my fan base

this past weekend, i took part in the imagination stage gala - which is an annual event they do as a fundraiser and as an evening where they honor someone with the 'imagination award.' this years honoree was debbie phelps, mother of michael phelps, for instilling in her son the ability to believe that anything was possible...even when others told him it wasn't. it was a great night - and debbie phelps gave a great speech.

but leading up to the gala, there were a series of rehearsals we had to attend, because there were a number of different performances that everyone was a part of - so pretty much all last week, we were busy rehearsing and staging numbers for the gala. and then on friday, we had our final dress rehearsal. at that final dress, they brought together all of the elements of the event - one of which was a collection of 3 little ballet girls from the classes at i.s. the girls part of the show was to present some gifts, and then at the end of the show, re-create the logo (seen above) from the evening on stage. they were adorable.

during our rehearsal friday, i was standing in the theater, waiting to hear what was going to happen next, and a door to my left, from the backstage area opened and someone from the i.s. staff came through the door with the 3 little ballerinas. they were probably 15 feet from me - and they came through the door - stopped - all looked at each other - then back at me - and all said, "HUCKLE! HUCKLE! IT'S HUCKLE!" their teacher tried to quiet them, but they were going crazy...and all i could do was laugh. finally we got them quieted down - and i grabbed my camera and took a picture with them. and then we went on with rehearsal.

throughout the night, whenever i passed through the backstage area, i could hear them explode into "HUCKLE! hi huckle!" whenever i walked in. and this 'royal treatment' lasted all friday night and through our entire rehearsal and performance on saturday night. at the end of rehearsal on friday, their teacher found me and said the girls all had something for me - and they each ran up to me and handed me pictures they had colored.

for those of you familiar with the richard scarry books, you'll know that huckle is a cat - so the girls dug through the pile of pictures to find the cat pictures. only finding 2, kit, one of the little ballerinas, opted for a dog but still labeled it a cat - just incase i was wondering. i've thought long and hard about this and i think this is the first actual collection of 'fan mail' that i have ever received. and it's perfect - because it comes directly from the demographic that 'busytown' is directed towards.

i was also delighted to find out from a mom of one of the little girls that her daughter, meg, was going to be a flamingo for halloween - based ENTIRELY on my cameo in 'busytown' as a flamingo lab tech. (if you've seen the show - you'll understand.) i was humbled, honored AND happy to find out that my work was influencing meg's life outside of imagination stage!

here is dame helen hedman, saying good bye to the ballerinas, from L-R: helen (the ballerina), meg and kit.

'busytown' runs until november 2 - so make your plans to see it now! you can check out ticket information by click here. and as always, if you do end up getting tickets, please let me know - i'd love to say hi afterwards!