“I'm sending a check so you can buy whatever you want to wear,” she'd said over the phone while Rose listened in. “And I had a hat made specially for you—it's from Hattie Carnegie, Mama!”

“You shouldn't throw your money around,” Nonna had said, but Rose could tell she was pleased.

“I'm celebrating,” Lu had said. “I want you and Rose to get all dolled up and come see me. I have the second lead, Mama, and I have a number in the second act that's going to be great.”

“When is this show?” Nonna had asked, although Rose knew she had already circled the advertisement for it in the New Haven Register.

“In two weeks. You'll have tickets for Saturday night.” There was a pause, and then Lu had said, “Please come, Mama. You're the one who made it possible for me.”

Nonna had agreed, and what was worse from Rose's point of view, she was excited. When the hat arrived, it was an irresistible confection of pink tulle and roses, and Nonna had her seamstress make a dress to match it. She bought a white pinafore and blouse for Rose that made her look like an angel. Nonna and Rose loved to get dressed up, although Rose would have preferred it if her mother the interloper hadn't been the cause.

Before the show opened on Saturday there was a dress rehearsal at the Shubert on Friday night. During a break, Lu called to say that there was a problem with her number. She'd be staying in the Taft Hotel instead of coming home, so that she could go to the theater early in the morning and work on some new material.

“I don't understand what's wrong,” Nonna fretted to Paulie. “They're changing Lu's dance.”

“Mama, it's an out-of-town tryout,” Paulie said. “This is when they fix the things that aren't working.”

“But Lu said her number was good,” Nonna worried. “Now they don't like it? What if they fire Lu?”

As far as Rose was concerned, Nonna was way too concerned. She started hoping that the Saturday-night performance would be canceled and they wouldn't have to go.

But the performance wasn't canceled, and Lu wasn't fired, and that night Rose and her nonna sat in the theater in all their finery, waiting for Lu's big moment.

Her number began the second act. Nonna sat up straight in her seat as the curtain went up, her hands clenched in her lap. Lu was on the stage. She was dressed for bed, wearing curlers in her hair, a big fluffy robe, and furry slippers. She had on a lot of makeup, which made her look prettier than she usually did, but the outfit was silly, and people were starting to laugh at her. Lu began singing and they laughed even more. Rose looked over at Nonna to see if she had noticed how embarrassing it was, but there was a small smile playing around Nonna's mouth.