| To complete a marathon, an Olympian may require 2 or 3 hours. A gold medal performance in a Brunothon requires stamina and at least 4 days. The best of the best are judged in three categories: The Performance(s), the opportunity to meet the man, and laughs (How many, How Often, How Loud?). The Pont-Pelletier-Bridge (Quebec Chapter) Brunothon has reached the semi-final event and a gold medal is a possibility. A silver is guaranteed. Day One really began as I reached Cornwall where I saw the first bilingual signs and knew that I was closer to Montreal than home. I was grinning from ear to ear and so excited that I had to put away the CD player, the book, and all my personal belongings. The reception at Dorval was warm and loud. Jocelyne and Diane shouted, I sputtered and then promptly banged them both in the face because I forgot I was wearing a broad brimmed chapeau. Our next stop was Dorval Airport to collect Lisa from Virginia. We wore the official "reception uniform" worn only when meeting members of Bruno's cultural bridge for the first time. Simple really, ROOTS should take a lesson. We each had a 8.5x11 Colour photo of Bruno on our head. Embarrassing yes, effective mais oui! The best part was that all others standing about waiting for their arrivals got excited thinking that we were excessive fans waiting to greet Bruno on arrival from France or London. Much consternation as heads craned, fingers pointed and whispers washed across us. A good sport, Lisa just howled and snapped photos, we whipped the B pictures away and whisked her off to a lovely restaurant in Dorval that only the locals would know. Over lunch we finally learned how someone from the Rocky Mountains and currently Virginia found the B man. She had to leave the country. She was in Paris the winter that N D de P was the talk of the town. She missed the talk, but did hear Cathedrals streaming from a listening device. (This was January 99, the show and Bruno had been celebs since October of the previous year.) In her excellent French, with the enthusiasm of the newly converted, she asked everyone she met, "Have you heard....Avez-vous ecoutez?" And of course they had. The show was sold out, so she never saw B in the big blue coat. As a matter of fact, The Evening of Day One was to be her very first encounter with a live Bruno. BACKGROUND INFORMATION Before I continue the story you should know that one of Bruno's trademark moves in concert is that he runs up and down the aisles, even up into the balcony at concert end . Not always, but often enough to be anticipated by those in the BruKnow. Aisle seats are cherished. BACK TO DAY ONE Jocelyne used our luncheon to announce to Lisa that she would have the aisle seat that night! Oxygen! Medic! Call 911. Her reaction was priceless. She stopped breathing, started weeping and buried her head in her hands. We just howled. And howled. And howled. Luckily there were few other patrons in the restaurant. (We went to the front of the pack in the laughter category from the moment the gun sounded.) Eventually, from behind her hands, came a squeak. "Really, I am a doctoral candidate. I am a teacher. Really I am! The next stop was Diane's house. What transpired there cannot be told until Day Three. Dear reader. Primped, pumped and ready to party we set out to meet Jocelyne who had the tickets. The bonus was that we got to meet Madame Chaput, Joc's Ma. Picture the quintessential Quebecois grandmaman. Then forget it! It was her instruction to Jocelyne to buy her a copy of Miserere that introduced Joc to B. Really. Madame Chaput has Bruno blaring all day long! Madame Chaput's home is a ten minute walk from the theatre where Bruno was performing, so we left the car in the her drive and strolled over. Strolling was a strain on muscles that were screaming RUN, DON'T STOP! Pacing yourself is essential to achieve the gold medal. ENTER THE REST OF THE CAST In the lobby of the theatre I met the sisters from Nebraska for the first time. Denise and Sandy had already been in Montreal for 4 days. They had qualified for the finals already as they had met the 4 day minimum duration in the Brunothon by the time we met them. There were three others who joined us for just that one performance. These long term friends of Diane just had to see for themselves what the fuss was all about. (Perhaps an intervention was called for?) We will return to them later in the report. SHOW ONE He just wants to be one of the folks. No big entrance for our boy. He just walked on and took a bow and began to beat on his African drum. Each of the members of his band and Kim his "choriste" entered shaking, banging or striking something. When everyone was in place, Bruno ended the percussion with a flourish and moved right into a rockin number. He sang La Manic as we had never heard before. That's the version that should be on the live album - our album - as it is our clapping and hollering one will hear when the album is released in January. His duet with Kim on In Your Eyes was superb. I think B wanted to drag the audience out of their seats, so he turned on the heat. Literally. PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT Bruno does not permit Air Conditioning to be run in the theatre when he is performing. Add that to Bruno when he is hot and you get a melt down. Small price to pay to hear that voice at its best! THE INTERMISSION Lisa, of the aisle seat, became WOMAN WITH A MISSION during the intermission. She just had to know if an autograph session would occur after the concert. With Cynthia, her host for the Brunothon, at her side, she ventured forth into the lobby. Lisa had translated Loin de Chez Moi into English for B. You'll have to ask her for the lyrics if you been dieing to find out what the song is about. It was her intent to present the sheet at the autograph session. She returned from her mission with intel that confirmed Bruno would grace us with his presence after the show. For armchair score keepers, yes our gold medal run was looking good, (Category: as the opportunity to meet the man). Full points were about to be awarded. THE PACT Shortly after agreeing to gather in Montreal, some members of the Bridge who had acquired a colour copy of the Gazette photo, agreed to carry them to the concert, just in case there was an autograph session. Between the 10 of us we had at least 5 copies of the one photo to present. INSTANT REPLAY Lisa had her translation to present. 5 of us had the Gazette Photo to present. Diane had an e-mail message from Muriel in Europe to pass to the B man. Then there were the lovely roses for Bruno that Denise presented to Dominique who was manning the souvenir booth. We were armed and dangerous! THE AUTOGRAPH SESSION Note to the novice Brunothon participants: Bruno's autograph session requires patience. He takes about 20 minutes to appear and you will spend that time in a queue. There will be those who loiter around the edges, either to take pictures or just to see how things work. Ignore them, go straight to the queue! (From the book Brunivor: How to Win Gold). At first the queue moved quickly, then it stalled. I hadn't been paying attention - I was looking at Bruno rather than the queue. Are you surprised? As it was nearing my turn I was irked so looked to see who was delaying my attempt to capture gold. That was when I saw M. Levesque (Ti-Paul) and Bruno gasping over Jocelyne's photo. C'est belle! says our Bruno. (OF COURSE IT WAS A PICTURE OF HIMSELF.) Now, dear reader, don't think our boy is immodest. He was eyeing it professionally. He stalled the line asking question as to its source, involving Ti-Paul in the discussion. Next in line, waiting patiently, is Denise, who presented him with the same picture. Now he was completely baffled and he had to switch to English to converse. So when Denise said she was from Nebraska...you should have seen his face! C'est loin Neh-Brass-Kah? Yes, Bruno it is far away. How did you find me? He asked with that accented English that would melt a glacier. So Denise told her story and the rest of us continued to wait. At last my turn! He was so enthralled with the idea of NEH BRASS KAH that I didn't even get a smile. I had to settle for the silver. Denise had won the gold! The three ladies who had come to see for themselves left smitten! We had converted three more! All and all a satisfactory ending to Day One of the Brunothon! |
