So in my Gypsy post, I mentioned that it was a good thing they'd cleared Patti's plate and stuff or else we would have had a "Tony Blake Moment". I thought I'd clarify.
Several years ago, some of my British friends, and members of my Renee Fleming group (the Beautiful Voice, or TBV)were going to tour the Royal Opera House in London. The tour was closed and so they ended up going to the cafeteria for a sit down and a snack. They had a similar Close Encounter with Diva Kind. They became aware that Ms. Fleming was sitting in the cafeteria as well. She was as wonderful as ever, and went over to say hello to them, because she recognized them from seeing them before. After she left, my friends did as we did, and went to the table, sat in Renee's chair, etc. And Tony, well, he asked the server if he might have Renee's plate. The server said sure, but he'd get him a clean one. Tony said no and said he wanted that one, and they let him have it. So he took it home, you know and there you have it.
But stick with me, my story gets better. A year or so later, a number of us met up in New York to see Renee in La Traviata. My friend Jen and I thought it would be very very funny if we got a similar plate and had all of us sign it. She also sent it to Renee, told her the story, and asked if she would sign the plate, too. Imagine our delight when the plate was returned to Jen, with Renee's signature smack in the middle. We presented it to Tony who was, in his words "gobsmacked." We all then signed another plate which we gave to Renee.
To her immense credit, Renee was such a great sport about the whole thing. She seemed to understand that taking plates was not something any of us did on a regular basis.
That remains one of my favorite Renee stories. I wonder if she still has that plate??
No comments:
Post a Comment