Leanne Larrabee: My Bette Midler Experience

Ok, I saw Bette’s show twice, on Friday the 16th and Saturday the 17th, (I give all thanks to Mandy and her friend Jackie for giving me that free ticket for Friday), so Fridays show was AWESOME, there’s not a bad seat in the house, I could see her very well and she looked VERY Pretty, I laughed, I cried, I didn’t want it to end, and I know people were wondering if she had replaced a song…she did, she repleaced “In the Mood” for “Stuff Like That There”, but i tell ya for the 90 mins (with no intermission) of packed entertainment she puts on it’s DEFINITELY worth it.

Now on to the second night, the Smug night, first I go and try and find Mandy because she and Jackie had written a letter for Bette that they asked if I would give to her, but I couldn’t find them so I go to the box office and pick up my ticket and I got escorted to front row Orch AA. center stage, seat 404, I was there only 3 mins and Mandy and Jackie showed up with that letter and said the night before they managed to get second row seats so I was happy Mandy was there with me, so I wait another 5 mins and I’m sitting there talking with all the other smugs and this REALLY sweet guy Matt was sitting right next to me and he was so nervous he was shaking so I told him it would be ok and patted him on the back and it was still another 10 mins before the show started, so we got to talking all about Bette and I had talked to him on Facebook before i met him in Vegas and I said to him you look real cute in your pictures and he says to me do i look cute now? And i said yes (he Is HOT!), then a really nice lady in a red dress who works for Bette came and gave us our VIP passes and told us after the show she would be back to take us to see Bette downstairs, so then the show started and I’m all wide eyed and soooo damn excited.

The opening song was “The Showgirl Must Go On”, and when I saw her up close for the first time I thought my heart was going to jump right out of my chest, and the part came where she was on her red lip couch and said to her Harlettes “take me over to my Smug Muthas so i may see them” and she looks right at me (with that smile she makes) for a couple seconds (i’ll tell ya in a sec how i know for sure she was looking at me) and I do the same smile right back at her and she said “just look at these Smug Mutha Fuckers, I’ll be seeing you back stage” then she looks over to the guy on the other side of me and says “both of you”, so she continues with her FABULOUS show.

She sang “From A Distance, the rose (and the second half of “The Rose” she let the audience sing it), “When A Man Loves A Woman,” and alot more. She did her Soph jokes, I still love the one about the chiuaua (cuz i really do have one), she did Delores, the balls, she played her ukulele sitting on the steps like only a couple feet away from me, she is just AMAZING, and at the end she did “Wind Beneath My Wings, and in the middle of the song while saying your the wind beneath my wings she looked and pointed at me and smiled. WOW!, my heart was hers, then the show sadly came to an end.

And then the lady in the red dress came and got us and I had to get my bag, so I got left a little behind but I caught up until I was graceful and tripped on the steps and I got up and they were so far ahead of me I didn’t catch up to them. By the time I got on the elevator the doors just shut, and I said to the usher who was Standing there that i was supposed to be with the lady in the red dress who just got on the elevator and he looked at me like i was nuts and I tried explaining more but it was no use. He used his headset to call someone and said we have a confused fan here and by that time I just said thanks and walked back to where i was sitting and asked another usher and they also looked at me like I was nuts and I said you where standing right there when that lady who works for Bette in the red dress came and talked to us and they had no clue what i was talking about. Then I said I have the Smug Mutha Package to meet her back stage and he said “I’m sorry but you must be mistaken” and as I’m thinking “Oh great i guess i won’t get to meet her I hear the lady in the red dress say, ‘Leanne i’m glad i found you'” and i turn to the usher and say “see that’s the lady i was talking about” and they just smiled and said “oh yeah her” (DUH, yeah her) then she said “ok lets go” and we walk up the steps again and I say “I’m so sorry I fell on the steps and I’m from Wisconsin I had no idea where to go” and she said “well you did the right thing by going back to your seat,” we walk past that same guy i talked to first about seeing bette and he said “oh i’m sorry” and by that point i was very nervous and just kept on walking, we get in the elevator and i say i hope Bette’s not mad at me for loosing track of you guys and she said “NO of course not she loves all her fans and she’s not there yet so she doesn’t even know about it.”

So i get to this room and when i walk in everyone starts clapping and i felt embarrassed and I said how come you where clapping and they said because we were sooo glad she found you and the lady in the red dress (i never caught her name) said yeah i didn’t realize we lost you till everyone started shouting “where’s leanne”, then she asked if anyone had things they wanted to get signed and i say yes and she said ok, but bette can only sign one thing cuz of time. So she left and one of the guys who was also a smug asked me how many things do i wanna get signed and i say 2 and he said ok give me one and I’ll get it signed for you, now who am i getting it signed for and I say Jackie and he says ok, then i gave him the book.

Then while i was waiting for bette to come in I met other people, so i sat down on a couch and stated talking to this older lady, she was really nice, then i noticed another familiar lady who was in front of us talking to a guy and I asked this lady if she knew who that was and she said that’s my daughter Linda Hart, and it occurs to me that I was talking to Linda’s mom and didn’t even know it, I said she used to be Bette’s harlette and she also played on stella and Gypsy with bette and she said wow a fan and I asked if when she is done talking would she introduce me to her and she said yeah and I said to Linda’s mom your fabulous and she said oh well thank you , you should tell my daughter that, then she introduced me to her and i shook her hand and said i remember you on Gypsy and she said yeah Miss Mazeppa and she said her husband came up with that and thats what there dogs name is and her husband was really nice too and i met her brother another nice guy and then i met bette sussman before she walked out the door i said aren’t you Bette Sussman and she turns to me and said hi then shook my hand and says do i know you and i said not really i only talked to you on myspace a couple times and she said oh yeah i don’t go on there much anymore and then i said your Bette’s pianist and she said yup thats right and then i said it was nice to me you and she smiled and walked out, then i went and talked to Matt again and we went over to the line since it got shorter, and Matt was on the couch and I on the chair and I say to him ok I am nervous and he says so am I and the poor guy is still shaking and then I say lets go get in line and he says ok but you go first and I say I can’t you have to and he said no ladies first so i then i say ok if you go i’ll go so we both go up to the line together and I say ok you go and he said again no I said ladies first so then i say i feel like i’m going to be sick and he said no don’t do that and then bette’s road manager marty says ok who’s next and i’m still looking at matt and marty says it again who’s next and i look at marty and he says ok your next

Then i look at Matt again and when i turn around bette is leaning to one side trying to see who was next and she is looking at me with a big smile on her face and I slowly walk towards her and she is still smiling and looking sooo PRETTY and bette says “Hey i know you, i saw you in the front row” and i know my face is red cuz i can feel it and i felt soooo shy i put my head down and looked at the floor and then looked up at her again and she said in a very sweet voice “come here” so i walk slowly over to her and she says “hi, whats your name” and i say “Leanne” and she says in a cute voice “well hi leaaaanne” and she smiles, then i look down at my hands and look at the bag in my hands i have for bette and i give it to her and said this is for you and bette said “this is for me?, well thank you” and she had a huge smile on her face, and bette says “whats in here?” and i say i guess your going to have to open it and find out and she did, i had a few things in there for her, i had 3 letters, one from me, one from mandy and the other one from jess, i had a certificate from the NY Restoration Project i gave to her cuz i planted a tree in her honor with a little note inside, the dvd i made for her and a necklace, and bette opend the certificate and bette said very sweetly “you planted a tree for me” and Marty said oh that will make her happy and i said “yes” and bette took out the seeds that they give you each time you get a certificate and said “you know you can plant These” and i said it’s yours now so you can plant them and bette said “oh i will” and while she is looking at that Marty asked me where i was from and i said Wisconsin and he said where in Wisconsin and i said close to Milwaukee and Bette turns and says where by Milwaukee and i said Racine and bette says “hey i know Racine, i’v been there before” then Bette went back to opening her gifts and Marty said so when did you get here and i said Thursday night, Igo back Monday, and he asked if I liked the show and I said yes and I said I saw the show last night too and bette said “it’s fabulous isn’t it” and i said “oh it’s more fabulous than I can say, if there’s a word higher than fabulous i would say it” and bette smiled and said “so you came all the way from Wisconsin just to se meee” and i said yeah and she said “awwww” then she opened the dvd and read the note on the back and said “awww” then said “are you a singer” and i say no then she put it all down on the table and she started walking over to me and i said theres more and bette says surprisingly “theres more?” and she looks in the bag and says “this feels like christmas” and i say yeah, she finds the necklace, and bette says in a really sweet voice “you didn’t have to do all this for meeee” and i said i know i didn’t have to but i wanted to and bette said “aww, thank you” so she starts to take it out of the box and and reads the note on top of the necklace and says “Thats Very Nice” then continues opening it and says “what is this?” then she pulls it all the way out and says “Aww, a necklace” ( and the necklace has a letter B pendent on it with white and pink jewels in it) and i said do you know what that stands for and she says very sweetly “Bette, My Naaame) and i said yeah then she uncliped it and said “can i put it on” and i said if you want to and she said “well of course I do” so she put it on. I asked her if she would sign andy’s program for her and she says “sure” then i say can you sign it to mandy and she says “ok how do you spell mandy, m-a-n-d-y” and i say yes, and how do you spell your name l-i” and i spelled it for her and while she was signing that i told her about Mandy and how she was a big fan too and she says “tell her it was very kind of her to give you that ticket for my show” and i said ok then i was telling marty how i got the ticket for her show from Mandy and her friend Jackie and that Mandy wanted to give that ticket to me because she knows my condition and bette turns around and with a sad look she says “what condition” and i said oh i have stage 3 chronic kidney disease and bette says ”awww, well i hope you get better with your treatment” and i say it can’t and bette says ”oh but it can, cuz my sister has the same problem, you can get a transplant” and i say no cuz my doctor said with all the other surgeries i had it left ALOT of scar tissue and he said my body wouldn’t be able to take another surgery and bette looked a me for a few seconds and says “you need a new doctor” and i say oh i’ve already been though alot of them please no and she says in a concerned voice “no” then has a very sad look on her face and i’m thinking don’t do that cuz your going to make me cry then she walked over by me and smiled at me then she said “Well” and i said well what and she opened her arms for a hug and she stood there smiling and i look at her up and down cuz i thought i was dreaming i wanted to make sure it was real if you will and i slowly opend my arms and slowly walked to her and gave her a great big hug and i laid my head on her shoulder for a few moments then i let go and told her about Hales and how much she likes her and bette says ”well tell her i said hi” and i said ok i will then i mention you Mr. D and she says “oh i know him, tell him i said hi too and I mention Jess and told Bette it was her b-day that night and bette says “aww, well tell her I said happy birthday” and i said ok then we get ready to take our first picture and she looks at me and says “well maybe if i take my shoes off you’ll feel less nervous” and with that she took them off and pushed them in front of her while we took the picture, we took 2 and after the first picture she looked at me and said “i hope you like that one” and i’m thinking i love all pictures your in then we took the second one and she put her arm around me in both pictures and i had my arm around her back though you can’t see it, then as we part i hold her hand and i say bette every time i’m in the hospital your the only one who puts a smile on my face, and your the only one who makes me happy and bette says “awww” and i got another hug and while i was going in for it i whispered in her ear “i love you” and she hugged me a little tighter and when we come out of that i held her waist and give her a kiss on her cheek, and we stepped back and i’m holding her hand again and as i do i say i saw you and your daughter on Oprah and she says “yeah” and i say well she’s pretty just like you and she says with a big smile “thank you” and i said she’s lucky to have you for a mom and she says “ah, well were lucky to have her, she’s great” then i say bette and she looks at me with a smile (i’m still holding her hand) and i say and i promise you that i will keep donating to your NY restoration project, because I wanna see to it that your dream of 1 million trees comes true and bette says “it’s coming along” and smiles then i say god bless you bette aways and god bless your family and she smiled again and says “thank you” then i let go of her hand and i say bye and she says very sweetly “byeee” and i walk out the door then i stand there and wait for matt cuz his turn was next and he wrote a song for bette and sang it to her it was BEAUTIFUL but i’ll have to let him tell you cuz that was his moment but thanks to matt he helped me with some things i forgot about bette and i told him things that he forgot cuz we both where in shock so i asked him if bette was smiling when she gave me both them hugs cuz i couldn’t see her face and matt said she was smiling ear to ear and he said she totally loved you and she was so sincere with you and so very sweet, i’m glad i had Matt there with me.

Thank you Matt, and I walk with Matt out into Caesars Palace and go find Mandy and Jackie to give them there signed autographs and they are stood there with Kamilah Marshall and so i met her too and talked with her i told her i liked her song “sis-shaw” and how i like shayna steele too and her song “what R we giving”and then i got some pictures with her and my flash burnd out but kamilah was very nice about it and she said thats ok i could stay here all night and now my new nick name from her is “no flash” then we said bye and i told mandy and jakie about bette and gave mandy the autograph and showed her what bette had wrote on it, it says “hi mandy, xox, thank you for bringing leanne to me love bette midler” and mandy was so so happy and started crying them happy tears and i gave her a hug, and that folks is my bette smug mutha story and this memory will be in my heart FOREVER And EVER.

Love,

Leanne Larrabee A Former Smug Mutha 🙂