Old Friends Who’ve Just Met

Happy New Year, everyone.  Despite 2021 beginning with the continuation and mutation of our new nemesis, the sun still came up today, and chances are it will come up again tomorrow.  I try to keep that in mind when things out there in our world begin to look a little grim.  

I hope you are all safe, healthy, and managing everyday.  I have spent all of January working on “STAR TRUK WARS”, the most elaborate CAVE – iN production piece we have endeavored to produce so far.  If you haven’t had a chance to see it, jump over to the CAVE – iN You Tube Channel and have a look.  Also in the works is a ‘Making Of/Behind the Scenes” documentary about our work on CAVE – iN, so look for that soon…

If you’ve ever moved to a new town and been thrust into a mix a new coworkers who have been functioning together for years, then you know that it can take a while to find your footing.  In 1978 when Jim brought me into his Muppet circle I found myself suddenly inserted into such an environment.  I was an awkward nineteen year old, unsophisticated, guileless, and the polar opposite of well travelled.  Mix that with my wide-eyed eagerness and some timidity, and it’s easy to see why assimilating into the social structure took some time.

By then, “The Muppet Show” was a well-oiled machine.  Hugely popular worldwide, it was the middle of the third of five seasons, so the routine and the roles of the participants in all areas of production were well established.  Many of the principle people at that point in time had been a part of Jim’s troupe since the days of his “Muppetland” television specials like “Hey, Cinderella”, and before.  I was the very young ‘new guy’ with so much to learn about the ways of the Muppets, the social structure of the group, and life, itself.

Within any tight knit group it takes earning and gaining trust from your fellows to truly fit in and become a part of the team.  So, when I was dropped into the mix, it’s understandable that, while no one was unfriendly, they needed to find out who I was before I could be entirely accepted.  Frankly, I’m not sure I knew who I was either!

Sure, everybody went to the studio everyday and worked, but within Jim’s group at that time their was a deep social connection between people that transcended the work.  There’s a lot I can say about that timeframe, but for purposes of this post I want to speak about the very first person who took the initiative to approach me to spend time outside of the work environment.  That person was Caroly Wilcox.

In my mind, Caroly was one of a small group of Muppet Workshop Masters, much in the same way one might think of Jim’s group of puppeteers at that time within the realm of Muppet Performers.  Though by then she had generally settled into puppet building, she had considerable experience as a puppeteer, as well.  Like so many of the people Jim gathered around him, Caroly knew her craft from the inside out.

 

 

 

 

 

 

One day within the first couple of weeks that I was in London, Caroly approached me in the workshop, saying that she had an extra ticket to a London West End show called, “Once A Catholic” for the following Saturday evening show, and asked if I’d like to come along.  

At this point in my life, I was petrified of being in a big city to a ridiculous degree.  Prior to this trip to London, I had not travelled any farther than Florida on family vacations, except to New York for a few days to meet Jim.  During that trip, I had stayed almost entirely in my hotel room except to go directly to 67th Street and back.  I even managed to screw that up by telling the cab driver “57th Street” by accident.  Prior to that trip I had literally never taken a taxi, or a bus, or a subway…there was no subway in Atlanta in the ’70’s, and being a ‘car centric’ city, I drove everywhere.

So, being…well…me…as eager as I was to make friends I was terrified of the entire endeavor Caroly was proposing.  My internal dialogue began with, ‘How would I get there’?…’How would I get back to my hotel’?…’What would we talk about’?…’How do I convert pounds to dollars in my head’?…’What is a “Catholic“‘?…

But none-the-less, I enthusiastically said “yes” to Caroly’s gracious offer, sealing my fate by forcing young Steve Whitmire to step outside of his comfort zone.  So, first things first…I asked Caroly how I should go about getting to the theatre, and she thoughtfully said that the best way was to take the ‘Tube’ into town…she might as well have said ‘use the Star Trek transporter and beam yourself to Leicester Square…’.

At the time, I was staying in Swiss Cottage, north of the center of London.  In truth, it’s a simple journey with one line change, but for a first-time user of a subway, in an unfamiliar foreign city, in the dark ages before the internet, it involved an exhaustive strategic mapping session on my part.   I did manage to get there, and we met outside the Wyndham Theatre.

I remember almost nothing about the show, except that it was funny, and I found myself trying to laugh in accordance with Caroly’s laughs…but the real fun was yet to come…Afterwards I thanked her for inviting me along, and while trying to hide my deep trepidation about my getting home, I set off on my own having absolutely no clue how to get back to Swiss Cottage.  That’s another story for another time…  

In case you don’t know, Caroly passed away earlier this year.  She leaves behind her own legacy that includes being a core part of what gave the Muppets so many years of longevity.  Why she took an interest in socializing with me at that rather crucial growth phase in my life I will never know for sure.  Did she somehow sympathize with being a ‘fish out of water’?  Did she take pity on the as-of-yet unformed psyche that she saw in me?  Who knows, but I will never forget her art, and her smile, and most importantly, her welcoming and unconditional kindness.