This turned out to be quite an eventful trip, in both good and bad ways. The main purpose was to let my brother, Vince see Cats with me before the army sends him off to Germany. I also wanted him to see Swing! I figured that as a trombonist in the army band he would be able to appreciate it. Since Vince has a rather tight schedule and could only get a pass for 48 hours, we decided we’d be better off flying to New York. Here is the itinerary we had for the weekend: Friday evening we flew up to New York, checked into our hotel, then walked to the Winter Garden to meet Matt (another Musicals.net frequenter), Cindy, XYZ, and Kyra (Cindy’s niece). From there we went to see Rocky Horror Picture Show with Matt. Saturday afternoon Vince and I saw Swing! while Cindy and XYZ saw Fosse across the street, then all of us saw Cats in the evening. Sunday we went to St. Patrick’s Cathedral, then the World Trade Center, and then one last trip to the Winter Garden to say our good-byes before heading home.
The flight itself to New York was uneventful, for which I was grateful, as it was my first time flying. But we had to wait close to an hour for our luggage since the conveyor belt was broken. Took a cab to our hotel and checked in, then walked to the Winter Garden, about five blocks away. It was not yet ten PM so we decided to have a late dinner. At 10:30 we walked back to the theatre to await the end of the show. I noted with some annoyance that about six or seven vendors of illegal goods (e.g. fake Rolex watches and bootleg videos) had set up shop on the curb. A couple of them had even gone so far as to park themselves right next to the stage and auditorium doors, where they were very much in the way when people started coming out. Every now and then they would all gather up their wares and take off as a patrolling policeman came by, but as soon as the threat was gone they’d come back. Ah, New York.
But in the meantime I was looking for Matt who was supposed to meet us here. "Do you know what this guy looks like?" Vince asked me.
"Um, no," I admitted.
"Then how are you supposed to know who he is?" Vince demanded.
"Well, he knows what I look like," I pointed out. "He’s seen pictures of me. I guess he’ll just come up to me, tap me on the shoulder, and say, ‘Hi, I’m Matt.’ "
Vince frowned at that and said, "If he does that I’ll clobber him."
He never got the chance, though. Shortly after this exchange a young man dressed in black came up to me and asked, "Excuse me, are you Delilah?"
"Yes," I answered, "and you must be Matt."
Well, that was easy enough. I introduced him to Vince and we talked at great length about Cats and a few other things until the auditorium doors opened and people came pouring out, tripping over the street vendors as they did so. I spotted Cindy and dragged my male companions over to introduce to her and her comrades. Together we waited for the performers to come out.
Matt was keen to meet Jeffry Denman as he had brought a copy of his Sweeney Todd/Cats parody for him, and happily Jeffry was one of the first ones out. We waited while he signed playbills and had his picture taken with a darling little blonde cherub, then approached him. I am not entirely sure if he recognized me, though he spoke to me as if he did. I don’t think I have ever introduced myself to him as Delilah, which is how he would know me from the forum. I did introduce Matt and Vince to him, though. Jeffry was charming as always and seemed intrigued by Matt’s parody. In fact Cindy reported that he started reading it as he walked down the street homeward bound.
The next one we spotted was Keith Wilson, head and shoulders above the crowd. By this time Vince had taken up his customary duties as photographer and snapped a pic as Keith was signing playbills. I must say, he has a very nice profile. Keith remembered me on sight (gee, and only the third time he’s seen me ;~)), and of course was already well acquainted with Matt from the forum, though this was their first time meeting in person. I did the introduction honours; now I wonder if he remembered my name. Well, if he knows me only as Delilah, that’s probably good enough. Vince, being the macho army guy that he is, insisted on giving all the male cast members I introduced him to very firm handshakes. I hope they weren’t bothered by it.
Lenny Daniel came out while we were still talking to Keith; I think it was XYZ who alerted me. Much like her in May when James Hadley came out as she was talking to Stephen Bienskie, I was keeping a nervous eye on Lenny and hoping he wouldn’t disappear before I could get to him. He didn’t, though, and what’s more he, too, remembered me from the May trip. Be still, my fluttering heart! Again I made introductions, presenting Vince as the army brother that I had wanted to bring with me. (He remembered that, too.) We took a picture together and I know I must have been glowing. Then we talked a little, or rather he talked and I listened while gazing at him adoringly. Hmm, I dread to think of the depression I will inevitably go into after September 7th.
We also spoke briefly to Jon Erik Goldberg and Julius Sermonia, both of whom also remembered me. I have a feeling it’s the cookies I bring that helps jog their memories. ;~) After all the performers were gone, we hung around talking and sharing pictures. It must have been close to 11:30 or possibly after when we finally parted company. Matt, Vince, and I headed for the Village East Cinema to see Rocky Horror Picture Show while the others returned to the hotel.
I have noted the date as such because the show started around midnight so it was technically Saturday when we actually saw it. It was an experience I’ll not soon forget, however hard I may try. Also one that I do not feel the need to repeat. How to describe it, though? I wasn’t entirely unprepared. I had read Matt’s Rocky/Cats parody and had a general idea of what it was about. Matt had also briefed me on what to expect at a midnight screening which gets kind of crazy. But it still turned out to be more than what I was expecting. As a somewhat prudish Southern girl, I felt a wee bit out of place.
Before the screening there was a floorshow and the performers did several different skits. I think some of it went over my head. After about the second or third act, the MC cried out, "Oh, does the fun ever start?!" I was beginning to wonder that myself.
Actually I was getting a little nervous since we were sitting in front row seats and I didn’t really feel up to any kind of audience participation. Though a highlight of the evening came when they sang YMCA. Mid-song a very large guy with a police uniform and a pierced tongue gave Matt a lap dance. Vince and I were in hysterics, Matt was mortified. Too bad I didn’t think to quote Stephen Bienskie: "See what happens when you sit in an end seat?" Well, not to worry, Matt recovered, though he was unusually quiet for a little while afterward.
Soon after there was a Rocky virgin initiation ceremony. As they scouted the audience for Rocky fans who had never been to a midnight screening, I caught Matt glancing at me and told him, "If you give me away, you’re dead!"
"I would never do that," he said innocently.
"You’d better not," I said sternly.
"Well, I do still want to see Cats tomorrow night," he commented.
"Remember that then."
As it turned out, the initiation rite was something I couldn’t do anyway owing to lack of experience. Let’s just say you can’t fake what you’ve never done.
Finally the movie started. There was a cast shadow acting below the screen, and the audience was shamelessly heckling the characters. This was very interesting, even entertaining in spots. Vince and I are fans of Mystery Science Theatre 3000, so screen heckling is nothing new to us. But I did choke when I first saw Frank N. Furter in all his transvestite glory. (Which seemed to worry Matt, but I assured him I was okay.) And there were a few scenes that I found disturbing and/or hard to watch, but I survived with my sanity more or less intact. Had some strange dreams that night, though.
The next day was quite full. Vince and I didn’t get back to the hotel till 3:15, so we slept late and met Cindy, XYZ, and Kyra for lunch at noon. I’m afraid I failed to make a good impression with Kyra at the restaurant: in trying to read my menu, which was quite large and cumbersome, I knocked my water glass over with it and she only just managed to avoid having it land in her lap. She did get her knees splashed, though, and she gave me the most killing look when she heard me order soup. But I did manage to keep for spilling that or anything else on her.
After lunch Vince and I headed over to the St. James Theatre. I knew that Michael Gruber would be leaving the show soon, but I wasn’t sure exactly when. Some sources said this would be his last weekend, others said he was already gone. According to the playbill he was there, though Stacia Fernandez was standing in for Laura Benanti. Then the show started and we saw him on the stage, and so we were content.
Ms. Fernandez was cute and a little silly in Ms. Benanti’s place. Not quite as sweet and dreamy, but still pleasant. And she was very expressive, especially on Two and Four. For Cry Me a River, the trombone number that I wanted Vince to see, she was wearing a white satin suit instead of the sleeveless gown that Ms. Benanti wore for that number. It had a jacket with long, loose sleeves and lace cuffs, and at one point the trombonist’s spit valve trigger got caught in the lace. Oops! Guess they should have rehearsed that number a bit more thoroughly. But it only happened once.
Ms. Fernandez was the only swing, but I noticed several new faces in the band and among the dancers. Steven Armour (trombone) and Conrad Korsch (double bass) were gone, but I can’t tell you who their replacements were because the playbill doesn’t list the instrumentalists by name, at least not anywhere that I can see. (Snobs!) Robert Royston had a new partner. Don’t quote me on this, but my guess is that Laureen Baldovi decided to go back to competitive swing dancing while Robert elected to stay with the show. Such things happen not infrequently in figure skating. Another new dancer who caught my eye was Jeb Bounds from Texas. His feature numbers included I’ll Be Seeing You from the USO segment and the tap routine during Swing, Brother, Swing in the second act. He is quite good and has a very expressive face. Also he’s cute.
After the show Vince and I hurried down to the hallway leading to the stage door. There we waited for Michael; I had baked cookies for him again, shortbread this time. To pass the time, Vince told me how he had amused himself by identifying all the different swing styles and also the various uniforms worn for the USO segment.
We weren’t kept waiting long; after five minutes or so Michael came out, head down and shades on. I stepped in his path and asked if he remembered me. He said he did, though I had to remind him of my name. (Nothing unusual.) I introduced him to Vince, gave him his cookies, and we chit-chatted a bit. He told me that he was leaving New York on Sunday so I had caught him just in time. He and Vince talked shop on swing music for a while then we said goodbye, probably for the last time. (sniff)
Cindy and XYZ were across the street seeing Fosse, which runs about thirty minutes longer than Swing! While waiting to meet up with them Vince and I took a slow walk around Times Square. Then we hooked up and returned to the hotel. After some discussion we decided to dine separately and meet at the Winter Garden. Vince and I found a very nice Mexican restaurant for dinner. I was somewhat amused when the waiter (who didn’t have an accent, amazingly enough) began reading the beverage list with the alcoholic drinks first. "What kind of soft drinks do you have?" I asked pointedly. Vince is underage anyway, and as for me…well, I don’t really drink that often. I would have liked to try a Margarita, but I was afraid to go to see Cats with a strong drink on board. I’m not sure how I would behave with a high concentration of alcohol and adrenaline in my blood.
Vince and I had seats 2 and 4 in row B of the right orchestra section, next to Pouncival’s ramp. Vince was impressed when he saw how close we were. Billy Johnstone was on vacation this weekend (darn) so Billy Sprague Jr. was standing in as Coricopat (yay!). He was the only swing, but several performers have already left for other shows, so there were some new faces. Melissa Hathaway is now Victoria, Gayle Holsman is Demeter, Maria Jo Ralabate (formerly Sillabub) is Rumpelteazer, and Jessica Dillan is Sillabub.
This was my very first time seeing Patrick Mullaney as Tumblebrutus. Cindy always told me how good he is, but every time I came to see the show he was on vacation and a swing was in the role. Well, now I have seen him and I must agree that he is a very cute Tumblebrutus. He was quite graceful on the trapeze, too. And it is Mungojerrie, not Pouncival, who does the tumbling runs with Plato on "we can turn double somersaults."
Vince got the stare treatment early on as Asparagus sang, "There’s a man over there…" and locked eyes with my brother. "What are you supposed to do when they look right at you?" he asked me later.
"Stare back at them as best you can," I suggested. That’s what I try to do anyway.
During Naming we had Mistoffelees, Cassandra, and Skimbleshanks in front of us, then Munkustrap came and stood on our ramp. He didn’t react to his name at all, though. I tried to see Alonzo when he did his little shiver, but someone, I think Munkustrap, was in the way. Oh well.
Gumbie Cat was cute as always. The four mice are played by Victoria, Sillabub, Rumpelteazer, and Skimble. The first beetle to come out is Pouncival and he does quite a tap routine before Jenny sends him away. Later as the kicking line goes by, Skimble, who was on the end, pinched Jenny causing her to squeal. (This is the uncle-figure, is it?) Interesting to note, during the final tap segment, Bomba, Demeter, Munkus, and Jellylorum are all watching Jenny as they dance.
Vince seemed to quite enjoy the Rum Tum Tugger. For those of you (and that’s most of you) who don’t know my brother, he can be the most infuriating creature sometimes. You ask him if he liked something and he’ll give you a stone-faced "It was okay." But I heard him chuckling in this and other numbers, so I knew it was more than okay. Stephen was his usual flamboyant self, choosing a lady at the end of the ramp to dance with at the appropriate time. And throughout the rest of the song he was flirting unabashedly with various girls in the front row, one of whom he gave the "Call me!" sign.
Grizabella then Bustopher. The male cats are always fun to watch in this number. Munkustrap was trying to get them organized and Alonzo stuck his tongue out at him as soon as his back was turned. Pouncival was always being pushed out of the way by the bigger males. Eventually he came down to the ramp and settled himself. He carefully arranged his tail behind him then waved his finger at the audience members on either side of him, pointing at his tail as if to say, "Now don’t you touch that." (Perhaps he read my January review and learned that his tail had been caressed without his knowledge. ;~)) At the end of Bustopher’s solo Skimble again tried to conduct the ladies’ chorus. When Jenny waved him off he gave her an affronted look but continued to conduct with smaller, more covert movements. After Bustopher got up from the hat Plato sat on it, leaned back too far, and fell off. Munkustrap reprimanded him and made him take the hat backstage. Then the males began lining up to receive Bustopher. Munkustrap was first, then Alonzo, then Coricopat. Pouncival tried to place himself next to Cori, but Plato pushed him down the line next to Mistoff, and Tumble came up and pushed him all the way to the end of the line. But when Bustopher went down the line, he passed over all the others and acknowledged only Pouncival at the end. Pounce was grinning from ear to ear and the older males were all looking at each other like "What the heck?" Which brings to mind a well-known quote: "He who exalts himself shall be humbled, but he who humbles himself shall be exalted." (Luke 14:11)
A crash and sirens, and the Cats leave the stage in great haste. Silence for a moment, then we hear a pleasant giggle. It is Rumpelteazer, played by Maria Jo Ralabate, and she is just as cute as Tesha Buss was in that role. Close behind her is Roger Kachel as Mungojerrie, and I would like to offer my humble apologies to him for ever saying that Billy Johnstone made a better Mungo. Having had my memory refreshed by Roger’s performance, I’d say they are about equal in greatness. On the line about the "friendly policeman" Teazer ran forward to wave at him, but Mungo grabbed her and pushed her behind him before thumbing his nose at the cop.
There was also a cute running gag in this song. Whenever Teazer said her name she’d go "Rump--elteazer" and bop Mungo with her hip. Then it got switched. Just before the line "Was it Mungojerrie or Rumpelteazer, or could you have sworn that it mightn’t be both?" Mungo flipped Teazer around and made her dizzy. She was facing away from the audience, so as her name was sung Mungo turned her forward and bopped her with his hip. Cute!
Next Old Deuteronomy, in which Tugger acts very much the spoiled brat, then The Pekes and the Pollicles. Alonzo settled himself down on the stage left ramp (audience’s right) and let his tail drop lazily behind him. He glanced over his shoulder and raised his eyebrows at the person whose lap it landed in. Teazer seemed to get very upset when Mungo stepped on her bark and Munkus had to separate them. It was quite obvious, especially the second time, that Mungo was doing it on purpose. Alonzo was the one to lead the "dogs" in the Marching Song of the Pollicles, and he started off in the opposite direction that Munkus wanted him to go. But Munk had no time to fret with him as the line "and even from China and Spain" was sung raucously from the audience and he saw that Pouncival was not yet on the stage. He made an irritated "Get up here!" gesture and Pounce ran loudly up the ramp to the stage. Munkus gave him a little shove to help him catch up with the end of the line, then jumped in front of Alonzo and stopped the marchers. Had a bit of a pile-up, though, and apparently Mungo bumped Alonzo in the backside cos Lonz rubbed his rump and mouthed "Ow!" before turning and fussing at Mungo. As they sang, "For my name it is Little Tom Pollicle," Munk reached over and straightened Alonzo’s costume. When Tugger came up with his "bagpipes" I noticed that he didn’t even have the chanter (or what passed for one) in his mouth. Munkustrap chased him, screaming, from the stage. Finally came the Rumpus Cat. (Yaaaaayyy!) As he showed off his eyes like fireballs the "dogs" whimpered. Munkus seemed rather uneasy with him, and his reactions to the over-the-head kicks were exaggerated. As if Keith would ever hurt him! Not intentionally anyway. On the last line I listened very closely and yes indeedy, they do say power instead of bow. So how did I get it into my head that it was bow? Because that’s what it sounds like on the video. Is the British accent to blame, or do the London Cats actually say bow? Anyone know?
As Old D was singing ashes to ashes and dust to dust, the psychic twins (Cori and Tant) apparently sensed Macavity before everyone else. They hissed and raised their hackles, looking around apprehensively. Then a crash of glass and the Cats clear off the stage, all but Old D, Munkustrap, and Mungojerrie (who is hiding behind Old D). Gradually they return and the Jellicle Ball begins. I made a careful point of observing all pairings, let’s see if I can remember them: In the medieval dance I have already mentioned Plato with Demeter and Munkustrap with Rumpelteazer. Alonzo was with Bombalurina, Tumblebrutus with Cassandra, Pouncival with Sillabub, Coricopat with Tantomile, Tugger with Jellylorum (weird!), Asparagus with Jennyanydots, Skimbleshanks with Victoria (I think), and since they had run out of girls, Mistoffelees with Mungojerrie. For the mating dance led by Bomba the lineup was Tumble to Cass, Alonzo to Bomba, Cori to Tant, and Plato to Demeter. Finally the orgy, in which Munk and Tugger didn’t participate, thereby evening the male to female ratio. In this we have Alonzo and Bomba, Plato and Demeter, Mistoff and Cass, Tumble and Victoria and Skimble (a threesome), Mungo and Teazer and Sillabub (another one), Cori and Tant, Asparagus and Jenny, and Pounce and…Jellylorum? No, that can’t be right; I must have got some wrong. Anyone who knows for sure, please email me. WitchCat07@yahoo.com
Grizabella comes on once again and disturbs the Ball. Sillabub, seeking comfort, crawled up to Alonzo and made cute kitten eyes at him, but he only hissed and spurned her. Mildly daunted, the sweet little kitty then crawled over to Munkustrap with the same winning smile and was rewarded with a scratch behind the ears. I guess Lonz was a little distracted.
Now, having seen the show several times I would like to amend what I have said about Linda Balgord as the Glamour Cat. I still don’t like her vibrato, especially on the low notes. But she has a good voice and carries the role well. And she’s a nice person besides.
Now intermission and people began looking around on the stage. I asked Vince if he wanted to go, too.
"I don’t care," he grumbled. (See how maddening he is?)
"Okay," I replied, "you don’t have to if you don’t want to."
A pause, then Vince sighed, "I guess we might as well." (It’s all in the approach. ;~))
We looked at the tire, we looked at the startrap, and we noted some of the brand names found in the junk. Then Vince commented that he didn’t care for the music director’s style of conducting. He showed me what he meant by directing as he had seen the man do on the monitor, and demonstrated how he thought it should be done, with a bit more flourish. I commented that the guy didn’t really have much room for any kind of flourish, and didn’t have much of an audience to do it for anyway. Just the musicians and strange people like my brother who’s interested in that kind of thing. Shortly after this exchange Matt joined us and we went into raptures over how great the show was. I feel it is safe to say that it was the best performance of Cats I have seen so far. After chatting a bit we returned to our seats and waited for the second half to begin.
As the music started, Pouncival suddenly popped out from a pipe under the stage, and he looked almost as surprised as the lady he startled. He hopped up on the ramp and settled himself near me, looking around and going "myaa" very softly. He behaved so much like a little friendly kitten that I wanted to reach over and pet his head or scratch his ears. I restrained myself, though; good thing I didn’t have that Margarita. ;~) Tumblebrutus also popped out from a stage pipe and tried to engage a young lady in a staring contest. She was reading her playbill, though, so he swatted at it a couple times to get her attention. About then Skimble came up the ramp and stopped next to the lady in front of me. He looked over her shoulder at the playbill she was reading, and when she looked up at him he pawed at it.
Moments of Happiness, during which I found myself locked in a staring competition with Mistoffelees, then came Gus, then Growltiger, my favourite song. John Dewar is such a ham. I love the way he does this song. And he has the best piratical laugh. As the boat deck is lowered we can see that his crew are being lazy and sleeping on the job, but he gives a yell and they immediately snap back to their work. After Growltiger sings, "Growltiger’s on the loose!" he lets out another loud and evil laugh, and Mistoffelees does a well-choreographed leap into the arms of Tugger, Skimble, and Alonzo. They lower him to the deck where he finds himself nose to nose with his pirate captain just before they drag him back. This happens again as the mood changes; Mistoff is sniffing the air and turns to see Growltiger right behind him. Growltiger hisses and Mistoff skitters away. As they are preparing to greet Griddlebone the older males push Mistoff out of the way. The feline femme fatale steps up on the stage and he rushes forward to embrace her, but she evades him and he ends up hugging the air. Poor Mistoffelees. He gets treated rather shabbily in this song. The Lovers’ Last Duet went as usual, then came the Siamese. As Genghis began his lines Munkustrap sat up and stretched. He noticed the Siamese, smiled and waved at them, and turned to watch the lovers. (Voyeur!) Then his eyes widened and he did a double take before scurrying below deck. The Siamese, on the appropriate line, battened down the hatch on him. Roger as Genghis sounded very much like Fu Man Chu, as I expect was his intention. While waiting for his underlings to let him get at his foe, he yawned largely and tested the sharpness of his sword with his thumb. And I could be mistaken, but I do believe I heard a splash when Growltiger dropped off the end of the plank. Great song. Excellent job, everyone. Vince and I loved it.
Skimbleshanks, with all the background antics and James Hadley besides, is rapidly gaining favourite song status with me. By paying close attention I noticed that on "He gave one flash," while everyone else sang "flash" normally, Alonzo, who at that moment was falling back into Tumble’s arms, sang it rather high-pitched. During the train-riding scene I was mainly watching Pouncival and Coricopat, and they had quite a little drama going on. Pounce pushed Cori aside and got in his place. Cori grabbed Pounce by the waist and spun him away. (No throw this time.) Pounce then ran at Cori, but the bigger cat just stepped out of the way and he missed him completely. Finally Pounce threw all his weight at Cori, pushing and shoving ineffectually. But Skimble came along then and Cori gestured at the pesky kitten as if to say, "Please do something about him." Skimble obligingly put the little upstart back in his original spot. On the line "When they crept into that cozy berth…" I prefer James’ pantomime to Geoffrey Garratt’s. He has his back to the audience, shimmies out of his "trousers", hangs them up, turns around and stretches, notices us watching, and draws in with one arm across his chest and the other covering his lower region before he pulls up his "blanket". He also disposes of the "mouse" he catches in a more appropriate way, i.e. he drops it down his gullet. I also prefer the train with metal roofing as opposed to the red canopy, with Teazer at the front pulling an imaginary chain for every whistle toot.
I found myself missing Celina during Macavity; she has such a beautiful voice. But Gayle Holsman is quite good. And Marlene Danielle refreshed my memory as to how talented she is. They complement each other well. Though Ms. Holsman seems to be having a little trouble getting the Old D coat off of Keith at the appropriate time. Need a little more rehearsal there I guess. And the fight between Macavity and Alonzo was outstanding as always. Well done, Keith and Lenny.
Julius had his own cheering section at this performance, outshining what Cindy and Co. had done at the Sunday show back in May. He was his usual dazzling self. I always have trouble keeping count of the fouettes, but I think he did thirty-three. The most memorable moment of the song, though, for me anyway, was at the very end as the Cats repeated the chorus over and over. Alonzo came down our ramp and spotted me. He gave me an "Oh, there you are" look and pawed the air at me. I was absolutely thrilled!
Jessica Dillan as Sillabub had a beautiful voice on her solo, quite as good as Maria Jo. And after singing Memory with Linda it was up to the Heaviside Layer we go! For Ad-dressing we had Mistoffelees, Rumpelteazer, and Coricopat facing us. This time when I looked around Mistoff I was able to find Alonzo. He was really getting excited as Old D sang about food, smacking his lips and wagging his tongue. (French-kissing the air indeed!)
As the Cats prepared for bows, Munkustrap settled himself on the ramp right next to a lady in the front row. I can only imagine what it was like to turn and find that grinning silver tiger inches from her face. She gave a start and said, "Oh, hi!" Munkustrap returned the greeting by rubbing his head against her shoulder. During the bows the audience was clapping in time to the music, and all of us sitting next to the ramp were startled and then amused when Pouncival came along and swatted at our hands, grinning all the way. The cute kitten of the evening award definitely goes to him.
Show’s over so I dragged Vince out to the stage door. I offered to take pictures of him with performers of his choice, but he turned me down. I’m not sure if this was pure cussedness or he really didn’t want to. With him it’s hard to tell.
I got some autographs and a couple pictures, including Linda Balgord. Vince caught on quick. Being 6’1" he was able to spot the performers coming out quite easily, and he seemed to know exactly which ones I was interested in. (Pretty good after only one night of meeting them.)
"There’s Keith," he said quietly as I talked to Cindy et al.
I stiffened and whipped my head around, and behold, there he was. Later while I was talking to Keith, Vince bent down and whispered in my ear, "Lenny."
He actually had to whisper it several times before I understood him. When I did, I tensed and hissed, "Where?"
"Right behind you," he returned. And he was.
Vince was also the one who spotted Jeffry coming out through a different door; otherwise I would have surely missed him. Too bad Vince won’t be coming with me to the final show in September.
I had brought short bread cookies for the Cats cast as well. Keith told me he’d eaten ten. I agreed that they are very addictive. For Keith I had also brought the latest Rockapella CD in an effort to expose him to his friend’s band. He thanked me, but commented that he could have gotten the CD on his own. Perhaps, but being the Rockapella proselytizer that I am, I wanted to make sure he got it.
We also spoke briefly with James Hadley, Patrick Mullaney, and Jon Erik. I would have liked to talk to Julius and gotten a picture, but he seemed to have his entire fan club surrounding him and I couldn’t get to him. Oh well, next time I guess.
The next day after Mass at St. Patrick’s, Vince and I cruised the streets slowly, he with his brand new camcorder in hand. Then he insisted we go to the World Trade Center. To go up to the observation deck, some 100+ floors above the street, it costs $13 for one adult. I was perfectly willing to do without, but Vince was keen on it so we went. I was somewhat bemused when we discovered that there was a military discount of three bucks. Too bad it didn’t extend to family. But I did enjoy it and I got some good pictures. I’m still waiting to see the video Vince made, though.
Lunch then back to the Winter Garden to say hi to Hector Montalvo and bye to Cindy and Co. While standing by the stage door we spotted Lenny. He had mentioned the previous night that he would be teaching a class to a group of children just before coming to the show. He was teaching it as a Cat and when we saw him he was wearing full makeup, his street clothes, and a ball cap. It was such a Kodak moment, but I didn’t have my camera out and he was clearly in a hurry. He did recognize us and wave, though. (siiiigghh)
We found Hector at the front of the theatre; I introduced him to Vince and we chatted briefly. Then Cindy joined us, and with her was a young lady who looked very familiar to me. I thought she might be a former cast member because I could picture her in makeup, I just couldn’t picture whose. She, too, seemed to recognize me and we kept looking at each other and smiling until she finally cried, "Oh, you’re Delilah, aren’t you?"
That’s when it clicked. "Yes," I answered, "and you’re Sadie!" That would be the forum regular whom I met back in May that had come to the show dressed as Cassandra. This was my first time seeing her as a real person.
We said our good-byes and made our way back to the airport. Once there we had a horrendous time getting a flight back to Virginia, but I won’t dwell on that now. It was a great trip, Vince enjoyed it, and I can’t wait to go back.
