Don — Page 70

Blooms

June 5, 2018 at 9:03 am by Claudia

Blooming:

I tried to sit on the porch this morning, but a little sparrow kept chirping at me. Flitting from the rose bush to the clematis, he/she was clearly anxious. I finally realized that there’s a nest down in the boxwood and the parent was trying to feed some babies.

So I came inside.

Can’t I just sit on my porch for a while?

Thank you for all your kind comments.

I will be perfectly honest here and say that I’m not doing well.

So, while I’ll post daily, I might not write much. Or I might. Who knows? I’m just trying to keep busy between bouts of profound sadness. Trying to stay strong for my husband who is doing his best to cope and be positive in the midst of heartbreak and loss. I don’t want to say more than that because it’s his story and it should be private.

Thanks for understanding.

Also: I think my AOL email was hacked. I changed my password of course, but if you get anything weird, just delete it.

The Weekend

June 4, 2018 at 10:27 am by Claudia

Hello, friends.

I’m back from the city. It was an intense weekend; wonderful, heartbreaking, and everything in between. Having my sister with us for three days was a blessing. It would have been a blessing no matter what, but it kept us from getting too morose. We talked a lot, the three of us, and we are so comfortable with each other that we can say pretty much anything. We also laughed a lot. I needed that.

Don took this photo of us. I really love it. I really love her.

Don and Mere in Bryant Park. Don really adores my sister. He has good taste.

The carousel in Bryant Park, which is utterly charming. I had to show you the bunny.

Mere and me in the Community Garden.

Saturday was like a day in August. It was close to 90 degrees and unbelievably humid. Even my Florida-dwelling sister was over it. We had breakfast together that morning at the diner, Don went off to his matinee, and Mere and I took the subway down to Soho. Purl Soho is there, a very well-known yarn and fabric shop.

She? She’s very happy to finally visit Purl Soho.

Mere has been on a yarn diet for a while now, but she treated herself to some yarn that she couldn’t find anywhere else, for a pattern, I believe, that she got from their website. It’s a gorgeous shop with impossibly high ceilings and a very creative staff. I’d been there before, but it had been several years.

These hoops are just inside the door.

They’re filled with Liberty of London lawn fabric – the same fabric that is used for the dress on the Maggie Rabbit I made for myself and for Mere. I have plans to make a couple more, plus another stuffed kitty in Alicia Paulson’s line, so, even though we were about to leave, I turned around and went to the back of the store and purchased some.

That fabric is so smooth and silky. Simply gorgeous. I’ll show you the fabric patterns another day.

We tried walking around Soho, but it’s so ridiculously trendy and expensive these days that there really wasn’t any other shop we wanted to visit and we were so uncomfortable in the humidity that we headed back to the apartment, where we cooled off and talked about anything and everything.

Then we headed to the theater. The show was fantastic, as always. This time, though, it was both glorious to watch and heartbreaking as well. As I said on IG, I’ve been working in the theater for over 40 years and my resume is as long as your arm. I’ve never, never seen any show inspire such joy as this one does. I’ve never seen an audience respond in this way. It makes a difference in people’s lives. They come back again and again.

It should not be closing. That it is closing is a travesty.

Don kept this a secret from us. Jimmy was there for the curtain call.

He played Margaritaville (and we all sang along) and also did a wonderful duet with Alison Huff of Come Monday. Meredith was thrilled. She loved the show, she loved the cast – especially Don, of course – and she had a great time. I watched her reactions throughout the show and it was clear that she was delighted with the entire experience.

We went backstage to wait for Don and Don told us to follow him and, suddenly, there was Jimmy.

Yes, I finally got to meet him! So did Mere. He’s a great guy.

We went out for a bite to eat with Don and went back to the apartment and then it was Sunday and Mere had to leave. So did I. I dropped her off in the taxi line outside of the Port Authority Bus Terminal so she could cab it out to LaGuardia. I went inside and got in the bus line and headed home, where I found myself crying for the entire bus ride. It was the first time I’d had to myself where I didn’t have to pull it together for everyone, and it hit me. I couldn’t stop crying.

I cried again this morning. And I’ll keep crying.

Happy Monday.

Ending

May 31, 2018 at 7:27 am by Claudia

I had a post already written, scheduled to publish this morning.

But then I found out that the show is closing July 1st.

I have so many thoughts about this news. It’s devastating for the cast and crew and creatives and the producers. Jimmy cried as he spoke to the cast yesterday. The producers cried. And, of course, everyone sitting in the theater that has worked so long and so hard on this joyful show cried.

I have thoughts about the snobbishness and pretentiousness of some critics who work for major newspapers and of the New York City theatrical community as represented by the ever cliquish Tony Awards. A lot of those thoughts use a word that starts with an f, has a k in the middle, and ends with s. And make no mistake, the attack on the show by some critics who apparently felt that Jimmy Buffett had no business on Broadway, a cruel, personal attack, helped to speed the early closing. I have a great deal of anger about that, but anger isn’t healthy, so it’s up to me to work through it.

I’ve worked in the theater for over 40 years and I’m disillusioned and fed up with it.

I have thoughts about the heartbreak so many are feeling today, people I have come to know and respect and care for. I have never encountered a more loving, nicer, kinder group of people. They deserve better.

I have thoughts about a show that is consistently referred to as a ‘joyous experience’ with people coming back 3 or 4 times because they love it so much. Many of them had never seen a Broadway show until this one. Our friends who saw it a couple of weeks ago said it was the happiest theatrical experience they’d ever had. And he’s an actor. Again and again, people come up to Don to say how much they love the show and how much we need this kind of experience right now.

We’ve saved some money, but the show hasn’t been running long enough to save a lot. At least Stella is paid off. But plans we had for the future, plans that hinged on having a little extra money for the first time in a long time, will have to be shelved – at least for the time being.

And I have thoughts about my husband, who has loved every minute of this experience and who is devastated that it’s closing. I have fierce, protective thoughts about that. He brings joy to every audience member, every performance. He deserves better. He is a ray of light and love. He deserves better.

Yes, there will be a national tour next year. It doesn’t start until October 2019. And it will do extremely well on tour because that’s where Jimmy’s fans are. No, we have no idea who will be involved or who will be cast. And it’s too far off to even consider.

I’m going to take a few days off, my friends. My heart is heavy and my sister is coming and I want to focus on her and our weekend together. At least she’s getting to see the show. I’m so grateful for that.

I’ll see you again on Monday.

Blooms

The Weekend

Ending

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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