Jennifer said on the top of this page that the Pimpernel moments can be "hilarious, stupid, or straight out serious." Well this moment I guess can be defined by the first two :) I entitle it...the HAUNTED PICTURE!!!!
To start out with, you guys should know that I have been venturing passed the "FORBIDDEN ZONE" barrier, a very fine line for the "Romance Novelist" aka yours truly :) to cross. If you read either "Art Known as Love" or the newest piece "Heart and Soul", you'll find out what I mean. Anyhoo, moving right along...
By my comp in my room, I have many SP pics to help me with my inspiration while writing. One of them is one printed out from Sir Percy's Place showing the ever Great One, Doug Sills, in all his Percy Blakeney glory. However, what no one knows is that the picture is...HAUNTED!!!
Picture this: Late night writing time in a small corner of a small bedroom at a decent size computer! :) My hands are trembling as I type out word after word of what Kati (Lady Katherine) and Christina, two of my online "sisters", have entitled my "descriptive" writing :). As if I am not nervous enough to explore that area of my writing brain, I see...IT! THE HAUNTED PIC staring at me!
It's as if he knows what I am doing, scolding me for it, and he is not even in my room...but don't we all wish that about the Great One?...sorry it's all the ZONE madness! Anyway, no matter where I turn...IT stares at me, yelling at me for what I am writing with it's eyes!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!
But o well, if it wasn't for those nights, you wouldn't have the lovely pieces of work that I write because ::dramatic voice:: my audience DEMANDS IT! Doug will just have to keep them gorgeous eyes on me and the HAUNTED PIC will just have to keep on haunting!
Now back to your regularly scheduled sanity! :)
Possibly the most memorable moment I had with SP was my first time actually seeing it. For months I am always asking to see Broadway shows for my birthday, which is when we went, and so when I asked to see The Scarlet Pimpernel, Mom conceded to go. The night itself was just as much of an adventure than the tale we were about to see! :)
Picture it: 2/26/99, the day which will always live in my infimy :) For weeks on end I had waited for this night, not only because I was turning 15, but I was about to see the best show Broadway had to offer, starring Rex Smith, my idol Rachel York, and the ever Great One, Douglas Sills. As usual, the commercial played on TV for some reason that always happens when I go to see a show. Then with my Scarlet honoring outfit and hair done up, Mom and I went to get my aunt and younger cousin Cammie, who were to be our fellow theatergoers that evening.
Unfortunately, time seemed to fail as the unthinkable happened. We were so close and yet so far at the same time as my aunt began to not feel well...an hour before showtime! It took forever, I thought as Cammie and I tried to comfort her and Mom called Dad to come up to the ferry to get her. Trust me there is no harder feeling than trying to help and feeling selfish at the same time.
At last, the guys arrived and we transferred from Aunt Jodie's van to our own, and Dad, the great guy he is, took her place despite his shirt and jeans appearance. I am forever grateful to this man :) Once we got to the Minskoff's block after a long boat ride and millions of red lights on the bus, Cammie and I literally jumped off the vehicle, ran down the sidewalk, with Mom and Dad behind us. To make the longest story short, we managed to buy programs and make it to the 6th row in time to see the story unfold. Thank God for the theater superstition of starting late! :)
Alas as with everything else, the performance ended with another awed audience to show for its brilliance. All the while at the stage door, Cammie, Mom, and I (Dad stood in the background) were laughing at the antics of Douglas Sills.
Rex, along his wife, was the first of the three leads to appear, and what a doll he was! The man is nothing like the evil character he portrayed off the stage! He really is a wonderful guy...with all of Mom's snap shots to prove it! :)
Next was Rachel, and as with Rex, I was almost speechless with the exception of asking her to first sign my brother's birthday gift before signing my own (we are only a day apart with 3yrs in between, my bro and I :)). I could only hope that she saw through my eyes and eagerness how much seeing her that night meant to me. She truly is the best actress in the world and a sweet person besides.
Finally at long last, the first man I ever thought gorgeous despite the long yrs in between us :) came out from the door that kept him from us for so long. It took some time due to the crowd, but I reached him nonetheless as I realized that a simple hello from Douglas Sills could leave a girl without words. I could barely say my name when he asked who he was signing the program for! Fortunately I managed to stand for a minute with his hand on my shoulder for a picture, twice!
Mom had asked him for another picture after a few more people had their turn. The convo went something like this:
Mom: Doug can we have just one more picture?
Doug: Are you sure the first one will come out?
Mom: We can't be too careful, and she has waited so long for this! (mind you I am blushing like crazy at that)
Doug: (with that killer smile and looking at me) All right come here!
And that was it! The time was getting late as he wished me a happy birthday and our group headed for our bus and ferry to go home to Jersey. I gave David, my brother, his signed pic of Rachel in a card since by then, it was his birthday and no longer mine. Nevertheless, the day still has never left my dreams and thoughts, even now, a year later, and the picture that Doug was so gracious to take just in case now sits signed in my photo album...but the whole signed thing is another story :):) In the meantime, I hope you enjoyed this one! :)