| So I finally did it, I ventured into New York City, all it took was the motivation of a beautiful girl. Let me start from the beginning. Peter Pan closed last friday. Thoroughly Modern Millie is next in line. This show was not as complicated as Peter, but there was a lot of stuff to just build. Strike of Pan was easy, we had the show cleared out of the theater within the hour. Millie, however took a long time to just set up, for most of it was flown from the grid and took a lot of rigging. Pluse there were some scenic elements not yet built. But we were fine for the fact remained that how much we had to do, it wasn't Peter Pan. Hours were pretty crazy, 7AM to 10PM, 6 to 12, things like that, cuts were being made and objects simplified, but we were doing good. Crew got worked over and pretty beat up. By the end all of us had at least one bandaged finger, and multiple cuts and bruises. My back was sore and arms not able to move much from lifting things for three days straight from so much rigging. But we got thru, Millie was to open on wednesday. Teusday evening Shaminda looked at us and told us we had two more critical scenic elements left to be built by 9 AM Wed morning. It was 7 PM so we had fourteen hours to build them. We broke the crew into two groups; Bryan and I were the first group and were going to have Nat and Michael joined us when they arrived. We were assigned to build the bigger set unit; a forty-two foot long by fourteen feet high wall. The second group; Ashley, Mary, and Sarah, were to come in the morning, paint, and build the second unit. Well I was pretty sure my project was going to be an all nighter, and right I was. We started the project around 8 PM, it was completed at 4 AM. At that point I realized that I had gone into work at five that morning, I had worked twenty-three hours, a new personal record. Wednesday was easy, I went home slept three hours, got up, and finished the set. Thoroughly Modern Millie was an enjoyable show, plenty of tap, and comical moments along with some well written songs. I went to the cast party, but went to bed around one, for the next morning came the real adventure. Mary Margaret was coming home. She had spent the last nine weeks in Africa, and of those nine weeks, the two last weeks she was on survey, meaning Safari across the land, so I hadn't gotten to talk to her much. All summer I had been trying to think, pray, and devise some way for me to be able to see her when she got back from Africa. So when I had learned that she was going to be landing in NYC on July 26, the day after Millie opened, meaning, I had the day off. And when I learned that she was landing, and spending the night in the city I knew what had to be done. God had given me a chance and I was not going to pass this up. I knew that this was the only window of opportunity and if I didn't take it I would not be able to again until August 24, and be the last person to welcome her home. I was not ok with that. I wanted to be the first. So I got all her flight info, and arranged plans. At the opening night party I was talking to Shaminda about it and Michael was listening in. When he realized I was going to the city he asked to come along, for he was going there by bus, and didn't want to take the bus at all. I gladly welcomed the company, this was my first time to drive in the city, much more, this was going to be my first time in the City, ever. So after the opening party I went to bed at one, but barely slept at all both out of nevousness and excitement. So Thursday I left with Michael at around eleven, it was a five hour drive and her plane landed at five. Michael navigated me thru the city to JFK then we parted, I went to the terminal and he to the subway. I nevously waited at the gait for an hour and a half, for while the plane landed at five she still had to go thru customs and get her bags, not sure what exactly was going to happen next, and excitement made me tap my foot eagerly. Holding a piece of paper with M.M. Lynn written on it she finally turned the corner and all doubt melted away and we stood there hugging for minutes. Looking to make sure that the other was actually standing there, for we had not seen one another for eleven weeks, nine of which were three thousand miles apart. The rest of the Togo team came and we got all the peole that were spending the night in the city to the hotel and all situated. Mary Margaret and I went to the subway and headed to Manhattan. We spent the evening eating, looking at stores, talking, and just strolling down time square. She was majorly jet lagged, and I was exhausted from the load-in. But we both felt so alive. We ended up getting back at the hotel at one in the morning. We only had time to sleep for two hours before she had to get ready to head back to JFK to catch her plane to Memphis. I had to leave by four in order to make it back to work in time. We quickly parted and headed our seperate ways, with feelings of rejuvination. The drive back was long, with only two hours of sleep I fought the entire time to keep awake and on the road. I spent all day at work barely conscious and with a headache from no sleep. But it was worth it, every last second. For while we were both tired and unable to determine if what happened was real or just our imagination, I knew we had just lived out a dream. Oh and on a side note, the rumors are true, and it is in fact my Birthday. Yep, the big 23, woot. Means lower insurance. As Shaminda so elequently put it, "Now you can start the countdown to till thirty. It's all down hill from there." Thanks Shimmy. The crew treated me to Pizza Hut Lunch buffet, we took a long lunch and when we got back at the Shop Katie Ahearn had a cake planned out so they all sang happy birthday and we had cake. As we sat there with food coma about t kick in Shaminda looks at all of us and announces, "Alright, if you all can get this shop clean in ten minutes, you can have the rest of the day off." "But Shaminda how clean do you mean?" "Nine minutes, fifty seconds." What next came was a large scramble of people colliding into one another as we all rushed, holding our stomachs in pain, to get the day off.
"Broom! Broom! I need a Broom!"
"Where should I put these scraps of wood?!?"
"I don't know, push them under the project if we cant see it its not there!"
"Throw it outside, not in the shop its not a problem!"
"My stomach hurts from Pizza Hut. Shimmy you did this on purpose didn't you?"
"I know, I'm a genious!"
Iv'e never seen the crew move so fast, it was amazing, we got the day off, and don't have to go in on Monday until eleven. At the the end I pointed out, "You see, when it's my birthday, everyone benefits."
"Can it be your birthday again next weeek?" Thank you to all of those that called, or texted, or wrote on my facebook wall. It makes me feel loved. Well off to Curly's with teh otehrs for the final celebration. |
