I was at Walmart earlier (where else?) and there was a guy in there wearing a cape! I don't know what his deal was but I was surely not going to get close enough to a guy in a cape to find out.

But that reminded me of seeing Liberace play at our long since gone theater in the round known as The Front Row. It only had 26 rows so every seat was great, and the sound in there was amazing. Plus the stage rotated so every 4-5 minutes you were in the middle of the stage.

So Liberace started his show. We all know he was extremely flamboyant both on and off the stage. His opening outfit was gold lame! He played 3 songs, then introduced the first of 3 guests, a female singer whose name I don't remember. She sang 2 songs, during which he went off stage to change clothes. When he returned he was wearing what amounted to a black jump suit with a red shirt, and a black cape with red lining that matched the shirt. And here's why the cape came into play.

After the first song of that segment he told a story about the IRS disallowing his deduction for his stage costumes. He explained how he debated with the agent that many of, if not all of, his outfits could also be worn as everyday clothing. And the punchline, delivered with that smile and wink that he had, was

"THIS is the outfit I wore to the audit!"

"I got the deduction!"

Sadly, he was a lifelong chain smoker, which depleted his pulmonary and cardiac systems, and that led to his body not being able to combat the effects of HIV later in life. He was a fantastic player. During that show he played a LOT of Chopin pieces, and he really knew how to capture an audience.

Not unlike the guy in the Walmart, who drew the complete attention of everybody he passed!