"We are born astride a grave - WaynesWorldStage.com

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Fred Barnett worked for his father, whoowned a large truck rental firm in Detroit.Almost every night after the theatre, a group ofus would go out drinking. Our entourage keptgrowing and I always suspected that ourpopularity was partly due to the fact that Fredalways picked up the tab.The favorite hangout was a place calledMomo's. It had sofas and easy chairs and wasvery <strong>com</strong>fortable. The main attraction was PhilGaberman. He was a very talented jazz musician,who also was our friend. He played the pianothere three nights a week.One night, after about a year of pickingup the tab every night, Fred was about to pick upthe check and he leaned over to me and said,"Why am I the only one who picks up the tab?"I could only laugh.Fred's father sold his business to "RyderTrucks" and moved to California. He asked Fredand his family to join him in a new venture. Fredgot the speech about being a husband and afather. Fred's wife, Veronica, was an incrediblybeautiful woman. How any man could go outdrinking every night when he had a wife like thatat home is beyond my understanding. Veronicasaid, "I'm going, with you or without you." Fred50
went. He and I were partners, but he was alwaysthe boss. Now, I would be the boss, a realproducer. I could do any play I wanted, castmyself in any role I wanted. O Paradiso.I got a call at the theatre one day from acouple in Florida. They had heard that WorldStage was going to do Beckett's Waiting forGodot. They wanted to audition. I pointed outthat one, there were no female parts in Godot,and two, it would be a very long drive just toaudition. The odds were overwhelming that theywould not be cast. They said that she wanted toread for Lucky and he wanted to read forVladimir. All they wanted was a chance toaudition. I said, "No promises, but anyone canaudition."They came. They auditioned. I lovedthem, but I still was not about to cast a woman asLucky. I fe<strong>are</strong>d that Samuel Beckett would havea fit. At any rate, Whij was cast as Vladimir. Hewas a tall thin man with radiant blond hair. Ihave no idea of the origin of the name Whij. I hadnever heard of it before nor have I heard of itsince.Whij and Dee Nolde. Two beautifulpeople, inside and out. Dee was short with longhair that went beyond her waist. Neither of themknew a soul in Detroit. I found a place for them51
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The Cover PhotographThis is a pictu
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When a working New York City actorb
Page 8 and 9: in 1968 at the Pocket Theatre on Se
Page 10 and 11: had the idea of little league sport
Page 12 and 13: the wheel to make sure that our min
Page 14 and 15: What could I do? My father was goin
Page 16 and 17: would personally guarantee that it
Page 18 and 19: Like most of us at the time, I was
Page 20 and 21: good.” I was working around the c
Page 22 and 23: We all tried to communicate with al
Page 24 and 25: my better eye in an effort to stren
Page 26 and 27: uckled another laced…” It just
Page 28 and 29: "He and his girlfriend went upstate
Page 31 and 32: Chapter 2Wayne University would hav
Page 33 and 34: pictures of naked people were doing
Page 35 and 36: Let me throw in a bit of trivia. Th
Page 37 and 38: this is never mentioned in the anti
Page 39 and 40: old newspapers. No one else knew of
Page 41 and 42: pay, I had to purchase a bunch of i
Page 43: Presbyterian Church. It was intende
Page 46 and 47: Francisco, are all remembered as ma
Page 48 and 49: apologized, took a bow, and went ou
Page 50 and 51: still considered myself a devout Ch
Page 52 and 53: single beds, but I apparently slept
Page 54 and 55: I disagreed with much of what he wa
Page 58 and 59: to stay and for the next five weeks
Page 60 and 61: very nervous. I only had a few doll
Page 62 and 63: of the producers of Lorraine Hansbe
Page 64 and 65: surprise, when I offered him a job,
Page 66 and 67: open The Vanguard Playhouse and the
Page 68 and 69: A new, unknown Detroit actor hadaud
Page 70 and 71: 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
Page 79 and 80: into San Francisco several times so
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
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ight. I apologize. Thank you." I ha
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When the season was over, Joan and
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lab. I don't remember what Joan's j
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that I could comprehend the extent
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When I told Modernage that I wasqui
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an agent. I didn't. I'd never been
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After that night in the dressing ro
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114
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of punching the guy out. This was n
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actors are signed to contracts. Nor
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The Festival finished the season bu
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something drastic to get his attent
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Not wanting the audience to miss an
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young couple spend the night in the
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When Joan returned, she and I went
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I got a call from a director with w
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would not do my bit. Sure enough, w
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134
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from Ulysses. The implication was t
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shoes. When asked why he became an
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The next morning she left me in the
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ealized that we were the most theat
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ules specified that producers had t
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asked if she could speak with me pr
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through a farmers’ market with a
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office would be open at 10pm. This
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University. I didn't know what to d
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"Hey, what about me?" I shouted. I
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"rape" was meant in a classic sense
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NO, NO, NO, OH GOD, NO! PLEASE!THIS
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leave the show. I did not want Mich
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lists at all of the state homes thr
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164
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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
Page 386 and 387:
happy about their streets being fil
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HeresyForty-five years after my cal
show all

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