Takamatsu…seems like yesterday. A few other things; 1) the eager anticipation foiled when the ladies came to JF’s bachelor party dressed only in a towel, then all at once, they removed their towels revealing….. stylish swimsuits, 2) a certain stage manager who took an entire bag of Cheetos, crushed them up and put them in between my sheets before leaving the party. I slept in them and I didn’t even notice until the morning when someone in the lobby pointed out that I had Cheetos all over me (yes, I slept in my clothes), 3) Claudette’s face staring at me as I got off the elevator that morning for the bus call. She made a beeline for me and gave me the “how could you, don’t you know your responsibility, we may not be invited back now” speech and told me to march right on over to the desk and apologize to the staff. As it happened, one of the few things I know how to say in Japanese is “shitzu-re-shi-mashta”, loosely translated it means, “I’m sorry for being a nuisance”. The management was standing behind the check-in counter with arms crossed and brows furrowed. Claudette was next to me glaring at me, and I said my piece. The Japanese burst out laughing (or tittering) completely disarming the situation. Expressionless (but still covered with Cheetos), I bowed deeply, turned and walked to the bus. Claudette was livid. 4) the powder burns from that night (which I didn’t even notice till we were on the plane home!) left scars that still bring a smile to my face, 5) the table on fire was just a chemistry experiment determining which alcohols burned and which didn’t. At the time, we didn’t have an adequate lab on hand, so the table had to do, and 6) the entire event was really put in motion by Gladys whose ebullience and desire for camaraderie had started the nightly poker games early on during the tour. She loved to gamble, she loved to be with all of the company members away from the theatre. The game had only one rule, whoever won the most money had to provide beer for the next game. Two notes: Claudette and I are now best of friends and we’ve never gone back to Takamatsu.
