The biggest tip.....

No one here would, having read any of my posts, ever dream that I work with youth during the Spring time. Here in the “Live Entertainment Capital” of the world I have found a niche. If, perchance, you are reading this and you recognize me, then by all means say hello for as you know this is a small town. I am what is known as a “performance coordinator” for a concern that brings young entertainers in to town for the opportunity to “open” on a real live sound stage for real live professional performers.For the mostly high school aged kids this is the thrill of a lifetime. For me it is a thrill too. I love the unbridled enthusiasm carried by teens.

Angelina was a teen like any other in age only. As a member of the show choir for her high school she was one of a select few willing to put a lot of hard work into a project such as a good stage performance. These kids were real good and all very talented. Socially I noticed right away she was pretty much a loner. Oh, she hung out on the fringe of the gaggles of giggling little girls gossiping and guessing who likes who and who said what to whom because they thought that he was cuter than…..well, you know. Never the center of attention and rarely a part of the action, this was Angelina. I first met her at dinner the night of their arrival. She sat with me instead of the other girls because there was “no room” at their tables. We talked. She dabbled at the sparce collection of food on her plate, never really eating much. She was out of her seat several times as girls heads went together at the nearby table trying to capture the latest secret from her post on the fringe. Nature has not been kind to Angelina. Skinny as a stick with ears that resemble tea cups protruding from her head. A big nose and stringy black hair adorn her face and frame it. Not a beauty by any means and there has never been a boy who so much as ever glanced at her as a "girl". Often she is found pensive and alone. Yet, here she was, a member of this fine show choir.

I prepped them for their performance, got them sound checked, rehearsed, and taught them to use microphones. Cue lights, sound, and intro and up on the stage they went. Three rows of show choir on stage, and down front, stage left is who else but Angelina. At first I questioned the director's reasoning for that, with her appearance and all. Cue curtain, bring the lights up, cue sound, intro and downbeat. From the first note this group was nothing short of spectacular. For 25 minutes they entertained a very appreciative audience and gave them more than their moneys worth. And right there, on the front row, stage left, the little “ugly duckling” bloomed into a beautiful siren. As with the flick of a switch she literally became the music. Her little face gleamed like no other on that stage then or since. Her expressions described every word that exited her mouth. Her incredible intensity was one of the most awe inspiring performances I have ever witnessed by any performer anywhere any time bar none. All too soon the last number was “in the can” and the audience was on their feet in wild applause. All 6’-4” of this big brawny man stood there with tears streaming down my face to have been witness to such an experience.I had to snap out of it and get back to work, another show to do, another theater to get to, entertainers to introduce, the regular drill.In conversations with the director later I found that this little Angelina comes from a poor family. She’s so skinny because she refuses to eat because of the cost to the family. I know it's silly, but not to her. The only way she was allowed to come on this trip of a lifetime was if the director promised her mother that she personally would see to it that Angelina ate.

The last bags were loaded on the bus, good byes said and everyone out of the hotel lobby and on the coach for the several hour trip home. It had been an emotional three days for me. As I sat in the comfort of a luxurious lobby chair trying to unwind before going to meet my next group of young adults, who should come up but Angelina. She thanked me profusely for the wonderful time “ I provided for them”. Then in a move as if she had done it a hundred times this little waif pressed a wrinkled bill into my palm and said "thank you again, I want you to have this". With that she gave a cheery wave and dashed out the door, her straggly black hair flying behind her as she ran. The door closed on the coach and it roared off.Crumpled in my palm was a tattered one dollar bill. The last one she had. And, they still had a lunch stop ahead of them en route. The only tip I got on that trip. Kids don't have a lot of money.In my world where $150. tips are common, Angelina’s is the biggest tip I ever got.

Sorry but I need a Kleenex just re-telling that story.

And “that’s all I have to say about that.”