Winkies in the Pit.. and other embarrassing moments...:)

[mrdreamjeans]

Until the holidays of 2002, the most embarrassing moment in my life occurred during college at Texas A&M. It was my freshman year and I was a “Buffo” in the Singing Cadets. A Buffo is a first year member and subject to certain rites of initiation, but my first semester in the group transcended even the norm. I became a legend for a mistake made during a concert trip to Wharton.

Wharton, Texas was an oil company town. The homes, built in the 1940s, share a distinct architecture and layout. Singing Cadets on their tours often stay with families who sponsor the group’s concerts in their communities. I met with my host family briefly, then it was show time. We had a sellout concert that evening in 1972 and it was followed by a wonderful party. I returned to my host’s home after midnight; the front door was unlocked for me as pre-arranged; the furniture configuration as I remembered; I walked into the bedroom I was assigned and began to undress and get into bed. The only problem - there were people in the bed and I was in the wrong house! I was one block off...

The startled homeowners started to holler and I said in a very loud and scared voice, “My name is Neil and I’m in the Singing Cadets and I’m in the wrong house. Please don’t shoot!”. After a pause that seemed to take forever, I heard laughter and the homeowners turned on the lights and said,” Don’t leave. We want to see which one you are. We were at the concert tonight.” To this day, Buffos in the Singing Cadets are warned to get the house right when they’re touring... and it’s been 32 years since the incident.

As of two years ago, I had a new most embarrassing moment. The Singing Cadet incident happened in front of just one family; the accident on December 5, 2002 happened in front of 2500 people at the new Hobby Center for the Performing Arts in Houston. Theatre Under the Stars was presenting “The Wizard of Oz” during the holiday period and I was part of a very large and diverse cast of 65. December 5 was our first public performance and we were still working a few kinks out before the official opening two days later.

In the second act, the Wicked Witch melts and the Winkies (Yo He Ho) are freed. During the celebratory dancing, another actor and myself were hog-tied and thrown sideways into the orchestra pit by an errant cable during “Ding, Dong the Witch is Dead”. One moment my friend Gary and I were skipping around the passarel in our 40 lb Winkie (Yo He Ho) costumes; the next second, we were being lifted out of the pit with butts to audience by the other actors in the scene. (However, we jumped up in time to sing the last note...:)

I hurt my wrist (and pride), but it could have been worse. The day before, they had put a safety net under the blacks covering the orchestra, so when we fell, we didn’t land on anyone in the orchestra. (Gary and I didn’t know this, however, until after the fall, which made for a few scary moments.) The effect was more like landing in a hammock, rather than taking out the trombone section.

Once I was found to be intact, it’s become a funny story, an indelible memory, a serious test of how much weight the net could hold and a tribute to my non-litigious bent. I could easily have sued. I have to admit though...I thought briefly of just laying there face down for the remainder of the show, praying that no one would notice the Winkie in the pit.

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