Ensembles

Young man! (I repeat) be fond of your work.

Immanuel Kant
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It's not hard to find a prima donna. There is usually one around somewhere. They come in all ages, genders and sexualities. One hopes the prima donna is not the one in charge.

When a prima donna appears in a theatre or film production the rest of the company just ignores it, works around it and shares the ridicule and disgust. I always visualize a prima donna as a gremlin, sitting on a toad stool with a grumpy and unhappy look on its face, surrounded by nobody.

One of the things I always enjoyed the most about working in the theatre was the ensemble aspect of it, a bunch of people, cast and crew, working together to bring off a successful production. Crew people are particularly important. They are there to change the scenery, hand the actor a prop or to help him with his clothes if he has a quick change. And I know that good crew people are fond of their work because they have told me so.

One night I was sitting in a bar in the theatre district of New York. At the bar were a group of stage hands. I was fascinated to hear them talk about the problems and successes of their various productions and also about what was going on in other theatres, which they knew from talking with other stage hands. They all knew each other you see.

I had to do crew work when I first started out and hence I never took crew people for granted. Prima Donnas usually do, but the crew are there with their jobs well done anyway.

When I was doing "Twelfth Night" in Norfolk, Virginia I had less than 10 seconds to go off stage and get a sword during one of the scenes. At every performance there was a young man standing there with the handle of the sword pointed toward me so I could easily grab it and get back on stage. I never knew his name but I always said "Thank you."

I enjoy watching NASA TV, especially when they show the activities of the astronauts on the shuttle or the space station. They frequently mention the thousands of people who are responsible for doing all the other jobs and doing them right that make the space flights safe and successful. A lot of people are fond of their work.

DB - The Vagabond
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SPRING QUESTION
(This is not a contest.)

In your opinion what is the most amazing thing that could happen during this decade? Make it as outrageous as you want but keep it within the realm of what you consider a possibility.

Only 7 responses so far.

Answers will be published the first day of Summer.

Thank you.

dbdacoba@aol.com

DB - The Vagabond
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