I was in college during the Fair. The site is where the U. S. Open Tennis Tournament is now placed, To be honest, I saw much more of actress Julie Newmar, who was also in line, than the few seconds with the Pieta.
I remember showering after gym classes all through high school and also in the seventh grade
No question that I would have remembered 8th grade gym because the same male students were in all my classes. Perhaps the school dropped gym that year.
I believe you are writing about a subsequent Carol Channing appearance where she was much less vibrant and did appear confused, perhaps the Kander and Ebb Tribute. The concert was held in a less than ideal theater.
In the Met's War and Peace the snow looks so real that a French soldier fell off the stage a few years ago. The snow yesterday in the Puccini opera was almost as convincing.