Chance = Change

How else is time measured? My few hours over at the York rehearsal were easy and fun, and Milt Granger is very good at what he does! He was patient with me as I tip-toed back into this lush and complex score, and we worked easily together. I met and hugged the tall, gorgeous-voiced Christianne Noll (seems like such a really nice person) and spent a few valuable minutes with old pal and colleague Joe Kolinski before he got down to work...He looks wonderful and seems so happy , with his beloved wife and (amazingly) 12-year old daughter Jordan,,,,from her photo, she looks like a true beauty...but how could she not be with Joe as her Daddy? Gabe Barre, another old friend, was warm and welcoming, and the entire York organization seemed to be a-hum with activity and purpose....it felt creative and alive. Today we work from 9:30 to 6:30...starting with our Equity meeting at the top, then a read-through....So the day was positive and whetted my appetite for more, Today, I will also work with Glen Allen who I happened to miss yesterday, and the entire production team will be there as well, I assume.

I am curious to know what the designers think of how "Gertrude Klapper" should look...I keep seeing women on busses and subways that look like how I envision her, but I have trouble imagining what my "Klapper" will look like. When I first played her, I was so young, all I played was some sketchy version of an older Jewish woman, but now, I want her to be more specific and truer to me. So that will be a fun conversation.

So beginnings....and now to endings.


To Alice, with Love, From Evalyn:


Memory is architecture. And….

A life’s memories are like a city’s skyline, with elements short and tall. Each person’s life is unique in its architecture because every human being’s memories are their own.

Alice White was one of the tall landmarks of my life, and without her, it feels like looking at the skyline of New York City and seeing how the World Trade Center is not there anymore. And, like the Twin Towers, it still doesn’t seem right that such an important piece of architecture is missing. In fact, somehow, it seems unbelievable.

I have known Alice White for over 30 years, and have known her as only another tall NYC actress of a certain age can know another: we basically lived the same passions, ate the same daily bread of striving and disappointment, enjoyed the same ecstasies when things went our way. And finally, some 25 years after our first job together (me as the Good Fairy, she as the Evil Fairy in SLEEPING BEAUTY at LONG WHARF THEATER) we finally got to create some real art together at the Barter Theater. And for that, there are no words for my gratitude. Because it was through our shows together at Barter, after she had struggled with her cancer for a few years, that we really shared what life had brought us together to do.

First, on the porch of the Barter Inn, over ceaseless cups of tea, sitting next to the many red geraniums she kept planting on the porch, we shared the stories of our lives as they had brought us to Barter. We cried together over her struggles, and we cried together over mine…we laughed until we cried over the many wonderful things that had happened to us as well….and then:

We went across the parking lot and started rehearsing! What was our first Barter show together? Ah yes: how could I ever forget? DIVORCE SOUTHERN STYLE!!!! Sidekicks , again,at last, and getting paid for it! Not only did we adore working together, painting our faces with facial goo and going for the laughs, but I had the rare pleasure of learning from a mistress of the art while being on the same stage with her…sometimes I would metaphorically lay back and watch her do the impossible: get three large laughs out of a single line! No one could do it better, and by the time that show ended, she had become my unwitting teacher. I definitely got the best part of that deal! Elma Blue and Eleanor ruled the waves that season! Alice and Evalyn. Thank you Rick. For me, unforgettable.

Then I had the privilege of sharing the same stage with her in Ron Osborne’s beautiful play: FIRST BAPTIST OF IVY GAP and there was never , in my career, a stronger, more dramatic experience. Alice was vibrantly equipped to plumb the depths of the saddest women ever written, and to be in the thrall of THAT energy onstage is indeed a rare and wonderful thing. She was one of those actresses who made everyone else’s job easier because she was deeply, thrillingly alive and THERE every moment onstage. She never let down. She always cared and strove to make every performance better. She was a true craftsman. I admired her so.
I still do. Now if only she were here , so I could act in more plays with her!

If only she were here so we could poke awful fun at the foibles of people all around us…..and laugh til we cry….

If only she were here so , we could both hate the Republicans out loud together and get angry as the world we love goes to hell!

If only she were still here to always be the indefatigable one who would take care of recycling, take care of all stray cats, and take care of us too!

If only Alice was still here. We would wear red dresses and sit among the petunias and drink tea ‘til dawn, with maybe a little something poured into it….we would laugh our deep -throated laughs (I always tried to copy hers), and remember how brief our lives really are, and we would be glad for ours.

Alice was my friend, my cherished colleague, and -in case I forgot to make it clear- my favorite stage actress.

So, in honor of Alice, let’s find laughter where there may seem to be none ….and let’s laugh long and loud…let’s laugh til we cry….for Alice.