We know, we’re all caught up in the frenzy in helping the Henry Miller Library – along with Kickstarter – offset the cost of our new stage. Things are crazy, yeah, whatever.

But we musn’t forget the old stage either.  And, in our defense, we haven’t; you all remember the obituary for the old stage on our blog, for example.  It was a very nice homage, if we do say so ourselves, although it did cause some consternation in certain corners; some folks thought it was a real fire.  If we gave that impression, we are sorry.

In retrospect, we’re also sorry because while we gave the old stage a proper adieu, we completely forgot to give props to it’s “silent partner”: the backdrop.

The Backdrop in it's heyday: The strong, silent type

Yes, the backdrop.

The backdrop was the big wooden panels stretched skyward.  We used to lit candles on ‘it.  It was bolted to the stage.  It was wobbly, awkward, and mildly dangerous.  But it never complained.

Yet it was always taken for granted, always playing second fiddle to the bigger, badder, and cooler Stage.

The Stage smoked pot in the woods, listened to”After Bathing at Baxters,” and got the girls; the Backdrop read Camus and smoked clove cigarettes.

Worse yet, the backdrop is still around!

It was taken apart – after the final screws removed, it tipped backwards and crashed to the ground with a booming thump – and now it resides in a sad pile behind a pile of wood chips.  Just look at it:

Anyway, we wanted to belatedly thank the backdrop.  It may even come back, who knows – it has a few good years left in it.

In the meantime, it’ll be performing this weekend at the Black Eagle Casino in Reno; if that won’t get you to come, perhaps the $3 buffet will?