A Little Help from Their Friends

The years helen spent promoting the Arts in Houston pays off.

 

A Little Help from their Friends

 

 

 

 

Helen arrived at Wortham Center and found a crew of set designers and stage hands hard at work duplicating the rooftop of Texas Commerce Tower.  The backdrop of skyscrapers was already in place.  Kevin’s idea to get footage of the promotional spot in this setting was a stroke of genius.  Kimberly’s expected fall could be practiced here to perfection. 

            “I think we can pull this off, Ms Wright”, Malcolm, the set designer said.  “We enlisted some help from Houston Reparatory Theatre.  Everyone is just thrilled to be helping you with this.”

            “Thanks Malcolm.  It looks very realistic.  You know I can almost feel the building swaying.”

            “You do fee it swaying.  That was my baby.  We have to recreate all the hazards nature could throw at us that day.  We tied into the weather station atop the Tower and we can feed the wind direction into this computer.  The computer controls the wind machines and the sway of the floor.  We’re working on the lighting now.  Most of the physical build is complete.”

            “Is this ventilator the right size?” a construction worker asked.  “It looks too short.”

            “Move it to the elevator shack.  We have anther ventilator coming in later tonight.  We’ll have it in place for the first shoot.”

            “We’re ready for you in makeup now. It’s a real pleasure to be working with you.” The young make up artist took Helen backstage to get her ready for her part in the staged promotion. 

            Helen was genuinely surprised at the level of respect she was being shown.  She rarely ventured outside of the society circle, so she had little to no contact with those who helped put on the performances she promoted.  This was much more than she had bargained for, and it made her feel more than a little ashamed of how little thought she gave to the level of commitment it took to put on the operas and ballets she promoted from behind her desk on her radio show.  It took about an hour to get the first test shot right.  The computer had a couple glitches and caused Helen to lose her balance each time as it shook the stage with an unpredictably wild sway. Malcolm was on top of it all and smoothed the problems out within a couple of minutes. He saw the concern on Helen’s face after the second shudder. 

            “Not to worry” he reassured her.  “We have to experience a couple of mistakes before the whole system can compensate for the variables we set up.  It’s going to work great, no worries!”

            After the first couple of miscues, the stage did work as flawlessly as promised.   Helen was almost a victim of motion sickness once the test shot began.  The stage was working too well.  She hoped the girls would be able to deal with the movement.  It took some time to get your legs under you.

            Malcolm checked everything once more and declared it was time to give everyone a break.  The backdrop was now changing with the sky outside the Tower, complete with the occasional airplane flying overhead. 

            “Malcolm” Helen asked.  “Any idea how much this is costing?”

            “Cost? What cost?  We do this all for you and your family.  It is our pleasure to help you, as you have never once asked anything in return for all you did to help all of us here.”

            Helen choked back some tears as Malcolm spoke.  She felt so selfish in her quest for the top spots on radio and television.  These people brought her back to where she began.  Her radio show and television spots had helped them build a marvelous supporting staff for the lavish operas and ballets performed in these halls.   She may have been paid to do the spots, but she was a genuine supporter of the arts.  They respected that in her, and this was their payment to her and Kevin.