Whispers of Mystery

Whispers of Mystery
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Monday, January 18, 2021

Opening Night

 Pikes Peak Center for the Performing Arts, May 5, 2012

             “Not that row,” Jasmine whispers.  She and Mindy are walking down the dark tan carpet of the right side aisle of the main ground floor auditorium.  “That guy’s wearing a cowboy hat.”

             “You think he’ll take it off before the show begins?”

             “I hope so.  We’re always told to silence our phones.  Do they tells us to remove our hats too?”

             “They should.  He’s too far back for us anyway.  Tony said we should sit at the right front.”

             “Too bad we can’t sit up there!”  Jasmine, wide-eyed, points up to the half moon shaped balconies in rich red maple.

             “That would be fun, and a little more comfortably further back.  I don’t want to be too close.  Fifth row?”        

            Jasmine nods, and the friends find open seats; they’re cushioned, spacious, with generous leg room and the complement the carpet in dark tan, while the red maple wood seat backs complement the balconies.  As Mindy sits, she takes a deep breath.

             “Nervous?”

             Mindy nods.  “I feel like I do when I am on stage, not in the audience like tonight.  I’m even feeling the Opening Night butterflies.”

 “Breathe, Mindy, and enjoy watching Tony in South Pacific,” Jasmine coaches. Have you seen him since he sang to you on your birthday?”

             “Twice.”

             “Really?  Colorado Springs is a small world. Twice?”

             “I was bold,” Mindy blushes.  “I asked Kristina to join me for lunch at Crave Real Burgers, hoping he’d be there.”

             And?”

             “He was.  He looked at the hostess and nudged his head over to one of his tables.  When he arrived with our waters, he asked, ‘How are Mindy and her friend doing today?’”

             “He remembered your name.  Good sign.”

             “On our way out, he rubbed against my arm and whispered into my ear, ‘Are you coming to’ then he pulled back and sang, ‘some enchanted evening’?”  Mindy leans in to Jasmine.  “He has a voice.  Could that be his part?”

             “You don’t know?  Let’s see.”  Jasmine pulls out her program to the Cast list, grins, and passes it to Mindy, while pointing to the top line: “Emile: Tony Bandara.”

             “Damn, are we reading that right?”

             “I think so,” Jasmine chuckles.  “When was the next time you saw him?”

             “Last week.  By fluke.”

             “By synchronicity.”

             “Synchronicity?”

             “Divine coincidence.  You were supposed to see him.”

             “Divine coincidence?  We ran into each other at the gas station.” Mindy chuckles.  “Could that be divine?”

             “Why not?!”  The two friends laugh. 

“While we were both pumping gas, he asked if I’ve eaten any food as ‘delicious’ as the food he serves, and he lingered on the word, ‘delicious.’  I played along, imitated his linger on ‘delicious,’ and asked how it could be possible to have eaten food as ‘delicious’ as his.”

             “Bold again.”

             “Yeah, and it seems to be paying off. That’s when he said we should sit on the front right.” 

The lights dim, and the trumpets of the orchestra shout the audience into attention.  The trumpets are joined with cymbals, then trombones, and then the bold percussion of timpani joins the trumpets, cymbals, and trombones to open the overture in power.  A chorus of violins emerge; they slow; they dim; cellos are added; flutes come in; then the violins break forth again to lead the full orchestra to into the show’s classic, “Some Enchanted Evening.”

 * * * * *

            Costuming for South Pacific, set during World War II, is simple, with most of the male characters in Navy costumes.  Those playing the Pacific Islanders wear more interesting costumes, including grass skirts, in the bright colors of yellow, purple, red, and bright green.  Bloody Mary’s attire is the most colorful, with a purple and yellow blouse, a green and orange skirt, and a beaded necklace of red, blue, yellow, green, and purple beads.  Her hair is pulled up in a bun and wrapped in an equally colorful scarf, accentuated in purple, yellow, and red.  On anyone else, the attire would clash, but on Bloody Mary, it’s just right.  She wears her colors confidently, and she shines.

             Lead character, Emile, an officer, played by Tony, is dressed quite the opposite, in basic khaki pants and a white, button down, short sleeved shirt.  Nellie, the show’s heroine, a naval nurse, is wearing a straight navy skirt that comes down about half way between her knees and her ankles, and a V-neck white blouse tucked in.

             In the third scene, at an evening dance party at the local pub, Emile meets Nellie and asks her to dance.  They dance a brisk and brilliant Charleston, dancing like they’ve been partners for years; they laugh; they dance slow and close; they meet one another’s eyes, and they fall in love.  Rogers and Hammerstein style.  Just like that.  In one enchanted evening.

             Jasmine thinks back to the time when she fell for her husband Tim.  They were both summer camp counselors, and Jasmine recalls doubting herself.  Could she be up to the task?  I can do this, I can do this. I can do this, she kept telling herself.  She must have been muttering it aloud too.  When she sat down for orientation at the campfire, Tim came up, pointed to the spot next to her and asked if it was free.  She nodded; he leaned over and whispered, ‘You can do this.’  Jasmine blushed.  ‘It’s OK,’ he said, and asked if it was her first summer.  She nodded and he said it was his second.  He introduced himself and then said, ‘The counselors have almost as much fun as the kids – and we get paid.’  He grinned wide.  Jasmine was taken.

             Her memory is interrupted when Tony’s booming voice bellows out his famous lyric, “Some enchanted evening, when you find your true love.”  He’s at center stage singing to Nellie, then gaits toward the audience’s right, stands in front of Mindy and sings to her, “Once you’ve found her, never let her go.”

 Jasmine looks over to her blushing friend, chuckles, and passes Mindy the program.  “Here, put this in front of your face.”

 * * * * *

            Emile and Nellie are sitting at a small, circular, wooden patio table, and the backdrop set shows the Pacific in the background with the sun setting.  Two Pacific Island children, a boy and a girl, about seven and ten, bring out drinks on a round tray, carrying the tray first to Nellie, then to Emile, to take their own drinks.  Emile introduces Nellie to the children as his own, the children of his wife who has passed on, and then the children depart. 

With a ghost white face, Nellie pulls away from Emile.  He pulls her back and tells her he loves her.  “I love you too, I really do!” she cries.  “Please let me go!” she cries out as she breaks away and runs off stage. 

Emile is left sitting at the table alone.  Jasmine’s heart falls as she feels his heartbreak, and the audience is left in suspense with their hero, as the curtain closes for Intermission.

 * * * * *

             “How could she leave like that?” Mindy asks, astonished.

             “’You’ve got to be carefully taught,’” Jasmine tries to sing.

             “You mean, ‘You’ve got to be carefully taught’?” Mindy sings, then chuckles.

             You are the singer between us, Mindy!  What a song. Can you sing more of it?”

             Mindy begins the chorus from the start:

"You've got to be taught

to hate

and fear

You've got to be taught

From year to year

It's got to be drummed in your dear little ear

You've got to be carefully taught

You've got to be taught

to be afraid

of people

whose eyes are oddly made

and people whose skin is a different shade

You've got to be carefully taught."

             Jasmine shudders.  The two friends pause in silence.

             Turning reflective, Jasmine whispers to Mindy, “Though it wasn’t about racism, my family seemed to think we had to be ‘carefully taught.’  Did you know my family mocked me for ‘thinking at odds’?”

             “You’ve mentioned this before.  What did they mean by that?”

             “I guess that my mind raced passed the Church.  I was that troublesome middle child, who kept ‘thinking at odds.’  I was mocked for it since 5th grade, until I shut up, forcing myself to ‘think at evens.’”

             “When did you do that?”

             “By high school.  I think it happened slowly.  Without realizing it, before I knew it, I was giving away the real me.  I let myself be ‘carefully taught,’” Jasmine sighs.  “Part of me died then, and I didn’t even know it.”

             “It’s good you’re coming alive again.” 

“It took a while.  I was still trying to ‘think at evens’ when I found Tim.  Did I ever tell you how he won me over?”

             Mindy shakes her head.

             With the memory still fresh in her head, Jasmine relays the day Tim began teaching her archery.   “He drew me close into his own body, and I took a breath.  He must have noticed, since he said, ‘It’s OK, I won’t hurt.  Stand right in front of me and we’ll do this together.’ Tim picked up the bow and told me to turn to the left.  He was standing so close I could feel his warmth and smell his aftershave.  He lifted my left hand, placed the bow into it and held both the bow and my left hand.  Then, with his right hand, he picked up the arrow, lifted my right hand, placed the bow into it, and used my own fingers to draw the arrow into the bow string.  I felt it like it was in slow motion.   While holding both of my hands and most of my right arm, Tim said, ‘Now simply observe how this feels as we aim for the target.’”

             Jasmine chuckles.  I remember thinking, “I observe very well how this feels!”

             Mindy smiles.

             “Then he said, ‘Now observe how it feels to release the arrow.’  The arrow flew strong, perfectly straight, and into the center.  ‘You just shot a bulls-eye!’ I cried out.  ‘We just shot a bulls-eye,’ he replied, then said, ‘We make a great team!’  I looked into his eyes and smiled big. Tim shook my hand, said, ‘Well done, my friend,’ and smiled back.”

             “Cool story, Jazzie.  Does Tim get credit for your great tennis aim?”

             “He should, yes.  Too bad he won’t pick up the sport.  He says it messes with his baseball game and he has enough sports with archery, baseball, and skiing.”

             “How about that spark that drew you in?  Do you still have it with him?”

             “We don’t hit the target as much these days.  He thinks like a good archer, trying to shoot a bulls-eye with his beliefs.  Mine are so complicated that I can’t get my thinking arrows to even hit a target, let alone a bulls-eye. He mostly follows the Church.  Thankfully, not as much as Mom and Dad.  Tim’s not closed.  He’s just not open.”

             “What do you mean?  He’s not ‘closed,’ but he’s also not ‘open.’  What is he then?”

             “He’s not closed to new ideas; he just doesn’t come up with any himself.  He mostly accepts whatever he was raised to believe and only challenges whatever he’s challenged on.  At least when he is, he’s willing to re-consider.”         

“You’re starting to challenge everything, though.  What made you start doing that again?”

             “Davie.  He thinks like me, the real me.  He goes against a lot of what he was raised with.  Not everything.  He became a youth pastor.  But many of his beliefs are unique in his family, and he stays confident in them.  He’s not defensive when people disagree with him, like I am.  He doesn’t try to force himself to think at evens.”

             The lights dim; the orchestra begins to play; the two friends quiet themselves.

 * * * *  *

             Just after Nellie ”washes that man right out of her hair,”  Emile finds her walking alone along the beach.  “It was you, Nellie, that I’ve been waiting for,” he says, declaring his love and then asks her to marry him.  Nellie breaks into song:

 “Born on the opposite sides of the sea

We are as different as people can be

It’s true

And yet you want to marry me”

             Emile sings, “I do.” 

Nellie solos again, 

I’ve known you for a few short weeks and yet

Somehow you’ve made my heart forget

All other men I have ever met

Who can explain it?

Who can tell you why?

Fools give you reasons

Wise men never try”

             The solo shifts to Emile singing, “One enchanted evening.”  

Once he departs, Nellie sings her brave choice to let herself be mocked, because she “is in love with a wonderful man.”

 * * * * *

             The audience finds the show a hit and stands in ovation.  Mindy clasps her hands together.  “I’m glowing.”

             “Yeah, you’re red too,” Jasmine teases.

             “Uh oh.  I’d better change that before we congratulate the performers.”

             “Breathe, Mindy, breathe.”

             “Ok, I’m breathing.  Time to get my mind back on the show.”

             Trying to help, Jasmine says, “In perfect theater, the heroine is redeemed.” 

“She is.  We watched Tony on Opening Night, and we watched Nellie open her mind.”

             Jasmine smiles.  “Love can do that.”

 

© 2021 by karina.  All rights reserved. Please use with permission from the author or a link to this post.

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