My story does not come close to Kid's... but it affected me nonetheless...
All during my initial days of fandom, I heard about the intimacy some people had with the show and the performers. The stories came from the Winter Gardens in New York and the New London Theatre in the West End... For each story, I said, "One of these days, I would like to know how it feels..." WG closed first, robbing me of Broadway's CATS... and then NLT closed soon after... I almost felt as if I would never have that chance...
Then, the UK Tour came about, and the cast had several members of the NLT cast in it. One of its stops would be Edinburgh, and three friends promised they would help me out if I could only get there... And I managed it... barely.
When Ahdeya and Michaela show up at a stage door, the cast members usually know something is going on. Those who know these two know them to be wonderful artists, and they would try to touch as many of their favorites and newbies alike... On Wednesday afternoon, right before the matinee, they took me there to that door, and one of the first to arrive was Norman Bowman and Rebecca Vere (Munkustrap & Jellylorum). Norman was curious as Ahdeya said "Munkus!" and she and Michaela went into the artist portfolios for pictures of the Silver Tabby. Rebecca was a bit wary, and she decided to go on by. However, she lingered near the door as three ladies (Rio was part of the group, and my hostess) gave Norman (her boyfriend) gifts... Being the literal odd-man-out, I decided merely to be the cameraman. Armed with a 35mm Pentax, I snapped pictures only of those members who stopped for the pictures. As such, I was able to observe... And Rebecca did not look very happy about the whole thing...
On Thursday, our third performance, we decided to shop a bit. Ahdeya seemed to agree with my assesment that Rebecca did not look too pleased at Norman getting presents... so... We were able to locate a Disney store, and Ahdeya found the white cat from Artistocats. Fluffy white and a pink bow, we chose it, and I split the cost with Ahdeya for it.
That night, we stopped the two of them again, and Norman got one more picture. Seemed he was a soccer fan, and his team lost the CUP match... Ahdeya made his a mournful Munk dressed in the team's colors... And that is when we surprised Rebecca with the little white "Griddlebone."
The hesitant and wary expression disappeared when a sunny smile appeared... And her picture with Norman was a lot more pleasant than that solo picture we got the first day. Her smile said it all... That night, we had a very cheerful Jellylorum, and a very bubblely Griddlebone. Her performance was very enhanced... just because a pair of fans thought of her...
But this experience had one more surprise my way... Summer Strallen (Cassandra) had been very naughty that last performance by playing with one of the stewards during intermission. Poor guy could not interact with her, and he kept trying to shoo her away... And right at the last... she popped out of the door. "Summer," I said, "I really would like a picture of you.." She immediately posed... and then signed my book... Later, I had that picture painted into her likeness as Cassandra. Michaela transformed her, and I have the picture hanging on my wall - along with her signature... Although I was not able see any more shows in England, Ahdeya sent me two more pictures, autographed by performers from that show: A Growltiger print signed by Patrick Clancey (who popped up in front of Michaela and me the last night - thinking to surprise us...) and a Victoria drawing with Emily Anderson's signature on it...
But of all the many memories... the happiness provided by a small gift to a performer made a wonderful experience very beautiful indeed...
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