Friday, July 22, 2016

15 Seconds of Fame

SHOWBIZ on E. 4th St., Cleveland, Ohio

c/o Singing Angels.org

      It is 5 AM and you can smell dew, dirt and beer off the bricks that carpet E. 4th Street just south of Euclid Avenue in Cleveland, Ohio this July summer morning. The Singing Angels, about 45 of them, mostly girls but about 6-7 boys,mostly white but about 1/3 African-Americans and Asians, are dressed in their full uniforms- gold vests, black ties. The girls wear black skirts and the boys tuxedo pants.
       Buzzing in front of them like a large heavy-set bumble bee in glasses is Singing Angels Artistic Director Charles Eversole: fussing here and there- "straighten your tie," "don't forget you are always on camera," "basses move one step to the right." By the dawn's early light they warm up, practice snippets of songs. Their big number that morning will be "Dancing in the Street" made popular in the '60's by Martha and the Vandelias (later the Vandellas).  They are scheduled to appear on NBC's THE TODAY SHOW.
     
c/o singingangels.org
      Up the street from the Angels, pooching out onto the avenue is an elevated platform where a makeshift television studio has been set up by NBC.  On-location broadcasts  for on-the-spot coverage of the Republican National Convention will happen there all week long. Black uniformed technicians and doing their own buzzing about this contraption which includes an outdoor terrace where broadcasters sit with their backs to the street, cameras and lights in their faces so that whoever is standing behind them becomes the living breathing hopefully vibrant backdrop to them.
       The terrace abuts a plastic-covered "green room" of sorts where the TV personalities get prepped and dabbed with makeup in full view of passersby on the street. Matt Lauer, rather bullet-headed in his buzz cut and receding hairline wears a blue blazer and black tie, which would probably be uncomfortable in the humidity. Indeed, peering through the plastic scrim one finds that a black-shirted woman appears to be powdering his head as he sits in placid profile. Also seated further back is a woman in a light flowered dress and while I do not watch the show I believe this is Natalie Morales. Coming down for a chat, though, is Al Roker, far thinner than when he was Cleveland's weatherman, now seeming a bit sickly in his thinness to me, but with an easy smile and laugh. He shakes hands with a few of the Angels and Charles Eversole, makes some self-deprecating jokes and then disappears back into TV land. He will reappear later with his co-stars, briefly.
         And now comes the waiting...
         The broadcast begins and there are segments galore. The big news is Melania's plagiarism. But there is often a switching back to the show in New York for bits about luggage and an interview of Mila Kunis. Leading into a commercial break about 7 there is a quick shot of a few of the Angels sitting in cafe chairs, waving but blink and you will miss it. Matt Lauer, Al Roker and Natalie Morales now step gingerly off their terrace and move in front of the Angels on one side and large crowd that has gathered on the other. There are signs in the crowd- "Jesus Saves," "Coalition for Fair Student Loans," but mostly hands are raised in the air- not in salute- for every hand has a cell phone, red buttons pressed. Everyone is a cameraman now.
          "Dancing in the Street" is 90% off camera, though the Today cast seems pleased and finally NBC pops back on the air to capture the last few bars as the kids reach their climax, hands raised, left leg forward, frozen on the final note. Applause. A few words of how beloved the Singing Angels are here in Cleveland and that's a wrap.
         More handshakes. A few more numbers for the crowd. But NBC has turned away.

15 seconds of national exposure. And so it goes...

1 comment:

  1. Terrific writing here -- & pathos! Yes, 15 seconds is about right. Onward! The media marches ever onward!

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