No, this isn’t a story about Ben Vereen’s appearance on the Muppets or him singing a duet with Kermit the Frog. It’s about a very spiritual encounter that we shared several years ago in the small town of Logansport, Indiana.
It was a Sunday afternoon and we were on our way to Logansport High School where Ben was to perform that night at McHale Auditorium. The “we” was me, Ben Vereen and his accompanist Bob. We had gotten up early that morning, at Ben’s request, and gone “Churchin’”. When Ben was younger, his aunt would take him to various churches where they would worship and, as he says, eat all day long. We had gone to a few church services that morning and ended our religious pilgrimage by popping in on a Pentecostal service in the middle of an Indiana cornfield. That was an eye-opening experience for a Catholic boy!
Over the previous couple of days, we had conversations in the car about spirituality and Ben’s views. He never really declared a denomination. He just said, “There’s one top to the mountain with several ways to get there.” During one of the conversations, Ben had mentioned that he hadn’t seen a rainbow in quite a while – especially living in New York City.
As we drove toward Logansport on a very sunny afternoon, we could see a wall of thunder clouds rolling in, in the distance. I commented that this was typical in Indiana. But even for an Indiana native, it was an ominous site and I knew a big storm was brewing.
We made it to the high school and got Ben settled into the dressing room. Ben and Bob went on stage to do a sound check and run through a couple of numbers. I went into the green room to make sure there was food and drinks. I looked out the window to check on the storm. It was getting darker, but the sun was still shining brightly. As I looked up, I saw a rainbow forming. Remembering our conversation about rainbows, I ran to the stage and excitedly said, “Mr. Vereen, come here. You’ve got to see this.” He followed. When he got to the window, there was the brightest rainbow that any of us had ever seen. Ben said, “Let’s go outside.” So, Bob and I followed. What happened in the next few minutes was incredible.
As we were outside looking up at that rainbow, Ben stood between me and Bob and grabbed our hands and started praying. As we looked up with the rain starting to pelt us in the face… a second rainbow appeared. It was just as bright as the first. A double rainbow!
It started to rain harder but we couldn’t move. We just stood there staring at this glorious marvel and getting wet. I couldn’t help but think to myself, “Thank you God for this incredible moment.” And to share it with Ben Vereen was even more special.
And just when you think the story should end there… it doesn’t. No, there wasn’t a third rainbow – but something even more unexplainable.
You see, Ben does a tribute to Sammy Davis, Jr. in his show. And by pure coincidence, the technical director had put on a CD of Sammy Davis, Jr. on the auditorium sound system. When we decided it was time to get out of the rain, we entered back into the auditorium doors. And guess what the first thing we heard was? …Sammy Davis, Jr. singing these exact words from the song Candy Man… “Who can take a rainbow…?”
I will never be able to explain what that exact moment was like for me, for Bob, or for Ben Vereen.
That night, during the performance, Ben started to sing “Candy Man” during his Sammy Davis, Jr. segment. He stopped when he got to the “rainbow” phrase and started laughing. He told the audience what had happened earlier that day. Most of the audience had seen the rainbows, as well.
When I’ve had the opportunity to see Ben over the years, we talk about “the rainbows”. It’s something that connected us. And I still have the video tape of that performance as proof that it actually happened.
A couple of years ago, our family flew to New York City to see Ben during his last weekend performing as the “Wizard” in Wicked. We met Ben before the show and then visited him in his dressing room afterwards. I gave him a gift, a book about rainbows. He had it displayed in his dressing room.
Wouldn’t it be great if a rainbow appears on Sunday, March 7th when he comes back to Indiana to appear at Carmel High School? I know I’ll be looking toward the sky.
Our family backstage with Ben Vereen after Wicked
