I have been in Tampa, FL since September 30, serving as the
Production Stage Manager, rehearsing the new production cast of the Norwegian
Dawn. We have three shows, BAND ON
THE RUN (a 70’s & 80’s music/dance show), BOLLYWOOD, a lovely, fictional
story about a filmmaker in Bollywood, and the “premiere” of his newest film,
and THE V-SHOW (an eclectic mix of musical numbers, interspersed with “personal
dialogue” from the cast.
The rehearsal process was wonderful!
I am thrilled to be back “in the thick
of it” and really enjoyed the work, the directors with whom I worked (Ricky
Whitfield, Tiger Martina, and Bree Troise), my boss, the awesome Ruben Delgado,
and a magnificent cast that is not only incredibly talented, but a bunch of
really fantastic people.
While I
kept my birthday a secret, my boss and his wife found out the day of, and she
leaked it to the cast, so on Sunday, our last day of rehearsal, they had a
cake, balloon, card for me, at lunch time (a total surprise).
This was really lovely, as it followed
on the heels of a crazy morning.
I am SO grateful that things turned out the way they did,
and while I was at the wheel, I can’t help but believe someone/thing “guided”
my/us through, to wind up on the other side without so much as a scratch. Thank you, dear Lord and all of the
angels watching over us. What
follows is from my rehearsal report from Sunday, October 28 . . .
On the drive to the Song &
Dance Studio this morning, the Dawn cast/van narrowly escaped a major vehicular
accident. While driving north on
I-75, at approximately mile marker 264, a black car passed us on the left. Some members of the cast noticed that
the male passenger (front seat) was completely asleep.
About a mile later, at mile
marker 265, that vehicle (possibly due to a front right tire blowout) struck
the cement barrier on the left hand side of the road, bounced off of the
barrier, and spun into the middle of the highway. Matt, driving, hit the brakes and swerved to the left, in
order to avoid slamming into that vehicle. When another vehicle (green Honda Element), on the left side
of the van, “caught up” to us, Matt accelerated and was able to snake between
the green Honda Element on the left, and the black car (initial accident) on
the right. Matt was pretty sure
that the van and the green Honda Element on the van’s left were going to scrape
sides, but between the two drivers, this was miraculously avoided.
Once Matt knew it was clear, and
there was an area on the right “shoulder” (mind you, this was all in a
construction zone), he pulled over so the cast, which as a whole was clearly
shaken up by the incident, could get some air and stretch. This was approximately ½ - 1 mile
further North on I-75. Zach
Robinson, cast member, called 911 and reported the accident to the
authorities. After a thorough
walk-around of the van by both Matt and Simon Breen, it was observed that
miraculously, there was not a scratch on the van. The woman who was driving the green Honda Element pulled
over to the side of the road behind us and her vehicle was also observed to by “scratch-free.” At that time, the cast re-loaded the
van and we continued on to the rehearsal studio.
When Bree, Tiger, and Ricky
(directors) passed the accident about 5 minutes later, they informed Karlene, via
telephone, that there were only two cars involved in the accident, both of which
were at the side of the road, and a police officer was on the scene.
Other than the expected
adrenaline rush and emotional shake-up, all members of the company are fine and
dare I say, counting their blessings for their guardian angels. I know I am.
Well, I was supposed to drive home to Ft. Lauderdale on
Monday, October 29 and then fly to Boston on the 30th, boarding the
Norwegian Dawn on the 31. Because
of Hurricane Sandy, flights were changed and a whole lot of “unknowns” fell
into place. I offered to stay and
help my boss with rescheduling, dissemination of information, etc. So, I left Tampa at 11:15am on Tuesday,
October 30. At 12:50, the NCL
corporate office called me and asked if I could still make my 2:05 JetBlue
flight from Ft. Lauderdale to Boston.
“It was cancelled. Has it
been reinstated?” “Yes.” “Well, I am in the middle of the state,
driving from Tampa to Ft. Lauderdale and definitely won’t make it.” Long story short, the only fight that I
could get on that night or the next morning was a 7:05pm flight on Delta. So, I frantically unpacked, repacked
(when I unpacked on the ship, I was shocked to see what I brought, and what I
had forgotten), and my friend, Phylis, who lives in my complex, whisked me to
Ft. Lauderdale airport.
Unfortunately, I forgot my camera, so any photos for the first few weeks
will be from my iphone (don’t fail me now, Apple!). I flew to Atlanta, then to Boston (first class – which was a
LOVELY treat . . . dinner consisted of Sun Chips and a few Dewar’s on the
rocks). I arrived in Boston at
12:30am, went right to the hotel and went directly to bed, without passing
“go,” or collecting two hundred dollars.
So long, farewell . . .
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