Henry: Queen of the Evergreen

Rehearsals have been going quite well and we have started adding costume pieces, lights and sound during our runs. Over the past few days, we have ran the show all the way through eight times. The cast is feeling much more confident with lines and set changes, so we are ready for the energy of an audience. Bill is bringing his grandchildren to see the show on Monday! Bill has four sons and eight grandchildren, four boys and four girls ranging from ten to twenty one. Since, both his family and our cast are male dominated, Bill likes to joke around with me, but always checks-in to make sure that I know he is just kidding. Since I play the Old Woman in the show he’ll say things like “ok, Eva, you can take your costume off now” when I have already removed my white wig.

I finally met Henry, who works the front desk of the Evergreen Plaza, and he is incredibly warm and welcoming. He greeted us with a big “Well, hi ya’ll! You are beautiful people” and repeatedly said, “if you need anything, anything at all, just let me know.” As per Bill’s suggestion, we asked Henry if we could have mini refrigerators put in our rooms and he made a note of it. When we went up to our rooms we discovered that the fridges were already there. On the way to dinner I jokingly asked Henry, “How did you do that so quickly?” and he snapped his fingers in a Z formation and said “it’s mah gay magic! If you need anything, anything at all, just ask me. I am the top queen here!” And so, the cast of King Arthur dubbed Henry “Queen of the Evergreen.”

Now, whenever I pass by the front desk Henry waves and says, “Hello, baby!” with a big smile. Henry is the epitome of southern hospitality and I appreciate seeing a friendly face each evening. Last night, while I was making some tea and attempting to make hard boiled eggs in the microwave (big mistake), Henry told me his life story. He grew up “down the Bayou” in the 50s and explained that, “being gay was very taboo” and he suffered from ridicule from his peers. When he was 18 he began his career as a burlesque performer and played all over the country. He feels he can relate to the actors who pass through every six months because he has worked in show biz and knows about the long hours on your feet. Henry explained that his costumes and make up looked much more “natural” than most drag queen costumes do today. He even showed me a photo of him in costume for Diamonds are a Girl’s Best Friend.

After his burlesque career he joined the Merchant Marines because of the gay culture on most of the ships. Henry is proud to have traveled the world three times! He explained, “I don’t care what kind of person you are, I love all people! And I love this job.” Henry got his degree in hotel management 30 years ago and has been working at the Evergreen Plaza for 25 years. He is a people person and a busy body, who goes to the gym five times a week and recently lost 35 pounds. After I listened for quite a while. Henry asked, “So, how old are you sweetie? 19?” Gotta love it. Since it was nearing 10 pm Henry reminded me to get a good night’s sleep and I went back to my room so he could watch Glee in peace and quiet. (Henry pointed to the TV and said, “Those are my babies!”)

Tonight, Zach, Craig, Mike and I went to a diner for dinner. Luckily, we were all in proper dinner attire.


I tried grits for the very first time and in honor of My Cousin Vinny, one of my favorite movies, I snapped some photos of my very first bowl of grits! Here’s the clip if you haven’t seen the movie: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MoRCsvYxoAw.
Craig was loving his mashed potatoes:


They were plain grits, without any butter or seasoning, so they tasted very plain. It’s similar to polenta. Three small bites was enough for me. The Italian part of me was thinking, "Hmmm…. with some garlic, olive oil and parmesan, this could be delicious."

Time for some Disney channel movie time before bed!