Several years ago, I found myself on a Holiday Pops concert with the wonderful Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, under the mighty baton of the late Marvin Hamlisch. Luckily, for all parties concerned, this concert took place quite a while before Marvin passed away. And, because Marvin played a few numbers, the piano was situated front and center, right next to the podium. Except for those few numbers, I was also situated front and center.
Now, Marvin was quite the showman. He was very quick-witted, and engaged in a lot of clever banter between songs. At one point, he started riffing on how Christmas was a much better holiday than Hanukkah, and it was going quite well until he decided to include me in his shtick.
He asked me which holiday I celebrated, and his eyes lit up when I indicated the Jewish one. “Tell me”, he asked, “What was the best Hanukkah present you ever got when you were growing up?” Putting that moment in super-slow motion, and with the benefit of hindsight, I would analyze my thought process thusly:
1. How can I respond in a manner that does justice to my true Smart Ass self?
2. Can I be a Smart Ass while keeping it Family-Friendly?
3. Someone once told me that the “K” sound is funny. Can I work that in?
Marvin stuck the mike in my face, and I looked at him for a couple seconds and then said, “Well I once got a canned ham.” It got quite a big laugh, and I heard Marvin mutter “Canned ham”, then I saw him quickly go dead behind the eyes. My response had proven to be the end of our interaction and the end of our potential comedy act, which I now picture to have been a combination of Ferrante & Teicher and Martin & Lewis.
Oh, well. That’s Show Biz.
Happy Hanukkah, everyone!
I was Marvin’s road and stage manager from 1990-1997. Would have been fun to work with you. Especially fun were the times we played Ravinia with the Chicago Symphony.
Did you ever do any Marvin gigs for which the Manhattan Rhythm Kings opened? I did one or two of those. That’s where I met Michael Keller, and that’s how I ended up playing Lion King and Wicked in Chicago.