Meeting Debbie Reynolds

We arrived at the Riverside RV campground in Laughlin, Nevada shortly after dark. With the new year arriving in a couple of days, the campground was nearly full. Fortunately there were a few sites remaining where I was given a choice to choose the place we would spend the night. I picked a campsite that overlooked casino row.

This was our first time in Laughlin in our new Monaco type A motorhome. In the past we were in a type C motorhome that had wrap around picture windows in the back. This provided an excellent view of the bright lights of casino row. The picture window on our new motorhome is the windshield. As luck would have it, the campsite I selected required that our RV go in forward. Again we had a great view of the bright lights below.

Our arrival was early enough to allow us to go to the casino to play the slots. As we walked over to the Riverside Hotel I noticed that the marquee had "Debbie Reynolds" in big letters. It seems that she was starring in her own stage show once on this evening as well as twice the following night which was New Years Eve. I told Kay it would be nice if we could see Debbie's show. As we entered the hotel I saw that the next show was in an hour. I figured there was no chance for us to get a ticket this late.

Before going upstairs to the casino, I stopped at the ticket counter. I asked if there might be a pair of tickets left for the next Debbie Reynolds show. I was told there were a few and I was shown the seating layout of the theater. To my astonishment, there were two VIP seats right next to the stage just to the right of center. I didn't hesitate a second, I took the tickets. We then continued on to the casino.

After only 20 minutes of playing the slots, Kay and I went to the theater to find our seats. When we arrived at the theater entrance, we found that the doors were not open yet. A small crowd of people had gathered at the theater entrance. It would be only a few minutes until the theater would open. When the doors opened an usher showed us to our seats. I was very pleased with the location of our seats. We would have an up close and personal view of the show.

I've been a Debbie Reynolds fan from the days of my childhood. Even though I am a little younger than her, I had a crush on her when I was a kid. So, I was now looking forward to seeing Debbie perform live. When the show began, Debbie came out in a sparkling dress — one of several she would wear during the evening — with sequins flashing as she moved around the stage. Her show was a quiltwork of her life that at times felt very much like a visit with a close friend or relative.

Debbie put on a good performance and a fun show that included clips from many of her movies. I was surprised that I had seen every movie and was familiar with all the scenes presented. We were also taken down another memory lane as Debbie talked about her life in between musical performances. Debbie was very candid about her life, her marriages, her financial status and her relationships with her family and friends. Her stories were informative and funny at the same time. Kay and I both enjoyed the funny impressions Debbie did of other stars.

Debbie told us about how she is a Hollywood packrat, a collector of movie stuff. She has put together a very large collection of movie memorabilia, which she put in a museum in Las Vegas. She told us about having to move her movie museum, but the good news is that she has a new home for her collection. We were told that the new location for her museum would be located in a building on Hollywood Blvd. In the same building where the Academy Awards celebration would be held each year. The collection contains over 3000 costumes used in movies from the silent film era to movies made in the 1970s. When Debbie talked about her movie collection, I could tell she felt strongly about the importance of preserving film history.

At times Debbie would come over to the edge of the stage and talk to people in the audience. Kay and I had the pleasure of being close enough to the stage that Debbie came over to talk to us for a few minutes. As I said before, Debbie made us feel as if we were old friends. I have been a fan of her's for a long time. After this show I am a bigger fan of Debbie Reynolds than ever.

As pleased as I was with the show, I was impressed with what Debbie did after the show ended. She told the audience that if they were interested, she would come out after she changed into her street clothes, to talk to them and sign autographs. As we left the theater I saw a long line of people forming to talk to Debbie. Kay and I decided to avoid the crowd and come back later after going to the casino.

We played the slots for about 30 minutes. I had run my $20 roll of quarters up to about $80 early during this time, however, I had given all my gains back. I cashed-in the credits on the slot machine to get back my $20. I asked Kay if she would like to go down to see if Debbie was still talking to her fans. Kay was playing on what appeared to be hot slot machine and wanted to stay with it, so I went downstairs alone.

The line to see Debbie was very short when I arrived. There were only three ahead of me which made me the last audience member to talk to Debbie. She is a very pleasant person to talk to. A man in her group noticed a camera in my shirt pocket. He asked me to give him the camera so he could take a picture of Debbie with me.

I often meet the nicest people on our RV trips

I moved over next to her thinking I would just stand next to her for the picture. Then I felt her arm around me, so I put my arm around her. When the flash went off, my first thought was that I sure hope the picture comes out. I could hardly wait to see the picture of Debbie and me. (I had nothing to fear, the picture came out better than expected.) This was a very special treat for me and like I said before, I am now a bigger fan of Debbie Reynolds than ever before. She is a sweet and gracious lady with a little mischievousness about her.

You might notice that I refer to Ms Reynolds by her first name through most of my story. I do this not to be disrespectful. It is just that Debbie made me feel as if I had been a close friend in a very short time. So, I refer to her as Debbie as I would with a friend or relative. If she were to read this I would say, "Thanks Debbie for a great show and very special experience."

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