Our assistant, Craig Bowie, was a lead dancer in the Jubilee! Show at Bally’s Grand in Las Vegas during the mid and late 80’’s during my performances in that show. When I saw him, he was always adorned in a black or white tuxedo costume for the dance numbers in the Jubilee! or his street clothes, so I’ll never forget the time when he came upstairs to our dressing room outfitted in a skimpy black leather costume number for the epoch Samson and Delilah scene. He visited our dressing room wearing the leather outfit, and because I’d not seen him up close in this risqué outfit (mine were skimpy too), I looked at him stunned as he walked towards our dressing room until I realized it was Craig! Lol! Tom Jones was down the hallway and did this shocked double-take, staring at Craig walking toward me and asking Jonathan to exchange notes for a future show. I reacted by saying something like, “Wow, Craig! I’ve not seen you look so good.” And laughing as we both engaged in the humor. Craig turned the corner, and I was left staring at Tom Jone’s response to Craig’s presence. Of course, those outfits were our regular attire during a show, so we were accustomed to those looks. But Jone’s surprised response was priceless as he stared, and then his gaze met my eyes. I said, “No worries, he works with an impish wink for me.” And he raised a glass of Dom Perigon in my direction and said he’d drink to that. But he couldn’t do it alone, so he invited me to have a glass of champagne, which I couldn’t accept because I was about to go on stage soon, so I toasted him with a Diet Coke (which I never touched today). We had a short, fun conversation, and before I went my way, he was curious if we had seen his show. I told him I hadn’t but listened to him every night in my dressing room. Although the head of entertainment formally introduced us, Richard Sturm, I had his full attention during the few minutes I spent with him. I had to tell him how I had been a big fan of his since 5th grade when my sister played his albums, and I heard him on FM radio riding the school bus daily. I think he was genuinely touched by learning a 10-year-old American fan when it was the older teens and young ladies who captured his heart. I told him I listened to his set in our dressing room, which impressed him. He wanted everyone to like him and his songs, so it seemed. So he suggested that I get a chance to check out his whole show from the light booth when we had a chance, and he even invited us to sit in King’s Row during one of his shows. So I watched his show that night. This is my report…
Read more
a year ago · 48 likes · 3 comments · Charlotte Pendragon
Thanks for included Melissa’s piece here!
Demi, thank you for the generous inclusion of my post in your list of reads! I am honored and looking forward to reading some of the others tonight. Thank you, and I hope the week ahead of you is a joyful one! ❤️