A LORIMAR CHRISTMAS

"Eggnog. Good tidings.  Holly Greens. Sing rum-pa-pa-rum- pum......" -R. Raphe

A tub of eggnog. Actually, make that TWO tubs of eggnog.  The size of  tubs.  Eggnog . Looked like ranch dressing, with sticks of cinnamon floating on top. First thing we saw when we walked in.

It was a long time ago and far way. Lorimar studios. Christmas party. We were not guests. We were THE entertainment. String quartet and harp , if I recall.

The harpist handed out her music  cards all night long. Weddings. Funerals. Parties. That sort of thing.

Work crews had started at 4pm. When we arrived. A huge, bare, empty space. The tubs of eggnog churned. Attentive stewards, in crisp whites stirred the tubs, like witches on Halloween night. 

One batch spiked with run. One without. The one with rum went down a lot faster over the night.

Lights. Camera. Action. Circus performers. Card tricks Illusionists. Face painters. Magicians. And others I have forgotten. The place was full of entertainers . Scattered round about the tubs of eggnog and poinsettias. 

White lights hung in profusion from ceiling tiles. White lights strung across the eggnog , curtains, bare birch trees were strung with them. Servers in tuxedos. Silver trays with white gloves and white cloths. A party. For the production crews of Lorimar Studios.

We played  and played . We played carols, we played Bach. I think we were a little boring. We were students. But we worked hard.The harpist played perfectly. 

We were envious. Guests stopped to talk to her. To take one of her cards. She schmoozed. The people kept coming. The eggnog flowed. We sawed away . 

Then HE walked in. He stopped by briefly, without saying much. Larry Hagman. Dallas, I Dream of Jeannie. Major Anthony Nelson (drool)……He went on to the card illusionist booth. He laughed. Someone brought him eggnog. He laughed some more.About 7 years later he died. But that night he was very much alive. We craned our necks for a glimpse.

Years later it reminded me of a military mess dinner. The kind where you are expected to attend.  Too bad we never had any circus contortionists twisting  around the Christmas trees,like at Loriomar.

One actress, from the show “Dallas”, stopped by. She really liked the harp. She took a card. We were envious again. We should have had cards. We asked her about Larry Hagman. She smiled and told us we were really lucky. We  could do what we wanted, when we wanted.  She liked the harp and requested a song. She said Mr. Hagman only gave out autographs if we played  or sang a song. So we obliged. Can’t remember what we played. The lady took another card and whisked away in a  shuffle of blue chiffon. We never asked her name…….

By the end of the night , the harpist had handed out most of her cards. We were still envious. When we packed up, most of the people had  left. Full of eggnog and shrimpy things on toast. 

The tubs of eggnog were left somewhat depleted, but not by much. The stewards drained them out with a hose. The eggnog burped and spluttered its way into oblivion. Decorations were taken down in moments, stuffed into bags. 

The Lorimar logos put away till the next shing ding. All those people trying to be entertained. Trying to be jolly. I think Larry Hagman, though, was happy. We could hear him laughing 

At the end he sauntered by and nodded at us…….he dropped off a cocktail napkin with his autograph on it. I think we dropped it somewhere. 

And the  eggnog remains blurped and squelched in the distance. Our Christmas was complete…

Photographs 2021