BackStage at the Frid Show
BOBUBAS
conversation. At one point she had again thanked me for helping out with
security in regards to the Frid show, and that reminded me of the unique
opportunity that I was afforded on that day. I have decided to share a few
tidbits from my “Behind the Scenes” experience with Mr. Frid. Its rather
lengthy, but here goes; :>)
First of all, I had only expected to view the show as anybody else. The morning
of the show I had a late breakfast with a couple of my friends, and then went
back up to the room to get ready for the matinee performance. There was a
message on the machine from my other room-mate Rich DeVicaciis, (who was
already at Hofstra helping out with the technical rehearsal) that someone had
taken ill, and Nancy Kersey had wanted to know If I could help out with
security . (Dean Wilson was heading up security, and when the shortage occurred
he asked Nancy to see if I was available to help out. ) Rich went on to say he
would be back at the hotel between 12:45-1:00, and that he could give me a ride
back over. It was about 11:45 , so I finished getting ready and about 12:30 I
decided to go downstairs to find my friends that I was originally going to ride
over with, and tell them I was going to leave a little earlier to help out with
the show.
Well....I was combing the lobby for my friends when all of a sudden I see Mr.
Frid come in the front doors of the hotel. I doubt at that point that he had
remembered me from the rehearsal at Helen’s the night before, and I said Hi to
him. He said Hi back and said that Nancy was waiting outside for him, and that
he was going upstairs to change for the matinee performance. I wished him luck
with the performance as he hurried off to the elevators.
At that point I figured I would go outside and tell Nancy that I could indeed
help, and that I would ride over with Rich. I found her outside, seated in the
drivers side seat of Mr. Frid’s car. I went up to the window and said Hi, and
she immediately asked me what I was doing and If I could help out. I told her I
had received the message from Rich, and that I would be more than happy to
help. She told me to hop in the car, and I thought to myself; “I’m going to
ride to the Frid Show with Frid himself.” I told her I needed to go up to my
room, but that I would be right down. I went up and told David and Jason that I
was riding over to the show with Nancy and Frid, and needless to say, they were
both a bit surprised. I went back down and Nancy was still waiting by herself,
so I got in the back seat. Jonathan came along about 5 min.later, and as he got
in to the car he looked at me in the back seat. Nancy said something to the
effect of “ we have to drive the help over”, and he smiled, and she then told
Jonathan that I was going to help with security. He was probably thinking, I
just saw this guy in the lobby 15 minutes ago , now he’s in my car. HA HA.
Well at this point it was about 1:05 and the show was scheduled to start at
1:30. The theater was only a 5 minute ride from the hotel, but Jonathan needed
some Sucrets, so we drove in search of a pharmacy. He and Nancy were talking in
the front seat, discussing politics and such. Anyway, Jonathan turned around in
his seat and asked my party affiliation. When I told him I was a registered
Republican, he turned to Nancy and said “Oh Dear, we need to be careful what we
say in front of Bob”. We all laughed, and then Jonathan asked my opinion on a
couple of political issues. We shared our views, as well as discussing the pros
and cons of the recent administration. I was a bit surprised about his interest
and overall knowledge of American politics, especially in lieu of the fact he
has lived in his native Canada for years now. Somehow we got on the subject of
the Reagan administration, and while Jonathan may have not been Reagan’s
biggest fan, I think I convinced him that Reagan would have at the very least
made a better foreign ambassador than president. What really impressed me with
Jonathan was he really seemed interested in my viewpoint, and when I spoke I
had his total attention. He even turned in the car to face me while we were
parked waiting for Nancy to get the throat drops. Nancy returned about 5-7
minutes later to find Jonathan and I still discussing politics. The store had
not had Sucrets so she had to opt for an alternative. We then proceeded on to
the theater.
Upon arriving at the theater, we parked in the lot across the street, and
entered through a rear stage door. Nancy asked me if I wouldn’t mind staying
backstage with Jonathan until he went on, and I said that would be fine. She
showed me where he would be entering the stage from, and we discussed the light
& music cue that was going to be used. Jonathan was busy organizing his story
scripts, and reciting parts of them to himself. Nancy ran up front to the
technicians booth to let them know Jonathan was ready, and she came back and
told me Jonathan would be going on in about 10 minutes. At this point it was
around 1:25, so we were pretty much on time. Jonathan and Nancy talked a bit
more, then she left to go back up to the technical booth. We still had several
minutes till he was to go on, so I initiated a conversation with him. I asked
him if he was excited about doing the show, and he said that he was. I also
told him I had been in the town of Clunes in the Scottish Highlands a year ago
this past April, and asked him about his grandmother coming from there. As many
of you may know, the name of Jonathan’s former company was Clunes & Associates.
I found out that his grandmother did not come from the town of Clunes itself,
but that the house she had lived in a nearby town( I believe he said the town
was called Obon??) was named Clunes.
I checked my watch and told Jonathan that we had better get him in place
because he was due to go on in a couple minutes. I helped him locate the
entrance to the stage which was marked on the curtain with a piece of glow in
the dark tape. We stood there awaiting the music cue, and I could tell Jonathan
was anxious to get on stage. He told me exactly how he wanted me to pull back
the curtain and how to let it go when he entered the stage. If I learned
anything from this experience, it was that Jonathan is a perfectionist, and if
something goes wrong, he doesn’t hide his feeling about it. The music cue
began, but stopped before the light cue could be issued. We found out later
that they had some sort of problem with the sound, and stopped the cue, as it
was to loud.. Well......needless to say, Jonathan was not a happy camper and he
expressed that. I was thinking to myself, “oh boy, why do I do now?” He and I
stood there for a couple minutes, and I tried to reassure him that everything
would be fine. He was wondering what was taking them so long to cue up the
music again, as well as being concerned that the audience had to sit through
this delay. Although in reality we only stood there for a few minutes, it
seemed to me like an eternity. Jonathan asked me to go see what was going on,
but just as I was about to...... the music cue began again. This time it was
fine and was followed by the light cue. I flicked back the curtain and he took
the stage, and as we know now ......he put on a wonderful performance.
At the intermission, I again joined Jonathan backstage. Nancy came back and
explained that they had had a problem with the sound system. She and Jonathan
had a “conversation” about it, where Jonathan expressed his feeling about how
it should have went. It was at that point I wished I could have been anywhere
but there, however, there was no where to hide. HA HA!! I told Nancy that later
and she laughed. Anyway, Nancy just pretty much just listened and let Jonathan
blow of some extra energy. He had a lot of extra energy, and finally Nancy said
“your going back on in 10 minutes, and that’s it”, and Jonathan then stopped
talking and turned his attention to his scripts. Nancy then left and it was
just he and I again. He asked me to find his coffee, which I did, and we talked
a bit about the first half of the show. I asked him how his throat was, and he
said it felt fine and that he just hoped he could make it through both
performances. I got him positioned for his light cue and he took the stage for
the second half of his first performance.
In between performances He and Nancy worked out the details of the opening cue
for the evening show. I again joined Jonathan backstage to help get him
on-stage for the evening show ,to find Nancy and him working out a few last
minute details. They interact very well, having worked together for years, and
the tension that was present during the intermission of the first show was
totally gone. Needless to say, I was happy about that, as I had really felt
awkward being back there at that point. Nancy had later reassured me that that
was normal between the two of them, and she was sorry I had nowhere to run. We
laughed about it, and I remember telling her at that point that it was obvious
Jonathan had a deep affection for her. Shortly thereafter Nancy left to go up
front, and the sound technician came backstage to assure Jonathan that there
would be no sound system errors. He ask me if I was a relative, because I was
the only one backstage with Jonathan. I said no, that I was just helping with
the show, then I looked over at Jonathan and said, “ actually, he is my dad,
right Dad?” Jonathan started to laugh as did the technician. The technician and
I then synchronized our watches for the music cue. We again had about 10
minutes before the start of the show, so Jonathan and I talked a bit. He asked
me if I had known Helen’s (Co-Show Organizer Helen Samaras) sister Angela, and
I said I had not. (Angela passed away several years ago) He has quite a bit of
admiration for Helen and her family, and we talked a bit about the rehearsal at
her house on Friday night, and the wonderful food her Uncle Steve had prepared.
I asked him if he would ever consider doing his one man show in this format
again and he said that he would. Well, before I knew it, I looked at my watch
and said that we had probably get him positioned as he was due to go on in a
about a minute. Everything went very smoothly with the music and light cues,
and he took the stage and put on a great second performance.
As anyone who attended one or both of the shows will attest to, it was a
wonderful day. Mr. Frid is the consummate perfectionist, and his hard work and
dedication to whatever he is doing is evident. In the span of 27 hours he did a
Friday night rehearsal; a Saturday morning technical rehearsal; the matinee
show, after which he did a Q&A and autograph session; a brief late afternoon
technical rehearsal, (which by the way he fell and sustained a slight knee
injury); then capped it off with the evening performance, which was again
followed by a Q&A and autograph session. That’s quite a full schedule for
anyone, yet alone a 73 year old man. However, Mr. Frid is not your average 73
year old man. Being fortunate enough to have had the opportunity to spend as
much time around him as I did, I realized just how hard he works to make his
performance seem effortless. Trust me, this man takes his work very seriously,
and now I can understand why he cringes at times when people ask him about the
bloopers on Dark Shadows.
I remember coming home from my first festival in 1991, excited, and saying to
my friends and family, “I met Barnabas..I met Barnabas!” Now, seven years
later, having had the opportunity to get to the know the man himself a little
bit, I can say, “I met Jonathan Frid!”
Happy Holidays !!
Bob
Sarah Collins
BOBUBAS wrote:
Oh Robert! all I can say is W O W! that was a wonderful experience! I'm glad you
had a great time, you deserve it. I'm sure Mr. Frid was glad to know that his
fans
are really good people and are there for him and support him all the way in
everything
he does on or off the stage. Good Show! Sarah Collins.
MarkRainey
what was happening, especially during the cue blooper; I've seen Frid get a bit
riled when things don't go quite right, heh heh.
--Damned Tyger
<a href="members.aol.com/markrainey/index.htm">Stephen Mark Rainey</a>
Lois Frankel
> Bob, that was a great tale. Thanks for sharing it. Easy to envision exactly
Hmm... the message didn't show up on my server (for some reason, I seem
to miss a few of the messages). Could someone send it this way?
--
Lois Frankel http://pluto.njcc.com/~lfrankel
lfra...@pluto.njcc.com (pix of cats, quilts, and antique sewing machines)
Dumorte
Dumorte
"Quos Deus Vult Peredere Prius Dementant"
"Those whom God wishes to destroy he first makes mad"
An old saying.