Lil' Peep

Matthew 10:29-31 - Are not two sparrows sold for one farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear ye note therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows.
Earlier this week, I was at rehearsal at Signature, and on a break out in the lovely alley. I was smoking a cig, and I noticed a baby bird that was up against the wall of theatre. The bird was so small, and was so still...
I approached it, and it barely moved. It feared that it was injured, but it was merely frozen with fear. A moment later, it hopped away a few feet.
Something was wrong here...it's wings looked wet. Then I saw Momma bird fly down, chirping loudly. She would fly a few feet, then come back...almost as if to say, "Come on you stupid shit, get your wings in gear!"...sorry...no, as if to say, "come on lil squirt...you can do it!".
My heart started breaking as I watched this. You must understand...I was a bit extra emotional, after rehearsing Assassins all morning. I saw Momma fly back with food. Baby ate. The baby was hopping along fine, and it's wings didn't seem to be injured, just wet. A fledgling who had either been blown off the roof nest, or simply didn't read up on gravity before wondering what was over the edge.
One by one, other Assassins cast members started to inquire as to what I was watching on breaks...I decided to consult our resident bird expert, Donna Migliaccio.
She observed the situation, and predicted the inevitable...if the bird was still in the alley by night, it would meet it's maker-either by cat, rat, or exposure.
Hmmm.
I know all of the Darwin crap, ok....survival of the fittest, and whatever else.
I just couldn't accept that. In rehearsing this show with such a dark subject matter, I simply couldn't turn the other way and ignore this baby who had lost it's way.
Maybe if someone had tried harder to reach out to any of the subjects of this show, then what happened would not have come to be.
In all of this mess in my head, I couldn't let a baby bird die. I would try my damnedest to save it, if from nothing else but cats and rats.
Donna said that if we could get it up off of the ground a few feet, and maybe put it in a box with newspapers that it may stand a fighting chance. OK.
Back to rehearsal.
It was also Donna's birthday that day, so after rehearsal, we all had ice cream cake and sang the B-Day song. As soon as I finished my cake, I was searching for a box.
Found one. Mika, who plays Guiteau, asked me what I was doing. I informed him of the lil' peep in the alley, and my fears that it would be taken by cats, rats, or just smouched by tire or foot that trampled ignorantly down the alley. He was on the case within seconds. I spotted a City Paper, and knew that I could use that to rip up and provide warmth to the lil' peep. PS...that's what I called him in my head...Lil' Peep. I did so, and Donna, Matty, Mika, and myself went out to the alley.
Mika and I managed to wrangle it into the box, and then we found a place for the box to be wedged into some pipes that were about 4 feet off of the ground.
OK....then we waited to see if the Momma would find the baby.
We waited forever. She didn't seem to know where he was, and he wasn't cheeping on little cheep.
By the way, that movie, 10.5-the earthquake movie is on channel 4 right now, and it is fu*king dreadful.
Anyways, Donna started to fear that we had done the wrong thing, since the Momma couldn't find the baby, and would surely abandon the search before too long.
And no, folks, if you touch a bird, the mother doesn't abandon it...an old wives tale, Donna informed me...
So after almost an hour had passed after rehearsal was over with no Momma-baby connection, I enlisted a favorite Signature Technical staff friend, Andres, to help me pull a ladder out to carry the box to the top of the roof, where Momma was, and where it might be able to be helped by her again.
We lugged the beast of a ladder out to the alley and I carried the lil' peepster to the top. I gently got him out and onto the roof, said, "Good luck, lil' guy", and made my way back down.
Several minutes later, there was a Sparrow party on the roof, as several birdies seemed to be celebrating the discovery of Lil' Peep.
We all walked away, not knowing if the bird would still make it or not. We never will know. I rationalized to myself that if the bird died, it would at least be a little bit closer to God.
And what a heart warming and funny thing...there was John Hinckley, Sara Jane Moore, Charles J. Guiteau, and Lee Harvey Oswald helping to save a baby Sparrow. Hey, everybody's got a heart. Except some people.

Luv,
SGS