"A carpenter and a trumpet player were sitting in the green room ... "
You may think this is the start of a music joke, but it fact this type of scenario happens all the time in the Leighton Green Room at the NAC. It's a great place to chat with people about the many different productions and projects happening around the building. And this is how principal trumpet Karen Donnelly wound up in the prop shop with her drill bits and a trumpet mouthpiece that required fine tuning.
It was during lunch that Karen told Assistant Carpenter Kirk Bowman about a trumpet mouthpiece she'd ordered that was not quite right. She mentioned that she was considering widening the hole in the mouthpiece using her own drill, but was hesitant due to the value of the mouthpiece.
Moments later Karen was backstage in the workshop while Kirk modified the mouthpiece using an industrial sized drill machine. Karen was thrilled with the final result and a bottle of wine may soon appear on Kirk's doorstep — it was a great backstage moment at the National Arts Centre.
