Monday, February 18, 2008
Betty Blast! Parts One & Two!
Betty Blast-Part One
If you are a regular reader of this e-piphany, congratulations on your balanced diet and appropriate intake of fiber. However, if by "regular" you mean you look at this baloney fairly often, well, seek help! Anyway, a few weeks back I mentioned that our daughter, Samantha, had gotten a speaking role in her high school's production of Footloose! Part of the reason for her casting success was her skating ability. She was a wonderful ice-skater in elementary school, so, when the director said they needed a girl who would be comfortable on roller-skates, Samantha was ready. She played "Betty Blast," owner of the burger joint.
The play hit the boards...as they say around the theatre world...over this past weekend. Samantha, AKA Betty, skated in with a tray and delivered some goodies to a couple of booths. Then, she skated away. Before continuing, I need to mention that Samantha is petite. They put a big, Dolly-Parton-esque wig on her and some jewel-encrusted glasses. Later in the scene, a fight breaks out in the diner. Little Betty Blast skates in to break it up! She delivered her lines flawlessly and, then, turned around and said, in a perfect Mama's Family accent, to the lead actor: "Now, give me a push" before rolling off the stage! She got applause in each and every performance. Even all of her brothers had to admit she was a scene-stealer. Congratulations to "Betty Blast" and the entire cast!
Betty Blast-Part Two
Friday, February 15, 2008 was the 20th anniversary of FirstNews. As part of the celebration we had a phone interview with a woman who had been a very important part of the program from the get-go: Betty! When the show first went on the air, we didn't have any tower cameras or Scout Cameras or anything like that. Now, we seem to have camera shots available to us from just about anywhere. (You think that old container of french onion dip in the fridge is really something to eat? Think again! We see you!) Well, back in the early days, a couple of the other stations talked about looking at scenes from their tower-cams. We couldn't do that so I started referring to our own in-house camera operator, Betty! She became Betty-Cam. She would set up three of the cameras and then sit behind the fourth one. She read her romance novels while Maria Antonia and I did the show. For viewers, Betty became a beloved part of the program. We used video of Betty to showcase our FirstNews mugs and to lead into the sports segments, among many other things. Betty was on camera almost as much as she was behind it.
A few years ago Betty retired and, frankly, the morning news has never been the same. I still get e-mails from viewers asking about her as well as questions from folks out and about. This past Friday, that curiosity was satisfied with a call from Betty herself. As she mentioned in the conversation, Betty is battling brain cancer. You'd never know it to hear her voice. She was quick, clever and feisty as ever...even promising to come into the new studio one of these days and show off her bald head. As always, this Betty was a Blast!
All-in-all, it was a very Betty-ful weekend!
If you are a regular reader of this e-piphany, congratulations on your balanced diet and appropriate intake of fiber. However, if by "regular" you mean you look at this baloney fairly often, well, seek help! Anyway, a few weeks back I mentioned that our daughter, Samantha, had gotten a speaking role in her high school's production of Footloose! Part of the reason for her casting success was her skating ability. She was a wonderful ice-skater in elementary school, so, when the director said they needed a girl who would be comfortable on roller-skates, Samantha was ready. She played "Betty Blast," owner of the burger joint.
The play hit the boards...as they say around the theatre world...over this past weekend. Samantha, AKA Betty, skated in with a tray and delivered some goodies to a couple of booths. Then, she skated away. Before continuing, I need to mention that Samantha is petite. They put a big, Dolly-Parton-esque wig on her and some jewel-encrusted glasses. Later in the scene, a fight breaks out in the diner. Little Betty Blast skates in to break it up! She delivered her lines flawlessly and, then, turned around and said, in a perfect Mama's Family accent, to the lead actor: "Now, give me a push" before rolling off the stage! She got applause in each and every performance. Even all of her brothers had to admit she was a scene-stealer. Congratulations to "Betty Blast" and the entire cast!
Betty Blast-Part Two
Friday, February 15, 2008 was the 20th anniversary of FirstNews. As part of the celebration we had a phone interview with a woman who had been a very important part of the program from the get-go: Betty! When the show first went on the air, we didn't have any tower cameras or Scout Cameras or anything like that. Now, we seem to have camera shots available to us from just about anywhere. (You think that old container of french onion dip in the fridge is really something to eat? Think again! We see you!) Well, back in the early days, a couple of the other stations talked about looking at scenes from their tower-cams. We couldn't do that so I started referring to our own in-house camera operator, Betty! She became Betty-Cam. She would set up three of the cameras and then sit behind the fourth one. She read her romance novels while Maria Antonia and I did the show. For viewers, Betty became a beloved part of the program. We used video of Betty to showcase our FirstNews mugs and to lead into the sports segments, among many other things. Betty was on camera almost as much as she was behind it.
A few years ago Betty retired and, frankly, the morning news has never been the same. I still get e-mails from viewers asking about her as well as questions from folks out and about. This past Friday, that curiosity was satisfied with a call from Betty herself. As she mentioned in the conversation, Betty is battling brain cancer. You'd never know it to hear her voice. She was quick, clever and feisty as ever...even promising to come into the new studio one of these days and show off her bald head. As always, this Betty was a Blast!
All-in-all, it was a very Betty-ful weekend!
Posted at 4:07 AM
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