We considered several owner/pet costume ideas (Wallace/Gromit, Man with Yellow hat/Curious George, Dorothy/Toto, etc.) before deciding to be especially Halloweeny and dress as a witch and black cat. I copied the old reindeer costume in black fur (in fact just covering the legs with fur) and the amazing Nate rigged up the tail and head supports using coat hangers. I had a witchy dress which I put over striped tights, gypsy boots, and many many sweaters. Here we are:
Additionally, we had to learn Halloween music. "This is Halloween" from "The Nightmare Before Christmas" was suggested, so we spent the past few days practicing that.
Around 5:00 pm we went to Ptown, expecting to see lots of people milling about in costumes. Town was totally empty. I could count the number of people I saw on one hand. I set up in front of Town Hall anyway since a family I know was coming up. I stayed there for about an hour. People were few and far between, but the donation rate was very high. All but one or two parties that walked by in this hour donated. Score! After this, I went to check out the haunted house in the Aquarium to see if the people were there. They weren't, but the man expected people once it started at seven. I decided to warm up both my fingers and insides with a drink (and wait for it to get to be later) so I went to the Squealing Pig. I've decided that if I'm going to be a real gypsy I need to develop a taste for whiskey, so I'm practicing. The cat's tail and head were attached pretty well so I didn't want to take them off to put the accordion away and risk not getting them back on. I kept the accordion out and went into the bar with my hands full of box, accordion, and witch hat.
Around 7:30 I went back out to play, and set up in Ellie's old spot across from the Crown + Anchor where I played for another hour. The nice thing about playing this time of year is that most businesses are closed so it's easy to find places to play. It was in this spot that I got that feeling of adding to the spirit. I love feeling that I'm not doing this for my own money-making or story-gathering but rather to give to others. People thanked me for being out there. For the first time in Provincetown history, I was the only street performer out. I had the soundwaves to myself. It was cold, but I felt good, and played slow, quiet songs when I wasn't playing "This is Halloween." Oh, here it is, by the way: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxdmcjox4-g
I reflected a little bit on the fact that this was likely my last time playing in Ptown, the place where it all started. I considered all that has happened since that first fateful day, as well as my adventures to come.
Here are the little things that happened:
1. A man commented "I've never seen anyone play one of those before!" I asked him if he meant an accordion or a cat. "Both," he confirmed.
2. People responded way more to my student loans sign than usual. I thought I'd get more comments on the cat costume, so that surprised me.
3. A pack of teenagers was wandering around, continually growing in size. One of them had heard me play TIH before and asked me to play it again. I was glad that teenagers these days still know the Nightmare Before Christmas!
4. A young man who lives above the Crown and Anchor also liked TIH. He said the sound wafted up to his apartment. Nice.
5. Some folks recognized me from last summer!
6. A man told me about his intentions to end his life. His name is Warren or something and I met him my first day ever playing. He said that he didn't have spare change because he was on disability. He said it'll all be over in January. He suffers every day, and has stopped his HIV medication. He wanted to wait till after the holidays for his family's sake. Pretty heavy stuff.
Only one kid gave me candy, which disappointed me. It was a fine last night of playing, although it didn't do much to help my cold :(
Next, I'll be going back to Western Mass to turn this into a book and busk in Northampton a little! After that....who knows.
Thanks for reading!
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