I think I'll go to heaven. There I will lay me down.
So I am still basically floating from last night. Here is my total recount of everything that happened. It is what I wrote last night when I got home...forewarning...it is REALLY, REALLY LONG.
So tonight was so absolutely amazing!!!!! I saw Lady with the Torch and met the phenomenal Patti!!! AHHHHHH!!! It was so awesome.
Okay, so we get to the theatre and it was some other theatre than the one I saw Michele Lee in. It was bigger than I expected. We were in the loft which I actually liked because I had a direct view of Patti and the entire stage. So, first we get seated and I turn my chair completely around because I want to see everything. That took a while because the tables were really close to one another. Anyway, we had extra time and my mom asked me if I wanted to check out the stage door. I asked her to do it since I could not get out easily. She went and asked and the person said she had never heard of that happening or it never came up before. I was like ARE YOU INSANE!?!?! I mean, WHAT!?!?! So the person said she would check on it and that she would find out.
Then the show started. Patti has the most phenomenal voice in the world, but I think we pretty much already knew that. She came out singing “By Myself” which I had never heard before, but was really pretty. It was so beautiful to hear her sing live again. And this time completely uninhibited. I mean when she belted it, wow! But then she would vary it up by going completely soft. So of course every song was amazing. I really liked how she sang “Something Cool” and “Ill Wind”. I love her expressions for “I Wanna Be Around”. She would like freak out and kind of scream in the middle. It was weird, but so Patti. She told this story about how her grandmother killed her grandfather and while she was standing over his corpse she was thinking and then she busted out into “Who’s Sorry Now?” It was so hysterical. She also blanked on part of the lyrics to “The Man I Love”. She asked Chris Fenwick for the words…then she added that she had left us for a minute. She said she did not know where she went, but she’s back now. And she looked so pretty. She was wearing that black sheer think with the design on it that she usually wears. It was so great. So here is the list of the songs I remember her singing in Act I:
By Myself, Guess I’ll Hang My Tears Out To Dry, Something Cool, Who’s Sorry
Now?, I Wanna Be Around, Frankie and Johnny, Find Me A Primitive Man, The
Man I Love, A Cottage For Sale, The Other Woman, Ill Wind…there were some
others but I don’t remember them.
So during intermission, my mom and I went to check with our friend. Well she gave us to someone else who told us she talked to the manager and said that Ms. LuPone was not going to be signing or taking pictures tonight. So I got sad. Then, I asked well where is the stage door and they would not tell me anything. They just kept saying that she was not doing that tonight. So my mom mentioned that I had a letter for her. And the people said they would take it and give it to security who would give it to her. So I was real sad. My mom went to the bathroom and met me back at the table. She said that she saw this door near the bathroom that said private access and maybe…OH how I ADORE my mother sometimes. So I said I would still like to try to get to her and she said we would try.
There was one table in the front that was empty the entire first act. I noticed that during the second this group of guys were there. As Patti came out, she kind of waved at them and laughed. So I knew she knew them somehow.
So Pats came out in the second act in pants and tank top and a white button up shirt. She also had her hair kind of pinned half back. Like with the sides back. It looked really pretty. She was as amazing as in the first act. I loved that she sang “So In Love” and “Do It Again”. But she also sang three songs that I knew, but not from Lady with the Torch…from her other shows. She sang “Everything Happens to Me” From PL Live. It was really weird at first, but funny because I guess she was trying to be off rhythm, but she just looked really crazy. She was snapping and clapping and acting like a wacko. It was hysterical. There was also in some other song where she tried to whistle, but she couldn’t really. Anyway, she also sang “Lonely Heart” from Heatwave (which she mixed with “My Buddy”…I wonder if she was thinking about Dick Gallagher when she sang it…I was) and “I Regret Everything” from Matters of the Heart. She sang that as a tribute to Edith Piaf who she talked about how she is a huge fan of hers. So on that note, she also sang “I Love Paris” and “C’est Magnifique” where she actually came into the audience and sat on some guy’s lap. It was so funny and cute. Here are some songs from the second act:
Do It Again, Body and Soul, My Buddy, Lonely Heart, So In Love, Everything
Happens To Me, I Love Paris, I Regret Everything, C’est Magnifique, Make It
Another Old Fashioned Please, I’m Through With Love, Early Autumn, Me and
My Shadow, (a few more that I can’t recall…I think). Then for encores, The Way
You Look Tonight and A Hundred Years From Today (a cappella and un-mic-ed)
So she took her bows and came out for an encore. She sang “The Way You Look Tonight” with Chris who did this sort of doo-wop thing. It was so cute. Then everyone got to their feet and was applauding. I screamed quite crazily. Then she silence us and said that she was dedicating this song to all of us. She sang, without a mic, I think probably my favorite song in the entire world - “100 Years From Today”. Her voice was so gorgeous and powerful and enthralling…it just dragged us all in. It was a moment of perfection. She took her bows (while I continued to scream) and went off stage.
So the show was over and I noticed that group of guys were settling in there and waiting. I asked Mommy if we could maybe go down there and talk to them and see if they would do anything. So she said if we did I had to do the talking. But she also said that maybe we should check out another way because that would be infringing upon their personal thing. And I agreed. So we went to the same lady and asked her if there was any way. She said it was a new theatre and that she did not know it well and that we should asked the security guards. So we went downstairs and I went up to this lady who looked like security. She directed us to another lady. We asked her if there was anything and she kind of looked at us and told us that there was nothing. So we both were saying “There has to be a stage door or someway that she gets out of the building”. And she said that it was private. It was obvious she was not going to tell us where it was. And so I was working my sad eyes (although they were truly genuine…I was getting crushed). And my mom looks at the lady and says really softly “Is there anything you can do or say unofficially?” She looked around. A door opened behind her and I thought she might let us in. She looked very serious and said barely moving her lips “Unofficially, there is a loading dock around the back of the building. I am not promising anything, but if you just happen to be walking back there…” I seriously felt like I was committing some kind of heist or was part of the mob. It was so amazing. My mom asked if she had any idea about time frame. The lady says she think she might already be gone. She told us that we did not hear this from her. So we thanked her (my mom blew her a kiss…weird) and were off.
I had no idea where she was talking about. So we walk around and find the stage door, but then my mom is freaking out because the lady said the loading dock. So we check that out, but see Chris coming out of the stage door (like a normal person). He stopped to talk to someone and my mom said she saw some one walking at the other end of the loading dock and I told her “Patti is not gonna go through there”. So Chris came out and I asked for an autograph. Told him he was great. Then I asked “Oh, by the way, does Patti leave through here?” He said she would come out shortly. So we are waiting there with cameras ready and marker ready. The security lady came out and we thanked her again. We were standing by the steps next to this glass-walled room where there were other people waiting. I felt like such a stalker…so creepy. I mean I was standing there just watching all these people. It was really weird. We were the only ones there waiting by the steps. Then Patti entered the glass box.
It was so cute, she saw a friend of hers and called out her name and gave her a huge hug. The there was this guy that came and gave her a huge hug and lifted her off her feet. So adorable!!! Then she was standing there chatting. There was this other guy that came to the steps who was in there. We asked him if he had a connection and was he our new best friend, but he didn’t really think it was funny. So Patti was talking to them and telling them for some reason that the opera was called Mahagonny not Mahogany. Then she came out.
Seriously my mouth was dry and I was so nervous and am sure I looked crazy. But she was walking down the steps and started to come over to me. I asked her for an autograph and she said of course. Then I realized had not complimented her at all yet. So I told her what a great job she did. My mom asked if she could take my picture with her. While she got the camera, I said “Oh I wanted to tell you that I am seeing you next month in the…” and I was thinking up the name in my head. Patti said “Mahagonny” and I said “Yeah that is how I have been saying it and now I am happy to find out I am right. So we took a picture and I put my hand on her back and she on mine. Then my mom asked if that one worked (she is not too savvy when it comes to digital stuff) and asked Patti if she could take another back up one with the film camera. Patti said sure. She we took another one and I put my hand on her shoulder this time and she put hers on my side. So then the guys (from that table) asked if I could take their picture. Somehow (I don’t remember how it came about) Patti told me all those guys were in the opera. Then I said (I was surprised at myself) that I saw they moved up tables. And Patti said “Yeah I moved them up closer”. I told her I noticed because I saw how she laughed with them when she came out. So I took the camera and felt so bad because I was completely shaking. But I took the picture and the flash did not go off. I asked him if it was supposed to and he came over to fix it. So I took it again and yet again no flash. He fixed it again. Again no flash. He told me to hold it down longer. It took another picture. I told him it was taking the pictures, but without the flash. At that point I thought of offering to take it with my camera, but then he fixed it. I took it and it finally worked. He said “Wow…the longest picture ever”. Then he thanked me and I looked at Patti. I thanked her again and she thanked me and said she was glad I enjoyed the show. I think she also said something about me enjoying the opera, but I am not sure…it was such a fantastic blur. So she was walking and talking to the guys asking where they parked. I walked with my mom around the corner. They were walking perpendicular to us so I was not sure if she could see me, but once I got around that corner I freaked out. I jumped up and down and screamed several times. My mom told me that Patti could probably hear, but I told her I did not care. It was so amazing!!!
So that was my phenomenal night. The concert was great! The songs were awesome! She was such a doll! So nice! I realized later that I forgot to ask about my letter (which stinks), but c’est la vie. I just met Patti…again!!!
So that was my fabulous encounter with Patti, but wait it got BETTER this morning...
So after I wrote that all up last night, I was still wondering about the letter. So I decided to email her. I thanked her again for the wonderful show and told her how much I enjoyed it. Then I reminded her that I met her and set up the scene a little bit because I figured she would be reading this way down the road and any jolt to the mind would help. Then I told her that I was the one who wrote her the letter that was sent backstage and asked if she received it. I also added that I adored when she sang "100 Years From Today" and asked if she always sings that without a mic? I thanked her again and told her that I was looking forward to the opera and maybe I would meet her again there...I know, I am a loser!
Anyway, so I wake up this morning and am checking my email. Guess who emailed me back!?!?!?!?! ALREADY!
Here is what she wrote:
Dear Rebecca,
Yes, I did get the letter at the end of the show, but I had no time to read it.
I always sing "100 Years From Today" without a mic.
I'm glad you enjoyed the show.
Love, Patti
So that made my day about a million times better and now at least I know she got the letter. And now hopefully she can identify it with me.
And lastly (since I know there are a million lj cuts in here)...here is my picture with the amazing Pats!
I know this has been a ridiculous long post...oh well! I don't care because I met Patti! AH!