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The Debut
OREN TRIPLETT
The traffic was thick, and no
one seemed to be in any kind of a
rush except the young man in the
little blue Ford convertible. Ner
vous perspiration prickled out
along the sides of his face and in
the palms of his hands. He won
dered at the stupidity of every
driver crammed into the wide
streets of uptown New York,
which now seemed no broader
than an alley.
At last the trip was cornpleted
and with a few final lefts and
rights, the Ford pulled to a halt
in the alleyway behind Town
Hall. Joseph Brent’s moist hand
quickly grasped the handle of the
door; and in an instant he had
unfolded his long legs, and was
standing at the car’s side locking
it. Four or five long strides and
he was at the stage door smiling
at the doorman as he quickly
strode bv.
“Good luck tonight. Son,” said
the little bald man as he winked
and crinkled up his wrinkled
cheeks in a broad grin.
“Thanks a lot,” replied the
slender youth, “Say a little prayer
for me, will you. Pop?”
“Sure thing. Son, sure thing,”
and the old man winked again as
he turned back to checking a list
thumb tacked to the bulletin board
on the wall beside his tiny age-
worn desk.
Joseph headed for a room at the
end of the corridor. One twist
of the shiny, brass doorknob, and
he was inside the dressing room.
He paused for a moment and
looked at the knob. A thought
flashed through his mind. “How
many great musicians have opened
this door? Will I be among
them tonight?”
Quickly he pushed these
thoughts from his mind and found
his way to the stage which was
already set for the concert. The
long, ebony, grand piano sat silent
ly in the center of the stage with
its lid raised. He crossed the stage
and once seated, he began to play
the scales and arpeggios with
which he always began each prac
tice session. First the major
scales, then the minor ones! Up
and down the keyboard his fingers
flew, firmly striking each key as
they passed. As he became ab
sorbed in his practice, his nervous
ness began to fade. Before he
knew it, the time was 7:30 p. m.,
only forty-five minutes to go, so
he returned to the dressing room
and changed to evening clothes.
“Ten minutes till curtain time,
Mr. Brent,” said a voice through
the door.
“I’m ready. I’ll be right there,”
he called back.
Opening the door, he once again
approached the stage. From the
wing he could hear the people
chattering and milling about as
they sought to find their seats
quickly. Then the house lights
went down, and in a moment the
curtain began to part, revealing
the same stage and piano on which
he had just spent the last hour
and a half warming up. However,
the stage was now bathed in a
pale blue light with a white spot
light leveled on the piano stool,
creating a large white ball on the
wall at the back of the stage. The
audience was completely quiet,
waiting for him to appear.
He closed his eyes for a second,
took a deep breath and stepped out
on the stage. As he appeared, po
lite applause rose from the audi
ence. He crossed the stage and
seated himself at the piano. All
signs of nervousness were gone;
he was calm and relaxed as he be
gan to play the soft opening bars
of CaTfipanella by Paganini-
Liszt. The notes rang out like
bells as he deftly and artistically
performed this magnificent work.
As he played, he forgot about
the large number of people seated
in the majestic Town Hall. He
forgot he was even in New York ;
he was back at college diligently
working for perfection in his prac
tice room. His hands were cool
Higher |i
LARRY FRANC
'f!LMA
.Iwouldlike torecal ov had alwa
citing moment in my 1>' 1 countrj.. I
I reached a great heigk resources hug
help whatsoever. I wa> M homes and
early age and had ' as^he
in climbing to the top o the world,
peak without the help H in Duckov
I found it very jobs,
climb at first because J srefong^ the h
HILLTOP—PAGE POUR
ara J ?
1 u K n
were so far apart, and l| living anv
ble reaching the next ' ’"ained.
finally began to cl^’ Holg^ the
and each time would f V maintained
oiT'rnaj
higher. I had made P’T'nal unitv b
how I would reach the f entering ii
climbing without *arproblem
heading back down. I ducks. Mar
from one ledge to the otP ' duck citizen
between efforts. I 1'" ^ate the edu
gan my journey and
first ledge. I rested *
then ventured on to
ledge. So far I was tradition „
t I . e black duck
I finally got to the .
and then on the fouAj; j^'ickov, Dv
rested. Because of the'
fourth ledge, I restel , > the ducks
while longer. At las' ^ ^ ‘em.
the top. I was the Were many
in the world. I had ‘'1''!'i *Vtion issum
my high chair all by O’!'
V
and dn’ as they slid eas'-. '''iumi,„-
c - ■ ■ - s/, Kr^'n'stic
of .
'T•^kov, Du
keyboard creating a f ji(fj!''!«rnQr'‘'lT r
sound which caused the _
listen more intently. , (iS •''to
Sudde„l,. he fini.l.'';, % 5,e""
lifted his hands Itoi^ j ttig .
he could hear thunde' j ^ a P ^
applauding him at imegra
debut as a concert P’^ )|(
sound grew louder anO iPtiogr
hear voices
bravo, bravo.” He %h
as he did so, the apPj:
louder. It poured *t^Hed^^£r,
ears with a deafening ' Port.^n /
thrilled him to his vefl / ( t^^Vern a
stood for several minnte '|,( ^ e j
■ ^
,%s‘^ation or
HUT
'ith
the land.
.•-ontinued
seemed
' ’’emain out
NAA
but it was not thunk'll „
he realized it was ah i / ‘‘'‘J -
Ptobl
lem.
but"
'1.
took his seat again - (P '
to wait for silence so ' ‘
continue his concert.
'Cd
m hi!
- ;
II
Bon,
es