‘Opening Night’ tells the story of a budding teenage romance amid nerves caused by a mix of stage fright and an impending kiss with a co-star. Where does it lead? Keep reading to find out!
On the night of his big performance in the school play, Josh finds himself lacking confidence. His friend tries talking to him about it, even offering a tip about closing his eyes, taking a deep breath, and counting to five to calm down, which Josh is less than impressed by. She eventually arrives at the conclusion, though, that he’s nervous about his stage kiss with Nicole. As much as he tries, Josh cannot convince his friend otherwise. As the two argue, Josh loses his train of thought when his eyes catch a glimpse of a boy from across the room. Josh stares at him longingly before scrambling for a way to continue his conversation with his friend, though he never does recall what he was trying to say before his focus was shifted to that boy. Not long after, though, another student walks up to Josh, telling him to go to Mr. Kimmel’s room for some tradition. His friend doesn’t specify what it is, but she does call it immature and gross, discouraging Josh from joining in.
Sometime later, Josh is in the school hallway, by the lockers. Nicole, his co-star in the school play, approaches him to talk about how their upcoming stage kiss had become the talk of the town, but once again, Josh gets distracted by the same boy from earlier. The boy was seen with the student from earlier who invited Josh to join their tradition, prompting Josh to follow as well.
In the classroom, Josh followed the other boys in, and two of them welcomed the rest to what they call an “annual bonding session.” It is here that it is revealed that the other boy that Josh has had his eye on is named Tyler and that he’s also performing tonight, though as a dancer rather than an actor like Josh. One of the boys then walked around, putting footpowder on the hands of everyone present. They then begin to explain just what this tradition is. The boys were to take the powder and rub it on their crotch areas, which the older students claimed “helps so your junk doesn’t stick to your legs.” The boys proceed to do so, rather awkwardly, and once done, slapped their powdered hands on the wall, leaving a handprint. After a while, it’s only Josh and Tyler left in the room.
Tyler and Josh share another moment of eye contact, this time with a tinge of awkwardness thanks to their hands still being in their pants, but they soon get past that and start a conversation. The conversation starts fairly normally, with them talking about seeing each other at rehearsals, with Tyler mentioning that he likes some of the jokes Josh says onstage while Josh says he’s a fan of Tyler’s intermission dance. As the conversation shifts to whether or not they’re ready to go onstage, Josh talks about his stage fright, which surprises Tyler, who thinks Josh was great during rehearsals. Josh then explains that during rehearsals, no one is watching, making it easier for him, but Tyler responds that he is. As the two talk to each other, they slowly find the courage to take a few steps closer to one another. The two then began talking about confidence onstage, with Tyler giving Josh the same tip about counting to five that his friend gave earlier, which has Josh in disbelief. Tyler then accidentally lets slip that he uses this technique to get over his nervousness by approaching and talking to Josh. Josh tries to pry more, but Tyler successfully moves the topic to that of Josh’s upcoming kiss with Nicole. Tyler then realizes that Josh’s nerves stem from this being his first kiss.
