That’s what we had to splash across the posters outside the theater announcing the release of Lost Films of Roscoe Fatty Arbuckle.
And from what I’ve been told already, we’re sold out for the next three nights as well.
The
SOLD-OUT part caused quite the uproar, but since I had a ‘in’ with the owner, I’ve been able to assure everyone that we’re adding as many more runs as the
public demands. And each showing will involve more of the red-carpet treatment.
What exactly is the red-carpet treatment you ask?
Well, it involves a number of celebrities
and officials in attendance (which will vary depending upon the individuals’
availability, as well as other important folk who had not been able to attend
the opening night festivities), along with the red carpet. I’ve also hired a
number of actors and actresses from the local and neighboring theaters, as well
as students from the high school drama departments, to show up in full costume
and make-up as stars from the past to help add to the atmosphere. Those not
walking the red carpet will be in the ‘crowd’ screaming, cheering, and asking
for autographs. And in fairness, we’re rotating members of the “crowd” with the
red-carpet walkers so everyone gets their chance to get the ‘star’ treatment.
Mind
you, ‘the crowd’ will be mixed in with those in the actual crowd of news media,
and onlookers who show up. We just want to make sure there would be enough
folks on hand to make things seem more authentic. Not that we really needed our
actors/actresses, quite a real crowd showed up and from what I’ve been told,
they’ll be showing up again and again.
From
what everyone has been telling me, the look-alike celebrities are a huge hit alongside
the important guests, who had a ball mingling with Hollywood’s stars of
yester-year. Who knows, maybe a few new stars may be being discovered, or at
least given a chance to make their own names known? I can only hope.
Lisa, Marisa, Teddy and a few of their friends are certainly becoming better known. As I had promised Roscoe, I decided to showcase some of the talents I’d learned over the decades from him. Tonight, we recreated a scene from Roscoe’s “The Cook”, which involved perfect timing as I (as the Cook) tossed various items across the stage to Teddy the waiter as he was coming into the kitchen. This in turned into a dance number. We also recreated several other scenes from some of Roscoe's other movies we were showing tonight. And everybody was right on cue.
This was mostly thanks to Lisa. Roscoe had shown up several time during rehearsal to help give her advice and instructions on how to help the others get their timing down just right. But even with his guidance, more than a few plates, cups, and other breakables (although we started out with plastic ones) met unfortunate ends during those rehearsals.
And because I’m such a swell guy, I did permit people to film and record our routines. Why? Because having our antics shown all over the internet is going help build interest in this wonderful crew of talented young people. Who knows? Maybe it will lead to some radio, television, commercials, or streaming service projects for some of them down the road.
In the meantime, I already have a few Keystone Cop routines in mind for Teddy and the rest of this little band of actors. After all, I want to do some more silent film festivals in the near future.
But what I’ve enjoyed most was seeing more of Roscoe, and knowing it was really him. For so long, one of my greatest regrets in having such a long life was knowing I’d have to say goodbye to so many wonderful people I came to know and love. Of course, new people keep entering my life, but it’s still very having to eventually have to let go of the ones you’ve already known and loved for so long.
I’ve not had the courage to ask Roscoe anything about the afterlife. But
just knowing one does exist is reassuring. And even more importantly, knowing that 'some' of my older friends from long ago will show up every now and then to spend some
more time with me, makes what I assume (based on my already extremely long life) my many years ahead a little less scary.
- THE END
We hoped you enjoyed this not-so-short tale about Nathan and company. We've wanted to do a story like this that demonstrates how in spite of his already long existence and research, there's still so much our hero does not know about his condition. And we're looking forward to exploring and finding out more of what those possibilities are, with all of you.
In the meantime, more re-runs of older past stories will appear here for a while. Allan has a new novel (which does not involve Nathan or the Para-Earths) to release in the next two months.
Also, we are hoping to release a new anthology titled "The Vampyre Blogs - Two For the Road" coming later this year. At the moment we're aiming for a late September/early October release to coincide with the Halloween season. After all, what better time of year to release stories about a vampyre and his friends?
As always we thank you for coming and reading our tales, and supporting our efforts. Please remember to share this site and tell others about the Vampyre Blogs and the Para-Earth book series. We have much more coming and are looking forward to entertaining you with many more stories and adventures.
Take care and happy reading everyone!
