Oops! Thursday

Thought of another Oops! while listening to Michael Crawford sing "Memory" from Cats on Pandora.

Back in my Loudoun County, Mormon days, I played for a musical revue at our church. One of my friends, who was a dancer in a former life, was going to perform a modern dance to one of the pieces from Cats, and the person arranging the show wanted me to play "Memory" as a lead-in to my friend's dance.

The agreement was that I would play my arrangement of "Memory" and the dancer would enter the stage at a certain point in my performance. I was not to stop until she was on the stage. We estimated I would play three verses of the song, with her entering on the third iteration of the chorus.

So I started, playing beautifully, and got to the end of the third time through. No dancer. Modulate and play it again. Still no dancer. Modulate again. By now, about five minutes have passed; I'm bored and I'm sure the audience is bored! Finally she enters, takes her position, and I find a stopping point.

After the show was over, I asked her what happened—where was she and why didn't she come in? She replied, "I was waiting for you to stop."

Oops!

Moral of the story: Follow your instinct. Dead air is preferable to boredom!