HOWDY, PARTNER!

     I just returned from a job in Dallas, TX - where I lived and worked for almost 20 years.  It's strange and wonderful returning to the "scene of the crime," and I mean literally. Not the crime part, but the place where I moved to became a professional actress.  I was working at the beautiful Hilton Anatole Hotel, which if you haven't been there, make plans.  (Ask for Lola in the Spa- she gives one heck of a massage!) I spent many hours at the Anatole throughout the 80s and into the 2000s singing and acting in various projects and venues.
     I made one of my first professional appearances at the Anatole in 1982 or '83 singing in a 40s Big Band style act for Sunday Brunches.  I made my last appearance there up on the 27th floor of the Tower, which is now a wonderful restaurant called "Ser," but in the early 2000s, was still the Nana Grill.  It was years after my official retirement from show business- my niece's high school graduation party and the hotel was having a slow Memorial Day weekend.  We were able to take a group of well-behaved high school graduates up to hear the combo play and my sister asked the band leader if I could sing, promising, "don't worry, she's really good."  I wonder how many times band leaders hear THAT in a bar!?  I wound up singing several songs much to my niece's delight. I had hesitated for fear of embarrassing her- but I saw her face and knew that she knew me too. And she liked what she saw.
     That was my last performance in Dallas. I moved to New York shortly after and now coach and work with clients in a variety of ways.  Like this conference in Dallas.  I coached several of the speakers, but on short notice arranged some entertainment with the help of my old pal, Sparky Sparks www.sparksagency.com, for one of the their meetings. And may I say if you are ever in need of a longhorn steer, line dancers or a racing armadillo, Sparky is your man.
     Everywhere I looked last week opened another memory compartment. We ate breakfast in the ballroom where I did several Sophie Tucker shows for Incredible Productions. I worked in the Stemmons Ballroom, where I had been part of one of the first star-studded AIDS benefits back in the 80s. I was NOT one of the stars but I rubbed elbows with Carol Channing, Barbara Cook, Angela Lansbury and others who came to give their time and share their talents to raise awareness and money for a relatively new and scary disease.
    One morning as I raced across the Atrium I thought about meeting Melissa Manchester in her hotel room to help her with her hair (long story!).  She had vaporizers going full blast and the heat turned up in a town that hardly needs any help in the humidity department. I sweated so much she probably thought I had a glandular issue.
     I remembered the young, eager talent I was working in corporate industrials, entertaining people from across the country who had come together to celebrate their successes of the year. Here I was on the other side, helping my clients shine- they are the stars now, and I relish being able to call upon my years of experience to help them reach their team members and help raise the bar of excellence.
     Ahhh, you CAN go "home" again- but you find that home is not true home, but a delicious memory. What was familiar is now simply nostalgic.  What you thought you knew is transformed, and what you remember is a dream.  But I cherish business trips like this, which took me to the Anatole for a week so that now I have new memories.  Thanks, Jake the Steer! You made quite an impression!