Clear Lake Ballet and Repertory Company

2003
New York
I'm the Stand-by for Bud and Wes in Urban Cowboy
Stand-by means I'm not in the ensemble but I'm there if either two leads go down
It's kind of a stressful job
Sitting on the bench
Always ready to go in
But not quite fully prepared
Oh, you are prepared
But doing it is different than watching it
practicing it in the bathroom mirror
But this isn't a story about Urban Cowboy
Those will come
This is a story about the time it was closing
and I got a job offer
To play Curly in Oklahoma
in Houston
at
Clear Lake Ballet and Repertory Company
I told my agent, "no"
"They are willing to pay what you are making now"
"On Broadway"
"Three weeks rehearsal and ummm two shows"
That changed my mind
2003
Houston
I've played Curly before
Twice
I had no clue who Clear Lake Ballet was but I'm in
Oh, I am in
When I get there I find they are a great group
It's a pretty large space where youth learn ballet
It's well run
It's clear the producer and director wants to put on a spectacle
This is going to be a big production
The dancers are amazing
Young
But clearly well taught
Rehearsals go well
We had three weeks to get things right
Opening night the director comes up to Ali Hakeem
"I got your monkey!!!"
"What?"
"I got your monkey!"
She wanted lots of animals incorporated into the show
Dogs walking by
A chicken here or there
There was a horse
But
There had never been mention of a monkey
To my surprise Jaime took it in stride
"let me meet him....well hello little fellow"
"AAAAaaaa" screamed the monkey and hit him in the face

It was scary
He went on with that monkey that night
With no rehearsal
You sir
are
a
Pro