Gigantor Lucy
This has been a weekend that has been fraught with problems. Problems of all kinds. And we have handled them, each one as they came. Karen has been making a list of all the things that went wrong and all the people who caused problems. Or solved them. Which would be me, today. Today I went above and beyond the call of duty. For today, I ended up in the damned parade. In suit. As Lucy. (and no, this is not a video from today. But there is a nice shot of Karen in the foreground on the right, walking with Charlie Brown's float)
See, we have seven Peanuts characters who appear in our parade. Lucy, Linus, Schroeder, Charlie Brown, Sally, Peppermint Patty and Snoopy. So, the staffing usually goes that we have the five talent who work the walk around characters, and then one who's in the character show at CST, and then one of the talent that does Snoopy over at the Hotel. The person from the Hotel usually plays Linus or Schroeder. Well, the last couple of days... that person from the Hotel hasn't been making it. Yesterday, it was because the normal Hotel evening shift is 5 - 9, and she didn't know the parade was still running. She missed the segment that goes down Grand Ave, but she managed to make it in time to do the segment that goes through the park. It was tough getting her dressed in time, but we made it.
Today, it was a different girl and she also didn't show up in time to make it down Grand. So we made Sherri switch from being Lucy to being Linus, since Linus' float has actual diaglog and Lucy just sits in the toybox. (After Christmas, we get rid of Santa and make Snoopy sit in the chair on his float. Since Lucy's float has been broken for the last two weeks, and has been being towed by the Scion, we cut it entirely, and moved Lucy to Snoopy's old spot, in the toybox) We loaded Lucy's costume in a bag into the toybox, and hoped that the missing girl would make it to the warehouse in time to do the segment that goes through the park. She didn't. At 4:45, Entertainment 1 let us know that she was still 15 minutes away. Well, the parade steps off at 5, and while we can hold the parade about 5 minutes, we didn't think we'd have enough time to wait for her to get there, and get her in suit. So with 10 minutes 'til step off, I took one for the team and volunteered to be Lucy. Ted the SM didn't want to make me do it, and while I didn't want to do it either, I was willing. Murphy, the TD, didn't want to send a float out without a character on it... so my offer was accepted. (They suggested that perhaps I put on the elf costume and ride int he box, but I figured Lucy was better, because then no one could see my face)
The thing you have to remember about the Peanuts characters is that we have a height restriction on the talent we hire to play them. They must less than 5' 2" tall. Most of the girls are about 4" 11" to 5' 1". I am well above that height, being 5" 8". The only way this worked was that I was playing a character who SITS in a box, and thus disguises my actual height. Let me tell you though, most of the character girls were having a BALL with the fact that I was getting in suit. Especially once they SAW me out there as Lucy. A bunch of the others who were in suit were all clustered around the opening of the warehouse as I came out and were messing with me. The ones who weren't in suit kept pointing at me saying, "Gigantor Lucy!" At one point, I was standing next to Heather, who was in Schroeder, and she was so much shorter than me, that it was purportedly hysterical. I wish we had had time to take a picture or something, because I would have loved to see it. The guy driving the float I was in came up and just stared and said, "I am not used to Lucy being as tall as me!" Julie Owens, the head of Entertainment was out there watching today, and apparently someone must have told her it was me as Lucy, coz when I went by I heard her say, "Raina is Lucy?!" and then she grinned and waved at me just before we went out the gate and yelled, "Best Lucy ever!" Robin said I made a good Lucy also, though I dont' think she really saw me. I didn't even know she was in Chuck until we were all getting out of suit at the end. I was happy that I amused them all so much. They all know me, and I think they were just jazzed that someone who they see all the time and isn't a part of their workgroup having to get out there and be a character too. When we were done they all kept saying, "Ehh? See how it is? Feel our pain!" And while its not so much pain, its defintely SWEATY. Sherri was the only one not having a good time. She kept trying to convince me to switch with her. She wasn't feeling well and wanted to play a character who was sitting down. I refused, because I didn't want to play a character who had diaglog. I was freaked out enough as it was that I had to be a character at all, much less be one who had dialog. Mirna and Cassie helped escort me out to my float, and I asked them for some pointers. They were very nonchalant about the whole thing, said I would do just fine. And I guess I did. Though, I didn't always remember that I have to turn my entire body if I want to turn my head, and I felt like my left-arm-waving was retarded. Just before we left, Cassie said something mean to me, about how she was going to bother me throughout the whole parade or something... and so I went to make crying motions and had to remind myself where my eyes actually were. Cassie laughed at the fact that I actually got it right. She said, "People who do this every day forget where their eyes are, at least you got it right!"
The parade was less harrowing than I thought it would be. The worst part was getting up and down out of the box. Chris, the float driver, was very nice and helped me a lot getting on and off the float. Its a lot of climbing in really big shoes. I was feeling incredibly clumsy, and I'm not the world's most graceful person under the best of circumstances. Just today I had totally fallen off of a concrete planter while I was carrying the Lucy costume to the float. A good 3 foot drop. Its amazing that I didn't plant face-first, as I felt like I was going to. And I managed not to drop the heavy costume. A whole character, pod, shoes, and head weights about 50 pounds, I am guessing. We did have to have a conversation about what would happen once we got to the section of the parade where we go under the bridge to the CMST theater in Boardwalk. Because I am so ungodly tall, I am actually taller than the float when I am sitting in the box. And the float just barely makes it under the bridge. So when we were going under today, I had to duck. Karen decided to walk the parade with me for moral support and also to let me know when the bridge was coming. I had Cassie and Danielle with me on the float, who encouraged me when they could talk, and Cassie kind of whispered to me, "Clear!" when we made it under the bridge. It was kind of terrible, and I got very hot and sweaty, and my arm got tired from waving... but it was also kind of fun. The kids watching are adorable. It was easier than I thought it would be, just becasue of them. They would shout at me, "Lucy! Its Lucy!" "Lucy, over here!" and so if I just listened for who was excited and would turn and wave to them special, it seemed to work out alright. One kid said, "Look, its the bossy one!" as I came around, and so I pointed a finger at him as I went by like, "I heard that!"
I really hope that I don't have to do that ever again, but secretly... I am kind of pleased that I had to. Karen says I should get a Four Cornerstone pin for doing it. I dunno if I would go that far. It was an experience, to be sure. And I can imagine that I earned a little more love from the other character girls by stepping into their oversized shoes for an afternoon.
See, we have seven Peanuts characters who appear in our parade. Lucy, Linus, Schroeder, Charlie Brown, Sally, Peppermint Patty and Snoopy. So, the staffing usually goes that we have the five talent who work the walk around characters, and then one who's in the character show at CST, and then one of the talent that does Snoopy over at the Hotel. The person from the Hotel usually plays Linus or Schroeder. Well, the last couple of days... that person from the Hotel hasn't been making it. Yesterday, it was because the normal Hotel evening shift is 5 - 9, and she didn't know the parade was still running. She missed the segment that goes down Grand Ave, but she managed to make it in time to do the segment that goes through the park. It was tough getting her dressed in time, but we made it.
Today, it was a different girl and she also didn't show up in time to make it down Grand. So we made Sherri switch from being Lucy to being Linus, since Linus' float has actual diaglog and Lucy just sits in the toybox. (After Christmas, we get rid of Santa and make Snoopy sit in the chair on his float. Since Lucy's float has been broken for the last two weeks, and has been being towed by the Scion, we cut it entirely, and moved Lucy to Snoopy's old spot, in the toybox) We loaded Lucy's costume in a bag into the toybox, and hoped that the missing girl would make it to the warehouse in time to do the segment that goes through the park. She didn't. At 4:45, Entertainment 1 let us know that she was still 15 minutes away. Well, the parade steps off at 5, and while we can hold the parade about 5 minutes, we didn't think we'd have enough time to wait for her to get there, and get her in suit. So with 10 minutes 'til step off, I took one for the team and volunteered to be Lucy. Ted the SM didn't want to make me do it, and while I didn't want to do it either, I was willing. Murphy, the TD, didn't want to send a float out without a character on it... so my offer was accepted. (They suggested that perhaps I put on the elf costume and ride int he box, but I figured Lucy was better, because then no one could see my face)
The thing you have to remember about the Peanuts characters is that we have a height restriction on the talent we hire to play them. They must less than 5' 2" tall. Most of the girls are about 4" 11" to 5' 1". I am well above that height, being 5" 8". The only way this worked was that I was playing a character who SITS in a box, and thus disguises my actual height. Let me tell you though, most of the character girls were having a BALL with the fact that I was getting in suit. Especially once they SAW me out there as Lucy. A bunch of the others who were in suit were all clustered around the opening of the warehouse as I came out and were messing with me. The ones who weren't in suit kept pointing at me saying, "Gigantor Lucy!" At one point, I was standing next to Heather, who was in Schroeder, and she was so much shorter than me, that it was purportedly hysterical. I wish we had had time to take a picture or something, because I would have loved to see it. The guy driving the float I was in came up and just stared and said, "I am not used to Lucy being as tall as me!" Julie Owens, the head of Entertainment was out there watching today, and apparently someone must have told her it was me as Lucy, coz when I went by I heard her say, "Raina is Lucy?!" and then she grinned and waved at me just before we went out the gate and yelled, "Best Lucy ever!" Robin said I made a good Lucy also, though I dont' think she really saw me. I didn't even know she was in Chuck until we were all getting out of suit at the end. I was happy that I amused them all so much. They all know me, and I think they were just jazzed that someone who they see all the time and isn't a part of their workgroup having to get out there and be a character too. When we were done they all kept saying, "Ehh? See how it is? Feel our pain!" And while its not so much pain, its defintely SWEATY. Sherri was the only one not having a good time. She kept trying to convince me to switch with her. She wasn't feeling well and wanted to play a character who was sitting down. I refused, because I didn't want to play a character who had diaglog. I was freaked out enough as it was that I had to be a character at all, much less be one who had dialog. Mirna and Cassie helped escort me out to my float, and I asked them for some pointers. They were very nonchalant about the whole thing, said I would do just fine. And I guess I did. Though, I didn't always remember that I have to turn my entire body if I want to turn my head, and I felt like my left-arm-waving was retarded. Just before we left, Cassie said something mean to me, about how she was going to bother me throughout the whole parade or something... and so I went to make crying motions and had to remind myself where my eyes actually were. Cassie laughed at the fact that I actually got it right. She said, "People who do this every day forget where their eyes are, at least you got it right!"
The parade was less harrowing than I thought it would be. The worst part was getting up and down out of the box. Chris, the float driver, was very nice and helped me a lot getting on and off the float. Its a lot of climbing in really big shoes. I was feeling incredibly clumsy, and I'm not the world's most graceful person under the best of circumstances. Just today I had totally fallen off of a concrete planter while I was carrying the Lucy costume to the float. A good 3 foot drop. Its amazing that I didn't plant face-first, as I felt like I was going to. And I managed not to drop the heavy costume. A whole character, pod, shoes, and head weights about 50 pounds, I am guessing. We did have to have a conversation about what would happen once we got to the section of the parade where we go under the bridge to the CMST theater in Boardwalk. Because I am so ungodly tall, I am actually taller than the float when I am sitting in the box. And the float just barely makes it under the bridge. So when we were going under today, I had to duck. Karen decided to walk the parade with me for moral support and also to let me know when the bridge was coming. I had Cassie and Danielle with me on the float, who encouraged me when they could talk, and Cassie kind of whispered to me, "Clear!" when we made it under the bridge. It was kind of terrible, and I got very hot and sweaty, and my arm got tired from waving... but it was also kind of fun. The kids watching are adorable. It was easier than I thought it would be, just becasue of them. They would shout at me, "Lucy! Its Lucy!" "Lucy, over here!" and so if I just listened for who was excited and would turn and wave to them special, it seemed to work out alright. One kid said, "Look, its the bossy one!" as I came around, and so I pointed a finger at him as I went by like, "I heard that!"
I really hope that I don't have to do that ever again, but secretly... I am kind of pleased that I had to. Karen says I should get a Four Cornerstone pin for doing it. I dunno if I would go that far. It was an experience, to be sure. And I can imagine that I earned a little more love from the other character girls by stepping into their oversized shoes for an afternoon.