Betsy Schroeder passed away at August 22nd 2007, here a review she wrote in 2004!!
In memoriam on
www.dianarossfanclub.netI had such a wonderful Thursday afternoon & evening in Greenwich with our lovely Ms Ross! Now you know that when you put me with Diana Ross & traveling, there is going to be some adventure with it, so be patient...I'll eventually get to the show!!!
It all started Tues when I sat at myg computer & read a WONDERFUL post with a link to the Greenwich Times–free concert in Greenwich Thur pm. Before I even finished reading the story, I was checking out airfare, mostly to convince myself that OF COURSE I can't go 3000 miles to Greenwich the next day. SURPRISE!!! I find an affordable flight, & all of the sudden I was seriously thinking about going. It's never that simple, though. A little background...I have been very ill for the past 2 years (since the LAST Ross US "tour" which I was fortunate enough to attend :-).
I am MUCH, MUCH better now, but I am confined to a wheelchair, have residual visual impairment, etc... and require a care giver. I was able to talk my reluctant care giver into going with me (doubling airfare...ughhh!), find an available hotel, determine that the Greenwich train station is not really wheelchair accessible, rent a car, convince my care giver that traffic would be no worse in NYC at the times we would be driving than it is in Seattle's rush hour so of course she could drive, pack, & reschedule my dialysis for 6:00 the next morning, but uh oh, all of this started ~ 10:00 pm so it was a little late to find someone to stop in & see the kittens (Malea & Sharaya :-) that I had just gotten that day. I gambled that this would not be a problem & purchased our tickets with my fingers
crossed.
After an all too brief sleep with kittens nearby, I headed for dialysis where I cancelled my PT, other home health care, etc...Then we headed directly to the airport, where we discovered that mycare giver had not brought my bag...I would have found a way to deal with not having my life sustaining medications, but I couldn't get on the plane without an ID!!!!! This is why one must always plan to complete travel the day BEFORE the concert. I learned that the hard way with RTL in Philly, remember that? The show that I DIDN'T get to attend despite having an EXCELLENT seat! Fortunately, the red-eye flight was available. It was only more money...but at this point I was already so deep into the idea of this show both financially & emotionally...what's a little more $$$, right? So back home we went.
Several hours later we headed back to the airport, with my having run through a checklist with my care giver (because clearly the written list I had given my care giver wasn't enough). I saw all of my stuff & ran through her stuff verbally, sight unseen. Oops!!! Big mistake!!More later...
We ultimately arrived at LGA ~9:00 am & went to the rental car place. Did you guys know that those big rental car buses lower for wheelchairs? The whole bus! Very cool! Then we discovered that my care giver didn't bring her drivers license. I couldn't believe it!
I had specifically asked her if she had her license before we left. I was livid!!!!But a solution must be found, so we hired car. It's just more $, right??? So this relatively cheap trip was starting to add up. It was ok, though, because the end point was Diana :-).
We arrived in Greenwich, where the driver couldn't find the park, nor could anyone he asked help out. I told him what little I knew from the newspaper reports, which he felt the need to ignore, but I was too tired to care, having had only ~4 hrs sleep in the previous 2 nights. We had a brief tour of Greenwich's "back
woods," where Greenwich's not-so-wealthy live ;-).
I hadn't been to Greenwich in ~15 yrs & forgotten how beautiful it is, but business district traffic has worsened significantly. FINALLY when I asked someone where Diana Ross would be that night instead of using the park's name we got some decent directions. He dropped us off ~12:00 & we planned to spend the afternoon in the park, but they wouldn't let us in: "The park is closed until 6:00." I didn't completely believe that, but I knew that we would be able to see the show if we came
back a little later. Next task: finding a cab to take us to our hotel. No problem: the train station is a couple of blocks away.
Well, of course it wasn't that simple. The sidewalk was not wheelchair friendly, & the train station & cabs were up either a huge flight os stairs or an incredibly long, steep ramp. We ultimately got a cab & found our hotel. We had a couple of hours to eat & sleep before returning to the park for the sound check. I really needed to sleep, but I didn't trust myself to get up, & I was NOT going to miss this show!!!
We headed back to the park in time for the sound check, which was actually better than the show. Diana was a vision in white. She wore a fitted white top with 3/4 length sleeves. It almost looked like a leopard & emphasized her tiny (again) waist. Her skirt was unique, looking somewhat like curtains, but she pulled it off. She had a redish scarf around her neck that she played with a lot, using it as a wrap (it looked like it had been folded into a square & retained it's creases!!!). She wore heels, but I couldn't see if they were pumps or sandals, & her hair was loose until she finished and put on one of her enormous black headbands.
She was gorgeous even without her stage makeup. Through most of the sound check she sat facing the band, but she did occasionally sing to the scant crowd that was kept
REALLY far away by fences & security guards (they were really nice & helpful, even though their job was to maintain distance between me & the stage). Thank goodness for binoculars! Diana was there for close to 2 hours. Highlights for me were The Boss, WYTMTYLM, which she did NOT sing in the actual concert, & I Will Survive, just because she was silly during the first few lines, being really dramatic. She was SOOOO CUTE!!!!
It was ~6:00 when the sound check was over. They opened the park a little more so we could move closer to the stage, but we still were ~ a million miles from the stage. Everything closer was reserved for residents of Greenwich. The area closest to the stage was reserved for paying residents: $1,000 for the 1st row, $750 2nd row, $500 3rd row, & $250 for seats beyond that. The next section was cordoned off for 1,000 Greenwich residents, That meant there were ~1400 people in front of me. Somehow it just doesn't seem right not to incorporate "fanhood" & distance traveled in seat
assignments if people are to be excluded from certain seats.
That's been an issue at a lot of her shows lately...I'm not liking that one bit, but I am really happy to have something to fret about if it means that our girl is out there strutting her stuff! Obviously, we stayed to maintain our position, as unsatisfactory as it was. Then, the wheelchair, which had been such a burden the whole trip, worked to my advantage & I was able to get wristbands for the 2nd tier
seating!!!Ultimately, It didn't really matter because the 1st tier people all stood up in front of us so I could only occasionally see Ms Ross's head (but what a beautiful sight that was when visible!).
The crowd was very odd. As far as I could tell, there were VERY FEW fans there. Most people around me thought they would "just stop by & see what this was all about."The crowd was very homogenous...men were tanned wearing polo shirts & sunglasses. They all had the same haircut as well. They all had families with them, & the kids & wives
all looked alike. This was the original "Stepford." Everyone was discussing Ms Ross's age (they all underestimated it) & talked about how great she looked. Some of Evan's schoolmates were near us & said he had done some modeling as well as singing & dancing. There was no other gossip to speak of.
At ~8:30, the show started. The set list was similar to the European shows with a few differences. She opened with I'm Coming Out & didn't sing TMH. Also missing were Remember Me :-(, WYTMTYLM :-(,Missing You, Best Years (!), & I'm Still Waiting. The LST B segment was limited to Fine & Mellow and Don't Explain (I'm so glad! :-).
The Supremes songs were sung in their entirety, which still throws me off because I really only know the medley versions :-P. She did NOT sing YKMHO, but she used the ROCKIN' arrangement of Love Child that was used in Europe. Mirror, Mirror is back as it was in Europe (still wondering what happened in Houston). Endless Love no longer
features one of the background singers, which works for me since to me that will always be Quintin's song. Before the song, she asked if we remembered the song, stating she'd been away so long she didn't know if people remembered. That kind of freaked me out because she was stating this about a song that I DO remember (usually this is asked about songs that were released before I was born). She made 2 or 3 costume changes, but I could only see colors (pink then red then white) and then I couldn't see anything.
She very briefly mentioned the Teen Center that was benefitting from the concert, but
she did nothing else to indicate that she was performing ~1 mile from home. I was hoping for more intimacy or something, but there was a lot more interaction with the audience at other shows. The audience seems to be very important in the overall quality of a Ross performance, with shows such as Paris, Ahoy, MSG, & Westbury clearly outshining other shows that I've attended. This audience was flat, average, & so was the show relative to other Ross shows. She seemed to be in good spirits and shined as gloriously as usual.
Understanding that Diana Ross is ALWAYS spectacular on stage, there
was nothing special about this show
Of note, Evan sang Overjoyed with Rhonda & Rodney backing hin up. He has a lovely voice, but the poor guy was off key for the whole song. I've been watching too much American Idol because I kept hearing Simon saying, "You didn't hit a single note!" I suspect it was just anxiety, for he's probably never sung before such a large crowd.
He's got a lot of potential, but he didn't hit it on Thur.
The show was ~1½-2 hours without intermission. The residents of Greenwich who coughed up money for the reception went to meet their neighbor. I went to my hotel for another night of inadequate sleep due to a 6:00 am flight back to Seattle (which was pretty uneventful :-). I chose not to pursue the reception or Ms Ross's
coming or going from it...I've met her several times before, was really tired & limited by the wheelchair, & knew that with 400 people attending the reception I wouldn't have an opportunity to TALK to Diana. Maybe next time.
It was a very hectic 48 hours, but I'm so glad I pulled it off. I am a firm believer in pursuing things that make you happy, and Diana Ross shows are #1 on my list. She makes my life better, & I need a live fix now & then. I'm so blessed to be able to get one. Our girl is back!!!!!!!
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