So Ill avoid the main emotion I feel on this day...blinding anger...and tell a more heartwarming tale. The Islamofascist terrorists murdered 2977 innocent New Yorkers on 9/11 in their pursuit of enslaving us all with their sharia law. (Sorry, theres that pesky anger). As is obvious to anyone, this pretty much brought the businesses of New York City to a grinding halt. One of those industries was Broadway. I was in Les Miserables at the time and had a 25 day old son who WOULD NOT STOP CRYING! My life was buCOLIC (see what I did there?). After the attack on Tuesday we were not called into work on the double show Wednesday or Thursday. When we came back to work on Friday, we played to a house of around 250 people in a house that seats about 1400. (My great friend Creason was right there in the front row. One of my fondest memories of theater). As most shows did at the time, we started with a curtain speech and a moment of silence. The entire population of the Imperial Theater, from actors to stagehands to ushers, stood together as Ivan Rutherford gave a poignant speech. It was an incredibly moving moment and the show itself was cathartic to say the least. Who knew the runaway cart scene would make everyone on stage and in the audience shake with sobs? Im even tearing up as I write that. There was another thing at play here though that was apparent to everyone when that curtain went up for the speech. Where are all the people?! We were used to playing to full houses and here were barely enough people to fill the center section of the orchestra. (Side note: the ushers actually allowed everyone to sit in the center orchestra no matter what ticket they had purchased. Togetherness was certainly at a premium in those days). We all started to wonder if our jobs would be just another collateral victim of these dastardly deeds. Days went on and the audiences didnt grow. People were just not coming to New York. Either out of respect or fear or something in between, they just didnt feel like they should. Giuliani of course helped all of the tourist industries with everything he did. But I always hold in my heart two wonderful people who really stepped up and help save the jobs of hundreds (if not thousands) of theater districts workers: Cameron Mackintosh and Rosie ODonell. When the receipts dried up and these behemoth long running shows started hemorrhaging money, the word on the street was that a few of them were thinking of closing. One show in particular was apparently going to shutter after its first losing week ever! (The producers name is ----- --------- and he or she is a total asshole). In stepped Uncle Cameron and a cadre of other long running show producers. We had a meeting where all the employees from all the long running shows gathered at a theater. On the stage, the producers detailed just how dire the situation was and asked us all to vote on a provision whereupon our salaries would basically be deferred. We would continue to be paid a lesser salary and would be paid back once people started coming again. It was a bold request, but seeing the writing on the wall we all agreed it was the most prudent move. The thing that stands out most about that meeting though was the little speech Mr Mackintosh gave. In his very understatedly British way, he informed us that he would rather run the show for 20 years at a loss than give those bastard terrorists the satisfaction of seeing us squirm. I think it was the first time any of us had cheered something in days...but we cheered that sentiment with raucous applause! Ill never forget how proud I was to work for that man in that moment. Still am! The other person working to save the industry was Rosie ODonell. Her show had always been a home for Broadway talent but after 9/11 she made it her mission to get people back to New York. She invited any show that could come to appear on her show. The actors, again, agreed to forgo the usual appearance fee with the long term gain of keeping our jobs in mind. No one was more supportive than Rosie. The publicity she gave all those shows was instrumental in letting people know that it was ok to travel to New York and come see a show. In the end, Cameron paid back every cent we loaned to him as he guided us out of the desert and back to normal times. Rosie continued to support her theater community but I hope she realizes how much she helped when we needed her the most. Both of them will be ever in my debt. They are two of the brightest memories I have from that terrible time 13 years ago.
Posted on: Thu, 11 Sep 2014 13:05:28 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015