"We are born astride a grave - WaynesWorldStage.com

of punching the guy out. This was not anatmosphere in which to promote my idea for theTV show. We finished dinner and all went ourseparate ways. I made several calls to SandyBaron, but he never returned my calls. A fewweeks later I read in the paper about a new TVshow based on the news. Not a news broadcast, ashow, comedy, music, entertainment based on thenews. It was called That Was the Week That Was.One of the performers was named Sandy Baron.What a strange coincidence.Jonathan and I became involved in a newproject. We became co-producers of theInternational Theatre Festival (ITF) in Windsor,Ontario. Jonathan, as it turned out, was the sonof Edwin Knopf, the executive producer of MGMand nephew of publisher Alfred Knopf. I thought,"Hey, this could be big time."We formed a limited partnership.Jonathan and I both sold shares in our newproject. Jonathan's uncle, Alfred Knopf, invested,and so did their family friend, Richard Rodgers.The ITF was held at the ClearyAuditorium on the Detroit River. This was notthe small, intimate kind of theatre I had grown tolove. This was 1,400 seats, a large prosceniumstage, full union house and full Equity contract.The union requires each acting company to elect116