Man on a Mission

Bob Lewis is a man on a mission. Yes folks, for the last 3 days, Bob’s latest mission has been to replace every burned out light bulb he could find in the theatre, including EXIT lights. Now you may think this a noble endeavor, and it is. It is no small task. Bob has made several trips to Stuart Irby Lighting, which by the way, has moved location to West Monroe. Stuart Irby supplies us with those hard to find bulbs, like the ones that go in the fixtures in the hallway. This mission began when Joel Willer called to Bob’s attention, a burned out light in the auditorium. Mind you, the auditorium ceiling height is probably between 20-30 feet. To remove the burned out bulb and replace it, Bob had to stand on a 6 ft. ladder and use one of those poles that extend and have some sort of apparatus on the end that grips light bulbs for easy removal and/or insertion. The removal of the burned out bulb came off without a hitch. The fun began with the insertion of the new bulb. See, somehow the apparatus became lodged in the fixture. Bob was able to get it dislodged; however the bulb came crashing to the floor. Fortunately (because it was a flood light) it did not shatter. Bob sends me on a quest to locate another flood lamp. Upon inspection of the light bulb changing apparatus, we determine it to be malformed, i.e., broke. Bob decides that a little duct tape will alleviated the problem and off he goes in search of duct tape. Unbeknownst to Bob, I just bent the darn thing back in place. We give it another go. This time, as Bob ascends the ladder, he asks me to go get a flashlight so we can see inside the fixture. Well, the flood lamp goes in without a hitch until Bob starts “screwing” it in. The apparatus again becomes lodged in the light fixture. This time as Bob is trying to dislodge it, pieces of the ceiling start pelting us. Then Bob gives it another good tug, and the fixture itself comes out of the ceiling! At that point, I howl with laughter because not only is the fixture hanging loose, the light bulb retrieval tool is still stuck in the fixture. Bob lets it go and casually asks me if I think theatre members will notice if he just leaves it like that. The pole is bright yellow. Now we both start laughing. After our bout of laughter, Bob finally gets the bright yellow pole out of the fixture. So when you come to the theatre and see the hanging fixture, please remember what fun was had in creating this masterpiece.