This was my first time ever going to New York City. (I had been to Long Island once before.) I picked quite a time to go, the end of the month when dear Mother Nature saw fit to dump a couple feet of snow on the East Coast. For this reason my grandmother wanted to talk me out of going, but I refused to listen. Well, hey, would you?
We arrived in the city late Saturday morning with tickets to see Swing! that afternoon and Cats the next day. Saturday evening was still open, so the majority of us decided to buy stage seats for Cats. Well, why not?
Our main reason for seeing this show was Michael Gruber (Munkustrap on the video, and also a former Broadway Munkus), who has a respectable role in it. We hung out at the stage door before the show, lying in wait for him. I believe all my companions had met him before, but I had not. All things considered, I think I did a relatively good job at maintaining an outward composure. Michael was in a bit of a rush, so we didn’t get to talk to him for long. Though as we spoke, a gentleman standing at the stage door (we think it might have been Casey McGill, another star in the show) came over and said, "Excuse me, ladies, but is this man bothering you?" Hardly! He may have been trying to rescue Michael, but it didn’t work, and I’m not sure Michael wanted to be rescued anyway. I gave him some cookies I had baked for him and his face lit up like a supernova. Ah, it was worth all the aggravation to see the look of delight that clearly said, "Oh boy! Sugar!" We talked very briefly (actually, my companions did most of the talking; I was a bit overwhelmed) and I got my picture taken with him. When he was gone, my companions gleefully observed that I was all shook up. "No, I’m not!" I protested. But as I spoke I was trying to change the film in my camera and I was having trouble because my hands were shaking so badly. "All right, I guess I am," I admitted. At least I waited until he was gone before I fell to pieces.
Swing! was very good. It doesn’t have much of a plot, though. Basically it’s a bunch of swing-style songs strung together with a lot of dancing. Michael had three solos to himself and sang in all the ensembles. His first solo is called Stop Beating Up Those Drums and he sings it as an irate man who has been awakened by the teenage son of his upstairs neighbor who has just gotten a new drum set. It’s a cute number with some tap dancing thrown in, but it is not included on the "hot off the presses" recording of the show that I bought. Grrr! I understand that they had to cut some songs in order to make it fit on one CD, but why axe one of Michael’s songs? Of course, I could be a wee bit biased.
Just before intermission there was a USO segment. Michael was very striking in a replica of a marine officer’s uniform. (Something about a man in uniform…) It was here that he sang his second solo, Love Me Tonight. The basic gist was "My future’s uncertain, I could be killed tomorrow, so love me tonight." I don’t entirely agree with the sentiment, but it was a nice song.
Michael’s third solo was called Boogie Woogie Country, and it was very enjoyable to hear him trying to sing with a country accent and still maintain good diction. The two don’t mix, but he did a good job nonetheless. While he sang there was a little story going on in front of him. One of the dancers, Robert Royston is built in a way that makes him look kind of chubby; he has a little leftover baby fat I guess. Therefore he was portrayed as a wallflower during any dance hall scenes. But in this song he donned a white cowboy hat that turned him into a dancing pro. And man, could he ever dance! He was so cute, and definitely the audience favourite. He was my favourite after Michael.
Believe it or not, there were several non-Michael numbers that I enjoyed. One was Cry Me a River. Laura Benanti was singing it to Steve Armour, the solo trombonist, and he was replying on his instrument. It was very cute and clever, and I kept envisioning my brother, Vincent doing the trombone part. I also liked Dancers in Love. It showed an older, greying gentleman wooing a very young girl only to discover that she was too much for his old body to handle. And Bill’s Bounce was very different. There were two men and two women dancing, but the women were being suspended from the rafters by bungee cords attached to their belts. I bet that was a fun number to do.
After Swing! we went back to the hotel to regroup, then dinner, then onward to see Cats.
As I said we had stage seats, which are just what they sound like, seats on the stage. It was quite an interesting perspective, but you couldn’t see a lot of action on one side of the stage. During the overture Skimbleshanks came down to the stage next to us and looked around with the glowing cat eyes on his head, but he didn’t do much interacting. Elsewhere in the theatre, audience members were getting the bejeezus scared out of them by green-eyed cats who would suddenly appear and either rub against them or hiss.
I immediately liked Jeffry Denman as Munkustrap. The first line of the musical is an important one for Munkus and he sang it perfectly with a clear, strong baritone.
During the first number I was struggling to pin character names to faces, since some of the Broadway costumes are so very different from the ones on the video. Coricopat and Tantomile in particular are a darker mix of brown and black on white and have "regular" cat wigs as opposed to the close ones in the video. Plato, Pouncival, and Alonzo are all varying mixes of brown, black, and white. (There are more tortoise shell males in this show than there probably are in the entire world.) Tumblebrutus is mostly white with some patches of pale brown. Sillabub looks pretty much like Jemima only paler. Demeter is mostly yellow where she was black in the video. Bombalurina has more black than in the video. Rumpelteazer is paler and Mungojerrie is darker. There is no Etcetera, no Electra, no Exotica, and no Admetus. There, I think I’ve covered most of the cast differences.
During Naming of Cats we had Jennyanydots right in front of us. A child in the front row of our stage box was reciting it with her, which I thought was awfully cute. Somewhere in the middle of the recitation she and I locked eyes for a whole verse. She has very pretty blue eyes.
Missy Lay Zimmer as Victoria is the cutest little thing. She has a narrow, pixie-like face, very suitable for her role. And she’s every bit as good a dancer as Phyllida Crowley Smith.
I can’t remember anything of particular note during Jenny’s number, so I shall skip lightly ahead to the Rum Tum Tugger. He was played by a swing that night, David Spangenthal. I believe on the night that we saw the tour show a year previous, he was standing in as Macavity. Interesting to see him in such different roles.
There was one other swing performing that night. Billy Sprague Jr. was playing Tumblebrutus. He was rather taller than I would expect Tumble to be, making him seem not quite as kittenish. I liked him, though; he made a very handsome kitty.
Grizabella on Broadway seems more sure-footed than in the video. She wasn’t limping anyway. And it is Tumblebrutus, not Pouncival who antagonizes her every time she shows up. Now at the risk of incurring much hissing and booing, I’m going to say that I didn’t really care for her singing. I think she was overdoing her vibrato, especially on the low notes.
Bustopher was led on by Skimble rather than Mistoffelees. I liked John Dewar as Bustopher. He portrays a well-bred cat with just enough silliness to add a little levity to the number. As he is about to sit he sings, "My visits are occasional to the Senior Educational and IT…" Here he sits rather abruptly and heavily, causing all the Cats to give a start. At the end of the song, instead of giving Jenny the flower from his lapel, Bustopher kissed her hand. She giggled like a school girl and fainted in Jellylorum’s arms.
On Broadway Demeter gets really spastic whenever she thinks Macavity might be near, darting about the stage and sniffing the air. Talk about a neurotic little kitty.
Tesha Buss as Rumpelteazer has a pleasing giggle. Not quite the same as Jo Gibb’s musical chuckle, but cute nonetheless. And she was the most darling little thing, kind of like Etcetera from the video. During the third verse when M&R sang, "Was it Mungojerrie or Rumpelteazer, or could you have sworn that it mightn’t be both?" as she sang her name, Teazer snapped the garters that held up her striped stockings. She and Mungo carry their loot in socks, by the way.
Now to Old Deuteronomy, and again it was Skimble, not Mistoff, who was sent to meet the Jellicle leader and bring him to the Junkyard. Jimmy Lockett as Old D is very good; he is at least comparable to Ken Page.
The startrap entrance for the Great Rumpus Cat is very cool, especially the first time you see it. I didn’t realize that he was going to shoot straight up out of the stage and I was much impressed. From where I was sitting his costume appeared to be more of a flat black than in the video. (Upon closer inspection I have discovered that it is pretty much the same.) And his mask is fuller, covering most of his face. I believe there is a helmet kind of thing under the black wig to help prevent injury when he shoots up through the startrap. The actor, Keith Wilson, has said that when he wears this mask he can’t see anything except what’s straight ahead of him, all peripheral vision is blocked off. Must be rather disconcerting.
The Jellicle Ball was excellent and it was here that I first really noticed Bombalurina. Marlene Danielle makes her a very sultry she-cat, kind of like a feline Tina Turner. There were only four couples in the mating dance led by Bomba. I think it was Plato with Demeter, Coricopat with Tantomile, and either Alonzo with Cassandra and Tumblebrutus with Bombalurina, or the other way around. Tumblebrutus was the one to lift Victoria. He did it well, but I was interested to observe that instead of turning in place, he actually walked around in a tight circle. Munkustrap, Old D, and oddly enough, Tugger weren’t in on the big kitty orgy. I didn’t really notice any other couples because my attention was caught by the somewhat unlikely pairing of Mistoffelees and Cassandra and I couldn’t look away. Unlikely or no, they were really gettin’ to it!
Here seems as good a place as any to mention this: Some of my companions are regulars on the Cats forum at Musicals.net and had told me about a mock feud being staged there by Jeffry Denman (Munkustrap) and Keith Wilson (Plato/Macavity/Rumpus Cat). Apparently it all started when Keith called Jeffry "Monkeystrap" and Jeffry retaliated with "Startrap butt", and so it deteriorated. From our stage seats we noticed that feud continuing on the stage; between numbers we heard them whispering, "Wuss! Wuss! Wuss!" back and forth. Dear me, how juvenile. But amusing to observe.
During the intermission the audience members were allowed up on the stage to look around. I wasn’t particularly interested, so I just watched and waited for the second half to start.
It did so with various kitty antics and groomings and so on. We got furtive glances from Tumble and Pounce. Then Gus came out and the kitties settled down for some philosophical platitudes. Maria Jo Ralabate did nicely as Sillabub; she had a beautiful, ethereal voice for her Moonlight solo.
More grooming noted during Gus’ song. So much in fact, that I think the Cats were paying more attention to that than they were to Gus. Typical cat behaviour, though. After Gus sings about "that moment of mystery" he stands up and takes a bow. Of course, the audience starts applauding, encouraged by Jellylorum, and Gus actually looks surprised and delighted. As the applause dies down he begins singing the segue verse with renewed fire.
Growltiger’s Last Stand was superb! They lowered the Jellicle Moon backdrop forward to show a boat deck complete with wheel, railing, and plank. And a motley-looking crew, of course. There were Skimble, Munkustrap with his parrot, Alonzo with a hook, Tugger who was dragging one leg, and Mistoffelees the cabin boy. John Dewar was an excellent Growltiger, portraying him as a rough and tough pirate with a small dose of finesse.
At the end of the verse in which Growltiger smacks each of his crew members as a punctuation to each line, he had Alonzo and Munkus on either side so he bopped them both at once and they fell back onto the boat deck. As Alonzo fell his pirate cap with ears fell off and he grabbed it and rammed it back on. But he put in on sideways and had to turn it back the right way during the next verse. The crew took great delight in reminding their captain of why he hates the Siamese and started to laugh a raucous laugh after "that mauled his missing ear", similar to the laughs Growltiger had emitted at the end of each verse. They were sharply cut off, though, when Growltiger snarled at them, then glared at Mistoffelees, who started like a frightened kitten.
The mood changed and the crew began singing the ballad-like section. When Griddlebone came on they all did a little last minute grooming and Growltiger even tried a few sit-ups. She completely ignored Mistoffelees, nodded at each of the others, then swooned back into Alonzo’s arms when she saw Growltiger.
Only four of the raffish crew lay sleeping in their barrels and their bunks. Munkustrap, presumably the night watch, lay sleeping on the poop deck while the lovers sang their last duet. And the Siamese could now be seen creeping into position outside the railing of the ship.
The lovers' duet was very similar to the one we saw on the tour, though with somewhat less action. Growltiger began singing while stroking Griddlebone's leg, and when he got to the end of the verse she puckered up for a kiss, but he ignored her. Annoyed, she drummed her claws on the deck, then began lashing her tail about. Growltiger kept trying to catch it, without success. Finally Griddlebone put out her claws (fake nails attached to pink gloves) and raked them down his back, eliciting an impressive scream. Well, that got his attention!
They finished the duet, then the Siamese jumped out and Griddlebone took off, blowing a kiss before jumping off the deck to land feet first in the wings about four or five feet below. (Something you can only see from the stage right stage seats.) I wonder if anyone’s ever turned her ankle doing that. The Siamese drove Growltiger off the end of the plank and he gave a yell. No splash, though. The only place I have ever heard one is in the OLC recording. But it would fit so well just there.
Skimbleshanks was played by Jon Paul (JP) Christensen, whom we saw on the tour in that role. He was sleeping on a ramp that goes up from the stage to the mezzanine. Apart from that, there wasn’t much different in his song. Not anything that I could see from where I was sitting anyway.
In Macavity, Alonzo was mirroring Demeter’s moves for the whole first verse. He left when Bomba started singing. Demeter was played by Celina Carvajal whom we also saw on the tour in 1999 in that role. I liked her then, so it was a pleasure to see her again. The two boys who joined the girls for the final chorus were Coricopat and Pouncival, but they didn’t sing. The fight with Macavity was very impressive. Munk did get his clock cleaned sooner than in the video, but he jumped up to send Mac on his way at the end. Alonzo was the one to get the hypnotist treatment, but he shook himself out of it and did this spectacular lift! He had Mac’s legs around his neck, and holding him by the waist, spun around with him about eight or nine times. Wow! (I’ve seen Canadian pair skaters Brasseur and Eissler do a variation of that move on the ice, but I don’t know what they call it.) I’m told that one night when they did that move Alonzo lost his footing and they both went crashing headfirst into the junk at the front of the stage. Yeow!
As of this writing, the current Mistoffelees is new, having replaced Jacob Brent in December. His name is Julius Sermonia, I think he may be of Philippine descent, and he is as cute as can be. He is also a terrific dancer. A little wild, perhaps, but then he’s only twenty and fairly new, fresh from the disbanded tour. He’ll settle out eventually.
Finally, Grizabella comes on and it’s up, up, up, up to the Heaviside Layer, though not in a flying saucer. There’s some kind of platform that comes down from the ceiling and takes her up. Similar in concept, I think, to the stairway to heaven from the video.
For the Ad-dressing of Cats we had Tumblebrutus singing to us. Billy S. made him a shy little kitty, very shifty-eyed, not keeping his gaze on anyone for more than a few seconds. Then it was time for bows. Deuteronomy came down from the tire and Munk and Tugger raced each other to his side. After the company bow, they turned and waved at us in the stage seats. Then they bowed again and scattered. Tugger was the last one off the stage, of course, though he didn’t do that thing with Bomba that they did on the tour. Too bad.
After the show we went out and stood by the stage door to catch actors as they came out. While waiting we met a couple of Missy Lay Zimmer’s friends. One of them told us he was planning to try out for Cats and he was hoping for the part of Alonzo. He seemed a little irritated when my companions told him that he looked more like a Skimbleshanks. "Everyone always says that!" he complained. Well hey, that’s what stage makeup is for. We also met the father of Jon Erik Goldberg (Pouncival). He was absolutely busting with pride over his son’s performance, and well he should! This first night I was a little shy and very cold, so I only got a couple autographs and pictures. Then we stood around and talked to Keith Wilson for a while. He is a sweet guy, very fan-friendly, and certainly easy on the eyes. It was and has been a great pleasure meeting and getting to know him.
Cindy, the ringleader of this trip, wanted to go to nine AM Mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral so we’d have plenty of time to get back to check out before noon. I told her, fine, call me when you wake up so I can get ready. So I woke up Sunday morning, looked at the clock, which said 8:44, and thought, well, I guess we’re not going to make the nine AM Mass. We did get to a 10:15 Mass, but this gave us considerably less time to get back to the hotel afterward. We packed up, checked our bags with the bellhop, and went looking for brunch. Found it at a nice diner a few blocks away. We had an enjoyable meal and were lingering over our coffee making off-colour jokes about the link sausages one of us had ordered, when Cindy suddenly said, "Hey, we gotta get out of here; it’s 1:30 and the show starts at two!" So we were rushing down the street, thinking we were barely going to make it, and then Cindy stopped and said, "Wait a minute, it’s Sunday; the show doesn’t start till three." Oh well.
We met Hector Montalvo AKA Cat Morgan before the show at the stage door. He’s a really cool guy, not at all stuck up. For anyone who doesn’t know, he is the gentleman who has seen the show every Sunday since it opened on Broadway. This particular Sunday was his six hundred sixty-seventh show; he said he was anxious to get off six hundred sixty-six. Just to give you an idea of Hector’s status with the cast, he had missed the previous Sunday because he had to work, and as the Cats came to the stage door, they saw him and said, "Hey, where were you last week? We missed you!" Must be nice. He had lots of stories to tell about all the various casts he has seen over the years. We chit-chatted until the doors opened, then went in to take our seats.
We had seats in the front row. Tugger side as Cindy put it, though I prefer to call it Rumpus Cat side. Either one is correct. My companions insisted that I take the seat right next to the ramp going up to the stage. Oh boy! I thought. Kitty contact inevitable!
So the overture begins, lights start flashing, then the Cats come out with their green eyes. It can be quite alarming to find one of them suddenly right next to you, just as with a real cat. On the other side of the theatre we heard a man yell, "Oh, my God!" as he was set upon by a green-eyed Cat. And I was not to be left out. Several Cats had rushed by me on the ramp and I was watching Munkustrap prance in front of Hector when Pouncival pounced me. I heard a thump on the ramp and turned to see a vague, shadowy face inches away with those glowing eyes sitting on the forehead. This was disconcerting enough, but then he hissed at me before turning and running away, whapping me with his tail as he went. I had just enough presence of mind to turn and watch him go so I could identify him later. My heart was beating in double time for the next few minutes. Talk about kitty contact!
Sitting in the front row can be very exciting, as I found out during the Prologue. The example that leaps immediately to mind is Plato, who sings the line "Have you been an alumnus of heaven or hell?" Just like Tumblebrutus in the video, he does a handspring and a forward roll right up to the edge of the stage. Then he just sits there, cat-style, and stares at the people in the front row.
Speaking of staring, in the Naming of Cats we had Cassandra and I think Coricopat speaking to us. Munkustrap locked eyes with me for a few seconds, then went to stand on the ramp next to me while Cassandra slid forward between his legs. The theatre is built with ramps going from the stage to the mezzanine, so the people up there get the kitty stare treatment, too.
During Jenny’s tap routine her little cap with ears fell off and she rammed it back on, but it fell off again so she just shrugged and left it off. After her number she was taking her bows and Munk went to put her big coat back on her, but she ran away to the other side of the stage to bow and Munk gave us an irritated look before following her and throwing the coat over her shoulders. Reminded me of a James Brown routine that Rockapella did once.
On Broadway Tugger throws open a door in the backdrop and comes out on the tire in full cry. In this show it almost seemed like the door wouldn’t open, and when it did, Tugger came through with a relieved grin. Stephen Bienskie is, I think, the best Tugger ever, full of energy and full of himself! When Bomba pushes herself into his arms, he sniffs from her wrist to her neck, says, "Nope!" and pushes her down into a split. For the audience participation portion of his song he ran to the end of the ramp next to us, grabbed the girl sitting there, and did a rather sexy dance with her. She was a little overwhelmed, I think, because she sat down again after a few seconds. But old Tugger wasn’t quite done with her yet, and pulled her up for a second dance!
Other highlights of the evening: For the first bit of Bustopher’s solo I had Pounce sitting next to me on the ramp. When M&R mentioned the vase that was commonly said to be Ming, they looked at each other then burst into gales of giggles.
While Munkustrap was singing his first solo in Old D, Tugger stood on the tire mocking him, and when it was his turn to sing he made a meal of it. Then Munk came back and stretched out his hand, but Tugger looked at him disdainfully and kept his hands at his belt. When Munk finally let his hand fall, Tugger reached out to him. Brat!
After Munkustrap sings the intro to P&P there are four brass punches during which Tugger follows close behind Munk, mocking him. After the third punch Munk catches him and feints back at him, and on the fourth punch Tugger does one last ta da! before running off. As the Cats were settling down for Munk’s narration Alonzo plopped himself down on the stage in front of Hector and casually let his tail drop into Hector’s lap. Hector just laughed and Alonzo gave him a cute smirk before snatching his tail back. Skimbleshanks and Mistoffelees were beside me on the ramp before they went to change into pollicles, and Tugger came up that ramp with his bagpipes. Munk actually chased him off. And if I thought the startrap entrance was impressive from the stage seats, it was outstanding at close range! I think he shot out of the stage no more than three feet from where I sat. Wow!
Let’s see, Jellicle Ball, nothing of particular note, Memory, ditto, then intermission. Two of my companions went to the powder room while the third and I stayed in our seats. Hector, who really didn’t know us that well, who had only just met us that day, came over to talk to us about the show. Such a charming guy, very friendly.
My companions kept trying to encourage me to go up on stage so I could say I had done it. I assured them that it wasn’t something I was dying to do. What I really wanted was to be able to touch someone’s tail, and to be nuzzled by a Cat. I got one of my wishes during the second act, you’ll find out which one presently.
The second half opened with various kitty antics, and right in front of us was a kitty pile composed of Plato, Alonzo, and Demeter. It was hysterical and extremely cat-like, especially the way they untangled themselves.
Let’s see, Moments of Happiness, Gus, and then Growltiger. If you’ve seen pictures of Growltiger you know the biceps on his costume are rather large. When he throws off his Gus coat, these muscles inflate, much to his obvious delight. Tee hee! I wonder if one of them has ever not inflated. That would look really cute. When the crew is revealed Munk is at the wheel of the ship, turning it in time to the music, and at the end of the first verse he turned it hard and let it spin. Appropriately the rest of the crew lurched to one side and grabbed at whatever was handy. Mistoffelees was petting Munk’s parrot, and later when Munk was settling down for a snooze on the deck he kissed the parrot goodnight. When Griddlebone first came on, the raffish crew were doing the hourglass thing with their hands. And during the verse in which Griddlebone first appears we could see a Chinese junk in the background getting closer.
Moving past Skimble and Macavity to the end of the fight, when Mac was trying to short the lights with the jumper cables, he seemed to be wrestling with them and suddenly rammed them into an old, neon Coca Cola sign, causing a tremendous flash. I think we are meant to assume that he was killed, but I prefer not to think that. And it was here that I noticed a pairing difference that truly surprised me. Demeter sniffed and nuzzled Munkustrap a little, then went past him and encountered Alonzo. They sniffed each other and then did some extensive nuzzling of the "Oh, darling, I’m so glad you’re all right!" variety. Poor Munk doesn’t seem to have a steady in the Broadway version, though Jeffry seems to favour Cassandra for his character.
For the better half of Mistoffelees’ song I had Pouncival lying on his tummy next to me. (I can’t seem to get rid of him, not that I want to.) I kept glancing at him and in particular watching his tail (the one on his costume). He turned to look at me several times and the last time when he flipped back onto his tummy his tail ended up right next to my arm. Well, I could hardly pass up a chance like that; I stroked his tail all the rest of the while that he sat next to me. Without attracting his attention, I might add. When Mistoff was about to do his big conjuring trick, Tugger came over to us and said, "You know what’s coming, right? Never mind." Mistoff brought Old D back and Rumpelteazer scooted onto the ramp next to me, and when I looked at her she turned and gave me the cutest little grin. And at the end when Mistoff blew out the spotlight, he and the operator were a little off from each other. Either the operator was too soon or Mistoff was late, or perhaps both. A small mistake and hardly noticeable except to the most nitpicky of fans. Like me.
Nothing of particular note until the end. The tire, I should mention, goes up and forward, and is that dry ice ever cold! It had me coughing; I worry about the effect it might have on the performers every night.
As the Cats were getting into position for Ad-dressing I happened to notice Alonzo on our side of the stage. When he saw me watching him he locked eyes with me and gave me a sexy come hither smile that melted me where I sat! (pant pant)
For Ad-dressing we had Mistoff, Pounce, and Teazer singing to us. As they were preparing for bows, Tugger came over and held out his hands to Cindy. This was a distraction we soon learned, as Demeter suddenly popped up in front of her, scaring her silly. After the bows they got us to sing the chorus of Mistoffelees’ song as they pranced around and off the stage. Tugger was the last to leave, after one final pelvic thrust.
Now we hurried out and stood talking to Hector while we waited for the actors to come out. Stephen Bienskie was one of the first and Cindy observed, "Hey look, he’s still wearing his chains!"
"And you know what?" Stephen returned. "That’s really scary!"
I got the autographs and pictures of several performers this time. One that I was on the lookout for was Lenny Daniel (Alonzo); my heart was still going pitter pat from that look he gave me from the stage. Naturally he was one of the last to come out, but when I approached him he was very charming. As he signed my playbill he asked, "Did you enjoy the show?" He was the only one to ask me that; I guess the others just took it for granted. (The answer was an effusive yes, by the way.) I had a little trouble getting someone to take our picture, but he was very nice and hung around until I could attract the attention of one of my companions. After the picture our photographer commented that she had heard a rumour that Lenny would be leaving the cast soon and asked if this was true. "Leave?" Lenny cried. "I just got here! I won’t be going anywhere for a while." Then Hector came over and commented on the stunt Lenny had pulled on him during P&P. Lenny just smiled and told us that he had been wearing a brand new costume and "I felt very pretty today." Mmmm-hmmmm, he looked pretty good, too.
Somewhere between six and 6:30 we left the theatre and headed for the bus station after collecting our bags from the hotel. It was just starting to snow. We got to the station, found our gate, then were told that there were no buses going south. "No one’s going anywhere," the bus driver irritably told us when we expressed disbelief. The general attitude of the personnel to the stranded passengers was, that’s your problem, not ours. Fortunately we were directed to a hotel by a very nice gentleman who nevertheless required a tip.
The hotel was three streets down from the station and it happened to be where Selina, a sister Michael Gruber fan was staying. We met her in the lobby and went to dinner together. As we walked down the street, the snow started getting heavier and Selina suddenly stopped dead and cried, "It’s snowing!"
Yeah, we said, so what?
"I’ve never seen snow before!"
Apparently she’s lived in a southern clime all her life. Well, such an occasion had to be celebrated. We found an empty parking lot with about an inch or so of snow and took her running through it so she could make footprints, then showed her how to make snowballs.
And as we trooped along the streets looking for dinner, one of my companions started singing, "Oh, the weather outside is frightful."
I joined in and we got as far as the first "Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!" before I broke off and said, "We’re going to get shot!"
She added, "Well, I’m sure not going to sing the part about a kiss goodnight."
Not much else to report. The buses were running again the next day and I got home without any mishaps. Do I want to go again? Emphatically yes! But I think I’ll wait for warmer weather.
Below you'll find the program pix of all the performers we saw on the stage for this weekend.
