There's a rule in the entertainment business: the show must go on! But there's another rule always ready to get in the way of the first rule: Murphy's Law.
UPDATE: JUST ADDED: Video footage of the female headliner, VICTORIA BOLAND a DJ member, from the Superstars Tribute Show in Barrie, Ontario, April 5, 2007. Want to see male headliner, ANDREW RUDD, as Buddy Holly? CLICK HERE.
If you're not familiar with Murphy's Law, it states that despite your best efforts to have things go smoothly
"whatever is going to go wrong is going to go wrong".
And Murphy's Law sure hit our lives again yesterday. I want to share it with you and then hear of any encounters you've had with Murphy's Law.
As some of you may know, my entertainer daughter and her partner, kicked off their 2-week
Superstars Tribute Tour of Ontario yesterday. It's a 90-min high energy show featuring great songs from some of the world's greatest superstars, interlaced with background video and a touch of magic, and a huge portion of ticket sales are donated to support the efforts of various charities, including the Childrens Wish Foundation.
Well after months of planning, and 5 10-hour rehearsal days last week, we were all pumped and ready for opening night in Fergus, Ontario last night. All the sound, lighting, music, everything that goes into make the show run smoothly had been perfected on Sunday and we were ready to raise the curtains ... until Murphy's Law kicked in first thing in the morning.
The producer had to run into Toronto before heading for Fergus to pick up new trusses for the lights. Well they weren't ready on time, despite being ordered months back. So the 2:30 pm arrival time got put back to 3:30pm. Suddenly we had another call from him. He had the trusses but the trailer pulling 5000 lbs of equipment had just got a flat tire. They were waiting for the CAA. Meeting time postponed again to 4:30 pm.
We headed up to Fergus hoping that was the last of the problems and that we still had enough time to set up the stage, the lighting, do sound checks etc etc. The producer arrived in the van with the trailer attached and promptly got the trailer stuck in the super mushy grass. Seven of the male cast and roadies pushed and heaved and finally got the trailer out of the mud.
Then the race against time was truly on: unload 5000 lbs of equipment, set up the trusses, attach the lights, set up mics, sound controls etc etc. Everyone was feverishly working when suddenly, one of the trusses came down and hit the male lead singer and lead guitarist, Andrew, in the head and shoulder. He collapsed in pain on the stage and was out of commission for the remaining 2 hours. Panic was setting in. Would he be okay to perform as Buddy Holly, George Harrison, David Bowie, not to mention play the guitar and lead the band?
Suddenly it was 7pm. People were arriving and soundchecks still hadn't been done. As the audience began lining up, desperation was setting in. Would this show begin at the scheduled 8pm? Drums checked; bass guitar checked. Victoria, as lead singer, got her sound check in at 7:45; then it was our wounded male lead's turn. No sound came from his guitar. Check wires! Check plugs! Has the amp quit? What on earth was wrong. After 15 very tense minutes, his guitar suddenly boomed through the amplifier and we all heaved a sigh of relief. The show could go on, albeit a tad late.
The crowd 300 - 400 strong poured through the doors, glad to finally be allowed to sit down. As the curtains opened and Victoria, as Shania, called out "Fergus are you ready to rock?" we all held our breaths, hoping against hope that Murphy's Law had had enough of wreaking havoc.
You cannot imagine our exhilaration at the end of the show when the audience stood up with a standing ovation and clamoured for an encore. The show had gone without a hitch. I saw women almost dancing in their seats when our headachey Buddy Holly wowed them with
Peggy Sue and
Rave On. And what a buzz to hear the entire audience join in on the chorus as Victoria/Tina Turner wrapped up the night with
Proud Mary.
Two hours later the stage gear was all once again loaded back in the van and trailer, and were set to head for the motel that had been booked, only to find out the motel had closed and gone to bed! Was Murphy's Law back for another round? It was one weary cast and crew that had to drive all they way back to their own homes after one hell of a day.
In about an hour, we leave again to get set up for tonight's show in Dunnville Ontario. The weather is calling for rain, with thunderstorms tonight. If the power quits during the show, I know that Murphy's Law is definitely stronger than "the show must go on".
Just an aside: If anyone reading this lives in Ontario and would like to catch this fabulous show on tour, please check the website for days, times and locations. We're in Dunnville tonight, Brantford tomorrow, Barrie on Thursday and Stratford on Friday. Next week the tour hits Midland, Orillia, Kapuskasing and Timmins.
Remember your ticket purchase helps childen in need so we hope you can come out and support us. But just keep Murphy away!
By the way, has Murphy's Law ruined your day at some point? Let's hear what happened to you. I'll be back tomorrow to read your stories. Cheers!