On the Road with Jersey Line: The confessions of a Wardrobe Assistant

Philadelphia

It was the day of the VIP grand opening of Jersey's.  The costumes had all been loaded in and I was busy backstage with my steamer and portable sewing machine, reviewing my notes and prepping Joey's costumes when our apprentice Sheila came running up to me in a panic.  "Liza, we have a problem. . ." She stammered. 
"Okay, calm down," I reassured her, putting my hands gently on her shoulders.  "It's the start of the tour, things are bound to go wrong", I said with a smile.  Now, take a deep breath and tell me what's wrong."  

I waited for Sheila to calm down.  Then she hurriedly said "Ronny's Stetson is missing". 

I felt as if the air had been sucked out of the room .  I had a flashback to my first tour with Jersey Line.  Like Sheila, I was a young apprentice just learning the ropes and trying to keep the pace of a very busy tour.

At the time, Ronny had a very popular instrumental piece called "Tuxedo".  I was waiting backstage with his cutaway black tuxedo jacket when I realized I had left the distressed bow tie he wore for the song back in the dressing room.   Having a very short window, I alerted my boss, and took off running.  I made it to the dressing room and grabbed the bow tie in record time.  However, coming back to the stage, I tripped over a piece of rigging and cut a deep gash in my leg.  The bow tie flew out of my hands and was lying about a foot in front of me.  I sat staring at the blood gushing out of my leg, completely forgetting about everything but my injury.

A few seconds later, I heard someone calling my name.  I looked up at my boss and behind her, storming towards me a very angry Ronny.  She bent down, grabbed the bow tie and hurriedly helped him into the jacket and snapped the bow tie in place.  She then ran back to me and called for a medic.   I felt like such a failure and was certain it was my first and last show with the band.  The gash on my leg ended up requiring 11 stitches and a Tetanus shot. So my first show of that tour ended with me in the E.R. After the concert ended, Ronny showed up at my hospital bed with a dozen red roses and a box of Godiva Chocolates. He apologized profusely for his anger and reassured me that my job was still secure.

Flash forward to 2012. This time, I was the boss staring at this frightened young woman.   "What do we do, Liza?"  I looked at my watch then at Sheila.  "Call management and see if we can get a courier to bring the Stetson to Philly.  If not, we need to do some quick shopping!  Go!   Sheila was off and running like a deer caught in the headlights.  "Be careful!"  I called after her.  I rubbed my left shin, feeling the scar that was a constant reminder of my disastrous Jersey Line debut. 

A few minutes later, Sheila came back with great news.  They found the hat and the courier was en route.   Now all we had to do was wait.

Shortly after the courier arrived with the hat, I was pulled aside by a very upset Ronny. "I need to talk to you, Now!" He took my arm and we headed into his dressing room. After shutting the door, he turned and punched his fist into the wall. His knuckles were scraped open and bleeding. I grabbed a towel, grabbed his hand and led him to  a low black futon in the middle of the room. We sat down as I nursed his hand. "Baby, what the fuck?" I asked. "What's wrong?"
He looked at me with the saddest eyes I have ever seen.
"Joey". He shook his head, took a deep breath and continued "Joey just told me Jimmy Shields is going to be backing me up tonight and every night on tour."

He shook off the towel, stood up and started pacing the room like a caged tiger.
"Joey told me that they think I'm losing my edge, my solos are weak and since Jimmy played most of the acoustic guitar on the new record, he's now playing on tour."

I stared at him in disbelief. I didn't know what to say. I stood up and walked to him, put my arms around him and pulled him close. He enclosed me in his arms and we stood there in silence. "It's okay" I whispered "whatever happens, we will face it together." He lifted my chin and our lips met. We kissed as if it were the first time. We were holding onto each other for dear life when the door flew open and Joey walked in followed by Jimmy Shields.   I could tell by the looks on their faces that they meant business. So I quickly grabbed my things and left the room, closing the door behind me. I wanted to be a fly on the wall inside that room.  Their voices were raised and I was afraid they were going to solve it the Jersey way, with a full out brawl. 

I went back to work, waiting nervously for the door to open.  But after 5 minutes, they were still inside.  I saw Dick walk over to the door and after knocking, the door opened and he joined the others.  I got a quick glimpse of Ronny.   His face was tense and his hands in fists.  There was still blood dripping off his knuckles.   I knew this was not going to have a happy ending.   Before Dick closed the door, Ronny's eyes met mine.  I could see the pain and anger in his eyes reflected in mine.  Then the door closed again.   There was an ominous feeling in the pit of my stomach.  I worked silently beside Sheila, glad I had something to do to occupy my time until the door opened again.