Au Revoir La Fleur
Last weekend was the closing weekend for NINE and it went out with a bang - in more ways than one. We were virtually sold out for all 3 shows in our last weekend, and more theater folk continued to come out to see the show and praise it. I also had numerous strangers come up to me in the lobby and tell me this was their 2nd time to see the show and they loved it both times. And again I had many friends and theater acquaintances tell me this role was perfect for me. Funny, I had never pictured myself doing La Fleur in all the years I've loved this show and now she has grown on me to the point I think she definitely joins the list of my all-time favorite roles. I will miss her but she got a great send-off thanks to our Saraghina's hubby who was in the audience on Saturday night.
Tony was coming back for his 3rd time and I thought "Good, if I can't get the first 2 guys I pick out of the audience to admit they sent the flowers, I'll be able to single out Tony and he knows what to do." Sure enough the first 2 guys were too shy or embarassed to play along when I spoke to them in the audience so, since Sara had told me where Tony was sitting, I zeroed in on him and he was sitting a few seats down from some other theater friends, BJ and Ted. I asked if he sent the flowers. He spoke up and said yes, he did. Then I asked him his name, which is the next part of the audience setup. I was prepared for a ridiculous name like "Peewee" which he had told Sara that he might say if I ever did ask him again - in fact, I had a great zinger all ready. Instead he takes a few beats and then says "BJ." Well, the numerous theater folk in the audience died laughing, BJ and Ted laughing loudest of all. And, even though the girls behind me onstage were all supposed to be frozen in repose during my audience schtick, that sent them into giggles themselves, including Sara. Of course, I couldn't just let that go without playing around with the name he chose, so I said to him "Somehow I think zat is not your real name," which brought more laughter from audience and cast. Then I accused Tony of "not wanting to be recognized" which kept the laughs going even longer. But I knew I needed to get back to the scripted part of the show and move back into the song, so I announced his fake name to the girls, giving it a nice French flair, Bee Zhay, which mined a few more laughs out of BJ's borrowed name. It was a great and funny way to wrap up my last improv bit in NINE.
The closing weekend was not without another memorable incident - unfortunately, it was not a good one. I had a bizarre accident Friday evening when I was getting ready for the show. I was showering in my spacious stand-up shower in the new condo and when I finished, I realized I had not set my towel out on the counter, which I usually did to make sure I could reach it easily without getting out of the shower. No big deal, I thought, I will just reach around the glass shower door to get the towel off the rack behind the door. Well, I was stepping back into the shower, pulling the towel around the door, my foot slipped and I fell backward into the shower. And because I can't just fall, it became a whole bizarre sequence that banged me up in multiple ways. As I lost my balance, my right foot twisted at an odd angle, so I mildly sprained my right foot. My left foot slipped up off the floor and went under the glass shower door, ripping up the front and back of my left leg. When I hit the floor of the shower stall, I actually hit the wall with my left arm and shoulder and then hit the floor with my arm and my left butt cheek - the bruising was so bad by Saturday night's show that I had to cover my arm with makeup.
But I hadn't just banged myself up, I also broke a beautiful glass jar that my friend Greg had given me as a birthday present a few years ago. The red and black jar was sitting on a basket next to the shower as part of the decor in my Bollywood bathroom. Well, when I body-slammed the glass shower door during my fall, the door swung out with huge force and hit the basket, knocking the jar on the tile floor. The jar survived miraculously but the lid shattered into a thousand tiny glass shards all over the floor of the bathroom, in front of the shower - where I am now laying half in/half out of the shower in excruciating pain. Naturally this is the moment all my furkids come rushing into the bathroom concerned over the loud crash and Mommy's screams and crying.
So, naked, bleeding, crying, and unable to stand because I am so banged up, I am trying to keep the pets from stepping on the broken glass by picking the pieces up with my fingers on my hands and knees. It's a wonder I didn't cut my hands up picking up the glass but I didn't need anyone else in the household injuring themselves so before I tended to my own wounds, I had to get the glass out of the way of delicate paws that were walking all over the bathroom.
I got the glass up and finally managed to stand - my left leg was stinging from all the skin that had been ripped off and I was limping on my right foot. But I didn't have time to nurse my wounds or get out ice packs and elevate things because I had to be in Irving in less than an hour for the show. I popped some Ibuprofen and bandaged up my skinned leg, taped my twisted foot and tried to get my hair dry and makeup done while hobbling around.
Needless to say when I got to the theater, I was so stiff and sore, everyone wanted to know what happened. After hearing my story, several people suggested that perhaps I should have some of those "senior citizen" handrails installed in my shower - and how embarassed was I when I had to tell them that I bought the place from an 80 year old couple who already had handrails installed in both bathrooms!
I was not looking forward to sitting on that wooden box onstage for 45 minutes either during the show. I went upstairs after getting into costume and was warming up, trying some things to see how well I could move and, let me just say that when I sat down on that unpadded box, I let out an audible OW! But I was going to have to do it, pain or not. That was one rough show for me, especially with all the rocking we had to do on our boxes in the staging and there were numerous times when I had to swing around from side to side while sitting on the box. Boy, my butt and my right foot were throbbing so bad when the show ended that all I wanted to do was go home and put ice on everything.
But I survived the show and no one in the audience, even the theater folk, noticed there was anything wrong with me (good thing they couldn't see my face wince every time I had to swing around and face upstage on that box) And I made it through the last show on Saturday, though it was still uncomfortable. So in one way, I was glad the show was ending because my body (and my butt) need a chance to recover from the fall. Here it is Tuesday and I am still finding new bruises in place on my body that I didn't even know I hit when I fell - and it is going to take weeks for my left leg to heal from all the skin I ripped off. I've already gone through one box of large bandages and a tube of Neosporin. Thank goodness, I have a break of a few weeks before I start rehearsals for Legends.
So for now I must say Au Revoir to La Fleur, although she is gonna be with me for a long time (and I will have the scars to prove it!)
Tony was coming back for his 3rd time and I thought "Good, if I can't get the first 2 guys I pick out of the audience to admit they sent the flowers, I'll be able to single out Tony and he knows what to do." Sure enough the first 2 guys were too shy or embarassed to play along when I spoke to them in the audience so, since Sara had told me where Tony was sitting, I zeroed in on him and he was sitting a few seats down from some other theater friends, BJ and Ted. I asked if he sent the flowers. He spoke up and said yes, he did. Then I asked him his name, which is the next part of the audience setup. I was prepared for a ridiculous name like "Peewee" which he had told Sara that he might say if I ever did ask him again - in fact, I had a great zinger all ready. Instead he takes a few beats and then says "BJ." Well, the numerous theater folk in the audience died laughing, BJ and Ted laughing loudest of all. And, even though the girls behind me onstage were all supposed to be frozen in repose during my audience schtick, that sent them into giggles themselves, including Sara. Of course, I couldn't just let that go without playing around with the name he chose, so I said to him "Somehow I think zat is not your real name," which brought more laughter from audience and cast. Then I accused Tony of "not wanting to be recognized" which kept the laughs going even longer. But I knew I needed to get back to the scripted part of the show and move back into the song, so I announced his fake name to the girls, giving it a nice French flair, Bee Zhay, which mined a few more laughs out of BJ's borrowed name. It was a great and funny way to wrap up my last improv bit in NINE.
The closing weekend was not without another memorable incident - unfortunately, it was not a good one. I had a bizarre accident Friday evening when I was getting ready for the show. I was showering in my spacious stand-up shower in the new condo and when I finished, I realized I had not set my towel out on the counter, which I usually did to make sure I could reach it easily without getting out of the shower. No big deal, I thought, I will just reach around the glass shower door to get the towel off the rack behind the door. Well, I was stepping back into the shower, pulling the towel around the door, my foot slipped and I fell backward into the shower. And because I can't just fall, it became a whole bizarre sequence that banged me up in multiple ways. As I lost my balance, my right foot twisted at an odd angle, so I mildly sprained my right foot. My left foot slipped up off the floor and went under the glass shower door, ripping up the front and back of my left leg. When I hit the floor of the shower stall, I actually hit the wall with my left arm and shoulder and then hit the floor with my arm and my left butt cheek - the bruising was so bad by Saturday night's show that I had to cover my arm with makeup.
But I hadn't just banged myself up, I also broke a beautiful glass jar that my friend Greg had given me as a birthday present a few years ago. The red and black jar was sitting on a basket next to the shower as part of the decor in my Bollywood bathroom. Well, when I body-slammed the glass shower door during my fall, the door swung out with huge force and hit the basket, knocking the jar on the tile floor. The jar survived miraculously but the lid shattered into a thousand tiny glass shards all over the floor of the bathroom, in front of the shower - where I am now laying half in/half out of the shower in excruciating pain. Naturally this is the moment all my furkids come rushing into the bathroom concerned over the loud crash and Mommy's screams and crying.
So, naked, bleeding, crying, and unable to stand because I am so banged up, I am trying to keep the pets from stepping on the broken glass by picking the pieces up with my fingers on my hands and knees. It's a wonder I didn't cut my hands up picking up the glass but I didn't need anyone else in the household injuring themselves so before I tended to my own wounds, I had to get the glass out of the way of delicate paws that were walking all over the bathroom.
I got the glass up and finally managed to stand - my left leg was stinging from all the skin that had been ripped off and I was limping on my right foot. But I didn't have time to nurse my wounds or get out ice packs and elevate things because I had to be in Irving in less than an hour for the show. I popped some Ibuprofen and bandaged up my skinned leg, taped my twisted foot and tried to get my hair dry and makeup done while hobbling around.
Needless to say when I got to the theater, I was so stiff and sore, everyone wanted to know what happened. After hearing my story, several people suggested that perhaps I should have some of those "senior citizen" handrails installed in my shower - and how embarassed was I when I had to tell them that I bought the place from an 80 year old couple who already had handrails installed in both bathrooms!
I was not looking forward to sitting on that wooden box onstage for 45 minutes either during the show. I went upstairs after getting into costume and was warming up, trying some things to see how well I could move and, let me just say that when I sat down on that unpadded box, I let out an audible OW! But I was going to have to do it, pain or not. That was one rough show for me, especially with all the rocking we had to do on our boxes in the staging and there were numerous times when I had to swing around from side to side while sitting on the box. Boy, my butt and my right foot were throbbing so bad when the show ended that all I wanted to do was go home and put ice on everything.
But I survived the show and no one in the audience, even the theater folk, noticed there was anything wrong with me (good thing they couldn't see my face wince every time I had to swing around and face upstage on that box) And I made it through the last show on Saturday, though it was still uncomfortable. So in one way, I was glad the show was ending because my body (and my butt) need a chance to recover from the fall. Here it is Tuesday and I am still finding new bruises in place on my body that I didn't even know I hit when I fell - and it is going to take weeks for my left leg to heal from all the skin I ripped off. I've already gone through one box of large bandages and a tube of Neosporin. Thank goodness, I have a break of a few weeks before I start rehearsals for Legends.
So for now I must say Au Revoir to La Fleur, although she is gonna be with me for a long time (and I will have the scars to prove it!)