In Honor of Debbie

 

When my wife and I grew up, we both had our favorite movie star.  Although we didn’t know each other as teenagers, we discovered that both of us adored actress Debbie Reynolds and considered her our favorite and we looked forward to her next movie to arrive in the theater.  We both thought that “The Unsinkable Molly Brown” was one of her greatest roles.

 

It wasn’t until we were adults and married many years that we had the opportunity to see our favorite star in person.  That occurred in August of 1973 when we traveled to St. Louis to see Debbie in person in the Broadway show, “Irene” at the Municipal Opera.  Following the performance, we stood at the stage door to get her autograph.  Our second opportunity to see Debbie in person was on June 15, 1990 when we saw her perform live in “The Unsinkable Molly Brown” at the Tennessee Performing Arts Center in Nashville.

 

However, our most rewarding experience of seeing Debbie was on August 9, 2009 when we saw her perform her cabaret act at the Drury Lane Theater in Chicago.  Of course, by this time Debbie was 77 years old and we were in our sixties. But regardless of her age, Miss Reynolds gave a memorable performance and we managed to obtain some outstanding photos of her.  

 

So, in honor of Debbie, we present below our beloved “Debbie Reynolds Collection”.  All of these photos were taken by your author from the second row of the Drury Lane Theater during Debbie's performance and what a great show it was!

 

(I could not decide which photos to share on this page, so what the heck, I'm giving you all of them.)

 

 

 

Thank you Debbie for being the movie star of our hearts

Papa Turns 80 Years Old!!

 

 

 

Group selfie after the birthday meal

Papa with the Grands

Papa with his daughters

Everybody sings Happy Birthday to Papa

The Annual Gatlinburg Cabin Family Gathering

 The first weekend in March brings the Bridges Family together for its annual gathering in a cabin in the Great Smoky Mountains.  A joyous time of family fun for children and grandchildren including games, puzzles, music, good family conversation and sightseeing and shopping. A glorious family time for all!!

 

 The Bridges Family March 2024

 

 

Papa and his wonderful group of Grands 

The Grands

The Dee Grands and "Peanut"

    The Barr Grands

 

 

 Have Walker, Will Travel

The beautiful mountain view from out living room

 

Working the jigsaw puzzle

 

Family sitting around chatting

Music time!

 

Moonpie time for the grands

 

Rest from shopping in Gatlinburg

At the Donut Friar

Having fun in Gatlinburg

 

And Papa snuggles down with Peanut

Another AOO Hit--"Bonnie and Clyde, the Musical"

 

 

 

Nick Gehring and Francesca Noe as Bonnie and Clyde

 

 Lindsey Swearingen and Mateo Palmitier as Blanche and Buck

The Beauty Shop Girls

The Church Scene with Andrew Hutton as the Preacher

Clyde is arrested

Bonnie and Clyde

Bonnie and Clyde tub scene

Bonnie and her mother, played by Angie Dee

The lawmen plan their capture of Bonnie and Clyde

 

Bonnie and Clyde Final Scene

Click on the Link Below for the Broadway World's Rave Review of this show!

Broadway World's Review of this Production

An Entry to my Diary

 

Dear Diary,

You won’t believe what happened to me! I am almost eighty years old but I can always have a dream of meeting a famous person, especially if they are in the entertainment business. Well, last night I actually briefly met a famous Broadway actress.  She was in the audience of our local community theater and I could not believe that she was actually there for the performance.  Then what happened after the performance was amazing. As I was leaving, I passed by the seat that she was still occupying and stopped for a moment and then I said something like, “It was an honor to have you in attendance tonight,” and she smiled at me and said, “Thank you.”  Wow, what a moment.  I only wish it could have lasted longer.  But that passing moment was great in itself.  It is always great to have one of your dreams come true and last night, it did.  Thank you, Laura Osnes!

 

Check the video below and see if you can find my daughter chatting away with

the actress during the show’s intermission.