Regret #2

When I lived in NJ, my parents would take my sister and me to Broadway to see shows. Musicals were my dad's favorite (and my mom's?), so we saw many great ones. We went to see Sugar Babies, with Mickey Rooney, which to my tastes does not rank among the best, but it was still good.

Do you remember Michael Davis? The guy who got known in part through juggling chain saws, etc. on Saturday Night Live? I had seen him a couple times and loved his act. Well, he was actually in Sugar Babies; he was one of the acts in between main acts.

The night we went to see it, the curtains closed to let the actors go change and set up for the next act, and he walked on stage in front of the curtains. From the audience there was dead silence, which forcefully stopped my hands in mid clap. I looked around and wondered what the hell was going on. And though I wanted to clap and show my appreciation, and in addition not be rude, I did not clap. And that is my regret.

Seems like a small one to you, perhaps, but I still remember it so many years later because I allowed the force of the crowd to silence me. To silence what I believed in.

In the end, it was perhaps for the best. There was no polite applause when he came on, but when he left the stage, the crowd was roaring with appreciation - and almost gave him a standing ovation. I imagine that was a tremendous triumph.