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It was the best of times, it was the worst of times......LOL
My adventure started on January 1 with a dead battery in my car. Little did
I know it was just a harbinger of things to come! The battery was quickly
replaces and it was All Systems Go.....yeah right! LOL The next day I picked
my friend Patty up at her home bright and early so that we could get to Atlantic
City in plenty of time to get settled and meet up with friends. After
a quick breakfast, it was smooth sailing......but only to the Throgg's
Neck bridge, where the clutch in my car died. Undaunted, we called AAA to
get a tow truck which was supposed to arrive within 45 minutes. Two
hours and several phone calls later - still no truck. What else could
we do? We found a way to make the clutch work sort of, and we limped the
car into New Jersey where I was able to leave it at a friend's home for the
weekend. But that still left a problem - how were we going to get to the
city for the show? We were still over an hour and a half away! Thanks to
my friend Phil, we tracked down a car rental place called Rent-A-Wreck. Talk
about truth in advertising! The car they gave us was dented on one side,
had one door that was hard to open, another that wouldn't open at all, and
it made terrible noises every time we turned right. But it got us
to Atlantic City! And just in the nick of time too. We arrived in Atlantic
City at about 6PM, giving us just enough time to check into our hotels and
get to the theater. We made it!
And we were not alone. It seems like half the online fans I know were there
Saturday night. (And I won't name names because I know I'll leave someone
out by accident.) We spent quite awhile in the lobby just chatting and getting
to know the people behind the email addresses. That was fun in and of itself.
pretty soon it was time to take our seats and watch the show.
Strangely enough there was no opening act. I was expecting to see the
comedian who always opens for her (and I was expecting to be able to recite
his act along with him! LOL Does he EVER learn new jokes?) But the house
lights dimmed, the music started and out came Donna! She looked and sounded
fabulous as usual, but the crowd was a typical casino crowd - which means
they were more interested in getting back to the slot machines than they
were in seeing the show. And I have to say that the show seemed a bit rushed
for some reason. But no matter - after the adventures of the day, I was just
happy to be there! One very welcome surprise was the return of backup singer
Michael Mallet who had not been with Donna for the last few shows. Hearing
him duet with Donna on No Ordinary Love Song was just heaven! As for
the rest of the show, it was the same one she's been doing the past couple
years - although on Saturday she dropped My Life.
After the show a few of us tried to get backstage or at least talk to some
of Donna's people) but Taj security chased us away. I have encountered venue
security on many occasions and most of the time they politely turn you away.
Taj ranks right up there with Foxwoods for security people with attitudes.
It's okay to turn me away - but at least try to be nice about it. So with
nothing left to do, we went to the lobby where we met up with other fans
again. We spent quite awhile comparing notes and just chatting. I even took
out the memorybook and let the fans pass it around. Then I got another surprise.
Usually at casino shows, some members of the band eventually leave the theater
through the lobby (which is how I've gotten to talk to some of them briefly.)
But Donna of course leaves by a back way and usually her sister Mary does
too. But not that night! There I was talking to people when my friend said,
"That's Mary!" Here was my chance! I went up to her and told her that I had
a gift for Donna and would she mind giving it to her for me. Somehow the
memorybook wound up in Mary's hands (and I honestly can't remember if
I handed it to her, or if someone else did.) But Mary was having none of
that! She wanted us to have the chance to give the book to Donna ourselves.
So she took my friend's cell phone number and promised to call us the next
day. (Mary is a class act!) Meanwhile there was another lady looking at the
book who said that Donna would love it. I didn't know it then, but that
was another sister - Jeanette. They finally went on their way back to their
rooms or wherever and a number of us stayed in the lobby talking for
awhile longer. Then Donna's assistant, Denise, came out and since she knows
my friend Phil, she stopped to chat a little too. And of course she got to
look at the memorybook. Denise seemed impressed and she said Donna should
see it. Then after a few more minutes she went on her way too. By that time
I was starving (as were the innocent victims who had the misfortune of riding
to Atlantic City with me!) so we went to dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe (which
had NO Donna memorabilia - shame on them!!!) and then we went gambling for
awhile. Phil ran into Denise again in the casino, and by that time Donna
had been told about the book. Denise told Phil that now DONNA wanted
to see it. So now it really was All Systems Go!!
The next day after about 4 hours of sleep and a massive rainstorm, Patty,
Phil and I met for brunch and some more gambling. Strangely enough we never
got the expected phone call from Mary. After losing Patty in the casino for
about 2 hours I found out why. When I tried to call the cell phone I found
that it wasn't working properly. Now Mary had NO way to reach us! So
there was nothing else we could do but bother the heck out of Denise.
;-) Phil called her room with no luck, called backstage and left a message,
and then finally had her paged. She came out and told us where to wait after
the show and who to look for. We were ON THE LIST!
By this time it was time to go wait in the lobby, so we did. Unfortunately
we didn't run into as many fans this time, but I did get to see someone I
don't get to see very often so that was good. And the show itself was better
than the night before. It was paced much better AND Donna put My Life
back into the show. I have to say that sometimes in a casino My Life
becomes a dead spot in the show because the spoken introduction disrupts
the momentum that was built up by the back to back to back dance hits. This
time Donna didn't introduce or explain the song - she just sang it. And the
crowd got into it like they did with the hits! It was great! And the crowd
was much more lively on Sunday. People were up and dancing and having
a good time. It was almost like being at a regular venue instead
of a casino. ;-)
As the house lights came up, Patty and I made a beeline for the appointed
meeting place. We met up with a few others and Taj security promptly
told us we were in the wrong place. So we went where they directed us and
were met by Donna's sister Jeanette who brought us backstage. That's when
I found out that the memorybook was famous! LOL There we were standing in
this little corridor surrounded by people who wanted to look at the book.
I felt sorry for the people who were just trying to get past the traffic
jam we created! LOL Then DONNA came out! She was so warm and friendly - just
like everyone says she is! I actually didn't feel a bit nervous (which is
amazing in and of itself.) She looked at the book briefly and then told me
to give her a hug. (Needless to say, I didn't make her ask twice! LOL) Then
she chatted with us some more and looked at the book some more. She was genuinely
impressed and touched and at one point she even said it was her favorite
gift this year. :-) Then she said "So what do you have for me to sign?" and
she took a few minutes to autograph some things and pose for pictures. (Yes
- I will share some of them as soon as I can get them scanned!) I have to
say Donna is just one of the nicest people - actually the whole family
seems very nice. (Hmmmm - I'm starting to fawn now aren't I? Okay, I'll try
to tone it down a bit! LOL) Anyway, the bottom line is that the memorybook
is a huge success and Donna now has it in her possession.
And that is pretty much the end of the story. A few of us went to a
late dinner together after the show and the next day we headed back to the
real world. After a 2 hour drive to Phil's, 5 hours in a transmission
shop getting my car fixed, and another couple hours to get back to Long Island,
I arrived home just in time to download my mail (which I STILL haven't had
time to read!) and get some sleep so I could go to work the next day. One
funny thing though - I didn't call my family to tell them I got backstage,
but they already knew when I got home. It seems that one of the friends who
went backstage with me called a mutual friend overseas who then called my
house. I can't believe I was scooped in my own house! LOL And
for the record - my car troubles are still not over. The day after I came
home I put the car back in the shop for more work! 1999 is shaping up to
be an interesting year, I wonder what's going to happen next? LOL
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