Thirty-one years later this September, Rip Rippetoe still conjures up lessons learned from Jerry Lewis and Siegfried and Roy during his Las Vegas days. Those memories reinforce his philosophies that we’re all in this together and how you show up makes a difference.
In 1989, Jerry Lewis’ MDA Labor Day Telethon moved out of casinos and into Cashman Field, where Rippetoe worked. Cashman Field was comprised of a 2,000-seat performing arts theater; 100,000-sq.-ft. exhibit hall and a 10,000-seat Triple A baseball park.
The telethon was a 30 day move-in because the theater had a small orchestra pit and Jerry Lewis insisted he bring in the live orchestra he had been used to. Major changes were required.
To enlarge the pit, they took out the first 15 rows in the theater and built a stage two feet above the original stage that went out into the house, so there could be a pit big enough for the band and camera dollies.
“We were about two weeks into load in and they were still building the stage and rigging and getting camera positions set. It was a full crew of stagehands working, probably at least a dozen, maybe more,” Rippetoe recalled.
He knew most of the crew from his side job teaching stagecraft at the community college at Southern Nevada. He had become friends with lots of the folks in IATSE, some of whom were on the crew that particular weekday. The production manager and Rippetoe were standing on the stage going over a couple things and the crews were all working around them, when Jerry Lewis walked on stage.
“Good morning.”
“Good morning, Mr. Lewis.”
“Well look at that will you?“
“What?”
“Look around.“
“I’m sorry, I guess I’m missing the point. What are we talking about?”
“We have all these people here working and they are all ultimately reporting up to me because this is my telethon, and I don’t know a single one of them.“
And before anything more could be said, Lewis walked to the front of the stage, clapped his hands three times and said:
“Anybody not wearing a name badge within the next five minutes is fired.”
The stagehands looked back. Okay, what now? Rippetoe could only shrug his shoulders.
So the foreman took charge. “Okay guys, let’s go.”
And they walked into the Green Room and about five minutes later came walking back out to the stage. They all had these “Hello, My Name Is….” sticky badges on their shirts.
Jerry Lewis said, “That’s better.”
Then he looked at Rippetoe and said: “Sometimes you have to let people know who the boss is.”
Then Lewis turned around and walked out.
Rippetoe looked over at the guys and they were all grinning. Uh oh, what’s going on?
He walked over to the foreman to find out and immediately saw that every crew member had written “Jerry Lewis” as his name.
“It reinforced what I’ve always known. Everyone has a purpose, every voice is important and when we say we are all in this together, we’re all in this together. All means all.”
“It was such a great lesson for me about how I show up. If I show up filled with ego and thinking I’m the only one with the answer and I’m going to be pompous or arrogant, then everyone around me will act the same way because that’s the norm. At the very least, it will break down any hope of camaraderie and the ability to work together.”
Fast forward a year later, and Siegfried and Roy were standing in the same spot, having rented the exhibit hall and theater for about a month to rehearse for their upcoming world tour.
“I got to know people on their production crew and they introduced me to Siegfried and Roy. One morning, I was covering for the event manager and I got a call that Feld was showing up with the elephant for rehearsal that day. They needed the freight door opened up.”
Upon mapping out the elephant’s arrival route, Rippetoe noted that Roy’s Rolls Royce was parked right inside the exhibit hall in front of the freight door. The car had to be moved.
So Rippetoe walked up to the magicians and their manager.
“I’m sorry to interrupt but, Roy, we need to move your car so we can get the elephant in for rehearsal.”
And Roy immediately reaches into his pocket and pulls out the keys and says, “Here. If you can keep it close I’d appreciate it.”
“I am not driving your Rolls Royce.”
“Why not? I trust you.”
“No, I’m sorry, but my risk management folks would kill me if I drove your Rolls Royce in our exhibit hall. I’m just not going to do it.”
“Oh, come on.”
After three of four minutes of Roy joking around with Rippetoe, the manager rescued him. “Okay, if you won’t do it, you can help me do it. You can ride.”
So the manager got in the driver’s seat and Rippetoe in the passenger seat, a nice memory in and of itself, and they moved that luxury car a few feet.
“It reminded me you never forget your roots. When you are working with people, everyone’s voice matters. It’s about collaborating and moving forward. One year apart, I dealt with people who had two different approaches to how that could be accomplished.”
Jerry Lewis never realized the crew all had his name on their badges, but they will never forget.
“It was one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen, also a great reinforcement how we’re all in this together. Some of us are fortunate to be far more privileged than others. It’s what we do with it that makes the difference.” — Based on a true story as told to Linda Deckard