It’s a lot less about glitz and glitter and much more about missed flights

There’s a certain image people have of entertainers who travel the country, or the world, for musical bookings. From the outside, life on the road looks like a nonstop highlight reel, but it’s a lot less about glitz and glitter and much more about missed flights, canceled itineraries and stale sandwiches. By the time the lights go up, the performer has often already wrestled with logistics, luggage, and maybe even math that doesn’t add up.

Simcha Leiner told me about the time he had a wedding in London on a Thursday night a few days after Tishah B’Av. Simcha had booked a flight back to New York that he was to catch as soon as the wedding was over, because he had a Shabbos Nachamu job at the Woodcliff Lake Hilton. In addition, his family was coming to the hotel to join him for Shabbos. Yet when Simcha arrived at Heathrow, they informed him that the flight was canceled, and the next flight would have him landing on Shabbos.

Simcha was visibly upset, but just then a frum-looking man with a beard approached him, asking if he was, in fact Simcha Leiner. He told Simcha that he was a travel agent, and that he happened to know that there was a first-class seat available on another airline that would get him to New York before Shabbos. The ticket cost was more than he had made for the London wedding, but he knew he had no other choice. He landed in Newark eight hours later, and made it to the Woodcliff Hilton with time to spare.

Shloime Dachs recently reminded me of something that happened years ago when I’d organized a concert in Chicago with him together with Dedi Graucher a”h. I booked them economy tickets — but Dedi had this charming way with words and he always managed to talk himself into first class. On the other hand, Shloime ended up in the last row of coach, where he sat down and got ready for the flight. A few minutes after takeoff, a stewardess approached Shlome and said, “Your brother asked that you come to first class. He has a seat for you.”

Shloime quickly figured out who that “brother” was, and when he entered the first-class section, he saw how Dedi had become the center of attention — all the other passengers were cracking up at his exploits and jokes, as if they’d known him for a lifetime.

If you think that traveling is a pain for an individual performer, try to imagine traveling with an entire choir of children. Miami Boys’ Choir founder and head Yerachmiel Begun recounts how he was at the airport on his way back from Florida together with 25 kids who needed to get home to New York, only to find out their flight was canceled.

Yerachmiel explained the urgency of the situation to the agent, who informed him that there was another flight… leaving in 20 minutes from a gate that was 15 minutes away from where they were. So they ran. All 25 kids, Yerachmiel, chaperones, and their luggage, all trying desperately to catch that flight. It looked like a marathon inside the airport. When the entire entourage arrived at the new gate with just seconds to spare, it just so happened that there were exactly the number of seats they needed, with one caveat: They would all have to sit in first class. For the boys, it was a no-brainer: they’d just come off a concert singing “B’siyata D’Shmaya.”

I’ve had more than my own share of flight adventures, and here’s one I remember. Sometime in the ’80s, I got a call from MBD, who asked if I could join him in a concert in Denver as the emcee. I told him that I was sorry but I had a conflict — I’d already booked an Uncle Moishy concert in Los Angeles for that day. But after I hung up, I thought that since the Uncle Moishy concert was in the afternoon, I would probably be able to fly from LAX to Denver and make it in time for MBD’s show.

I checked with my travel agent, who got me a flight in a perfect time slot, and then I called MBD back to tell him I could make it after all. When the day of the concert arrived, everything went smoothly and I even got back to LAX with time to spare. So I checked in for the Denver flight and sat down at the gate, relaxed and happy that it all worked out. The next thing I remember is waking up to an empty gate an hour later. I’d slept right though boarding call (although the good news was that I was still able to use my original ticket to go back to New York). With apologies to MBD.

(Originally featured in Mishpacha, Issue 1099)