The Moulin Rouge and the Ball
What a night! The charity ball was a smashing success. Everyone was so beautiful, disguised in 19th century attire. I had the pleasure of entertaining the guests during the course of their evening! I usually give to charity, but not like this. It was the first time that I had ever appeared on stage before a crowd of 500. I am part of a performing troupe that dances to the Moulin Rouge movie, and the charity’s organizer requested us to do a show at the Eye Ball, a strange name for a ball, no? The principal givers were mostly wealthy ophthalmologists; hence, “Eye Ball” was the choice for a name. We danced to scenes from the movie. Most fun were the cha cha cha number and the sizzling tango as the evening got late. Our costumes preserved the style of that era - rich gentlemen in top hats and tuxedos, and can-can girls in their trademark regalia. I forgot to bring a camera, but photos were taken by other members of the troupe. Maybe I can find some and share them here. Each cast member adopted a back story and remained in character, as long as guests were present, to create an ambience similar to Paris near the turn of the last century. One character, in particular, was so spectacular in appearance. She played a china doll and her face was painted extra white to bring out the look. I was a mortgage banker whose goal is to buy the Moulin Rouge in a hostile takeover bid! Before the main show began, I walked around and mingled with the guests, but constantly remaining in character. When they would tell me where they were from, such as Orlando or Florida, I would act puzzled and comment about their strange English accent. Then I would ask them to tell me more about the New World. LOL! If they had an English or Irish name, I would welcome them to my city of love, and play down the rivalry between our two peoples across the English Channel. Hehe. It was so funny, and they reacted so well, even though it took them a while to get accustomed to talking with a man from another time and another place. A lady told me that she had just watched the movie, on the night before. Tempted was I, to break from character and join her movie discussion, but I was steadfast and begged her pardon for not keeping up with the latest lingo. “Perhaps you are referring to the latest craze coming from California, something they call moving pictures,” I would say. Haha! After the charity auction, we opened up the dance floor to the guests, but they were shy at first. I had to pull a few ladies from the audience to get the mood going. Let me just say that older, wealthy female doctors really know how to move across the dance floor with younger men ;) The event organizers provided us with dinner, but it was very lacking, probably because we did not pay $100 each to enter the ball as the guests did. Overall, the evening was wonderful and I had a great time, although it was exhausting towards the end. Most of the dancers got out before cleanup time came around, and so the work was extra heavy for those who remained :( This is charity; we simply had no stagehands. Oh well, hehe. But aside from special events, we perform every first Friday of the month at City Walk, in the theater that was previously known as Loews Universal Cineplex. They are now owned by AMC. Come out to see us!