A Christmas Memory: Day Four - Norma Desmond

I was away this weekend on a road trip and missed posting stories for three whole days! I'll fix that, though; I'm going to post stories today for Saturday, Sunday, Monday AND today! And the first three are all show business related....

Several years ago, after we had been living in New York for a brief time, there was a much anticipated, eagerly awaited opening on Broadway. The hit musical SUNSET BOULEVARD had finally arrived in town after trying out in London and Los Angeles with different leading ladies. The LA star was chosen for the New York production and the buzz was phenomenal. The great Amerian actress, Glenn Close, was arriving on Broadway as the legendary character, Norma Desmond and everyone was excited.

We had been living in Manhattan for a few years and my business was doing alright. Pat was temping. We had money to spend on holiday treats. So I took a little of my money and snuck off the the theater one day and got us a couple of seats for Sunset Boulevard. I hid them in the house for weeks, very excited to surprise Pat for Christmas with a trip to the hottest show in town. When the evening arrived that we were to see the play, I turned to him at 7:15 and said "Let's go for a walk." We threw on our coats and strolled Hell's Kitchen into the theater district. I strolled, blythely, toward the Minskoff Theater and walked through the doors. Pat asked what I was doing and I said "Let's go check things out!". He followed. When I handed the tickets to the ticket taker he said "WHAT have you DONE?" No, it did not turn out that he had also bought tickets to the play -- he simply expressed an interest in NOT going to the theater in house clothes. Jeans and a T-shirt are NOT proper theater attire. I hadn't really thought of that; and he was right. We had 8th row center seats at Christmastime and everyone around us was dressy. We were there, looking like a couple of stow aways. So we simply stayed in our seats the entire time, choosing to not wander around being seen looking so declassee. It didn't help for, right in our row, in a pink sequined cocktail dress, was our dear friend Nancy LaMott, having come from a fancy party with famous people, to see more fancy famous people at the theater - and one very fancy famous person on the stage of the theater. We shared a hug and a kiss and a Christmas wish and Nancy went off to be with the movers and the shakers and we stayed in our seats, glorified by Glenn.

The play was very exciting and, certainly, Glenn Close was thrilling. There is very little to say about Sunset Boulevard that hasn't been said. Suffice it to say, we had a marvelous time and made a Christmas memory that lasts, as well as a lesson that we hold to our hearts to this day:

Always dress for the theater.