Repost Alberta Hunter Cooking at the Cookery and Shelly, Stumbling Down The Stairs

This was posted on another blog last December, but I'm posting it again because my good friend Debbie brought this up on the weekend and we had a good laugh. Hope you enjoy.

December 15, 2003

The title says it all. Well maybe not all, but certainly does highlight the events of my Saturday night.

It was another weekend with my good friends Debbie and Dennis. They finally made it to the big city to my apartment. I’ve been here for over two years now and we managed to nail down a weekend where they could stay at my place and we could partake in a culturally stimulating event as well.

What a better venue then the Bluma Appel Theatre to see the fabulous show Alberta Hunter, Cooking at the Cookery. I had noticed an ad for this show in the Toronto Life magazine back in September or October. Seems a long time ago now. I had mentioned it to Debbie because Alberta Hunter was a singer that I stumbled across when looking for some old blues tunes. I researched a little bit of her history on the internet and downloaded a song "Handy Man" that I was convinced, Debbie should add to her repertoire. Debbie is a jazz vocalist who loves to sing slow, moody tunes. We are always saying that she needs to add something a little different and when I heard this particular number I felt it was her.

Debbie said she would talk to Dennis about it and get back to me. I kind of forgot all about it when Debbie brought it up again in a phone call. She had heard the show was extended and we decided that I would see if I could get tickets. We were very lucky. They had some fabulous seats left for Sat December 13th and I grabbed them. They were right on the aisle where Dennis likes to sit! I suggested that they stay at my place and we could drive into the city from here.

It would be our visit for the Christmas season and a little something special for Debbie’s birthday which was on the 8th of December.

We ended up having quite an enjoyable visit before we left for the show, sampling some stinky cheeses, enjoying a glass of wine and listening to some music. Then we headed out. In spite of traffic bogged down on the QE/Gardiner I managed to bypass it with some quick detours to the Lakeshore and we arrived with 20 minutes to spare.

I had never been to this theatre so I had no expectations. It turned out to be a great spot! I had requested they mail the tickets to me rather than picking them up at the box office, which meant we were not stuck standing in a long lineup waiting to get in. We waltzed right past, the freezing people in line, checked our coats, pre-ordered some wine for intermission (to be picked up at the coat check rather than having to wait in another line at the bar) and had time to drink some of the lovely, cold, ice water from the jugs left out for the thirsty crowd. You could also grab a drink from the bar if something with a higher octane value was your preference.

I couldn’t believe our luck when we went to get our seats and the usher pointed them out. They were located very, very close to the stage. It was actually the perfect distance away. We didn’t have to sit with our heads bent up and yet it was like you could almost reach out and touch the cast.

The cast ended up being two people. A young, Alberta Hunter played by Montego Glover and the older Alberta Hunter depicted by Jackie Richardson, who also played her mother in a few of the scenes. The stage is very simply done with a metal stairway arch that stands over the band. On either side of the arch about 4 steps up is a landing that allows the actors to perform some of Alberta Hunter’s numbers.

I was so impressed by this play that I would love to see it again. The two actors tell Alberta’s life story by flashing back to when she was ten and then recounting different events of her life. The music was interspersed throughout to make the whole evening totally enjoyable.

At intermission we scrambled upstairs to get our wine, and laughed about a practical joke I had played on Debbie and Dennis when they first arrived. Not going to go into details of the joke, because you had to be there to think it was funny, and it was…because we were still laughing about it at intermission.

The bell rang to advise people to return to their seats and we finished our glasses of wine, allowing the bulk of people to go ahead. Still giggling we arrive at the top of the stairs and instead of walking down the right hand side (which is usual for me), I moved over to the left so that I could continue the conversation that I was having with Debbie and Dennis who were just ahead.

Somewhere around the midway point, my clog (yes a clog) slipped off and I tried to grab it by flexing my foot. This quick movement led to some other spontaneous, intricate footwork and I found myself starting to leap headfirst down the stairs. I don’t know how I managed to stop myself from hurtling into the air, but I did a quick roll, landed on my back and started to slide headfirst down the carpeted stairway towards the bottom.

Dennis grabbed my arm and stopped me before the momentum took Debbie out of the picture. When I stopped moving I quickly rolled over to get up before too many people saw what happened. I’m still trying not to turn red just thinking about it. There was a lady behind us who rescued my shoe and was showing great concern while Debbie, Dennis and I howled ourselves silly. Debbie and Dennis were concerned for about two or three seconds, but as soon as they assessed that I was still breathing, nothing broken, the three of us went into hysterics.

Dennis, pretending he was an announcer of a new Olympic sport, Stair Stumbling, kept recanting the scene over and over again throughout the evening, describing my descent in the most unflattering details. We were amazed about how clean a fall it was, no dust on my clothes, hair perfectly in place, nothing lost from my pockets and not even a nail broken. We were still laughing when we got home.

The next morning I could hear Debbie and Dennis giggling in the bedroom about the great show they had seen the night before, Alberta Hunter, Cooking at the Cookery and Shelly, Stumbling Down the Stairs. I always knew, deep down in my heart, that ONE day I would be famous!!