Camelot and Magic

Having heard the advertisement on the radio for the musical Camelot, I thought it would be beneficial to be in a musical since it would show me the inner-workings of the whole process from the inside as a cast member. It would also show me how musical librettos are written, how the music is written, how the scripts are put together; I had it all worked out. Then I learned that the musicals of Lerner and Loewe are actually little more than plays with some songs thrown in to make them 3 hours long.

You see, at this point in history, I was in love with the works of Andrew Lloyd Webber, whose style is about a million miles away from Lerner and Loewe or even Rodgers and Hammerstein. So while I enjoyed The Phantom of the Opera on stage for the first time during Camelot's 8 show run, I quickly learned that what I would get out of Camelot would not be an unequivocal love of the musical.

I did enjoy the musical experience, however, and even played in all the shows of that season at the Colorado Springs Repertory Theatre Company. But like I said before, that wasn't the significant thing that happened during that time period. No, I managed to meet someone. Like so many other meetings in the world, it was a chance meeting and could have gone any way at all, but something about her grabbed my attention.

In my aliases, I call her Juliet, but don't misunderstand the name as the typical connotation of Romeo and Juliet of being the ultimate lover, etc. So, this name is more plot-based in that show. You see, Romeo and Juliet were forbidden to see each other and ultimately, their relationship failed because of its forbidden nature. Sure, it has that super-tragic ending that brings out the tears, but we aren't going anywhere that far.

Our first meeting was at the piano during a rehearsal. She was playing Music of the Night from Phantom, and I noted she was playing the song in C, where the actual song was in Db. This is the geek side, folks. I guess this amused her because a short conversation ensued after this, but it was merely small talk, and nothing of consequence...well almost.

You see, when I asked Juliet her age, she said she was fourteen. Red lights and buzzers went off all over the place. I was only nineteen at the time, but that meant we crossed the magic eighteen year old line of statute. This means avoid and don't pursue...which I didn't.

This, however, didn't stop her. Apparently, she was attracted to me, and made every effort to be close to me until I finally gave in to the temptation of the whole thing, and we hung out very regularly during the run of the show. But if you're taking notes, you can probably figure out that everyone else was too. Her age was not a secret any more than mine was. They also knew I was in the military, which means that there are additional avenues in which one can be reported for questionable activity.

Yeah, this sort of thing was actively condemned among the cast and crew of the show to the point where I was finding out that if it didn't stop, one retired Air Force Colonel who was in the show was going to take official steps to have me written up on this illegal activity. Hi Speed was in the crew of the show, and he was keeping me informed on some of the behind-the-back talk I was receiving from others on this as well, and it wasn't good.

So at the cast party, we hung out together, but also kept our arms' length distance from each other since we were being watched...well, scrutinized is a better term, and from the benefit of hindsight, I can see the differences we had, and I would have objections to my own daughters hitting it off with a nineteen year old when they're fourteen. Now, grant also that I was an extremely naive nineteen year old, and it's all too likely we were on the same emotional level when it comes to relationships, but that is quite beside the point.

So I went on to be in the next show, Oliver!, and we started writing to each other. I learned during the run of Oliver! that one of the guys in the show happened to have the locker next door to hers, so he served as a temporary messenger between us. Yup, wisdom had not yet settled in, and we were keeping in touch, despite the forbidden nature of it all. If it weren't so darn taboo, some might call it romantic.

Now, what did I see in this girl that I was willing to deal with the hell I was put through in regards to her? After all, one of the points of even telling about this part of life is not just to set up myself and who I am, but also to point out how it all relates back to the Queen, who refers to Juliet as"diaper-baby."

First, she was very intelligent. Smart to the point that she could not only converse intelligently with me, but challenge me as well. She was also taking college level math courses in high school; the Queen not only has a major in education, but also math and science. She had a strong family background, and that open heart I value so much. And of course, her interest in musicals didn't hurt either.

The other thing that came out of Camelot was an interest in a collectable card game called Magic: The Gathering. It's still around in its umpteenth incarnation since then, and I recognize very little of what's left. But both me and Hi Speed got into Magic since we had nothing else to do with our time or money. I spent literally hundreds of dollars on this game. I bought packs of cards, and then specific cards that I wanted to create decks I was making. My best desk was the discard deck; there were a few things that could defeat it, but it made people crazy. I used the discard cards everyone was familiar with as well as some of the more obscure cards that people had never heard of. It contained only creatures that forced people to discard, three colors of magic, and a full set of original double lands to accomodate the three colors within. If you don't know Magic, all that means nothing, but if you do, you might be at least a little impressed.

Ah well... The relationship with Juliet carried on in this fashion of occurring behind the scenes for the remainder of my time in the Army, and even after I got out. She let me know once about a show she was in, and I went to see it. It was the first time I'd seen her in eight months, and it was like we'd continue to grow closer during our time apart because of our letter exchanges and forbidden calls. I even stole up to her school for her homecoming dance. I actually got in through the back door without anyone noticing me (of course she got asked by her friends about the "built guy" she was with that night).

Believe it or not, everything else that happened during my time in the Army was of very little consequence. I did gig after gig and enjoyed playing music for a living all over Colorado, etc. The Chief and First Sergeant continued to look for everything I was doing wrong, and eventually they got their way. The band was going to dissolve the following year when the 4th Infantry Division went away, and everyone was going their ways to different bands all over the country.

I, on the other hand, was getting an honorable discharge because I was deemed "not a good fit" for the Army. October 13th was to be my last day, and I was expected to vacate my barracks room and be gone after that. Only a couple months prior, I had swapped my 89 Justy for an 86 Camaro, which was really sweet, I must say.

I decided to catch her after school the day before I left, and we spent a little bit of time together before I had to go. For the record, I did call her father once and ask permission to go out with her, but understandably, he said no. So we continued to go behind his back. Sorry, Ed. In retrospect, I would have agred with him, but I was quite blinded by my relationship with her. Part of me thinks if we had been permitted to go out, it would have died quickly, but the forbidden nature likely fueled it more than killing it off.

After I left the Army, we communicated periodically, maintaining that relationship and insisting more than anything else, that we could make it survive. Obviously, it was not to be, but I don't think it could have ended in a worse way than it did. I should have called it done when I left Colorado, but no, I don't know when to let things go.

This ran a little long, but I also covered over a year's worth of time as well. You see, a few months after I returned home, I would show just how "attached" to her I really was. Because in January, only three months later, I met... Allison.