#tour!bessie on the bass

[boleyn-falcon]

!!!! them !!!!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[six-costume-refs]

do you have any info/pics about the band’s costumes through the years? or a post about their costumes already? i would love to see what you have collected.

Yes I do!! I'm going to write up a more in-depth post about all of them in the near future, but for now here is a general overview of major design changes.

Also want to note that any LiW post would be remiss without mentioning paigeleigh59916 on Instagram, who has put a ton of time and effort into making sure the LiW (principals and deputies) are also featured in their photography and tracking down their names and info. I would not have been able to find many of these deputies without their effort, so please drop them a follow if you're interested in LiW content. 

If you want more info on the individual Ladies in Waiting and their deputies, I also try to keep their Wikis as updated as I can. Here's the LiW category link or you can find them by production here. There aren't a ton of photos in their galleries for now, but most of them do have a few at least.

Original Costumes (L-R: Terri De Marco, Alice Angliss, Amy Shaw, Katy Richardson; photo from @/aliceangliss) During the 2018 (1st) UK Tour, the band members wore all black. They eventually had studded shoes (pictured under the boots section) and silver accents. The current LiW costumes were introduced when they moved to the Arts for their West End run in Jan 2019.

Tops (Meelie Traill, dep Bessie, West End, @/meelietraillbass; Sara Kleppe, dep Bessie, West End, @/saraplaysbass; Aretha Tillotson, 2019 North American Tour, @/arethaonbass)

The band shirts are one of the costume pieces that have stayed most consistent. They’re built as leotards and the ruffs are not attached - you can see the neckline in the photo of Aretha. They have inverted stripes with rows of silver studs. Some construction changes have been made in different productions for individual LiW to accommodate different body types or shapes, but the biggest change is the length of the sleeves - sometimes they’re tank tops while sometimes they have long sleeves. Every non-UK production has used long sleeves exclusively; both the West End and older UK Tours have previously had some LiW use tank style and some use long sleeve simultaneously, but it’s now long since been standardized to exclusively short sleeve. (Note that some emergency covers who wore the band costume had tank even after it had been phased out for LiW. That’s another upcoming post)

Pants (L-R, 1st: the LiW of Bliss 1.0*; the LiW of Broadway**. 2nd: Katy Richardson, West End, katyrrichardson; Janette Williams, West End, janette.williams6701; Lee Moretti, Broadway, @/leethefury. 3rd row: Sarah Wussow, Breakaway 2.0, sarah_wussow; Meelie Traill, 2021-22 UKT, meelietraillbass; Kat Bax, 2021-22 UKT)

The style of the bottoms have changed a lot: pants in different styles, shorts, skirts. The pants and shorts mostly been a leather or faux leather with lacing, but the placement of studding and lacing depends a lot on the production.

West End: The lace-up pants worn by Katy Richardson (center row, left) are the original West End pants style. In late 2019 some of them briefly started wearing shorts, but they switched back to pants pretty quickly. In the last few months, the West End has switched to solid black pants, which are the ones worn by Janette Williams in the center middle row. 2019-present UK Tours: Shorts with side lacing. A few E/C or unexpected deputies have worn plain black pants or leggings. Australia: Everyone wears the lace-up pants style pictured on Katy Richardson. 2019 North American regional tour: Everyone wore the lace-up pants style pictured Katy Richardson. Broadway: Most of the principals wear lace-up pants but with such a small gap that it usually isn’t visible. They also have studded waistbands. Lee Moretti is shown with slightly different pants - they have the same waistband but a lacing style that shows a much wider nude panel more like the other productions with lace up pants. No idea why hers are different as I only have photos of her pants and the principals (other deps exist, but I haven’t been able to find full body photos). Julia Schade (principal Joan) also wears a skirt like Sarah Wussow’s. NCS productions: The top left photo of Bliss 1.0 shows the standardized LiW pants for the NCL productions. The one exception to this is Sarah Wussow of the Breakaway 2.0 cast, who is pictured below in a skirt (worn over her pants)

Boots (L-R: the 2021-22 UKT cast***; the Bliss 1.0 cast*; Annalicia Senger, dep, West End, annasenger_muze; Alice Angliss, 2018 UK Tour, @/aliceangliss; Lauren Hopkinson, 2021-22 UK Tour, @/laurenhopkinsonmusic)

The boots are where there’s some of the most variation and inconsistency, even within the same productions. Here’s what I know: - There are three main styles: boots with 2-3 straps and buckles with studs just on the straps, lace up boots with studs scattered all over, and lace up boots with studs all over in a consistent, grid-like pattern (more like the cast’s boots). - The straps with studs may be custom-made or at least always bought from the same location, but I haven’t been able to confirm this for sure. - The boots are most well-recorded in the UK, where they have a mix. UKT seems to have started with the straps, but as other cast members have joined (either permanently or temporarily) it’s gotten more inconsistent. I talk about that a little bit more with the deputies below. - NCS always has the several straps with studs.  - Broadway has the lace up with scattered crystals (couldn’t fit in this photoset, but you can see it above in the bottoms photoset). - I’ve never been able to get my hands on any photos that show the Australian LiW boots, so no idea on those. - The boots for deputies in the UK policy seems to just be whatever is on hand and works. Deputies sometimes join without studded boots, in which case they’ll just wear plain black boots or shoes (sometimes until they later get a pair). They also commonly seem to get studs added to more mainstream store-bought shoes (not the potentially custom three straps with studs). Some of the deputies have also had boots with crystals or sequins instead of the usual studs - again, probably due to working with materials on hand. Some of them also may be wearing boots from former band members, but I haven’t been able to identify this for sure. I do know that the current, active UK deputies have their own pair of boots, though.

Masks (L-R: left is Katy Richardson, West End, @/katyrrichardson; top right is Meelie Traill, West End, meelietraillbass; bottom right is Broadway cast**) The productions all have black studded masks from what I can find. Broadway are N-95 while UK are cloth masks. I don’t think NCS productions use them. I don’t know about Australia. The studding pattern differs; some are around the edges with others all over.

(top from Sophie Wilson, 21-22 UKT’s Head of Wardrobe, @/sophiemw04; bottom is Amy Shaw, West End, @/amyshawmusic; right is Kellie Nitz, Breakaway 2.0, kellienitzbass) Ruffs: The productions have black ruffs with studding. The West End production briefly didn’t wear them at some point in 2019, but as far as I know that’s the only production that didn’t at any point. Headbands: Most of the LiW wear a headband - it’s just 2-4 rows of separated studs. Number of rows depends on the production. A few productions, rather than having gaps between, have black pleather or vinyl (Australia and early WE). Hair: They don’t seem to have strong policies on hair, but ponytails or a style with part of the hair pulled back are common. However, braids, hair down, etc. have also happened quite a bit. Makeup: Again, there doesn’t seem to be have strong standardization. Eyeshadows usually are a shade of black/white/silver or a natural tone (skin tone type palettes; I can’t say the proper word as it’s blocked). Lipsticks range from natural to a more toned down red (like the one Kellie Nitz is wearing here).

------- *Chanel Miller, Kellie Nitz, Rebecca Caldera, Alexandra Crosby **Pants photo: Elena Bonomo, Michelle Marie, not sure (doesn’t look like Kimi Hayes so I think it’s a dep but I haven’t been able to confirm that or who it is if so); Mask photo is Mariana Ramirez, Michelle Marie, Elizabeth Doran, Elena Bonomo, Kimi Hayes ***Frankie South, Vanessa Domonique, Lauren Hopkinson, Kat Bax

[yourdeepestfathoms]

Tour!Bessie: Rating things that Catalina has called me! ☺️

Tour!Bessie: “Whore” 2/10. Unoriginal. Heard it before, miss queen. You ain’t Jane, I know you smarter than that.

Tour!Bessie: “Slut” 4/10. Better, but still basic. Hurt my feelings 🙁

Tour!Bessie: “Jade” 10/10. She called me a gemstone!! Jades are really pretty! Green goes well with my hair! 😊

Tour!Bessie: “Cockblocking wench” 9/10. Creative! Made me giggle!

Tour!Bessie: “Man-eating, husband-stealing, white-haired son of a bitch” 7/10. Long. I never did the eating in the relationship with Henry

Tour!Bessie: “Teenage slut” 5/10. Really made me feel self-conscious :( but bonus points for not just saying slut!

Tour!Bessie: “Bless’ee Bessie Blount” 12/10. Made me have a traumatic episode! 😄

Tour!Bessie: “Jezebel” ??/10. My name is Bessie?????

[courtneystapleton]

[dxntloseurhead]

someone's probably already done this but tour ladies in waiting are:

Maggie - Frankie South (@/frankiesouth.music on insta)

Bessie - Kat Bax (@/katbaxbass on insta)

Joan - Arlene McNaught (@/arlenemcnaught on insta, private account)

Maria - Vanessa Domonique (@/vv_roxx on insta)

[cynicalrainbows]

How do you think Bessie and Kitty got close in the tour!verse?

Long answer under the cut.

So! I sort of imagine that all of the Queens and LiW coming back together was more awkward than anything? In the way that things are- like, from experience, you can be at a death bed and thinking 'Oh god do i hug this person I don't know well? Is that weird? Can i laugh at that sort-of funny thing or is that insensitive?' and all the sadness is going side by side by a ton of really petty things, by really mundane concerns about what is the Right Response. So I feel like they'd just make awkward smalltalk, in between talking a bit about how weird everything is but also not really bonding over it (Yet. They will bond, but that'll take time.) I also hc that the LiW came back a little after the Queens, and so there was a disconnect between the two groups over that too.So I feel like it would take some time for everyone to learn everyone else's name, and particularly that the Queens would get the LiW mixed up (other than the ones they actually knew in their past lives.)Saying that, I feel like Kitty would go from not really noticing Bessie at all to being almost hyper aware of her. In the same way that ichlugebulletsandcornuts posted about WE!Jane suddenly realising WE!Kitty is basically a child and deciding to take care of her, I feel like Tour!Kitty would suddenly notice Bessie and be a bit taken back at how vulnerable she seems and sort of make up her mind to keep a closer eye on her (I wrote a drabble for the very nice and very talented bessie-bass-on-the-bass in which Kat comes in just as Bessie has spilled glitter everywhere and is lowkey panicking about it and takes the blame and calms her down, and how this signals the start of Kat wanting to keep an eye on Bessie).... and the more she sees of her, the more she notices and more concerned she becomes. I feel like she'd start off with little things- like noticing that Bessie gets talked over sometimes and making a point of drawing attention to her when she has something to say so that everyone listens, and trying to draw her into conversations, asking her opinions and stuff. She'd notice Aragon being quite sharp to her and tell her to get over herself. She'd check to make sure Bessie takes her fair share if there is food or snacks or whatever around. And it would develop from there. From Bessie's perspective, I feel like she'd be quite anxious around all the Queen's at first but then more and more begin to trust Kat and see her as a 'safe' person. I can imagine everyone being at the theatre and something happening- a light explodes or a window falls in or the lights all go off, and everyone jumps a mile, and when it's calmed down slightly Bessie realises she is clinging onto Kat's arm (and then immediately jumping away) and Kat realises that her first response was to push Bessie behind her (I can imagine a similar thing for tour Jane and tour Maggie, based on the relationship Bessie-Bass-on-the-bass has headcanoned for them). I have more thoughts but this answer is already overly long- thanks for asking though anon, it's great to have an excuse to babble a bit :3

[augustwritessometimes]

She Can’t Stop (2/?)

tw: Sensory Overload (once again, based after my own, making them a little hard to describe)

When Parr and Bessie were backstage and the two alternates were on stage, Parr took a deep breath. She knew that Bessie would be even more scared later when she realizes that they had to stop the show because of her.

There’s been many cases where shows have had to be stopped. Anne falling of the stage, Parr having a Sensory Overload, Kitty lost her hearing aids at one point, Jane had a seizure. It’s not uncommon for a performance to be stopped due to medical reasons.

But it’s the first time it’s been stopped because of the ladies in waiting having something,

Parr knows she has to focus on getting Bessie to fully calm down. She’s not sobbing as bad as she had been earlier, but it’s still bad.

“Bessie. Can you hear me?” Parr asked the girl in her lap softly.

Bessie slowly nodded her head but didn’t look up. She’s still crying and she can’t stop. She wants to though. Her head is starting to hurt and is scared she’ll pass out if she keeps going.

“Can you tell me four things you can hear?” Parr had to hope Bessie hadn’t gone nonverbal. Both the women would do so occasionally either during or after an overload, but it makes getting fully calm harder.

“Show, you, me, heartbeat.” Bessie mumbled

“Can you tell me three things you can feel?” Parr held back a laugh when she felt Bessies fingers rubbing her side. trying to differ skin from costume she thought.

“Your costume, my costume, skin.” 

“Two you can see.”

“You, wall.” Bessie let out a shaky exhale, she wanted to stop talking but doing this helps.

“And finally, one you can taste.” Bessie stopped for a moment. This one was always weird. Why would she taste anything, no one gave her food.

“Salt?” Parr nodded her head and started to talk to the small girl in her lap.

“You did good Bess. You can change out of your costume and we can stay back here for the rest of the show.” Bessie shook her head.

Sure, her costume wasn’t the most comfortable thing she could be wearing and she had more comfortable clothes but, Parr’s lap was comfortable and she didn’t plan on leaving it

[1962dude420-blog]

Today we remember the passing of Willie Mae “Big Mama” Thornton who Died: July 25, 1984 in Los Angeles, California

Willie Mae Thornton (December 11, 1926 – July 25, 1984), better known as Big Mama Thornton, was an American rhythm-and-blues singer and songwriter. She was the first to record Leiber and Stoller's "Hound Dog", in 1952,which became her biggest hit, staying seven weeks at number one on the Billboard R&B chart in 1953 and selling almost two million copies. Thornton's other recordings included the original version of "Ball and Chain", which she wrote.

Her recording of Hound Dog, written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller in 1952, and later recorded by Elvis Presley, reached Number 1 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. According to Maureen Mahon, a music professor at New York University, "the song is seen as an important beginning of rock-and-roll, especially in its use of the guitar as the key instrument".

Thornton's birth certificate states that she was born in Ariton, Alabama, but in an interview with Chris Strachwitz, she claimed Montgomery, Alabama, as her birthplace, probably because Montgomery was better known than Ariton. She was introduced to music in a Baptist church, where her father was a minister and her mother a singer. She and her six siblings began to sing at early ages. Her mother died young, and Willie Mae left school and got a job washing and cleaning spittoons in a local tavern. In 1940 she left home and, with the help of Diamond Teeth Mary, joined Sammy Green's Hot Harlem Revue and was soon billed as the "New Bessie Smith". Her musical education started in the church but continued through her observation of the rhythm-and-blues singers Bessie Smith and Memphis Minnie, whom she deeply admired.

Thornton's career began to take off when she moved to Houston in 1948. "A new kind of popular blues was coming out of the clubs in Texas and Los Angeles, full of brass horns, jumpy rhythms, and wisecracking lyrics." In 1951 she signed a recording contract with Peacock Records and performed at the Apollo Theater in 1952. Also in 1952, while working with another Peacock artist Johnny Otis, she recorded "Hound Dog", the first record produced by its writers Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. The pair were present at the recording, with Leiber demonstrating the song in the vocal style they had envisioned; "We wanted her to growl it," Stoller said, which she did. Otis played drums, after the original drummer was unable to play an adequate part. The record sold more than half a million copies, and went to number one on the R&B chart, helping to bring in the dawn of rock 'n' roll. Although the record made Thornton a star, she saw little of the profits.

On Christmas Day 1954 in a theatre in Houston, Texas, she witnessed fellow performer Johnny Ace, also signed to Duke and Peacock record labels, accidentally shoot and kill himself while playing with a .22 pistol. Thornton continued to record for Peacock until 1957 and performed in R&B package tours with Junior Parker and Esther Phillips.

Thornton's success with "Hound Dog" was followed three years later by Elvis Presley recording his hit version of the song. His recording at first annoyed Leiber who wrote, "I have no idea what that rabbit business is all about. The song is not about a dog, it's about a man, a freeloading gigolo." But Elvis' version sold ten million copies, so today few fans know that "Hound Dog" began as "an anthem of black female power." Similarly, Thornton originally recorded her song "Ball 'n' Chain" for Bay-Tone Records in the early 1960s, "and though the label chose not to release the song... they did hold on to the copyright"—which meant that Thornton missed out on the publishing royalties when Janis Joplin recorded the song later in the decade. However, in a 1972 interview, Thornton acknowledged giving Joplin permission to record the song and receiving royalty payments from its sales.

As her career began to fade in the late 1950s and early 1960s, she left Houston and relocated to the San Francisco Bay area, "playing clubs in San Francisco and L.A. and recording for a succession of labels", notably the Berkeley-based Arhoolie Records. In 1965, she toured with the American Folk Blues Festival in Europe, where her success was notable "because very few female blues singers at that time had ever enjoyed success across the Atlantic." While in England that year, she recorded her first album for Arhoolie, Big Mama Thornton – In Europe. It featured backing by blues veterans Buddy Guy (guitar), Fred Below (drums), Eddie Boyd (keyboards), Jimmy Lee Robinson (bass), and Walter "Shakey" Horton (harmonica), except for three songs on which Fred McDowell provided acoustic slide guitar.

In 1966, Thornton recorded her second album for Arhoolie, Big Mama Thornton with the Muddy Waters Blues Band – 1966, with Muddy Waters (guitar), Sammy Lawhorn (guitar), James Cotton (harmonica), Otis Spann (piano), Luther Johnson (bass guitar), and Francis Clay (drums). She performed at the Monterey Jazz Festival in 1966 and 1968. Her last album for Arhoolie, Ball n' Chain, was released in 1968. It was made up of tracks from her two previous albums, plus her composition "Ball and Chain" and the standard "Wade in the Water". A small combo, including her frequent guitarist Edward "Bee" Houston, provided backup for the two songs. Janis Joplin and Big Brother and the Holding Company's performance of "Ball 'n' Chain" at the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967 and the release of the song on their number one album Cheap Thrills renewed interest in Thornton's career.

By 1969, Thornton had signed with Mercury Records, which released her most successful album, Stronger Than Dirt, which reached number 198 in the Billboard Top 200 record chart. Thornton had now signed a contract with Pentagram Records and could finally fulfill one of her biggest dreams. A blues woman and the daughter of a preacher, Thornton loved the blues and what she called the "good singing" of gospel artists like the Dixie Hummingbirds and Mahalia Jackson. She had always wanted to record a gospel record, and with the album Saved (PE 10005), she achieved that longtime goal. The album includes the gospel classics "Oh, Happy Day," "Down By The Riverside," "Glory, Glory Hallelujah," "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands," "Lord Save Me," "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot," "One More River" and "Go Down Moses".

By then, the American blues revival had come to an end. While the original blues acts like Thornton mostly played smaller venues, younger people played their versions of blues in massive arenas for big money. Since the blues had seeped into other genres of music, the blues musician no longer needed impoverishment or geography for substantiation; the style was enough. While at home the offers became fewer and smaller, things changed for good in 1972, when Thornton was asked to rejoin the American Folk Blues Festival tour. She thought of Europe as a good place for herself, and, with the lack of engagements in the United States, she agreed happily. The tour, beginning on March 2, took Thornton to Germany, France, Switzerland, Austria, Italy, the Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, Finland, and Sweden, where it ended on March 27 in Stockholm. With her on the bill were Eddie Boyd, Big Joe Williams, Robert Pete Williams, T- Bone Walker, Paul Lenart, Hartley Severns, Edward Taylor and Vinton Johnson. As in 1965, they garnered recognition and respect from other musicians who wanted to see them.

In the 1970s, years of heavy drinking began to damage Thornton's health. She was in a serious auto accident but recovered to perform at the 1973 Newport Jazz Festival with Muddy Waters, B.B. King, and Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson (a recording of this performance, The Blues—A Real Summit Meeting, was released by Buddha Records). Thornton's last albums were Jail and Sassy Mama for Vanguard Records in 1975. Other songs from the recording session were released in 2000 on Big Mama Swings. Jail captured her performances during mid-1970s concerts at two prisons in the northwestern United States. She was backed by a blues ensemble that featured sustained jams by George "Harmonica" Smith and included the guitarists Doug MacLeod, Bee Houston and Steve Wachsman; the drummer Todd Nelson; the saxophonist Bill Potter; the bassist Bruce Sieverson; and the pianist J. D. Nicholson. She toured extensively through the United States and Canada, played at the Juneteenth Blues Fest in Houston and shared the bill with John Lee Hooker. She performed at the San Francisco Blues Festival in 1979 and the Newport Jazz Festival in 1980. In the early 1970s, Thornton's sexual proclivities became a question among blues fans. Big Mama also performed in the "Blues Is a Woman" concert that year, alongside classic blues legend Sippie Wallace, sporting a man's three-piece suit, straw hat, and gold watch. She sat at center stage and played pieces she wanted to play, which were not on the program. Thornton took part in the Tribal Stomp at Monterey Fairgrounds, the Third Annual Sacramento Blues Festival, and the Los Angeles Bicentennial Blues with BB King and Muddy Waters. She was a guest on an ABC-TV special hosted by actor Hal Holbrook and was joined by Aretha Franklin and toured through the club scene. She was also part of the award-winning PBS television special Three Generations of the blues with Sippie Wallace and Jeannie Cheatham.

Thornton was found dead at age 57 by medical personnel in a Los Angeles boarding house on July 25, 1984. She died of heart and liver disorders due to her longstanding alcohol abuse.

[shewhoworshipscarlin]

Ethel Waters

Ethel Waters (October 31, 1896 – September 1, 1977) was an American singer and actress. Waters frequently performed jazz, swing, and pop music on the Broadway stage and in concerts. She began her career in the 1920s singing blues. Waters notable recordings include "Dinah", "Stormy Weather", "Taking a Chance on Love", "Heat Wave", "Supper Time", "Am I Blue?", "Cabin in the Sky", "I'm Coming Virginia", and her version of "His Eye Is on the Sparrow". Waters was the second African American to be nominated for an Academy Award. She was the first African American to star on her own television show and the first African-American woman to be nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award.

Waters was born in Chester, Pennsylvania on October 31, 1896 (some sources state her birth year as 1900) as a result of the rape of her teenaged African-American mother, Louise Anderson (1881–1962), by John Waters (1878–1901), a pianist and family acquaintance from a middle-class African-American background. Waters' family was very fair skinned, her mother in particular. Many sources, including Ethel herself, have reported for years that her mother was 12 or 13 years old at the time of the rape, 13 when Ethel was born. Stephen Bourne opens his 2007 biography, Ethel Waters: Stormy Weather, with the statement that genealogical research has shown that she may have been in her late teens.

Waters played no role in raising Ethel. Soon after she was born, her mother married Norman Howard, a railroad worker. Ethel used the surname Howard as a child and then reverted to her father's name. She was raised in poverty by Sally Anderson, her grandmother, who worked as a housemaid, and with two of her aunts and an uncle. Waters never lived in the same place for more than 15 months. Of her difficult childhood, she said "I never was a child. I never was cuddled, or liked, or understood by my family."

Waters grew tall, standing 5 feet 9.5 inches (1.765 m) in her teens. According to jazz historian and archivist Rosetta Reitz, Waters's birth in the North and her peripatetic life exposed her to many cultures. Waters married at the age of 13, but her husband was abusive, and she soon left the marriage and became a maid in a Philadelphia hotel, working for $4.75 per week. On her 17th birthday, she attended a costume party at a nightclub on Juniper Street. She was persuaded to sing two songs and impressed the audience so much that she was offered professional work at the Lincoln Theatre in Baltimore. She recalled that she earned the rich sum of $10 per week, but her managers cheated her out of the tips her admirers threw on the stage.

After her start in Baltimore, Waters toured on the black vaudeville circuit, in her words "from nine until unconscious." Despite her early success, she fell on hard times and joined a carnival traveling in freight cars headed for Chicago. She enjoyed her time with the carnival and recalled, "the roustabouts and the concessionaires were the kind of people I'd grown up with, rough, tough, full of larceny towards strangers, but sentimental and loyal to their friends and co-workers." But she did not last long with them and soon headed south to Atlanta, where she worked in the same club as Bessie Smith. Smith demanded that Waters not compete in singing blues opposite her. Waters conceded and sang ballads and popular songs. Around 1919, Waters moved to Harlem and became a performer in the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s.

Her first Harlem job was at Edmond's Cellar, a club with a black patronage that specialized in popular ballads. She acted in a blackface comedy, Hello 1919. Jazz historian Rosetta Reitz pointed out that by the time Waters returned to Harlem in 1921, women blues singers were among the most powerful entertainers in the country. In 1921, Waters became the fifth black woman to make a record, for tiny Cardinal Records. She later joined Black Swan, where Fletcher Henderson was her accompanist. Waters later commented that Henderson tended to perform in a more classical style than she preferred, often lacking "the damn-it-to-hell bass."

She recorded for Black Swan from 1921 through 1923. Her contract with Harry Pace made her the highest paid black recording artist at the time. In early 1924, Paramount bought Black Swan, and she stayed with Paramount through the year.

She first recorded for Columbia in 1925, achieving a hit with "Dinah". She started working with Pearl Wright, and they toured in the South. In 1924, Waters played at the Plantation Club on Broadway. She also toured with the Black Swan Dance Masters. With Earl Dancer, she joined what was called the "white time" Keith Vaudeville Circuit, a vaudeville circuit performing for white audiences and combined with screenings of silent movies. They received rave reviews in Chicago and earned the unheard-of salary of US$1,250 in 1928. In September 1926, Waters recorded "I'm Coming Virginia", composed by Donald Heywood with lyrics by Will Marion Cook. She is often wrongly attributed as the author. The following year, Waters sang it in a production of Africana at Broadway's Daly's Sixty-Third Street Theatre. In 1929, Waters and Wright arranged the unreleased Harry Akst song "Am I Blue?", which was used in the movie On with the Show and became a hit and her signature song.

In 1933, Waters appeared in a satirical all-black film, Rufus Jones for President, which featured the child performer Sammy Davis Jr. as Rufus Jones. She went on to star at the Cotton Club, where, according to her autobiography, she "sang 'Stormy Weather' from the depths of the private hell in which I was being crushed and suffocated." In 1933, she had a featured role in the successful Irving Berlin Broadway musical revue As Thousands Cheer with Clifton Webb, Marilyn Miller, and Helen Broderick.

She became the first black woman to integrate Broadway's theater district more than a decade after actor Charles Gilpin's critically acclaimed performances in the plays of Eugene O'Neill beginning with The Emperor Jones in 1920.

Waters held three jobs: in As Thousands Cheer, as a singer for Jack Denny & His Orchestra on a national radio program, and in nightclubs. She became the highest-paid performer on Broadway. Despite this status, she had difficulty finding work. She moved to Los Angeles to appear in the 1942 film Cairo. During the same year, she reprised her starring stage role as Petunia in the all-black film musical Cabin in the Sky directed by Vincente Minnelli, and starring Lena Horne as the ingenue. Conflicts arose when Minnelli swapped songs from the original script between Waters and Horne. Waters wanted to perform "Honey in the Honeycomb" as a ballad, but Horne wanted to dance to it. Horne broke her ankle and the songs were reversed. She got the ballad and Waters the dance. Waters sang the Academy Award nominated "Happiness is Just a Thing Called Joe".

In 1939 Waters became the first African American to star in her own television show, before the debut of Nat King Cole's in 1956. The Ethel Waters Show, a variety special, appeared on NBC on June 14, 1939. It included a dramatic performance of the Broadway play Mamba's Daughters, based on the Gullah community of South Carolina and produced with her in mind. The play was based on the novel by DuBose Heyward.

Waters was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for the film Pinky (1949) under the direction of Elia Kazan after the first director, John Ford, quit over disagreements with Waters. According to producer Darryl F. Zanuck, Ford "hated that old...woman (Waters)." Ford, Kazan stated, "didn't know how to reach Ethel Waters." Kazan later referred to Waters's "truly odd combination of old-time religiosity and free-flowing hatred."

In 1950, she won the New York Drama Critics Circle Award for her performance opposite Julie Harris in the play The Member of the Wedding. Waters and Harris repeated their roles in the 1952 film version.

In 1950, Waters was the first African-American actress to star in a television series, Beulah, which aired on ABC television from 1950 through 1952.

It was the first nationally broadcast weekly television series starring an African American in the leading role. She starred as Beulah for the first year of the TV series before quitting in 1951, complaining that the portrayal of blacks was "degrading." She was replaced by Louise Beavers in the second and third season. She guest-starred in 1957 and 1959 on NBC's The Ford Show, Starring Tennessee Ernie Ford. In a 1957 segment, she sang "Cabin in the Sky".

Her first autobiography, His Eye Is on the Sparrow, (1951), written with Charles Samuels, was adapted for the stage by Larry Parr and premiered on October 7, 2005.

In 1953, she appeared in a Broadway show, At Home With Ethel Waters that opened on September 22, 1953 and closed October 10 after 23 performances. 

Waters married three times and had no children. When she was 13, she married Merritt "Buddy" Purnsley in 1909; they divorced in 1913. During the 1920s, Waters was involved in a romantic relationship with dancer Ethel Williams. The two were dubbed "The Two Ethels" and lived together in Harlem.She married Clyde Edwards Matthews in 1929, and they divorced in 1933. She married Edward Mallory in 1938; they divorced in 1945. Waters was the great-aunt of the singer-songwriter Crystal Waters. 

In 1938, Waters met artist Luigi Lucioni through their mutual friend, Carl Van Vechten. Lucioni asked Waters if he could paint her portrait, and a sitting was arranged at his studio at 64 Washington Square South. Waters bought the finished portrait from Lucioni in 1939 for $500. She was at the height of her career and the first African American to have a starring role on Broadway. In her portrait, she wore a tailored red dress with a mink coat draped over the back of her chair. Lucioni positioned Waters with her arms tightly wrapped around her waist, a gesture that conveyed vulnerability, as if she were trying to protect herself. The painting was considered lost because it had not been seen in public since 1942. Huntsville (Alabama) Museum of Art Executive Director Christopher J. Madkour and historian Stuart Embury traced it to a private residence. The owner considered Waters to be "an adopted grandmother" but she allowed the Huntsville Museum of Art to display Portrait of Ethel Waters in the 2016 exhibition American Romantic: The Art of Luigi Lucioni where it was viewed by the public for the first time in more than 70 years. The museum acquired Portrait of Ethel Waters in 2017, and it was shown in an exhibition in February 2018]. 

By 1955, Waters was deeply in debt for back taxes; the IRS seized royalties of her work. She lost tens of thousands in jewelry and cash in a robbery.[35] Her health suffered, and she worked sporadically. Yet she had faced lean times before. A turning point came in 1957 when she attended the Billy Graham Crusade in Madison Square Garden. She entered the Garden that night a disillusioned, lonely, 61-year-old woman. She had become successful at giving out happiness, but her personal life lacked peace. She was in debt, had physical problems, weighed too much to perform comfortably, and was worried about her career.

Years later, she gave this testimony of that night, "In 1957, I, Ethel Waters, a 380-pound decrepit old lady, rededicated my life to Jesus Christ, and boy, because He lives, just look at me now. I tell you because He lives; and because my precious child, Billy, gave me the opportunity to stand there, I can thank God for the chance to tell you His eye is on all of us sparrows." In her later years, Waters often toured with the preacher Billy Graham on his crusades.

Waters died on September 1, 1977, aged 80, from uterine cancer, kidney failure, and other ailments, in Chatsworth, California. She is buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethel_Waters

[boleyn-falcon]

Tour!Bessie, tweeting an image : Lmao @ Maggie

Tour!Maggie :

Tour!Maggie : Okay first of all you stupid bitch-

[yourdeepestfathoms]

For SIX, Bessie has mind reading, tour!Joan has precognition, and Carly!Jane has clairvoyance!

Vespers get their powers from the moon. Whatever moon they’re born under is the power they get, so there’s five different possibilities.

New moon- Precognition

Crescent moon- Empathy

Half moon- Clairvoyance

Gibbous moon- Telepathy

Full moon- Mind reading

This also applies to hybrids. Vesper powers are usually always inherited by Vesper hybrids because the abilities aren’t passed on by DNA.

[yourdeepestfathoms]

To counteract the angst, can we please have some wing au fluff

Broody phoenix!Aragon practically being able to sense when vampire bat!Bessie is upset, so she goes up to her and hoods her in her wings. Bessie instantly snuggles into the warm feathers.

Phoenix!Aragon lovingly pruning her chicks.

Vampire bat!Besise trying to return the favor and groom her, but Aragon does not appreciate her wings being picked.

Starling!Kat hooding both dragon!Aragon and hybrid!Joan, much to Aragon’s dismay

Moth!Joan making silk weavings for everyone (even if they don’t appreciate them.....)

Broody phoenix!Aragon being very restless because of Hormones, but calming down the moment one of her chicks are in her wings

Dragon!Aragon and hybrid!Joan tail twining

Vampire bat!Bessie and dragon!Anna tail twining

Wingy cuddle piles!!!

[a-little-slice-of-fandom]

what is the difference between the student run and current versions of six?

Hi anon! I’m sorry this took so long. A-levels happened!

So firstly I don’t think it’s as easy as saying “what’s the difference between the student run and the current version of six” because not only was there a run between the student cast and the current productions in the form of the studio cast, but even current productions have had their scripts tweaked and reworked over the course of the past year. The original six tour has a different script to the current west end run, even though the west end run is a direct continuation of the tour. Furthermore, there’s also the issues of external and internal factors which have influenced the show and prompted the changes between scripts, such as reviews from critics/general audiences, bigger budgets and production values, current affairs etc which have shaped the show as a whole. However, the changes between these runs truly fascinate me and I love seeing how Six continues to evolve and grow as a show, as well as seeing how the queens characters have been developed and refined by Toby and Lucy. I’m not a massive theatre fan, I prefer literature, so to see a show that evolves with every passing day rather than remaining as one static entity is really a treat. It’s almost like we’re seeing lots of different drafts, and that’s something I love. And I’ll try my best to summarize it all!

Plot:

The overall plot of Six remained the same over all productions of the show. At the end of the day, the student run still was about the Six wives of Henry VIII coming together and forming a girl group, while arguing over who should be the lead singer before finally coming together as one group. 

Run time:

The first biggest difference between the student run of Six and the current runs of Six is its vastly shorter run time. All professional versions of the show have clocked in around 75 minutes, give or take. However, the student run of Six is only 60 minutes long that results in a generally more streamlined version of the show. While this may not sound like a massive difference, it does mean that this version is essentially 25% shorter than usual and does have massive ripple effects for the show.  The first reaction most people have to listening to the student run is simply realising how streamlined it truly is, with there being very little dialogue between songs and what little dialogue there is sometimes being radically different. I mean the dialogue between Haus of Holbein often diverges into odd territories...which is saying something for Haus of Holbein. 

Different songs:

In addition, every song in the student run is somewhat different to its current counterpart. Some changes are relatively small, such as the occasional changed lyric  in Ex-Wives, Don’t Lose Ur Head or Six, or a slightly different tempo to Haus Of Holbein or Howard singing an extra chorus of AWYD. However...three songs (No Way, Heart of Stone and I Don’t Need Your Love) are widely different from their current counterparts, with all three having different lyrics and different tones, and No Way having similar yet still distinctly different musical elements to it. 

I could sit here all day trying to analyse why exactly these songs were altered, especially as I have an intense love for these more indie, earnest feeling versions of the tunes we all know and love. However, it is important to acknowledge that some of these older songs simply didn’t fit with the tone (or, dare I say, vibe) of newer versions of Six. They worked for the student run, but that does not mean it would have translated well to other productions.  

As for the megasix...it does not exist in this version of Six. The megasix will not make its debut until the studio production of Six, and even at that it is a very different version of the song. 

The Queens as Characters:

A definite by-product of the shorter run time and some different songs in the student run has to be the characterisation of the queens in general. Each version of these queens feel so different to the current productions of Six in their own unique way and it’s something I wish I had more time to analyse. Generally, since this was the first production, the student queens don’t always conform to the usual expectations we have of the queens from Six. My favorite example is always Student!Boleyn, who is still quite energetic but also has this openly well-spoken nature to her (or maybe its just her accent..I’m a 17 year old not a theater critic do not take this post for anything more than what it is). In fact, I would easily argue that the youngest performers of these queens had the most mature versions of their respective queens. Yes, they bicker, but queens like Seymour and Boleyn aren’t played for laughs and don’t become the butt of every joke like they sometimes do in newer versions. In addition, the less produced nature of the songs/musical arrangements makes some queens feel so genuine and earnest, like Student!Seymour not being able to cope with the loss of her son or student!Howard just being so empty and broken throughout the show. These characterizations manage to feel so real and be so impactful, even though this is a literal student production being run by 18-20 year olds. 

Now, I’m not saying that newer versions of the queens aren’t earnest or genuine or leave an impact because that is absolutely not true (the American versions of AYWD can literally break me). They just do this in a very different way...which makes sense considering that these are vastly different productions.   

However...the shorter run time does have a negative impact for some of the Queens, as it does feel like Aragon, Boleyn and Seymour get such a large portion of the show dedicated to them, leaving Cleves, Howard and ESPECIALLY Parr by the wayside. This is more of a structural issue with Six that is still in effect to this day, however, I feel like it is most noticeable in this production. I won’t go fully in to it here (I’d rather have a dedicated post to the student queen characterisations) but needless to say Parr teeters on the edge of being a Mary Sue in this production, saved only by her amazing IDNYL and the talent of  Shimali de Silva.

Musical arrangements:

While The Ladies in Waiting have sort of become characters in their own right within this fandom,people seem to forget that they didn’t make their debut until the U.K Tour in 2018 and were not named Maggie, Bessie, Joan and Maria until the West End run in 2019. Before this, the student and studio runs both had larger ensembles to back the queens up instead of being limited to guitar, bass, keys and drums. The student run’s arrangements are great (especially No Way and DLUH), but my favourite arrangements out of all versions of Six has to be the studio run, if only because I love that so many songs included jazz elements, especially No Way, Get Down and AYWD and how diverse everything sounded. While it’s great that the newer versions of Six feel more uniformly pop oriented rather than having lots of different elements like the studio and student runs, I do sort of miss the variety that the earlier versions of Six had to an extent.

In addition, because the student run of six was generally not as pop-oriented as the newer versions, it did mean that certain elements to songs are missing and the whole thing does feel less produced than newer versions (probably due to the budget and time constraints). This is not a slight to either version of the show however: the newer versions really drive home that the Queens are a pop-band with all the produced arrangements to match, which suits the direction that the show was intending to go, while the older versions of Six with their less produced arrangements suited the more indie, literal student oriented version of the show. 

Costumes:

Let’s be real here, the student cast costumes were not winning any awards for their costumes. They were odd, mismatched, clashed with one another and overall just didn’t even reflect the queens very well. While Boleyn and her little green dress was a nice outfit, and I seriously love the connotations of Parr being in white (although her in blue also works well connotations wise) Gabriella Slade was a serious god send to the show.

Increased diversity:

Another thing that Six was not winning any awards for in its earlier days was its diversity. While the student run does boast the only NB queen so far in the form of their majesty, Tilda!Cleves, five out of six of the queens were white, with only Parr being played by a WOC (Shimali de Silva). 

On a serious note, I’m glad that the diversity of the show improved from this run, and while the tour and Aussie cast are disappointing in this regard as they aren’t as diverse as we would all like, I seriously hope that this show continues to include all women from every background. This show should empower all women and NB folk, not just heterosexual, cisgender white women. 

[yourdeepestfathoms]

L-

LEGS

@bessie-bass-on-the-bass featuring Lauren’s hand

[toomanyfamdom]

Many Shades of Green

I have to say some thank yous before I post this.

Thank you to @jane-fucking-seymour , @ichlugebulletsandcornnuts , @millie1536 and @bessie-bass-on-the-bass for being inspirations to me. Without them I wouldn’t have thought of starting to write. They never got mad if I sent them random messages and goodness knows what time for them and have kindly corrected me when necessary. So thank you.

But the person I owe the most to is @the-quiet-winds . I’ve talked most closely with them and they are an incredible writer and the first person to encourage me to basically get myself together and write something for goodness sake. They’ve been incredibly kind, never minding the annoying messages I send them and giving me her permission to write my own interpretations of her stories some co-written with @ichlugebulletsandcornnuts . So for this, I thank you.

This is my first publicized work and I’m open to constructive criticism. This is based on the personal head cannon I mentioned about Anne Boleyn so I decided I would just write about it instead. Please be patient with me. This may seem a little unrealistic but bear with please.

Also, does anyone want a tag list?

Tw: none that I can think of

Word count: 1318

***

All was calm in the queens household.

Which was weird, especially because the ladies-in-waiting were over for the evening for their monthly get together.

It wasn’t the only time the ladies were in the house, they only lived two doors down the road but it was the only scheduled, constant gathering.

They were all gathered in the living room, watching a movie, eating - or in some cases throwing - popcorn when one of the phones began to ring. Catherine, being the closest got to it first.

“Hello?” she answered, face brightening as the other person spoke, “Sasha! Give me one second, I’ll put you on speaker.” Sasha was their manager so if she phoned the house, it was something for everyone.

“Hello?” Sasha’s voice came through the speaker.

“Hiya love, you have all of us here,” Jane told the woman.

“Great, makes my life easier,” they all laughed, “I have some very exciting news for you all.”

“Don’t leave us hanging babes, tell us,” Anna laughed.

“You’ve been invited for a European tour.”

Silence. Then all hell broke loose.

“Are we really going on tour?”

“It would be so nice to go back home.”

“That I agree with, Bess.”

“I’d love to back to France.”

“Same but with Spain.”

“I’d love to go where you grew up Catherine.”

“How cool, we get to travel and still perform. Awesome!”

“Agreed, Kat.”

“That’s a lot of new rigs to learn.”

“You’ll be fine Joey.”

“Where are we going, Sasha?” Jane was the only person with something sensible to say.

“You’ll be starting in Portugal and working your way through Spain, France, Italy, Germany, the Netherlands and ending in Sweden.”

“That’s so many places,” Kat was in awe.

“So many different languages,” Cathy noted.

“We’ll have to see about getting interpreters,” Sasha added.

“Well you have Anna, Catherine, Anne, Maggie and I who can speak German, Spanish and French respectively,” Cathy said, “And Bessie-”

“I can speak Italian,” the bassist confirmed.

“Right,” she nodded, “so it’s just Portuguese, Dutch and Swedish we’ll need help with.”

“I’ll look into interpreters but no promises,” Sasha’s voice was uncertain.

“I’ll learn them.”

Every head turned to the queen who had just spoken.

“Are you sure, Anne? That’s a lot of work,” Maria questioned her friend.

“Well I’m already learning other languages and from what I’ve heard Portugese and Spanish are kind of similar and German, Dutch and Swedish come from the same family of languages so I wouldn’t mind. If it gives us some piece of mind,” Anne scratched her neck and giggle slightly, “I’ve been looking for some new languages to learn anyway so this just made my search so much easier.”

Only if you’re sure sister,“ Maggie looked concerned.

"I’m sure,” the woman in question affirmed, pulling her sister into her arms, “I promise if it gets too much, I’ll stop. Is that okay with everyone?”

Various affirmations were made and Sasha said, “Thank you Anne, that’s one less thing to worry about. Just letting you know, your opening date is in six months. Bye.”

“Thank you Sasha, bye,” Catherine hung up the phone, “well then, let’s get back to our movie, shall we?

***

Four months later and the ladies-in-waiting were over again. Maria, Joan, Jane and Catherine were all in the kitchen making the dinner together, Anna, Kat and Bessie were playing an intense game of Mario Kart and Anne, Maggie and Cathy were in Anne’s room.

"This is incredible,” said Cathy from where she was sitting on the floor by Anne’s desk with the queens many notebooks sat surrounding her, all in different colours and languages ranging from English to German to Swedish, “How many languages did you say?”

“Nine,” Anne said, looking up from where she was lying upside down off the edge of her bed reading some Greek poetry, dangerously close to kicking Maggie in the face from where she was drawing in a random sketch book she found, “and I’m working on a tenth, although it’s a little harder, see that dark blue one behind you? I’m not fluent, that would be impossible in four months but I’ll be able to help in most situations.”

“That’s amazing,” Cathy smiled at her, “now, come help me put these away.”

Anne closed her book and set it gently on the floor putting her hands down and kicking herself off the bed and over onto her feet. She took the books from a laughing Cathy and went round the other side of the divider she had put in her room and came back around to the girls, flopping at Cathy and Maggie’s feet, back to her original position.

“You’re gonna hurt yourself one of these days,” Maggie didn’t even look up from her drawing.

“I know,” Anne winked at Cathy to have the pair laugh at her despairingly.

“You’ll have to teach me some of those languages when we get time,” Cathy said, “Its so nice to see this other side of you and I’m so happy you feel comfortable enough to show me this side.”

Anne sat up, “You two are my nearest and dearest, how could I not be comfortable around you?”

The trio smilled at each other and all of their phones buzzed.

“Did you two get this as well?” asked Maggie.

“From Sasha,” Cathy had already read the message and was looking at it with wide eyes.

“Is it bad or?” Anne’s phone was out of reach.

“The tour’s been cancelled,” Maggie told her.

Anne bolted up straight. “What?! What do you mean?” she asked increadiusly.

“Exactly what she said.”

“What on…” Anne trailed off then jumped off the bed and running downstairs, “Familly meeting in the kitchen!”

Anna jumped when she heard Anne’s shout. The German looked over at her two companions.

“If Anne’s calling a family meeting,” started Kat.

“Something is definitely wrong,” Bessie finished.

“Better not keep the hurricane waiting,” the three went to the kitchen, meeting Maggie and Cathy in the hall and were met with a pacing Anne Boleyn.

“Perfect, we’re all here now,” Anne said, “Have a seat.” She gestured towards the table.

“Anne, what’s wrong?” Jane asked as softly as she could.

“Nothing’s wrong per say, just changes, I don’t like sudden changes so yeah,” Anne muttered to her self. She stopped took a deep breath then said, “Check your phones.”

They all did - except for Maggie and Cathy who tried to calm Anne down a bit. “I have a message from Sasha,” said Kit a bit confused, “why is she messaging me?”

“I have one too,” said Maria

“I think we all do,” Jane said in a grim voice, reading the message.

“Is it bad?” Joan looked over to her former mistress, scared to read it.

Anne took a deep breath, “The tour’s been cancelled.”

“What?!” Katherine almost jumped out of her seat, “But why? All the prep was going so well and we were getting venues just fine.”

“Says here that our sponsor backed out,” Anna said, “If that’s true, there’s no way the tour could be funded babes.”

“You did all that learning for nothing,” Catherine realised the root of Anne’s distress.

Anne visibly deflated, leaning against the counter top, head in her hand. “Its not even that. Well, it is that a little but,” she sighed, “You may not know or remember this from our past lives but I thoroughly enjoy learning. Languages especially, they’re challenging. But I also love learning with a reason. I probably would’ve learnt the languages anyways but the tour gave me a reason. It gave me constancy. And that’s been torn from underneath my feet.”

Suddenly there was a Kitty sized person embracing Anne. “I think its really cool how much you’ve managed to learn Annie. Nine foreign languages? That’s incredible!”

“Well, now I have an excuse to keep learning yeah? Look on the bright side!” Anne returned her cousin’s hug, “Thanks sister.”

[augustwritessometimes]

She can't stop (1/?)

Tw: Sensory overload (also, this is based on how I get them and they're weird to describe so sorry if it's weird)

Bessie knew it was coming. The noise was to much, she was zoning in and out, the noise was dulling and then coming back loud.

She knew she needed to get off stage, she had an alternate backstage specifically for this. But, it's the middle of Heart if Stone, she can't switch the bass will suddenly stop and sound weird, it'll be noticeable.

She can ignore it. She'll just put it off and wait until the song is done before switching off, the bass stop won't be noticeable and everyone will still be distracted by the queens. Perfect plan!

Until it wasn't.

She could feel herself stopping, she could yell at herself in her head, saying she needed to continue. All she wanted to do was to make the offending noises stop. Make them go away.

Her solution?

Scream.

Scream until the sound stopped, scream until she can't breathe, scream until everyone is silent.

The only problem with this plan is that it's during a show.

But she still screamed. The queens stopped. The Audience went silent. You could hear a pen drop.

Well, if it wasn't for the screaming and oncoming sobs.

Bessie was a mess, she's crouched with her hands over her ears and her eyes scrunched closed.

Kitty tried to touch her, surely Bessie would recognize the soft, distinct touch of her mother figure. Right?

The moment Kitty tried to touch her, Bessie kicked. She didn't know who was touching her or why, but she needed them to not.

Kitty fell down and looked to Maria for help. The drummer shrugged her shoulders and looked to Parr.

Parr slowly approached the small bassist, who's screaming was slowly subsiding. Bessie needed to calm down, but Parr couldn't touch her without risking injury.

Slowly, the audience started making sound. They could still see what was happening, why hasn't anyone closed the curtains?

Aragon - surprisingly - was the one to not only close the curtains, but to try and get the audience to be silent again. Her mic was still on, and she used it to her advantage. She spoke softly, as to not make Bessie's pain worse. The audience started to calm again, not being able to see what was happening and having something told to them.

Behind the curtains it became a flurry of getting Bessie out if her bass, backstage, and getting her alternate on. There was also the decision on who will stay back stage with her.

Everyone was saying Kitty Should go, and usually she would. Bessie wasn't screaming anymore, that was an improvement. However; touching her was another story.

Parr was the only one able to get close to Bessie, she knew that the bassist needs to be calmed down slightly. She remembered something that Bessie told her one time about what to do if she had an overload this bad: sing.

So, Parr did. She sang the first thing that came to mind that would be calling to Bessie. Parr didn't know all the words but she would try her best.

"dear Theodosia what to say to you, you have my eyes you have your mother's name. When you came into this world you cried and it broke my heart. I'm dedicating everyday to you..." As Parr continued to sing, Bessie started to calm more and more.

Bessie heard the singing through her haze. She knew that song, and she knew that voice. But where is the person singing?

Bessie reached out in the direction of the soft sweet voice. She wanted this woman - whoever she is - to hold her.

Parr slowly pulled Bessie to her chest, and Bessie held in to the costume for dear life.

It took a few minutes before Parr was able to stand up while holding Bessie, and when she managed there was flurry of switching the bassists and getting Vicki out.

Bessie finally stopped screaming, but she was still sobbing