Let’s get one out.”
JC took a deep breath once on the mat. “I have to trust my body. I’ve done this a million times before.”
“Yes, you can.” Justin reassured him. “We’re here to catch you if you mess up.”
“Stand back, please.” Everyone took a step back. JC jumped, squatted, reached backward over his shoulder and flipped over. However, upon landing his right foot slipped and he fell on the mat.
“So close!” Justin exclaimed. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah.” JC stood up. “I’ll keep practicing, even though my body will protest.”
“Hell, that’s better than what I could do now.” Chris said. “And I did those flips with you.”
JC attempted the flip a few more times and each time one foot or the other gave out. Then on the last one, both of his feet landed but his legs still wobbled. Everyone agreed to move on to a different section of choreography for the moment.
August 22nd, Miami, 2:00 p.m.
The choreography had come back gradually throughout the week. However, they moved a lot slower than they used to. So Darrin Henson, the standing choreographer, modified the content to ease up the load.
“Remember, people expect a show from you guys because that’s what you’re known for. It’s NSYNC standard and you need to live up to the hype. You don’t want to let anyone down.” Darrin reminded them.
Gee Darrin, no pressure or anything. As if I’m not under enough already. Tense moments had surfaced off and on from the stress they were under. Each guy wanted the best out of the other four, even if their intentions got lost in translation. I’d love to tell him to fuck off right now.
“From the beginning again, fellas.” Their instructor started the music and JC’s voice boomed from the speakers as they danced: “I’m doing this tonight. You’re probably gonna start a fight. I know this can’t be right. Hey baby, come on.”
Chris then fell over, moaning and groaning in pain.
Everyone rushed to his side. “You okay, Chris?” Justin asked, alarmed.
“I’m too old for this shit, bro. My 40 something knees hate you right now,” Chris breathed.
“But really, are you okay?” Justin asked.
Chris nodded. “Yeah. I’ll be okay. Let me get up here.” He slowly stood up. “How did we do this every damn day?”
“We were in shape.” Lance replied.
“And we’re not now? Round is a shape.” Joey added.
Justin playfully rolled his eyes as the group laughed. “Okay, let’s take ten. We’ve been rehearsing for a while now.”
“You’re the boss. I won’t say no to a break. Especially if it involves food or women.” Joey quipped.
Laughter erupted again. “Only you, Joey.” JC said.
2:15 p.m.
“Watcha doing?” Joey asked JC.
“ Looking at Twitter. This craze is weird, man. My Girl Radicals convinced me I needed to be more active and I’m hooked now. It blows my mind.” JC shook his head.
“I know. Remember when we thought having our own website was the coolest thing ever?” Chris asked.
“Times have changed, man. I love it, though. It’s a nice way to communicate with the fans.” Lance added. “I’ve been asked a million times on my Twitter if the rumors are true.”
“I’ve been bombarded with questions on my feed.” Melinda added. “It’s been fun to tease the fans. I can make you a Twitter account right now if you want.”
Chris’s eyes widened. “No way! You’ll do that?”
Melinda laughed. “Of course. I’ll make one right now and give you guys the login information. You’ll be up with the times.”
Justin smiled slyly while scratching his chin. “We need to come up with something that can be interpreted several ways. Just to drive everyone crazy and we can laugh sinisterly.”
“How about something like ‘Test, 1, 2.’?” Joey suggested.
“Test. Is this forsaken thing on?” Chris pretended the poke an imaginary microphone.
Melinda smiled. “I got it.” She typed frantically. “I wrote ‘Check 1. Check 2. Is this thing on?”
Everyone laughed and agreed it was the best thing to write.
As the guys got ready to resume rehearsal, Melissa said “I only posted that two minutes ago and it already has 5,000 retweets.”
“Wow, isn’t that something?” Lance said in a dreamlike state. “Pinch me now.”
“Steve counted how many times you said that in one segment one time.” Joey said. “Your accent totally came out.”
“Oh, yeah. That was on the Reel NSYNC. Still, wow.”
“I didn’t realize how many people still cared about us.” Justin sighed. “I figured people saw us as another pretty boy act from the bubblegum age.”
“That’s not true,” Johnny replied. “Like Darren said, you guys set an incredibly high standard. You were and still are hard workers because you’ll never settle for less than your best from yourselves and those around you. So what do you say we show the world that age doesn’t take away talent or work ethic?”
Everyone clapped in agreement. “That being said, let’s take it from the top.” Darren chimed in.
The guys got into starting formation, ready for another round of muscle aches and pouring their heart into this performance.
August 23rd, 1:00 p.m.
“I don’t think I can do this, J.” JC said, as he got up from another shaky backflip landing on the mat. “I’m not consistent enough and that’s with support. Can you imagine what might happen? I don’t want to take that risk in front of a national audience.”
Justin nodded. He’d been trying it off and on all week with mixed results. “That’s no problem. I don’t want you to do something you don’t feel 100 percent confident in. We have a good amount of content in our routine already.”
“I just hope our bodies hold up until show time.” JC sighed, glancing over at Joey and Chris who had various ice packs in use.
“Are you holding up okay physically? You haven’t complained as much.”
JC shrugged. “I’m not in the shape I was then. But I’m making it. Complaining only adds tense energy; we don’t need more right now.”
You’re right about that. Lance and Chris had a minor squabble earlier so they were taking a break for everyone to cool off.
“We can work through this; we’ve worked through rough spots before.” In reality, Justin felt a bit nervous now. Was it because he was nervous about the show or he was afraid it would fall apart at the last second? He remembered the feeling back when the group appeared on awards shows or tours. Millions of fans were counting on them to deliver a solid performance. And right now, they didn’t look like they were ready.
