"Say It Somehow" (THE LIGHT IN THE PIAZZA)

In previous posts, I have mentioned the importance of friendship in my life--they represent a life line for me because my family is back in TX. I may not be open and revealing as others but I'm always an ear to listen, a shoulder to lean on, and, if needed, a protector. In return, a lot of volleyball friends, in addition to non-volleyball friends, put up with my zaniness and obsessions. One of those obsessions is the musical DREAMGIRLS. In the last few months, there are been many DREAMGIRLS moments that I've shared, and the volleyball circle has endured it and completely humored me, but today was a moment in that obsession that was special. I shared this story with that select group of 20 or so volleyballers who saw the movie with me, and now I will mention it here. It is that special. A lot of volleyballers refer to me as Effie White, one of the characters in DREAMGIRLS, and in my office they also call me that (for obvious reasons).

So this day was quite a surprise because the original Effie, Jennnifer Holliday, came into the office. On Monday, we have a benefit called "Nothing Like A Dame," and it's a celebration of women being held at the Shubert Theatre. She is performing a number (in addition to my other idol, Lea Salonga), and she stopped by to drop off her music and go over production details. Anyway, Miss Holliday came over to say hi to me as she left, and we thanked her for doing the show. I told her that I wanted an "updated" picture because the last one we took was in 2001. I'll always be a fan of hers. Here is the picture.Anyway, we were talking about her past year and all the publicity she received because of the movie DREAMGIRLS, and she mentioned the youtube.com clip that is up (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kC_u_q-iND0). I told her that I put that clip up (1982 Tony Awards where a then-21-year-old tore it up on that signature song), and she said "you're 317" (my username is room317). She wondered how to contact the person who put that clip up. Then she just kept gushing how grateful she was that the clip was put up because as she said it "helped save her career" in her fight regarding the movie. Like the saying goes, there is no such thing as bad publicity, and she used that clip in all her interviews regarding the movie and how she was not asked to be a part of the movie. Then she almost made me cry as she was telling the story about how you don't know how you impact a person's life by doing something so simple (I wouldn't have known how putting up that video would do so much for her), and she's saying this while trying not to cry also. Truly moving and I was at a loss for words. One of the great quiet moments of my life.

In my world, today two Effie Whites met and things were great.