"We are born astride a grave - WaynesWorldStage.com

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actors <strong>are</strong> signed to contracts. Normally this ruleis not enforced, but our deputy insisted that eachand every rule be enforced. Phillip was a goodactor and a good person, and from the union’spoint of view, he was just doing his job. PhilipBaker Hall may not be a name that you know,but you have seen him in countless movies. Hisstarring role in the film Hard Eight is a trulygreat performance. Anyway, we were not allowedto rehearse until two days before opening, whenMarcia signed her contract. Two days ofrehearsal for a full-scale musical production. Onopening night, Marcia went blank in the middleof her big musical number. After making herexit, she ran to the back of the theatre and begankicking the brick wall. She broke her foot. Nowthis is the incredible part. She could havedemanded to be taken to a hospital. <strong>We</strong> had nostandbys and we would have had to stop the showand give refunds. She insisted on continuing theperformance even though she must have been ingreat pain. For the rest of the run, she performedin a cast and used crutches.The biggest problem we faced thatsummer was caused by an entertainer namedSammy Davis, Jr. Windsor, Ontario was thehome of a very large nightclub called theElmwood Casino. I had worked out a packagedeal with the Elmwood that offered customers aplay at the theatre and then dinner and a floor118
show at the Elmwood, all for a very reasonableprice. This was a good deal for the patrons, agood deal for the theatre and a good deal for theElmwood. That is, up until Sammy Davis, Jr.played there.The tickets were sold at the theatre, not atthe Elmwood. For every ticket sold, the theatrewould owe the Elmwood “x” amount of dollars.When word got out that Sammy Davis wasplaying the Elmwood, tickets started to sell likethose famous hotcakes.Sammy worked on a percentage of thegate. He had his staff count the money ascustomers came in to ensure he got his portion ofthe gross. They used the Abbot and Costellosystem for counting the money. One for theElmwood, one for Sammy; two for the Elmwood,one, two for Sammy; three for the Elmwood, one,two, three for Sammy. He would not accept thepackage tickets. I had a valid contract with theElmwood, but Sammy would not accept thetickets. Ticket holders were outraged. They hadseen the play but were not allowed into theElmwood. They wanted their money back. Forevery one person in line to buy a ticket for a playthere were ten people demanding refunds. Theywere yelling and screaming. It was awful.119
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The Cover PhotographThis is a pictu
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When a working New York City actorb
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in 1968 at the Pocket Theatre on Se
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had the idea of little league sport
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the wheel to make sure that our min
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What could I do? My father was goin
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would personally guarantee that it
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Like most of us at the time, I was
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good.” I was working around the c
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We all tried to communicate with al
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my better eye in an effort to stren
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uckled another laced…” It just
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"He and his girlfriend went upstate
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Chapter 2Wayne University would hav
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pictures of naked people were doing
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Let me throw in a bit of trivia. Th
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this is never mentioned in the anti
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old newspapers. No one else knew of
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pay, I had to purchase a bunch of i
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Presbyterian Church. It was intende
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Francisco, are all remembered as ma
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apologized, took a bow, and went ou
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still considered myself a devout Ch
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single beds, but I apparently slept
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I disagreed with much of what he wa
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Fred Barnett worked for his father,
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to stay and for the next five weeks
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very nervous. I only had a few doll
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of the producers of Lorraine Hansbe
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surprise, when I offered him a job,
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open The Vanguard Playhouse and the
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A new, unknown Detroit actor hadaud
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I would have to wait until I got to
Page 73 and 74: Chapter 4So here it is, the fall of
Page 75 and 76: an into Chuck. He asked if we could
Page 77 and 78: Canyon. As a former ministerial stu
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Page 81 and 82: I then returned to the papers and t
Page 83 and 84: quiet. Her roommate, apparently ana
Page 85 and 86: I then moved into the space we were
Page 87 and 88: extensive search, I settled on a yo
Page 89 and 90: collected deposit bottles and bough
Page 91 and 92: open the top half of the door. One
Page 93 and 94: and spray-paint them. A very inexpe
Page 95 and 96: day and night for several months re
Page 97: After a few days in Detroit, I was
Page 100 and 101: able to find out if I was going to
Page 102 and 103: kasha?" I inquired. "The germ of ba
Page 104 and 105: meet me. After arriving in the moun
Page 106 and 107: ight. I apologize. Thank you." I ha
Page 108 and 109: When the season was over, Joan and
Page 110 and 111: lab. I don't remember what Joan's j
Page 112 and 113: that I could comprehend the extent
Page 114 and 115: When I told Modernage that I wasqui
Page 116 and 117: an agent. I didn't. I'd never been
Page 118 and 119: After that night in the dressing ro
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Page 122 and 123: of punching the guy out. This was n
Page 126 and 127: The Festival finished the season bu
Page 128 and 129: something drastic to get his attent
Page 130 and 131: Not wanting the audience to miss an
Page 132 and 133: young couple spend the night in the
Page 134 and 135: When Joan returned, she and I went
Page 136 and 137: I got a call from a director with w
Page 138 and 139: would not do my bit. Sure enough, w
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Page 142 and 143: from Ulysses. The implication was t
Page 144 and 145: shoes. When asked why he became an
Page 146 and 147: The next morning she left me in the
Page 148 and 149: ealized that we were the most theat
Page 150 and 151: ules specified that producers had t
Page 152 and 153: asked if she could speak with me pr
Page 154 and 155: through a farmers’ market with a
Page 156 and 157: office would be open at 10pm. This
Page 158 and 159: University. I didn't know what to d
Page 160 and 161: "Hey, what about me?" I shouted. I
Page 162 and 163: "rape" was meant in a classic sense
Page 164 and 165: NO, NO, NO, OH GOD, NO! PLEASE!THIS
Page 166 and 167: leave the show. I did not want Mich
Page 168 and 169: lists at all of the state homes thr
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Page 172 and 173: Michele's pleated skirts, and I pra
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een so moved by the time she spent
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question him. That policeman then c
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One of them returned and handed me
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phone, she was frightened and didn'
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couldn’t help but to wonder and h
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I took Michele to another psychiatr
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kind of private school for children
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Solomon and Ashemedai. I played Ash
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and watch me perform. Lyn would smi
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the first floor, and the blinds wer
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Twenty-eight years later, her mothe
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summer. The new sitter was from a g
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Zero Mostel, who was a very large m
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Lyn moved in with me. Life was good
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He said, "Please don't be angry wit
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estaurants. I made safe lights out
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We arrived at the falls and got a m
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agreed to meet at a bar in Manhatta
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Matthew seemed to know from the sta
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a little auto focus Olympus camera.
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her uncle. He had a very large plac
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My watermelon heart broke. I ran an
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I answered a used car ad in the pap
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passed away shortly after surgery.
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emained close friends, but Jim beca
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difficult to keep people when you c
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together. We then voted on the vari
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dictator, Sukarno, was about to be
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inhaled. I was hooked within a week
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little extra income. He would care
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carrying Christopher in her arms. L
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me what happened." Before we finish
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232
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the night on the eastern end of Pen
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twenties, Matthew ran the Long Isla
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One of my new employees was fromCal
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made themselves at home. They were
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I had saved a supply cabinet that h
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This is not just a credit union; th
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246
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kids happy in the process. Within a
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any money, only about three hundred
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was done on time and delivered to a
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was a bit stunned, but from that ti
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Baldev Duggal, the founder and owne
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lawyers and accountants advise new
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was to be C.O.D. The first order wa
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Lyn's father's health was beginning
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Michele had been at the new school
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We all knew that the Walshs would n
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My business was doing well, but our
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the nursing home and have no rent t
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272
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friend had divorced his wife, quit
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that I needed. The computers did no
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There was an article in The New Yor
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one so many times. He asked for my
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Lynne was not overjoyed at the pros
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After each fight, we would then arg
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Business was good. Lynne and I deci
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dropped dead that night. I would ha
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Alex Vadell was also a master. Soon
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ignored each other, but the dogs ne
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294
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end. I always had Michele as an exc
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ecome more aware of the extent of d
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had no difficulty in figuring out t
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From what I could gather, at thebeg
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garbage dumps that still had used c
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Theatre Row tenants. As of July 198
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Lynne and I had a wonderful time in
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By the end of the first week of Jud
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eturn, they got the use of the thea
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disorder was out of remission. She
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During the rehearsal, most of theau
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esponse, and we walked up Eighth Av
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space. Do they understand the fact
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six months. How could I turn down a
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went to get something to eat. When
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Lynne and I didn’t fully apprecia
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"My department at Lehman Brotherssp
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Make sure our film recorder can dow
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other times when I thought that I w
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there was no slide work, he could d
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the marriage was over? Kaput? I hop
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As large as this new apartment was,
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We, of course, would then go to the
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seem to me to show a lack of faith.
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later in hope that I would be aslee
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I couldn’t help but think how sad
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from the rental of the co-op, and I
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my arm down so fast that I had no t
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Shannon and Jeff told me about a sh
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mentioned that I did not have room
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floors, cleaned the bathrooms and t
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interested because there was not mu
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from old Theatre Magazines from the
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362
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laid off twenty-five percent of the
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But as much as I love Lyn, my child
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More MemoriesWhen I told Barry LaVi
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Alice Davies. Cliff Ammon telling m
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High School RomanceI hope I didn't
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to evaluate the speed and angle of
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I told my friend that it was a part
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Paris with The Paper Bag Players. H
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happy about their streets being fil
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HeresyForty-five years after my cal
show all

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