July 02, 2005
During the tech rehearsal period, the Lennon system becomes cocooned within itself. Locked in concentration, most of those in the theatre are oblivious to the outside world, and on this Saturday, few were aware that history was being made around the globe. LIVE 8, The largest concert event ever organized, took place today in nine different countries on three continents to raise public support for poverty relief in Africa. Bob Geldof, the mastermind of 1985's LIVE AID concert, organized the event to coincide with the Global Eight Summit, in which the leaders of the eight most powerful nations on earth meet annually for an economic discussion in the lap of luxury. The attention of those eight men was the target of today's unprecedented charity juggernaut.
The concert was broadcast live on the internet and those of us with laptops were able to tune in. This is where the swing job has its benefits. While the cast stood onstage painfully bored and the technicians lit them, miked them and tested projections, I sat out in the house getting a healthy dose of rock. Our two worlds merged at one point when, as Don was reading a message from Yoko aloud to the company, I found Roxy Music performing John Lennon's Jealous Guy.
Serendipitous moments like these are becoming commonplace around here. Yesterday, for example, Will and I spent the morning recalling our favorite scene from the film Raising Arizona, in which Nicholas Cage has a hilarious confrontation with his wacky boss, played by Sam MacMurray. We both wondered whatever happened to that actor, then forgot about it and went to work. While we were in the theatre, who should walk in but Sam MacMurray himself! Turns out he's a friend of Don and Joe's from the days of The Tracey Ullman Show. Will and I were beside ourselves, giddy and starstruck.
But that's not even the spooky part, OK? Before that even happened, Will and Julia were talking to each other about their doctors. They discovered that not only did several members of the company share the same doctor, but this particular MD just happened to be the emergency surgeon who was on duty at Roosevelt Hospital on the night of December 8th, 1980, when the fatally wounded John Lennon was brought in. He was the last person to have intimate contact with the man who has brought us all together here.
Spooked yet? You don't even know the half of it.