Odd Night

For those who were involved in Birdie you will be interested in this story; for those who were not it will just be a funny mix-up story.

First I should tell you the reality: Austin, who played my Hugo in Birdie, had a cousin pass away yesterday; he was stung by a bee and was apparently allergic to it, he did not make it. They were really very close so he is having a hard time with it, understandably so. These two cousins were close enough to be brothers. Austin has an identical twin brother named Taylor who I refer to as Not Hugo, the two look so much alike the only thing I see different is that Not Hugo has longer hair, their voice is even so similar I can not tell them apart.

So here is how the story unfolded last night:I got a text message from one of the cast members that said: Did you hear that Austin's twin brother died this weekend?
Followed by a second text from another cast member that said: Did you hear that Not Hugo died of a bee sting?

I was struck by a sense of sadness that I could not quite understand. Not Hugo and I had met on a few occasions and he came to every performance of Birdie. He was a great kid, but I did not know him well. I was very sad for Austin because I know they are close and he would need some help. I also felt like I had lost a member of my cast.

So I called the first texter and asked what happened. She told me that Austin was in a show with her and he had missed a rehearsal on Saturday because his brother was in the hospital having been stung by a bee. The director of that show called Monday to see how he was doing, and he had just passed away. So Austin told her that he had not made it. She told the cast, and I got a text. Please to keep in mind that Austin never said, “My twin brother was stung by a bee and died.” He apparently had found it easier just to call his cousin his brother than to explain it was his cousin but they were raised so close they are like brothers… what ever.

My first call was to Candice because I knew that her boss’s kids were close with him and would know what was going on. Then I called Kate to see what the best practice is for letting our cast know about it. She suggested sending out a mass email expressing our condolences to Austin on the passing of Not Hugo and then send a second one without Austin in the bcc telling the cast that we were going to collect for flowers if they wanted to donate. However she suggested actually calling a few key people in the cast to let them know. I tried to call Megs because they were an on-stage couple, luckily she was not there (I would have been mortified to tell her this and then have her be so sad only to call her back and say there was a misunderstanding.) I next called Laren, my BDPAE… or production assistant... because Kate had specifically told me they knew each other well. Laren was shocked because her roommate is a cousin as well. (this is a good thing, because it eventually kept me from sending out the info to everyone) Laren called her roommate to see what was going on, and also talked to Austin. In the mean time I had just gotten a hold of my choreographer Stephanie and was in the middle of tell her the story when Laren called me back. I told Stephanie I would get right back to her. Laren told me what happened and I was relieved. Not Hugo was alive!! Sadly, Austin was having a very hard time with the death of his cousin. I called Stephanie back right away and told her the news. THEN I called Candice and the two people who had sent me the text messages to tell them what had happened and set the record straight.

Right after this I was settling in to finish my final project that was due last night at midnight when my phone rang. I was not going to answer it because I did not know the number, but I am glad I did. The voice said, “Stephanie? This is Not Hugo; I understand you think I am dead.” I screamed for joy that Taylor was not only alive, but calling me. I felt really bad though, that all of a sudden a miscommunication had made a handful of people think he was dead for a time and I was smack dab in the middle of it. Dumb gossip.

Well I see why Austin would have just said “My brother” because I was raised close to my Uncle Lee’s family and his daughter Anna and I are the same age-ish so when I used to baby sit her kids I just called them my ‘nephews’ instead of ‘my cousin Anna’s kids’. They in turn called me Aunt Stephanie.

I am glad that Taylor is fine, I am sad that Austin is struggling, I am sad they lost a cousin. I hereby retire from trying to be helpful when I get death notices via text message!

It was a hard night… it was an odd night!