LETTERS From CAMP Rehoboth |
High CAMP |
by Brent Mundt |
"Stritches" of Time - A Broadway Legend at Sundance Auction.
How I came to possess the tux shirt worn backstage at the Kennedy Center by the iconic Broadway legend, Elaine Stritch is a subject for a future column. That she wears it backstage with very little else is the subject for years of therapy. But the answer to who got it, when and why follows. Stick with me on this one. You could own the shirtit's up for auction during the Sundance. So who had Elaine's shirt? Simple. The one, the only Fay Jacobs, our local theatrical mavendirector extraordinaire, grand dame of Delaware andas of her recent 60th birthdayan official salty old broad. Commonly known as the "gay man trapped in a lesbian's body"there's no one more familiar with, involved in, or contributing to American musical theater than our dear local treasure, FayJ. Life in Lower Slower Delaware would indeed be boring without her. After all who makes lower higher, slower faster and Delaware better every day of her life? MAME! I'm sorryFay does. So, Fay turned 60 this summerand in Fay years, that's really 16. The woman never stops. And for her birthday, she asked only that contributions be made to CAMP Rehoboth. Did I mention how classy she is? So, it dawned on me that CAMP Rehoboth needs the funding for all the wonderful programs it offers, and Fay's birthday was the perfect way to gift Elaine Stritch's shirt to CAMP. The concept was simple: give it to Fay stipulating that it goes to CAMP for the Sundance auction. This is our annual opportunity to find all sorts of items we'd never (or couldn't) shop for and to make sure the money we spend on purchases goes to CAMP. Now, Elaine Stritch's shirt is not going to be on sale at your local GAP store, so we thought it would make a fantastic one-of-a-kind auction item for Sundance. Fay loved the ideaeven if she could only touch the garment for an hour during the luncheon handoff, it would create a memory we'd all share for a long time. Even a novice knows that ballsy wacky edgy Elaine is best known for "The Ladies Who Lunch"those immortal lyrics from Company by St. Stephen Sondheim. I'd like to propose a toast! Here's to the ladies who lunch Everybody laugh Lounging in their caftans and planning a brunch On their own behalf Off to the gym, then to a fitting Claiming they're fat And looking grim, 'cause they've been sitting Choosing a hat Does anyone still wear a hat? I'll drink to that So the cosmic joke was to present the big gay garment to Fay at our own "ladies lunch"a cosmic joke since the ladies were men and because Fay never stops long enough to even eat a proper lunch. But hats! We had hats. And we got her to take a lunch hour. Looking grim? Get outta here! As you'll see in the photo, Fay's ladies all had hatslooking the opposite of grim. She arrived for her lunch and characteristically quipped "what I ought to be singing instead of 'Ladies Who Lunch' are those other immortal Sondheim lyrics 'I'm Still Here'!" When you think about it, that's not so far fetched. She and Bonnie have had a year from hell, so imagine Fay singing this... Good times and bum times I've seen them all and my dear, I'm still here Plush velvet sometimes... sometimes just pretzels and beer, But I'm here I stuffed the dailies in my shoes Strummed ukeleles and sung the blues Seen all my dreams disappear,But I'm here And lucky are we that she is. She nibbled on her lunch with the ladies and summarily marched the shirt across the street to CAMP Rehoboth. Task oriented women don't bask in glory. The shirt needs to be enjoyed by a donora donor who "gets" it. A donor who gets that it was worn by Stritch, touched by Fay's Rays and now available at the Sundance Auction. At a proper level of support, it will one day wrap it's big arms around our new center. Are you with us, rich donor? Sondheim is our modern day philosopher and for Fay, I leave you with these pithy lyrics that closed the original Broadway show. From Being Alivehere are a portion of those touching lyrics that finally reconciled the lead character, Bobby's torment of isolation Somebody sit in my chair and make me aware of being alive I've sat in my beach chair, my lawn chair and increasingly, my rocking chair and chuckled, howled and guffawed with wild abandon. No one makes me feel more alive with her fabulous musings than our own Fay. What makes her especially treasured by CAMP is how many straight couples stop to tell her how touched they are by her writing. If you know Stritch, you'll bid. If you don'tGoogle her. You'll bid higher. But this we all knowin the year that Fay turned 60 and a hurricane was named for her, she donated a shirt worn by a beloved icon and it can help us build our future together at CAMP Rehoboth. Our stitchesand our Stritchesof time become more precious as the days go by. So, bag the clowns. Send in the donors. Brent Mundt makes a living in Washington and a life in Rehoboth Beach. |
LETTERS From CAMP Rehoboth, Vol. 18, No. 12 August 22, 2008 |