Like many 802 members, I’ve always turned first to Bill Crow’s The Band Room when reading Allegro and was saddened when Bill retired his column this year. I certainly can’t match his experience or connections, but I thought it might be fun to share some things that happened to me or stories I’ve heard from other musicians. (I got permission from Bill to give it a try!) Hope you like these! Give me feedback (and more stories) at noyneks@gmail.com.

I’d been in NYC for about 5 years and was starting to despair that I’d do uninspiring gigs forever. One Saturday I was stopped at a red light while driving between two wedding gigs in New Jersey when I was rear-ended. As the other driver got out of his car I saw that he was dressed head to toe in a full clown costume. “I’m so sorry” he said. “My clown shoe got caught under the brake pedal and I couldn’t stop in time!” As I got back in my (undamaged) car my entire mood had lifted — I was just playing club dates, but at least I wasn’t driving around New Jersey in giant clown shoes.

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Red Press played lead alto on the Dorsey Brothers’ TV show in 1955. One week Charlie Parker happened to be watching the show while the band was playing for a juggler, and Parker started to laugh, then choke, and sadly ended up passing away. When Red recounted that story, he’d jokingly say “I killed Bird.”

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Glenn Drewes and Keith O’Quinn played in the orchestra for “City of Angels” in the early 90s. Glenn related that one night at intermission a stage hand was last in line for the restroom as the second act was about to start. As he got more anxious he said “how long has that guy been in there?” When Keith emerged with his long hair and pink-tinted glasses the stagehand exclaimed “he’s been in there since the 70s!”

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When “Titanic” was in previews, there were numerous technical issues, most significantly that they were having a hard time getting the ship to sink. We were sure that the show was going to close before it ever opened (but it won seven Tony Awards and had a long run). Years later my dad was buying a dishwasher in Florida. As he was waiting in line to pay the cashier he struck up a conversation with the woman next to him. At some point it emerged that his son played Broadway shows. She asked what ones, and “Titanic” was among those that he named. When he got to the front of the line, the cashier told him he’d heard their conversation, and that he had been a stagehand for “Titanic.” He said “I welded one part of the set wrong, and that’s why the ship wouldn’t sink.” I guess he found his true calling selling dishwashers.

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Longtime Local 802 member Steve Keynon is a woodwind player in New York who’s been lucky enough to know and perform with a lot of good musicians.

Personal essays published in Allegro (including MEMBER TO MEMBER) do not necessarily represent the opinions of the union or its members, officers or staff. To give feedback on this article or submit something to Allegro for consideration, send to allegro@local802afm.org.