Chapter 3: The Real Me

ANNA AND I went out with members of the cast after As You Like It for a late-night snack. It always amazed me that the actors would want to go out after working all evening. It was a little like what Beth had described in Las Vegas. The dancers in the show loved to go out dancing. Actors loved to go out drinking or eating.

“So, I got a picture during the cast shoot and I’m thinking that I should have my own set of special photos done,” said an actress seated across from us. “Gabriella and Anita say you can bring out the real me and make me beautiful at the same time.”

“Um ... Hi. I’m Nate. I’m sorry, I don’t recognize you,” I said.

“Of course. I’m Rustic Number 3 in the cast. Charlotte Bailey. I usually go by Charlie.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Charlie,” I said. “This is my girlfriend and assistant, Anna.”

“I remember you from the photo session. The girl with the clipboard.”

“I think that’s what it says in the program,” Anna laughed. “When would you like to come in for a photo?”

“We had Saturday performance this weekend, so next weekend I should have Saturday off. Does that work?”

Anna pulled a notepad out of her little purse and wrote the date and time on it. She handed it to Charlie to get her address and phone number.

“I’m sure Nate will be able to bring out the real you. And there certainly won’t be any problem showing you as beautiful.”

“I’m not as easy to photograph as you might think, but I don’t want to discuss it at the table. Perhaps if I’m completely naked, it will counteract the beautiful part. Most men seem to think that.”

“Charlie, whether or not you get naked will depend entirely on how you want the photoshoot to proceed and what kind of photo you want from it,” I said. Something about the lovely young woman told me she had a serious self-image issue. I thought her eye makeup was a little overdone and her eyebrows too heavily penciled in. But the shape of her face was incredible. Short hair framed her face perfectly. From what I could see, I thought she had a very nice figure—perhaps, like so many of the actresses, a little too thin.

“Everyone speaks highly of you,” she said. “I’ll look forward to my time in your hands.”

Gabriella and Anita could certainly attest to my taking them in hand. As could Kathleen, Olivia, Greta, Bridget ... I wondered if my reputation was keeping as many actresses away from the studio as it drew to it.

At that point, Anita settled into a seat between Kathleen and me. She’d been running a little late.

“Incredible performance tonight,” I said. “I honestly couldn’t recognize you when you appeared as Ganymede. Until you started role-playing with Orlando and your voice changed back into your natural register. That was amazing.”

“My vocal coach would be proud of your praise,” Anita said. “There’s just so much you can do with your voice. I may have hit a couple of high notes during our session together that I don’t usually manage.”

“I think some were notes normally only heard by dogs,” I teased her. “I hope I’ll have you back for more photos.”

“Gabriella and I have been talking to Leanne and Judy about doing characters. They said they both work with you quite a lot,” Anita said.

“I haven’t even seen them since we got here this summer,” I sighed. “I’m going to have to chase them down somewhere just to get a conversation.”

“You won’t need to chase far. You’re photographing Three Penny Opera this week, aren’t you? They both worked as the assistants to the costumer and makeup artist.”

I glanced over at Anna and she nodded.

“I think Patricia will be assisting you this week.” She glanced over at Charlie. “Girl with a Clipboard 2.” Both started laughing.

The Three Penny Opera would be opening in a week at the Avon Theatre. Being performed on the proscenium stage, it had slightly more involved settings than the sets on the more open festival stage, or in the experimental Patterson Theatre. It was the first time I’d seen John on this trip, though he’d been to the studio to deliver some sets and props.

“Hey, John. Good to see you again. Thanks for delivering those set pieces and props,” I said.

“No problem. I brought them from the university. Figured you could use them.”

“What? You mean the big flats?”

“Yeah. I taught a scene painting class this winter. As a final project, the students had to paint a backdrop scene on a flat. When it was all done and graded, I loaded the flats in my trailer and delivered them to you. Use one yet?”

“A couple of them. There are some beauties in that batch.”

“I had some really talented students. Of course, students don’t have room to keep six-by-ten works of their own art. So, I decided they should have a place where they could be used. One day, maybe next fall, I’ll take them all back to the university, whitewash them, and have students do another set,” he said.

“I’m in your debt,” I said.

“Least I can do to repay you,” he said.

“Repay me? For what?”

“A particularly beautiful Chinese girl drove up here the minute she got her degree in Chicago. She’s now sharing my little house and it makes it much warmer.”

“Min? You really got together with Min?”

“Oh, yeah. Really got together. You know she’s going to want a new photo this summer with Leanne and Judy and you working on her. Can’t wait to see what you come up with this time.”

“It’s going to be a really busy couple of months,” I said. “Have her get with Anna right away to schedule anything.”

“I think she planned to head over to the studio today while we’re busy here.”

“What can you tell me about this show that I’m shooting today and tomorrow? I know absolutely nothing about opera.”

“You’ll still know nothing after I tell you all I know,” he laughed. “It’s based on an old play from the 1700s called The Beggar’s Opera. Berthold Brecht and his girlfriend, Elizabeth Hauptman reworked it. She translated the play into German and helped Brecht rewrite it. They got Kurt Weil to write the music. Some people say that just because it has ‘opera’ in the title doesn’t make it an opera. It’s more of a musical with a lot of spoken dialog, punctuated by show tunes. Of all of them, the only one you’ll recognize is ‘Mack the Knife,’ because Bobby Darin did a recording of it about fifteen years ago that has stayed popular.”

“I had no idea it was from a German opera,” I said.

“Retranslated back to English.”

We got started with the photos as soon as the cast got to the stage. It was unusual for any cast to be in full makeup by noon on Monday and there was a fair amount of grumbling about the photo shoot. Everyone was dressed in some semblance of depression era clothing. It was pre-World War Two. The big battle was between the king of the beggars and the king of the criminals, who had just married the beggar king’s daughter.

We moved from scene to scene in a very flexible and abstract kind of setting where a few moving pieces changed things from a street to a warehouse to a brothel to a jail. As usual, I shot a lot of color slides on the Nikon and all black and white negatives on the Hasselblad.

It wasn’t until we were packing up to leave at five-thirty that we finally saw Judy.

“Patricia! You’re here!”

“I’ve been here all day and thought you were avoiding me,” Patricia said as she ran to meet her best friend from high school.

“I’ve been in the dressing room since call at ten, literally sewing actresses into their costumes. The designer is a real stickler for authentic detail, but no one really knows how to dress in depression era clothes here. Oh, I’m so glad to see you guys!”

I finally got a hug and kiss from Judy. A very friendly kiss.

“It’s good to see you. Are you all graduated?”

“I think so. I had to leave St. Louis a week before commencement to come up here. All my profs said I graduated, though. They were all proud that I was working at the festival. I’m just trying to figure out what I’ll be doing this winter. If I’m homeless, can I come to Chicago and live with you? I’ll trade my body for rent.”

“That’s an attractive offer,” I laughed. “But we don’t really know where we’ll be living. We’re giving up the apartment at the end of our lease in September. I don’t think we’ll have to move to Washington, but Ronda and I will be traveling a lot.”

“What’s going on?” Judy asked. She grabbed one of my bags to carry as we left the theatre and headed home for dinner.

“I will start serving my alternative service on September first. I guess I’ll be working for the State Department.”

“Wait! You mean you were drafted?”

“Parting gift from my local draft board.”

“Oh, Patricia! I’m so sorry!” Judy dropped my bag and turned to hug my girlfriend. That made sense in a way.

“It will be okay,” Patricia said.

“What are you going to do?”

“I’m going to stay home and brood.”

“Oh, don’t be depressed! I’ll stay with you!” Judy said as we continued toward the studio.

“I don’t mean brood as being depressed,” Patricia laughed. “I mean brood as in sitting on my eggs until they hatch.”

“Eggs? Oh! Are you pregnant?”

“Trying. Nate’s been pretty attentive to getting one fertilized. Right now, I’m just hoping.”

“Let’s get him to your place and make sure he does a good job of it!”

We were still laughing about Judy’s enthusiasm when we dropped the gear in the studio and went upstairs to meet Ronda, Anna, and Toni. Toni wasn’t sure who to run to first, but Patricia still won out as she picked up our little girl and she began telling us all about her day at school.

We all had a good time catching up with Judy and finding out about her last year in school. She loved working in the Stratford costume shop, even though it wasn’t designing shows. She’d been given some responsibility to execute a series of designs for the whores in the opera and thought she’d be working on another set of costumes for She Stoops to Conquer.

“If nothing else, my job is secure as long as there’s laundry to be done and repairs to be made,” she laughed. “And I really like the people I’m working with. It’s just a terrific atmosphere. With this on my resume, I’ll probably be able to find winter work with about any repertory company in the country.”

“That’s great. I’m so glad to hear that you’re happy,” I said. I took Toni to the living room to read to her before bed. The girls were all happily chatting in the kitchen. My little girl curled up in my lap and went to sleep as I read Frog and Toad Are Friends.

I carried her to bed and went to find out what was going on. Ronda and Anna were in the kitchen, playing cribbage.

“Guest room,” Anna giggled. “I think they started the party without you.”

“Am I paying enough attention to you two, who are the other loves of my life?”

“You could give us a nice kiss before you disappear for the night,” Ronda said. “Then Anna and I will finish our game and go to bed. Sometime in the next two or three hours.”

“I love you,” I said as I held and kissed each of the girls. We weren’t rushed about it, but eventually they turned me and pushed me toward the guest room.

Judy and Patricia weren’t in a passionate embrace. They were both naked and wasted no time getting me in that condition, but they were just sitting on the bed chatting and laughing.

“I don’t need to interrupt your girls’ night,” I said. “If you just want to be together and renew things for the night, I’ll go over to the other bedroom. It’s been a long day for all of us.”

“Don’t punk out on us,” Patricia said. “Judy is convinced that she can help inspire you to completely fill me with a baby. To hear her talk, by the end of the night I’ll be two months pregnant!”

“We’d better get started if we have that far to travel in one night!”

And we did.

To be perfectly honest, I didn’t really need Judy’s help to deposit a huge load in my loving girlfriend. She was inspiration enough on her own. But when we’d made it that far, Judy was surprised that I still had a couple little squirts to deposit in her butt as Patricia ate her to a noisy climax.

Patricia was with me again all day on Tuesday and Judy managed to spend some time in front of the stage with us, making notes on costumes. This time, we said goodbye at the theatre and Patricia and I walked home. I had a stop to make, though.

“Why are we stopping at a florist?” Patricia asked.

“I want to take my beautiful wives some flowers tonight,” I said. “I think it’s a special occasion.”

“Really? What?”

“I’ll tell you when I tell the others,” I laughed. “Feel good that you get to see me buying a bouquet.”

“Ooh. Do I get to pick the flowers?”

“Next time. This time, I already ordered what I wanted.”

We stepped into the shop and Patricia was speechless when the florist handed me the huge vase. It had three dozen beautiful red roses and a dozen pink sweetheart roses. They were interspersed with baby’s breath and greenery. I managed to carry the bouquet and my camera case, as Patricia carried the tripod case and her notebook and film bag.

We stumbled up the stairs after dropping the equipment in the studio. Patricia went first and caught up Toni, calling Anna and Ronda to greet me. The girls were all stunned by the beautiful arrangement.

“My darling wives and my precious daughter,” I said.

That caused another gasp because I seldom ever referred to Toni as my daughter. It was always my Little Girl or my goddaughter. It was time in my mind to stop pretending she was anything less than my daughter. I was trying every night to get her mother pregnant.

“We don’t have an anniversary. I think we all remember things like our first date and the first time we made love, and maybe the first day we moved in together or bought a house in Canada. But when did we become a family? Today might not mean anything special to you, but it’s the day I want to remember as the day I found my family—even though I hadn’t met you all yet. You see, June 20th, the day before summer solstice, is the day I moved to Tenbrook, back in 1966. That day, my life changed. That day set the stage for you coming into my life, and I cannot possibly be happier about it.”

“Oh, Nate, that’s wonderful. It means we don’t need to worry about things like who dated you first or who you met first or who you made love to first or who you saw naked first. It brings us all into your life at once. I love it!” Ronda said.

“Me, too,” Anna said. “I don’t need to keep track of how long I kept telling myself you weren’t my forever love. I love you. And I love you, Ronda. And you, Patricia. And I love you, Toni.”

“Lub you!” Toni chimed in.

“In case you were doubting, there are a dozen red roses for each of you my lovers, and a dozen pink ones for Toni.”

“What will you do if we have a boy?” Patricia asked, giving me a kiss. She yielded my lips to Anna and after a thoroughly wonderful kiss with her, Ronda made sure I knew how much she appreciated me.

“Maybe I’ll have to dye roses blue,” I laughed. “Or perhaps I won’t care and we’ll have more pink roses or yellow ones or orange or white or something. Or maybe I’ll only do roses once and we’ll have orchids next year. The flowers are just a symbol to tell you how much I love all four of you. I love you from the bottom of my heart, my family.”

That got us started and I had to dance with Toni until dinner was served. It was a simple meal, but the roses made a lovely sixth person at the table. We all cleaned up the kitchen and then sat in the living room for reading. When we got Toni settled for bed, we all headed to the bedroom even though it was only eight-thirty. We all spent the next two hours loving each other until we dropped off to sleep.

I knew now. I could place a date on the calendar and say, ‘This is my family anniversary.’

Ronda was with me as I photographed Orpheus at the Tom Patterson Theatre the next day. It turned out to be a simple shoot. There were only four principal actors and a chorus of eight. The set was simply a couple of platforms and a ramp. There were even fewer people in the orchestra than the six who were in Three Penny Opera. I thought it was just a little confusing, as I was given to understand that the three male leads all represented Orpheus, but one was called Dancer, one Singer, and one Actor.

“I believe every composer who ever existed wrote an opera about Orpheus,” John said when he caught up with me. “This one by Charpentier is one of the simplest and was written for a studio theatre like this one. I’d suggest that you simply move actors around wherever you want them and take the pictures as if you were in the studio.”

I found his advice was perfect. I started with the principals. Eurydice’s headdress was almost as elaborate as a Las Vegas showgirl’s, but the rest of the costuming was extremely simple. It was fun to arrange the three men and Eurydice in interesting positions, using the levels in the theatre. Then I started working with Eurydice. She was a lovely woman with a voice that completely filled the theatre space.

“Monica, I’d like a couple of pictures of you in different poses than you would use while singing.”

“You want to photograph nudes here in the theatre?”

“What?”

“I understood that you take many pictures of undressed women.”

I wasn’t sure exactly what her accent was. Her English was just a little stilted.

“Oh. Yes, I do, but not during production photography. That is only studio photography, and only with the consent of the model. I was thinking, for example, of having you stretched out on the ramp with your head tilted so I can catch more of the dangling headdress around you.”

“Certainly. I have tomorrow off. I could come to your studio then,” she said as she took the pose I coaxed her into.

“I believe we were scheduled for two days of shooting here, but I don’t think we’ll need a second day. We’ll get you slated for a little later in the day if you don’t mind.”

“As you wish. This is the only show I am in and I get a little bored when I’m just waiting around.”

I finished with her poses and got a few of her with various chorus members, then worked on the chorus itself. The stage manager dismissed the actors and I took a photo of the musicians and the crew. I hadn’t seen the director at all.

Ronda and I got home about two. I thought I could get all the photos processed yet during the afternoon and would run the transparency film down to Dave as soon as we ate some lunch.

“Oh, Ronda,” Anna said when we walked into the studio. “Your dad called. He’d like you and Nate to give him a call when it’s convenient.”

We kissed our girlfriends and nodded to each other. I guessed now was as convenient as any time.

“Hi, Daddy. I hope you aren’t in trouble with the law again,” Ronda said when she connected to her father. She held the phone so I could hear as well.

“Oh, no. The law is staying a respectful distance away from me. You wouldn’t believe the number of young women who have come to me for birth control, though. No pretense of it being for cramps. These girls definitely have loose morals on their mind.”

“Like me?” Ronda teased.

“I never considered you loose in your morals, honey,” he said solemnly. “When it comes down to it, I don’t consider any of these girls that way, either. No amount of legislation ever slowed down the sexual curiosity and exploration of teens. All I want to do is make it safe for them. Actually, I wanted to talk to Nate and you about coming to Tenbrook for Independence Day. Things are heating up on the County Attorney and we want to hold a demonstration right after the parade in Huntertown. Nate, we’d like you to speak.”

“I guess that’s okay,” I said. “Um ... I was going to fly to LA that day, but I think I can delay it a day. I’ll have to scoot right up to Chicago after the rally.”

“People will want to hear from you, especially now that you’ve been drafted.”

“I can speak to that up until the time I’ve actually reported. My new boss has already told me that I can’t make public protests after I’m employed,” I said.

“I wanted to make sure you were okay with it before I confirmed with the committee. This thing is actually getting organized now. We’ve found a specific law about abuse of office that White thinks will push us forward in our suit against Warren,” Dr. May said.