Yellow Ribbons

In 1977, the Iranian hostage crisis occurred. A popular song at the time was Tony Orlando's "Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree" and the yellow ribbon became a symbol for bringing the hostages home safely. An enterprising backstage dresser for "Casino de Paris" decided to make yellow ribbons for each and every member of the cast to wear on their finale costumes one night.

My dressing room decided it was a newsworthy event and I was elected to run it past our Company Manager to see if she'd call the local newspaper. She didn't have quite the same enthusiasm and counseled us to be content with the audience reaction. Being an outspoken, irrepressible personality, I reasoned that if "we" called from the backstage pay phone, no one would be the wiser. As it turned out, the local paper thought it was a good idea and sent a photographer over to capture the moment. As might be guessed, the Company Manager was never fooled as to who made the call.