The Taxi Ride...

Just so you may know there is a very powerful ending to this story.👍

In the Purple Shoes blog the other day, I ended it at the Sky City Restaurant in the Space Needle in Seattle with my friends Damien and his partner Logan.  All was well with the Maitre-d.  He was just curious after observing Damien and I diving under the table multiple times to retrieve Damien's PURPLE shoe which slipped onto a ledge.  You see the Restaurant revolves and we had to wait until we returned to the exact place again so we could finally retrieve it and did so with finesse. 

After I completed the massive flats for a huge theatre production Damien needed my help with, the time came for me to return home and get back to my horse and my own Theatre Scene Design work ahead of me.  But first I had to get out of Seattle.  Damien ALWAYS ran late for EVERYthing.  I barely even made it to the boarding gate in time!

Outside of Chicago my plane remained in a holding pattern forever due to storms and I missed my connecting flight.  Yet there are certain times when everything happens for a reason though.  Very POWERfully happens.

Eventually I FINALLY arrived back in Maryland shortly after midnight.  I was exhausted.

After finally tracking down my luggage I rushed out of the airport and was relieved to see a few taxi's waiting for their next fare and plunged into one.

When I did I totally startled the poor lady whose taxi I threw myself into.  For a few moments she couldn't seem to speak for some reason.  Finally she did.  Asked my destination.  Told me she would need my help giving directions.  No problem.

Now usually I'm the one who makes conversation in taxi's, always keenly interested in others I get to meet.  However it was this driver, a older woman who began.

"My name is Jenny.  What's your name?"

"Adelaide.  Nice to meet you Jenny!"

"Have you been traveling far, Adelaide?"

"Seattle, I..."

"What do you do?"

"I am a Theatre Scene Designer, and..."

"A Theatre Scene Designer?  That's incredible!  What a wonderful way to make a living!  Have you been doing it long?"

I waited a moment in case Jenny needed to interrupt me again before I plunged in to respond.😂

"Actually I recently completed my second internship.  You see, due to the dwarfism [it had to be obvious to her, right?!!🤣] I kind of got detoured a bit with two spine surgeries twice learning to walk again, then needing a bone marrow treatment at Hopkins but I refused to give up even when everything seemed stacked against me.  I'm a very dedicated "refuses to give up" kind of person.  Eventually I finally grabbed hold of my dream."

There was silence from the front.  And then...

"Adelaide, we're coming up to a McDonald's.  Would you mind terribly if we get coffee at the Drive-thru?  I'll buy it."

"Wow, at this point coffee sounds really good to me.  I

haven't had anything to eat since lunch on my flight yesterday.  Would you mind if I order some chicken nuggets?  I'd love to treat you to some or whatever 

else you'd like."

"No, I'm fine.  Just realized I could use some coffee."

After Jenny bought us both coffee and I the nuggets, she asked if I would mind if we parked until we were done.  I didn't mind.

"Adelaide, I know it must be very hard being a...a..."

"Little Person."

"Little Person.  How do you cope with life in a body like yours?  I've only just met you but I sense you are a very strong person inside.  I desperately need to know how you cope with what life throws at you."

There was indeed a desperate sense of urgency I heard in her voice.

"Jenny, I'll be happy to share with you what works for me.  Before I do it's very important to BELIEVE you've got what it takes within you to be strong inside too.  If you imagine it, you will achieve it, if you dream it, you become it...so..."

"Wait a moment!  I have to write that down!  Uh, do you have any paper?"

I usually always do but didn't, yet McDonald's had given us a bunch of napkins.

"Hold fast to your dreams and don't let go of them."

"But Adelaide, how do..."

"I have always coped by keeping focused on my glass being a full one because it IS a very full one.  If I were to keep focused on all the many things "wrong" in my life I would not want to even try at all because I'd be too overwhelmed with self pity.  Self pity steals happiness.  Not only that who wants to be around a complaining whiner anyway?"

"Well what can a person replace self pity with?"

"A gratitude attitude.  Focus on what you have to be thankful for.  Like being able to just see, hear, walk, talk, and having a roof over your head.  Become aware of nature.  Remember the two words 'and yet.'  For instance when I encounter the mean ridicule I constantly get, I refuse to let their abuse take my power from me.  I know I am being treated awful and yet I have my horse to break free upon by flying with the wind across fields.  How many people can?  The "and yet" allows me to retain my power by not letting strangers have it, if this makes sense."

"It does!  It really does!"

"Finally Jenny, embrace courage.  The greatest test of courage is to bear pain without losing heart.  Embrace optimism.  Hope.  Love.  One of the most wonderful treasures to remember is how the love we live is what remains after we're no longer here.  Strive to live love."

Jenny was beginning to run out of napkins and I had reached a point where even coffee wasn't helping me anymore and I felt I was rambling away.  The poor lady was probably being polite by not telling me just how rambling away I actually was.

I am sure she could see how my tiredness was clearly overtaking me by now.  As Jenny drove me home her thoughts were churning with all I gave her.

It was when we arrived and she stopped the car Jenny told me something which jarred me awake...I mean WIDE AWAKE.  

For you see, the following is what Jenny told me:

"Adelaide, this isn't a taxi.  My husband of forty-two years of marriage who was my soul mate, my everything, died of pancreatic cancer last week, less than a month after we were told he had it.  Our daughter, an only child was just here.  We fought about everything.  Wanted me to make huge life altering decisions immediately aside from the funeral arrangements.  How can anybody even make a decision about what to eat when their heart is broken and they don't know how to survive the most frightening traumatic experience of their life?  

"But I did make a decision.  A decision that was all too easy for me to make and one I intended to carry out as soon as I returned home from dropping my daughter off at the airport.  I tried to hug her.  I even tried to tell her I loved her but she screamed at me to go to hell then leaped out of the car and was gone.

"So I decided to drive home, pull this car into the garage, shut the door, then as the car continued to run just peacefully go freeing myself from all the pain and agony of this...this broken heart. 

"And then YOU from out of nowhere at that moment, that VERY moment jump into my car thinking its a cab!  

"Adelaide, I don't know about you but Someone far more powerful than we are put you here!  Not only put you here tonight but put you here on the journey you're on to touch lives.  Either this or I'm sitting here speaking to a real live angel!  Are you?!!"

"Jenny, if I am an angel, I sure am unaware I am."😂

Adelaide's Doll...

Back in 1996 I was asked to take part in a very unique project to help others.  

Serena, a psychologist had known about me for years due to the media coverage about my art and The Ride with Patches, my horse.  She had also been hearing about what an inspiring speaker I was too.

Serena was acquainted with my orthopaedic surgeon and one day called him to see if he would tell me about this self esteem project she wanted to conduct.

So I get a call from my orthopaedic surgeon.🙂

"Adelaide, a psychologist I know wanted me to see if you could take part in some kind of self esteem doll making project for women with self esteem issues, and no, not because YOU need help in this area but because she strongly feels your presence will benefit these women in ways she can't."

"A doll?!!  What kind of a doll?"🤔

"I don't know.  But knowing you and knowing how you and your friend have been successfully speaking at the Women's Prison I think you would have a huge impact.  Her name is Serena and she can explain it all to you.  By the way I think you would be a very cute little doll."🤣

So I spoke to Serena.  She felt since I attained all I did and was doing in MY body I could have an impact on the women struggling with self esteem who were insecure and unhappy because they focused on perceived things wrong with their bodies which inhibited them.  Some seriously.

The doll.  Over three days we all, Serena and I too, would be making life-size three dimensional dolls of ourselves taken from our exact measurements...head to toe.

"Uh, and then what?"🤔

"Focus on reshifting the negative self image these ladies have of themselves into positive ones.  And to help them begin to learn to accept and embrace their bodies."

Serena received a small grant to do this project.  She had to spend a large amount of the grant for the supplies and refreshments needed yet was trying to still give me a stipend for my time.  Since I happened to be free the weekend this would be I waived the stipend.  Like how many opportunities does one ever get to make a life-size doll of themselves anyway?🤣

Nine ladies in addition to Serena and I were there.  As we began to introduce ourselves all the ladies blurted out, "YOU'RE THE PATCHES LADY!"  They all had followed our story during The Ride saga and knew me as everyone did by my horse Patches' name because no one could remember my name.  I was touched.😃  

Then each of them shared their stories and reasons for being there.  One lady was struggling to overcome being bulimic; two others were overweight; one had a problem with aging; another had a problem with being too short but just simply meeting me already had a positive effect she said; one had a liver transplant a few years earlier but was struggling with how the anti-rejection drugs changed her appearance; another was struggling with how the chemo treatments she was getting had made her look; and one was just very insecure and had never felt good about herself.😪

The time came for us all to begin making a doll of ourselves.  We were asked to choose partners and immediately they all asked to be mine.  So we worked out a way for me to be a partner with each lady through the three days of the project.  

First we had to measure each other from head to toe.  Then as one lay on sheets of newsprint paper another drew their outline to make a pattern to be pinned on muslin and cut out.  By the end of our first day arms, legs, torsos, heads, hands, and feet were strewn everywhere.

The next day the sewing by hand process began by bringing all the body parts together to be filled with stuffing to make our dolls three dimensional.  As we sewed there was some very serious talk as Serena 

and I spent time individually with each lady.  They each were especially keen to know how I got to be where I was/am in accepting myself even with the constant mean ridicule I live with each day.  

I shared how my mentor friend Joseph had me make a "Dwarf Card," and the huge effect it had upon my young life.  Then striving to focus upon the positives and not the negatives by having a gratitude attitude.  

One of my many sayings they each very touchingly scrolled onto their dolls was, "We cannot get anywhere by remaining where we are.  That we have to WANT to ignite our inner spark into flames and KEEP it burning bright by not giving others or the negative part of our inner self the power to extinguish our spark."

I also gave them a list of the books which had also made a huge difference in my young life.  They all, including Serena wrote down everything I shared.  Because Serena was privately counseling the ladies I had given them ways they could begin attaining self acceptance by working together with her. 

The third day we had fully completed our dolls and dressed them with clothes we brought then placed them in chairs across from each of us.  There was a long silence.  Serena asked me first about the thoughts I had.

My very glorious inspiring first thought to share with them upon seeing my exact 3-D replica was this:

"Ohhh SHIT, Adelaide!  You really ARE a DWARF!"😂  

Yet I suddenly realized how much self acceptance I had been blessed to attain with my journey and SO grateful I could, because there had been a time in my young life when seeing my exact image in 3-D form across from me would have been horribly difficult.😖

Every lady was forced to see themselves in a whole 

new way.  Yet in a way which began a brand new journey of self acceptance and self esteem for each one of them.  Their lives were forever changed.💥

So what happened to my life-sized doll replica?  

Well after a few years she began terribly "aging" by graying and losing much of her "innards" as I did too with additional surgery for cancer, then followed by two emergency abdominal surgeries needed to keep me alive longer.  

Then when a theatre really needed my talents I moved and the poor doll got stuffed into my car trunk yet she kept scaring the hell out of people whenever I opened 

it you see.  People kept assuming the doll was a REAL human.😱

Finally, the time had come to bid my dear rapidly deteriorating doll replica goodbye before I got arrested for having a body in my trunk.  Though I had to send her remains off in these nice dignified black trash bags, 

she would always hold a very special place within my galloping journey.🤣💫

This is a photo taken of me for a art magazine piece about my life and art about the same period the Doll Project took place.

READERS...

My Dear Readers,

I forgot to mention in my Reader Letter the other day I still have several new blog pieces in the works yet, however the current upheaval happening where I reside is taking me longer than usual to complete them.  

In a recent Reader Letter I shared with you I was reaching the end of all the journals I kept through the decades making this blog even possible.  These were also stuffed with many loose pages too.  

So between the journals and then those many loose pages, including the notes from my talks when in demand as a speaker too, I had a treasure trove to share.  All of these enabled me to write about the many events here that otherwise would have been quite difficult to recall since my journey has always been 

such a very full, active one.

As touched on I recently discovered a bunch of loose journal pages of more stories stuffed inside a journal of my poetry I had not seen for a LONG time.  Already I have shared with you three which were the "Bright Encounter" pieces about the very amazing encounters meant to be.  And the several new remaining pieces in process to share with you are from the same loose pages.

That I have been able to keep this blog going nearly fifteen months seven days a week now with over four hundred different pieces amazes me.  How grateful I am I could!  And how grateful I am so many are reading it!

Most of all I am deeply grateful I finally fulfilled my promise made to so many through the decades to put my hilarity and inspirations in writing.

Thank YOU for helping to make this possible. 

Adelaide 

The Class Of My Career...

Despite my talent I was nearly not accepted into the Theatre Scene Design Program of the University I had applied to.  The Department Chairman expressed concerns I may not be able to paint the massive canvas or wood backdrops in the days long before the amazing computer graphics took over towards the end of my career.  

Dr. Ravenall was also very concerned my height challenge could hinder me from using the power saws and the other tools needed in set construction too, yet

I wasn't.😃💫

In my blog piece on Boldness I shared what happened immediately after Dr. Ravenall expressed his concerns in the excerpt below about what can happen when we either learn boldness or must become bold due to certain circumstances...🤣👇

[Even though I am about the same size standing as I am sitting I suddenly stood up in front of Dr. Ravenall to my full height of my very tall 4'3" and boldly let him know a few things about myself.  That it was because of my height I would be an asset as I had more to prove, and I would.  Not only that I had far more courage than the average person.  Furthermore, I was very talented too which he strongly agreed.  And one more thing I blurted out to Dr. Ravenall was I owned and galloped my horse bareback across fields asking him how many people he knew who could!

At this his jaw dropped.  And he was speechless.  He never had ANYONE talk to him before in such a way.  Especially such a young person!

He was silent.  For a brief moment I thought to myself, "Oh shit.  I blew it."

Finally Dr. Ravenall spoke.  "Adelaide, I am not only going to admit you to the program but our renown Prof. Emeritus of Scene Painting Dr. Sonderling, takes only eleven students every other year who have extraordinary talent and character.  Because you have just shown me both in spades I am putting you in his final class this semester.   

WOW.  Being one of the few chosen for THAT class was BIG.  Really big.  So was being admitted to the Theatre Scene Design Program too.  Boldness threw the door wide open for me.]

Dr. Sonderling was a beloved Scene Design professor dear to all.  I was very fortunate to have had the opportunity to be one of the few chosen for the last class of his long career.  He created this class for Design students who met certain requirements.  For 

me to be a first year student chosen to be in this, the last class, was really something special.  And quite an honour.

In the beginning of the class we prepared the series of huge canvas flats we would need for the Scene Painting assignments Dr. Sonderling would be giving us.

Obviously this was one class where we couldn't take our work home so the ten of my fellow students and I became very close friends, often painting through the nights on our huge assignments.

This class is where I learned I had a very special gift.  Normally artists transferring an image from a photo 

or page from a book divide the page into grids, then enlarge the grids to the flat, transferring the image.  I had a mental block with the grid system yet could freely reproduce a small image in its exact proportions onto a massive flat requiring tall ladders.  This proved to be quite a special gift on my career journey. 

It blew Dr. Sonderling away!  "Adelaide!  How do you 

DO that?!!"

"I don't know!  I just DO IT!  I can't explain how!  Is it a bad thing I can't do the grid system?"

"Hell no!  You really have a gift there!"

Dr. Sonderling wondered if the gift I had was because EVERYTHING from MY perspective is obviously much larger than I am anyway.  So as a Scene Design artist this afforded me the ability to easily recreate small into huge.😃

We had begun our first assignment on 4'x4' flats.  For this Dr. Sonderling gave us each a page from a very wonderful, colorful children's book called, "Tuesday," 

by David Wiesner, which was a funny book about a Tuesday when frogs could suddenly fly.  My page had the frogs on their flying lilypads high above the rooftops as you may see below which I had to recreate onto a canvas flat my height.😂

In High School I had already painted on huge 6'x6' canvas flats for various school productions which contributed to the reasons I was accepted into the Design Program when my portfolio was reviewed.

As Dr. Sonderling observed our individual drawing and painting techniques he discovered another amazing technique I did not know I had.🤔

I was so engrossed in my work I did not realize he was standing behind me watching me work.  All of a sudden Dr. Sonderling loudly blurted out, "ADELAIDE!"

In quick succession he so startled me I spilled half a can of green paint down my front from the frogs I was painting.😂🐸

"OH SHIT!  Did I do something wrong?!!"😱

Laughing, he said, "NO!  But YOU paint from dark to light!"

"Ohhkaaay...doesn't...everyone?"😳

"No, that's just it!  Everyone usually draws and paints from light TO dark!"

"OH.  Is this something I need to change?"😱

"DON'T TOUCH IT!"

When I told my dear mentor friends this they were not surprised.  They reminded me how my very challenging life and indomitable spirit meant I was always striving to overcome the dark to remain in the positive light I held onto in living my life.  And it was coming out in my creative technique of dark to light.  This made sense to me.😃🖌🎨

The time came for Dr. Sonderling's final assignment on the massive 12'x12' canvas flats.  We were anxious to see what we would be painting on this one.  This is when he handed each of us a large sealed envelope with our names written on it.  Inside was the Edward Hopper painting he had chosen for each of us.  Mine was the Empty Storefront seen below.

Not only were we given three weeks to produce this final assignment it accounted for half our grade.  A lot was riding on this project.

Since we each had three or four other classes besides this one we had to really burn the midnight oil to complete this project.  And do a damn good job.  The last two days we hardly left the Scene Shop.  Our massive flats, ladders, and paint were everywhere.  Besides having a steady stream of Theatre Department students and faculty who kept coming to observe our progress.😱

Finally it was time for both Dr. Sonderling as well as 

Dr. Ravenall to critique our work.  One by one in the Theatre our massive flats were set up on the stage.  

We were being assessed on accuracy and our painting ability of the Hopper painting we each had been given. 

Actually we all did well for we wouldn't have been in 

the class if we each didn't have talent to begin with.

Nevertheless, a LOT still was depending upon this assignment.  We would only be given our actual grade when both professors sat down with each of us privately. 

I nailed an A+ the highest possible grade and was well on my way.

We knew our flats became the property of the Theatre Department yet often through the years I have thought how cool keeping my Hopper flat and the flying frogs would have been...😂👏🖌🎨💫

From "Tuesday"

Edward Hoppers' Storefront👇

Bubble Traffic Hilarity...

Now and then a hilarious theatre malfunction would actually happen NOT on Opening Night but a few performances later, thankfully AFTER the critic gave glowing praise.  One of the nightmares an actor dreads most is when another actor misses their cue to come on stage or a tech malfunction keeps one from getting there.  Suddenly the lone actor or even an entire ensemble find themselves desperately trying to adlib for what seems like an eternity [and often is] with a full House casting all their attention upon THEM.  All just waiting, waiting, waiting...😱🎭

At this theatre we were doing the musical "Wicked."  For those unfamiliar, "Wicked" takes place in the Land Of Oz at a time before and after Dorothy dropped in by way of tornado.  It is told from the perspective of the Wicked Witch and Glinda The Good Witch.  The musical is about their struggles with each other and The Wizard before the Wicked Witch falls from grace forever.  Somehow the huge part where the Wicked Witch was melted in the movie classic "The Wizard Of Oz, " then returns was never clear to me how this got dealt with and I was too busy designing sets to get a further explanation.  But this minor detail has nothing to do with what I am about to share anyway...😂🎭

There is a HUGE GRANDIOSE MOMENT when Glinda in a "bubble" high above rear center stage descends in grand style to the stage.  The scene really is/was a very beautiful feat achieved in theatre craftsmanship.  Just beautiful. 

And it would have been VERY beautiful this particular performance if things went as planned.  But they didn't you see, otherwise I wouldn't have a hilarious event to share.😂

A few moments after Loralei starring as Glinda began descending, the bubble stopped hanging high in the air.  Since Glinda was far beyond her entry platform she was trapped.

This situation now thrust the Ensemble Cast on the stage waiting for Glinda into a terrible place of "what the hell do we do NOW terror," which I can assure you is not a fun place to be.  However since this IS show business, Blake, a veteran actor began adlibbing as the tech crew desperately began trying to find what went so wrong.

With a desperate sense of very misplaced hope, the tech crew's presence way up high meant a miracle to Blake as he suddenly exclaimed to the ensemble, "Oh look!  Look!  Glinda is coming!"

Only she wasn't. 

"Look!  Look!  Glinda REALLY is coming everyone!  Do you see her?"

No one responded.

Because Glinda still wasn't coming yet.

"Wait!  It appears Glinda is stuck in Bubble Traffic!"

BUBBLE TRAFFIC?!!  FRIGGIN BUBBLE TRAFFIC?!!🤣

By this time we in the wings lost it.  We were dying in laughter we were trying hard to suppress.  But we weren't the ONLY ones for by now the audience began losing it too.  It was the "Bubble Traffic" reference you see.

What else could poor Blake do?!!

"Oh my there really is a LOT of Bubble Traffic today!"

Suddenly the tech crew were able to get Glinda's Bubble to descend more.  

Then it stopped again.  

She was still high above the stage but in full view of the audience.

"Oh dear, I think Glinda has had a Bubble Accident by a hit and run Bubble!  This must be why she is stopped!  She's waiting for The Oz Patrol to arrive!"

Blake knew he was sounding desperate even though the audience were rolling in laughter.  He made a brief dash to the opposite wing whispering way louder than what he thought, "What the hell are they doing up there?"

They were laughing too hard to respond.

Meanwhile in the bubble up high Loralei was beginning to wonder if they would ever free her.

Cried Blake up to Glinda, "Hang on Glinda!  The Oz Patrol has been detained in Munchkinland!  Someone stole the lollipops and you know how they are about their lollipops!"

Suddenly I had an inspiration and motioned for Blake to come.  He loved my suggestion and told the orchestra. Uh, that is when they could stop laughing.  Then he told the ensemble.

I wouldn't have told Blake what I did without having learned the tech crew found the problem.

So to the tune of "She'll Be Coming Around The Mountain When She Comes," the Ensemble would sing "She'll be descending to the stage when she comes."

With Blake and the Ensemble singing this catchy tune to those words, Blake encouraged the audience to join in too which they very enthusiastically did.

And then...AND THEN...true to the magic of theatre the Bubble began descending to rousing applause.

It was beautiful. 

All was now well in the Kingdom Of Theatre Magic.

At least until the next disaster.😂🎭

Gallop On With Hope In Your Heart...

I adore the song, "You'll Never Walk Alone," and share the powerful lyrics below.  Only in true Adelaide fashion altered the lyrics slightly when I was very young...

When you gallop through a storm
Hold your head up high
And don't be afraid of the dark

At the end of a storm
There's a golden sky 
And the sweet silver song of a lark

Gallop on through the wind
Gallop on through the rain
Though your dreams be tossed and blown 

Gallop on, gallop on
With hope in your heart
And you'll never gallop alone

Lightning Striking Twice Hilarity...

At the same theatre I described what happened during the musical version of "Gone With The Wind," there was another hilarious event at the same theatre proving lightning can strike twice or three times or even...

The following season we staged a large scale production of "The Phantom," (not to be confused with the small theatre production where our Serena's dress caught on a fallen candelabra ripping out the back of her dress on the day she wore underpants with I 💖 SEX in bright neon letters on them for all to see).

For THIS version of "The Phantom" a HUGE brand spanking new theatrical Fog Making Machine had been purchased to add finesse to the production. 

Oh it really added some version of finesse all right, however I am getting ahead of myself.

Joseph, in charge of the Special Effects had to visit the Fog Making Machine company where he was given extensive instructions in how to make the Fog Making Machine successfully work.  Which is exactly what Joseph managed to pull off with amazing finesse.  That is this finesse occurred all during rehearsals and Dress Rehearsal at least.

Did I mention yet Joseph and his wife were expecting their first child at ANY moment?

And that our contingency plan for this event to occur during our Phantom run was Joseph would have given Thomas the same excellent instructions he received?  No doubt this gave us all a sense of assurance The Fog Making Machine could have just as much success even with the baby coming.

So along comes Opening Night where if anything can go wrong in theatre it does on Opening Night.  This has been a proven fact all down through the many centuries of theatre and my career.

Three hours before the performance where everything backstage is crazy enough already, Joseph gets...THE CALL.  The one telling him, "IT'S TIME!"  So in a rush Joseph tore out of the theatre.  And in a rush Thomas prepared to run the Fog Making Machine.  Again, the rest of us took great comfort in the knowledge Joseph had taught Thomas with the same excellence in running the machine as he had been given. 

The time arrived for the-let-there-be-fog moment 

to happen.  

And oh how it happened. 

For you see there was just supposed to be enough fog to cover the stage AT THE FEET OF THE CAST for the atmospheric effect.  Well this atmospheric event did not get to happen because Thomas suddenly realized at this very critical moment Joseph somehow overlooked showing him the two part step of HOW TO SHUT THE DAMN FOG MACHINE OFF!

Should my dear readers not be aware of the fact I am about to share with you I can attest with good authority fog machines, especially brand spanking new ones are quite capable of very rapidly covering a whole stage with fog.

If for any reason the Fog Making Machine cannot be turned off it may then FILL the stage all the way up to the proscenium arch with such massive amounts of fog the actors could be having an orgy and neither the audience nor theatre staff in the wings would ever know this was happening.

The Fog Making Machine very soon showed us what more it was capable of doing by then filling up House Left, House Right, Center House, under the Balcony, then over the entire Balcony.  Soon all of Opening Night was shrouded in thick heavy fog that kept pouring out!

From the direction of where the Fog Making Machine was located as I stood in the wings I could hear the freaking out voices of our Executive Director, Artistic Director, and Stage Manager freaking out poor Thomas even more than they were.

"Now Thomas, THINK!  Surely Joseph told you what to do and you forgot!"

"Can't someone go drag Joseph away from what he's doing?!!  This should after all take precedence over a birth!"

"Do you realize what you're saying?!!"

"Does anyone know if the Critics are here?"

"We can't even see ourselves and you're asking if WE'VE SEEN THE CRITICS?!!"

By this time I not only thought our executives voices were loud enough to "reach the rafters," but something suddenly came to me.

All I needed to do was follow the sound of the rising voices of our illustrious staff.

"Who's that?!!"

"Adelaide."

"It must be Adelaide because the sound of her voice is coming from the floor."

"Thomas?"

"Yes Adelaide?"

"Have you tried unplugging the machine?"

"Uh no."

"Okay, do it."

As I expected the Fog Making Machine finally was stopped.

The Executive Director started to ream Thomas out for not thinking of this when I reminded the Director he hadn't thought of it either.  Silence.

Audience members were asked to remain in their seats while all massive backstage doors were opened, all industrial size fans turned on, and all exit doors opened.  Soon the theatre was cleared 

of fog.

Dimitri, who had the Phantom role had a few words with the orchestra.  Then took center stage.

This is when he began singing what is our beloved Theatre Anthem, "There's No Business Like Show Business."

And there were not any dry eyes in that theatre.

Even as I write these words my heart swells with the love for what had been my profession as a Theatre Set Designer for many years while tears pour down my cheeks.  But these tears my dear ones, are very happy ones from my heart.

Because there IS no business like show business.