LOSING AND WINNING

Radio City Music Hall, 2002
Tony Awards
Oklahoma!
As the cast entered the building we were checked by security
I was dressed as a cowboy head to toe, boots, hat and six gun on hip
They checked the women's bags
I had a gun
It looked real
It was heavy
They waved me through
Inside Radio City the feeling was electric
I've performed, I don't know how many thousand times
Sometimes I get stage fright
I don't always get it
But I do...sometimes
This was a top three stage fright moment for me
An audience of my peers
Radio City
As we made our way up to the stage getting ready to perform the "Farmer and the Cowman" I found myself in the wings stage left
Hugh Jackman introduced us
I'd already done this dance many times but as the music started I thought, "what foot do I start on?"
THE FARMER AND THE COWMAN 2002 TONY AWARDS
When we finished we were shuffled back off-stage left as the announcement of Best Revival of a Musical was announced
Over off stage right, the cast of INTO THE WOODS was ready to take stage if they won
I was huffing and puffing as the announcement started when I realized I was standing next to Hugh
He leaned in and said, "Good luck Mate."
In that moment I felt we were going to win
Hadn't seen Into The Woods
How could I?
I was working but I was pretty sure we were wayyyyyy better than them
We were so pumped up
We just finished performing on the Tony Awards!
"And the winner for best revival goes to.....Into the Woods."
We were stunned
Then I heard this loud clap and voice, "EVERYBODY ON THE BUS!"
Beverly Jenkins, our stage manager, took control
She rounded us up and got us back to the theater
A black door opened and we filed out into the light (surprising) and onto a bus and back to the theater to do our evening show
And I thought, "well that was fun."

We played the Into the Woods the next week in softball
Broadway Show League
We were merciless
Matt Allen hit an opposite field Home-run
Shuler hit a home-run right after him
Then I got up to bat and thought...why not?
I swung the hardest I could
My eyes could have been closed, my heels were deep in the dirt
And I somehow hit the sweet spot while my wrists were breaking
That was the furthest I've ever hit a ball
That Clincher ball we played with had thick seams and it was a hot humid day in Central Park
You could almost see the updrafts
The ball just kept spinning and lifting
It must have caught some wind above the trees cause it just kept going
It bounced off the branches at the top of a tree behind home plate of the other field
Behind that was the carousel in Central Park
"Stone, if that tree wasn't there...carousel...fuckin' carousel," said Jimmy the doorman
Might not be a Tony award but I'll keep it