Thursday, March 30, 2017

Come From Away...

I know it's been a while since I've posted, and a while since I've seen the show... but I feel NOW I can post. 9/11 has a special mark on me... a few special ones. I knew people in New York, I had a show cancelled (and I was called back to hours later), and have had the writer work for me...
I went the first preview  with some people 'from the rock' and the second time with a good friend of mine. I cried each time! I NEVER do that... I work in a lot of emotional work...but just seeing this was almost too much. Seeing this beautiful show, feeling the feelings I felt that day, and the compassion of those who helped that day that had NO obligation to do what they did was... healing and compassion...

What my friend David and his wife Irene did with these stories was fantastic.... 16000 stories, 12 actors, 100 mins. All pulled off flawlessly.

As many of the actors have said... the people coming have been saying :"this is where I was..." Well...this is where I was, and I know many people I know where there too...

Where I was... On a GO train home to Oakville when it started. The second plane hit about 10 mins after I got home. I saw it live on CNN. I got a call back to go an load out the show which was cancelled because we were noted as a TARGET! I...for more reasons than one said no... I was awake for more than 24 hours that day...

I knew many people in NYC, given my business, this is a daily occurrence for me. David and Irene were there...but I didn't meet them until later... This was the first of many hard days in theatre and entertainment for me... Not only people passing (as I was afraid of at the time, and after), but also doing things that were legal at the time, but also NOT a good idea! I've also had days where things have happened that I've seen on hte news, but not had information on until much later.... and not having a lot of access to press conferences...

Fast forward... I was also doing a sound design and rehearsing a show that was going on tour to BC...We were on the plane making edits with the MD as we were on the flight...

Once we landed, we got a limo to take us to our destination. The driver asked us if we wanted to know what happened while we were in the air... we found out that the US declared (though, really, they didn't) declare war.

Literally...we were in the air when the US went to war! We Left Pearson with NO armed guards and landed at Vancouver with army personnel with M16s... Though...the worst part was the breaking of one of my cases (though marked fragile) and it being broken and an adapter missing (that I needed).

This was my 9/11 story (continued)....

Not NEARLY as bad as others for sure, but a shareable moment...