This trip was an adventure, and that was just the getting there. Cindy, Jazz and I drove up to Millburn, New Jersey to see Red Hot & Blue at the Paper Mill Playhouse. Mary and Lioness had preceded us there and it was a good thing they had. Without them at the hotel to guide us via cell phone, we might never have found the place.
To start at the beginning (because it works better that way) I left my house and arrived at Jazz’s place without mishap. We got on I95 North and were okay until we got to DC. There the interstate splits off into three or four different routes. We must have taken the wrong one because all of a sudden we found ourselves heading toward the Capitol Building with the Monument on our left. So this poor little country girl ended up driving around the city for a half hour trying to figure out how the heck to get back to the interstate. In desperation we stopped and asked the driver of a bread truck who was loading up. He told us he was about to go that route himself and we could follow him. So we did and got to Cindy’s about an hour late and after dark, which had certainly not been in my plan.
Next morning we set out for New Jersey with internet directions in hand. All went well until it came time to get off the NJ Turnpike. We took the Newark airport exit as instructed; of course, this eventually put us out into the airport itself. I got a bit of honking from the cars behind as I tried to figure out what to do next.
We followed the signs to the airport exit, which put us out onto route 1-9, the road we wanted. But we got on it going the wrong way and found ourselves in the fringes of New York City before I could figure out a way to turn around and go back. (Didn’t I once say I would never drive in NYC? I guess I made a liar out of myself.) Jazz decided to make the best of a bad situation and was taking pictures from the back seat.
We headed back into Elizabeth looking for our hotel, which was supposed to be near the airport. But we got all the way past the airport without seeing the hotel. Frustrated I pulled into a gas station and Cindy called Mary on her cell phone. Mary then gave us directions to the hotel going around the back way, and miraculously we got there.
Mary met us in the lobby; Lioness was already at the Playhouse seeing the matinee show. Once we’d checked in and changed clothes, we all piled into Mary’s car and drove there to meet her. The show had not yet let out so we took the opportunity to walk around the Playhouse and scout out the stage door. It really is a charming little locale, for all that it’s so close to New York.
We met Lioness and went back around to the stage door. Michael Gruber was in this show, and also Jaymes Hodges, a former Macavity. I had never met Jaymes, but Cindy and Jazz had, and Cindy borrowed Lioness’ playbill to show me his picture. As I looked over her shoulder I thought I spotted Tesha Buss’ picture as well, but Cindy didn’t say anything about it, so I figured I was mistaken.
Performers started coming out and we quickly spotted Michael. But he was surrounded by his buddies, and we were hesitant to approach. We stood there trying to look nonchalant while watching him out of the corner of our collective eye. I think he may have cast a surreptitious glance or two in our direction, but I could be wrong. After a while he left, loudly promising to meet his friends for dinner.
Not too long after that Jaymes came out. He spotted Cindy and Jazz and made a beeline for our group. I had a favourable first impression of this tall, handsome blond. He was very easygoing and talkative, even with those of us he was just meeting. In our conversation he explained that he drives one of the vans that picks up the performers each night and then takes them home again.
”You drive?” Cindy said a little disbelievingly. We were so used to seeing the cast walking to the theatre after all.
”Yeah, I drive,” Jaymes grinned. I wonder if they pay him extra for that.
Cindy told Jaymes that though we had not yet seen the show, we were looking forward to it tonight. Then we let him go and went looking for dinner.
There were plenty of restaurants in town to choose from. (I think Michael had said something like that the last time we saw him.) The one we picked was rather crowded, but we had plenty of time before the show and we didn’t feel like going farther as it was getting a bit chilly. We had a pleasant enough meal with good conversation. Cindy and I derived some amusement from teasing Jazz about the pinkness of her meat. (Moo!) Then we headed back for the Playhouse.
Lioness had a seat in the orchestra section while the rest of us were up in the mezzanine. I kinda wish now that I had sprung for the more expensive seats downstairs; it was hard to see facial expressions from where we were. Overall I thought the show was kind of dumb, but there was a tongue-in-cheek goofiness to it that was rather endearing. Plus I knew several of the folks in it and had a lot of fun laughing at them.
Before the show Cindy and I were looking at the photos in the playbill, and almost simultaneously we spotted a name and face that we recognized: Brian Barry, who played Mistoffelees in the last Cats tour and took Jacob Brent’s place on Broadway for a week. We both got excited, I because I had seen him as Mistoffelees when the tour came to Richmond, she because she owns his Mistoffelees shoes.
As we were marveling over the coincidence I pointed to a picture near his and said, “Isn’t that Tesha Buss?” It was indeed, and we were now greatly anticipating the show, which featured four former Cats stars.
Briefly here is the plot: A wealthy widow (Nails O’Reilly Duquesne) wants to have a fund drive to raise money to help convicts when they are first released. She gets a group of convicts to help her, along with a group of debutantes. (Well, of course) They all sell tickets for a contest to find the childhood sweetheart of Nails’ lawyer, Bob Hale. The thing is Bob hasn’t seen this girl, whom he’d promised his father he’d marry, since she was four years old, nor does he even know what her real name is. But he does remember that she has an unusual scar from having sat on a waffle iron. (Cute) However, neither Nails nor Bob is particularly eager for Baby (as she was known to Bob) to be found since they are in love with each other. There was also a subplot which involved Michael’s character, a pickpocket turned butler called Fingers, left-handedly wooing Grace, one of the debutantes.
By the end of the first act Baby had been found. She was now known as Peaches, a very bosomy ex-convict with a nails-on-the-blackboard voice who was employed as a maid at Nails’ penthouse. Bob can’t stand her, but she’s definitely into him; one assumes she remembers him from childhood. So most of the second act is spent trying to figure a way to get Bob off the hook. They carry it all the way to the altar, where Bob tells Peaches that he can’t marry her because he loves Nails. Peaches meekly acquiesces, which frankly struck me as unbelievable and not a little lame, and the wedding march begins again with Nails as the bride. Then Grace interrupts, calling for a double wedding, to which Fingers agrees. Cue wedding march. Then Peaches suddenly begins whining, “But this is supposed to be my wedding!” (She does have a point) So they palm her off on the leader of the convict gang, Bertram “Policy” Pinkle, who has unexpectedly been pardoned. Convenient, huh? And they all live happily ever after. Yeah right.
So now that you know the plot, convoluted as it is, I’ll go back and hit some of the highlights. Michael, as I said, played Fingers and had two song and dance numbers that he shared with Grace. He was good, but he was affecting a Brooklinish accent which detracted from the usual warm richness of his voice. Tesha played Olive, one of the debutantes, and we recognized her by virtue of the fact that she was the smallest woman on the stage. Jaymes played Leonard, the most sinister of the convicts, more on him later. And Brian was Rats Dugan, another of the convicts. Interesting to note, Leonard Sullivan who played Brian’s brother, Bugs is a black man while Brian is white. I guess they must be either half-brothers or stepbrothers.
The opening announcement about turning off cell phones and such was read offstage by Peaches. “The use of cameras,” she told us, “or recording equipment is strictly pro--…prohi--…prohib--…just don’t do it! And if you feel like you’re gonna want to unwrap candies or anything like that DO IT NOW! Thank you.”
As the overture began, Policy Pinkle came through the audience from the back, dressed in his black and white striped prison garb, climbed into the orchestra pit, and pretended to conduct. From where we were sitting, though, we could see the real conductor just below him. As the overture drew to a close the other convicts came out on the stage and Policy clambered up to join them. Frankly, seeing a bunch a convicts, especially one as mean-looking as Leonard, doing a Cole Porter dance number was just a little too much to swallow. But I resigned myself, since I was getting to see Brian Barry again, who has obviously not lost his touch since he last played Mistoffelees.
Michael was quite in his realm playing the smooth-talking, not-quite-reformed pickpocket. He’d be making up to the debutantes one minute and lifting their jewels the next. Of course, he gradually gave that up as the show progressed in order to win Grace’s heart.
Brian and Tesha were both delightful to watch, being small and cute. And I could easily recognize the Cats style of dancing from them. Apparently it’s something you don’t easily lose.
But my absolute favourite was Jaymes as the big, silent Leonard. When the convicts were being formally introduced he was the last, and when he stepped onto the stage everyone else unconsciously took a step away. He said nothing, but stood there stiffly with a dark scowl on his face. Policy said, “And this is Leonard. We’re not sure what Leonard’s in for; we’re all to afraid to ask.” And we never did find out.
Leonard was a man of few words. As the scene continued he moved out to the balcony window and just stood there, back to the audience, staring straight ahead. Then without warning, or any precipitating factor that we could see, he bent over at the waist, looking for all the world like he was puking over the railing, and giving us an excellent view of his backside in the bargain. Cindy and I were in hysterics over this, something that caused the gentleman in front of us to turn and glare. After a while Grace came over to Leonard, tapped him on the small of the back, and he straightened up and walked off after her. Hmm…
(Some months after the fact Cindy and I had the opportunity to ask Jaymes what that was all about and this is approximately what he told us: “The director didn’t give us much inspiration for that scene. He just told me to go and stand on the balcony. So I thought, Okay, I’m a convict, not particularly bright, I’m out on a balcony on the 90th floor, the most natural thing would be for me to look down.” Ah, so he was enjoying the view. That was something that I would not have thought of.)
Another thing that gave us the giggles was a running gag involving Leonard and one of the debutantes (can’t remember which one). She brought him front and center and asked him some question. After a pause he answered, “Yeah,” in a deep voice that sounded like it came all the way from his toes. (Hence the delay.) She asked him something else and again he answered, “Yeah,” after a slight pause. Then she made a suggestive comment, something along the lines of, “Let’s go find a quiet place to cuddle,” and walked off the stage. After what seemed like an eternity Leonard finally said, “Yeah,” and followed her off. This scene was repeated in the second act, the girl asking different questions and getting the same answer each time: “Yeah.” But the piece de resistance came during the wedding scene at the end. The priest turned to each couple in turn for their “I do”s, then suddenly Leonard and his debutante ran forward, clasped hands in front of the priest, and Leonard said simply, “Yeah.” The audience went nuts! It was the best moment in the show.
Once the show was over we hurried out to the stage door. Michael was quick to emerge and he exclaimed upon seeing us, "Jaymes told me you were here before, but I didn't see you!" (Uh huh)
This actually gave us pause, as we discussed later: Jaymes and Michael were talking about us backstage? I wonder what else they said.
We presented Michael with gifts; Cindy and Jazz gave him candy while I had fallen back on cookie baking.
"Oh, you didn't have to do that," he protested.
"Yes, we did," we exclaimed, "we love you!"
Putting his goodies to one side, Michael then sat down to sign our playbills. He was in a bit of a hurry as he was supposed to catch a ride with a friend (who was already there, breathing down his neck). But he did chat a little and I snapped a picture as he ran to the car.
Tesha came out soon after and she seemed delighted to see us. She signed playbills and flashed her beautiful smile for a couple pictures. We chatted a bit then she left.
Brian and Jaymes came out more or less at the same time. Jazz spotted the former and asked him point blank, "Are you Brian Barry?"
"Yes, I am," he responded with a smile.
"She has your Mistoffelees shoes," Jazz told him, indicating Cindy.
"Yes," Cindy added, "and if I'd known I'd be seeing you I would have brought them for you to sign."
We crowded around him, wanting pix and autographs. He seemed surprised and delighted by the attention. "I didn't think anyone remembered I was in Cats," he told us.
Jaymes must have come out about then, because Cindy and I each have a picture of the two of them. (Macavity and Mistoffelees together, how cute) I had cookies for Jaymes as well. (I wish I'd had something for Brian and Tesha, but I had no idea they would be there) As I gave them to him I said, "We've not met before, but Cindy and Jazz have told me about you."
"All good stuff I hope," he joked.
"Well, if it wasn't good, do you think I'd be giving you a present?" I retorted, grinning.
He chatted with us for a good while, but finally he said, "I've really got to go; I have to drive the van."
We looked and saw the one remaining Playhouse van with its passengers standing around it, shivering. (Perhaps he should have tossed them the keys before he started chatting) We let him go and he hurried to perform his duty.
We returned to Mary's car and headed back for the hotel. Cindy and I suggested that we stop somewhere for drinks, but Mary didn't take the hint. Once at the hotel we congregated in the room that Cindy, Jazz, and I shared. There we stayed up, talking and watching TV, till three in the morning. (Naturally, since the next day was Sunday)
The next morning we partook of the continental breakfast; it was not quite as nice as what we had in London, but an impressive spread nonetheless. Mary and Lioness came down around 9:30 to say goodbye. Cindy had talked of going back to the Playhouse to talk to Michael et al again, so Mary very kindly wrote out driving directions for me.
When they had left I began calling churches to see which one had a service that suited us. I found one and got directions, though the gentleman I talked to was a bit confused as to which direction we should go on a certain road:
"Turn right on Wood Ave...no, left...no, well, South."
It turned out to be left, which we discovered when we turned right first and didn't find the church.
After Mass we made our way back to North Ave to get to the Playhouse. I made what I think was an illegal left turn to get to it, judging from the honking. But after that we were able to follow Mary's accurate directions. We parked then walked around the Playhouse taking pictures. It was something after 12:30 when we came to rest at the stage door and settled down to wait for the vans.
The first van arrived a little after one p.m. and Brian Barry got out, among others. He smiled and waved to us as he hurried into the Playhouse. The next van to arrive was the one driven by Jaymes. We observed that he let his passengers out at the door before he parked. How courteous.
He came over to us and said, "You guys are really gluttons for punishment."
We snickered and explained that we would be leaving for home soon, but we wanted to say goodbye first. We conversed for a bit and I asked him if he knew of a good place for lunch. He recommended a nearby diner and gave us walking directions.
Jaymes was wearing a white thermal shirt with a Chinese dragon on the front and Chinese characters down the sleeves. Jazz complimented him on it and he proceeded to explain how he had acquired it:
"It's actually my friend's shirt. I was visiting at his house and playing with his dog, a big St. Bernard. After that my shirt was all covered with slobber, so my friend gave me one of his to wear."
"And you kept it," I observed.
"Seems like a fair trade," Jazz commented.
"Except that I still have my own shirt, too," Jaymes added, without a trace of shame.
At about that time the third van arrived. "That's Tesha's van," Jaymes told us. "Michael rides in that one."
"Tesha drives the van?" I said a little incredulously. I had difficulty picturing that tiny girl driving a big van.
Jaymes continued talking to us until Michael came over, then he kind of faded back, saying he had to get inside.
"What did you do, pitch a tent in the parking lot?" Michael greeted us.
We giggled and Cindy told him that she had a few more playbills for him to sign, plus we wanted to take some pictures. Michael obligingly signed then posed. Cindy was trying to show him the pix she had just taken on her digital camera and inadvertently showed him some that were already on there, including a few of her son, Shawn in his Mistoffelees costume. Michael seemed to enjoy these last, and Jazz snapped a pic of him, Cindy, and me huddled around the little camera.
We said our goodbyes, and then headed off to find the diner Jaymes had recommended. There were many Greek dishes on the menu and it was very good. After lunch we called Mary on her cell phone and she gave us directions to get to the New Jersey Turnpike. We got there without mishap, though while on it we got pushed into the emergency lane (thank God it was there!) by a semi that drifted into our lane, causing Cindy and me to scream beautifully in unison. But that was our only incident and we eventually got to our respective homes safely. I don't know if I can be convinced to drive there again, but Millburn is a nice little place and I may visit again if there's a show to see. Till my next adventure then.