Funny thing happened on the way to the theater for the first time, the first show in the post-bus era: I got a parking ticket. Another funny thing happened on the way back to theater later that afternoon: I got a moving violation ticket. Thousands of miles with not so much as a funny look from a policeperson, and only 2 hours and 20 miles behind the wheel of a rental car and I am popped twice. I was clearly missing the bus, and Jim the driver. But, alas, if after all this I am any thing, it is resilient. So despite my run in with johnny law, I was as twinkly as ever in greeting the LA crowd, welcoming them enthusiastically to this last performance on the tour and the last until late August/September. The theater rocked. A classic example of early 20th century LA architecture, the Hayworth was indeed named after Rita, whose movies premiered there in the 40s when it was a leading movie house. Our reception was upstairs in the ball room, complete with chandeliers and bay window views of MacArthur Park and downtown. It was a small but vibrant crowd that consisted of most of the Estates group LA sales team, a number of people from their offices down the road, a few great accounts, some friends and family and Wommers. Mike and Sue Faria came up from Orange county and sat in the first row, representing. We had designated LA as the place to do a multi-camera filming of the play for the follow up DVD and the archives, and so we met Bryan's (the cinematographer on the bus) partner James for the first time. He is an awesome fellow from Napa who goes on his own tours with his band Vengince and he did a great job of setting the place up for maximum cinematic effect. Mark delivered a touching, funny and intimate performance that as usual left the crowd appreciative and thirsty. We retired that night to the burger bar at the Roosevelt hotel in Hollywood for what would blessedly be the last midnight road dinner for very long time. Indeed I have thoughts on this whole escapade and they are soon to follow.
