The caller was David Wilson, the charismatic husband of Laura Lee Brown, a Jack Daniels Bourbon heiress. The event was a VIP gala following the Kentucky Derby, at the amazing 21c Museum Hotel in Louisville. The New York Times, Conde Nast Traveller, and Cher (who I impersonated at the event) have given the art-filled hotel rave reviews.

I sent a contract and David’s assistant booked my flight.  I was nervous about customs because I didn’t have time to get a US work permit. I had no problem at US security. I was going to the Kentucky Derby! There’s nothing suspicious about that. All the luggage? It must just be big hats.

My dad’s birthday was a few days away, on May 5^th. I wanted to tell him that I was performing at a Kentucky Derby party. Then, when I got there and saw the derby souvenirs in my hotel room, I wanted to send them to him. The next day, I wanted to call him and say, “Dad! I just rehearsed my Madonna routine in a hotel gym with NFL players!” I hadn’t seen my dad since I’d surprised him on his last birthday. He died six weeks later, two days before Father’s Day.

Dad would’ve gone wild if he’d seen my performance of Vogue, with Cincinnati Bengals onstage as boy toys. He used to say that I’d have made a good quarterback because I got onstage and ran for 45 minutes. He also taught me how to throw a good spiral.

A former Miss America joined me onstage at the party, kicking her heels up as I impersonated Liza Minnelli. I’ll bet Dad would have joined us if he’d had a few drinks. He used to cry when I did New York, New York.

The airport was crazy busy the next day, with everyone leaving. I was exhausted, waiting in a long line at Starbucks. Then I saw him, in the back of an airport golf cart right beside me, Smokey Robinson!  He nodded at me, kind of like, “please don’t scream and draw attention”, so I just stared as he and his wife debated getting coffee. I should have offered to get some for them, but I couldn’t speak. I thought about my dad again, how he would have told everyone, including strangers, about my Kentucky Derby adventures. Repeatedly. For years.

I ordered my coffee and while I was waiting, I had a surreal experience.  A couple at one of the tables got excited and hollered over,  “ It’s you! You’re the performer from last night! You were wonderful!”. I was being star-spied while Smokey Robinson was in a golf cart beside the escalator.

David Wilson called to hire me the next year but I was already booked. I heard from him again when he was planning his Birthday party, but nothing became of that. I hope to hear from him again, even if it’s the middle of the night.

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