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The Show Must Go On
By James Emery Vigh of profbruno.com
As a head usher, I always liked to arrive early at Playhouse Square Center to set up the programs, or playbills for stuffing (ads,cast changes and such). This gives me the opportunity to watch not only the crew set up the stage for the performance, but to watch rehearsals as well. Peter Pan starring Cathy Rigby was the show at the time in the State Theatre. (Ms. Rigby by the way, is a VERY nice person.) On stage, they were rehearsing a scene where Tiger Lilly has to leap off a 4 or 5 foot elevation to be caught by 4 guys (playing Indians) and then let down to her feet. It's a ballet type of move. The leaper has to jump fully extended with arms outstretched. The catchers have to coordinate their movements to make the leap not only safe but graceful looking. A vast amount of trust is required from the leaper. Concentration is required of the catchers. Sometimes these moves are practiced several times "just to make sure". I'm not exactly sure what happened. Coordination and concentration were lost between the rehearsal director, Tiger Lilly, and the catchers. Off she went off her platform, fully extended. The catchers were apparently, I guess, caught off-guard, and down she went all the way face down to the floor of the stage. Obviously, she was injured. Everyone on stage was aghast. The catchers were beside themselves, inconsolable. 911 was called, and Tiger Lilly was eventually carried off stage on an ambulance stretcher. I didn't find out until later that the girl playing Tiger Lilly was Cathy Rigby's niece. Here's what happened next. After a few minutes of hand-wringing (there was no finger pointing), the scene was re-rehearsed with another actress playing Tiger Lilly. Only this time there was no dramatic leap of faith. A much safer, and less athletic variation was done. We opened the doors to the auditorium several minutes later than usual, and the curtain was also delayed. But once the curtain for the performance went up, everything seemed normal. The audience never had an inkling about what had transpired less than an hour before. The performance was excellent and Cathy Rigby as Peter Pan seemed her usual enchanting self -- though you can imagine how she must have been feeling. The show must go on.
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Contributor's Note
We heard later that Cathy Rigby's niece was not injured quite as badly as everyone feared she might have been. Thank God.
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James Emery Vigh Personal Blog
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It's called dedication or professionalism. You will find this attitude in all walks of life.
CONTRIBUTOR'S REPLY
Very interesting and entertaining intel once again, Jim.
Thank you for sharing.
Best to you.
Frederick
The show must go on is a motto which should be taken with a pinch of salt. Humans or animals shouldn't be exploited in this context. Off lately, a trainer died because of an incident during training with an Orca at Loro Park Tenerife. Early Internet comments left me with the uneasy feeling that something was not getting in the open about it. Also, a friend of the diseased said something which sounded like the Orca killed the guy on purpose. Never mind, the outcome of all of it was that the show must go on. I would also take bets that trainers will enter the water again with the cetaceans in the not so distant future.
So we may also ask how the show must go on. Gabriele
CONTRIBUTOR'S REPLY
Gabriele, naturally there are, and should be limits to this motto. I've either been or been around show business most of my life. It's a show business term that in and of itself makes no value judgement. Individual circumstances vary - and should (and often does) affect the execution of this motto. I've seen it happen often enough.
Great story and I agree with you that the show must go on - or: life never stops (stands still).
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