A Tribute.

My dear friend and colleague passed away the other night.  I've been grieving and couldn't put words to my feelings.

His name was Frank Bayer.  He was more than a friend, he was my mentor.  I spent 20 plus years with him at the Taper (C.T.G.) in Los Angeles at the Music Center.  He looked out for me, he hired me and he protected and taught me all those years.  But after 2005, for reasons better left out of this blog, he returned to NYC.  All our lives were in upheaval that year.  All of us were left homeless, career-wise.  He took it all with good grace, prosaic always.

I remember we ate at California Pizza Kitchen constantly.  If it was just the two of us, we'd split a chinese chicken salad and some dumplings.  If Jimmie came with us, they'd split the Bolognese Pasta and we'd all share some dumplings.  (I'd eat the tequila fettucine.)  The three of us would always order the iced tea.  Jimmie would say, "No lemon, please."  Invariably his tea would come with a lemon wedge.  Jimmie would say..."OH! There is lemon in my tea!  I didn't ask for lemonade, I wanted TEA!  Don't just take it away and take out the lemon... pour me a new glass!"  Frank and I found this incredibly funny.  (Sorry Jimmie, but we did.)  Jimmie would then explain to us, each and every time why this was unacceptable.  Every time Frank and I went to CPK without Jimmie and we'd order our usual iced tea, we'd look at each other and say, "Oh, there is LEMON in my tea!" We'd laugh.  Silly, but it delighted us both so much.

I remember when Frank had just come off heart surgery and was a little weak.  We were doing BLADE TO THE HEAT.  I was Jimmie's assistant.  Frank and I reveled sitting onstage with all those beautiful men boxing.  Thanks, Oliver!  Thanks, Jimmie for calling that show so beautifully you made me HOT!
Frank thought that was incredibly funny, but understood.

Thank you Frank for telling me "this too shall pass."  You may have said it to me many times before, but the time it really took was on CIDER HOUSE RULES when I was so miserable backstage.  You stood up for me and helped me do the best work I could do in a show where I felt at a loss about how to help.

Thank you Frank, looking out for me all those years, assigning me to ANGELS and JELLY'S LAST JAM.  You had a confidence in me that I was later to develop for myself.  You gave me the really big shows.  Thank-you.

Oh, Frank, you cried with me.  When my husband was so sick with MS, and I was housebound taking care of him, you convinced me he could do without me for a couple of hours and threw me a dinner party, just to get me out of the house.  What a gift.  I don't know if I ever thanked you enough for that evening.  You served cold carrot soup.  New to me and so wonderful!

You made me laugh every time you had a cast party.  We'd be done at, oh, 10:45 or so, and arrive at your home around 11pm.  You'd throw everyone out at midnight.  "That's enough.  Go home."  Of course, I'd stay.. to clean up and visit.  But, you'd still, ultimately throw me out too.

I will never forget when I lost my assistant to another show... okay. it was Jimmie again... you took over and assisted ME!  It was Steven Wadsworth's Marivaux play.  You were the BEST assistant EVER!
We had so much fun!

I called you last week.  Someone answered the phone, a woman.  She said you were resting.  Oh, Frank, you were dying.  I will miss you for the rest of my life.

My dear friend.  You gave me my career.  You taught me how to keep it. You reminded me we are all gypsies and go where the work leads us. You had no pity when things went bad, instead reminded me that we are stage managers and we take care of the show at hand.

I'm crying.
How can you be gone?

A Thought And RUINED.

I've been wandering around the internets.  I've been checking out my various sites and realize I just have too many places I need to check!

How does one consolidate anymore?  I clearly need facebook... I get too much information from it.  I need my USC address, my aol address (most everyone has that one), my gmail address (I'm trying to switch to it because it is my actual name and is more "business-like.")  Crazy and time confusing.

You know "internets" is a joke, right?

I am heading into the last 5 weeks of RUINED, the play I've done in Seattle and am now doing at the Geffen in Westwood, CA.  We were supposed to go to South Africa, but we lost the funding.  On so many levels, this was bad news.

My company and I have become activists for the women caught in the civil war in the Congo.  The play has done this to us.  We can't help it.  We expected to go to Africa to help spread the word, but alas. In Seattle we managed to raise nearly $86,000 to send to the Panzi Hospital in the Congo that repairs the sexual  damage done to women there.  The men rape the women with bayonets and slice into their bladders. It is horrible. Some women are subjected to constant rape and humiliation over months, some are just killed. The Congolese refugees in South Africa say they know how to stop all this... they just need the U.N. to step up.  They need help.

Part of the problem is that the Congo is very rich in a compound they call "Coltan."  Coltan is used in cell phones across the planet.  The forest is being dug up to find this mineral;  the government soldiers and the rebel soldiers are all killing for it.  They are all fighting for control of the govt. and all are fighting for control of the resource. I've simplified. It is more complicated than I'm able to explain, a civil war is going on.. Somehow, women get caught in the fray and become sexual slaves or worse.

I know this is the most horrifying blog I've written.  I tend to stay away from the politics here, but... it is the SHOW I am doing... It has changed me and if you come to see this piece, it will change you.

This fucked up shit is happening, now, on our planet.  We HAVE TO STOP IT!

But, know this, the show, RUINED, is ultimately a love story and is about hope.  It is nearly a musical.  In the business we call it "a show with music."  It is a joyful experience and will educate you.  Always a good thing. Come to us and be changed.  Come to us and learn.
xoxo

A Note and PINK TOES!

Wishing I had more followers.  If you read me, just click the follow button.  It would so boost my morale.

I was walking down Broxton Street in Westwood the other day and an attractive 50 something homeless guy called out... "Hey, pretty toes!"  Well, you know how manicured I am and I had to smile.  The smile encouraged him and he asked me, "If I win the lottery, will you go out with me?"  I grinned and said, "Of Course!"  I never respond to overtures from people on the street, but I was just so charmed.  Apparently, if you compliment my toes, I'm all yours!  He then asked me if I would marry him.  I told him, "Sorry, Already Married!" I smiled and walked away.  Truly, he'd made my day.

Today, I walked down the same street and I witnessed this same man taking to task a university student (UCLA is right here) who had berated one of his fellow street people.  He was quite emphatic and very eloquent.  He didn't see me, but I was impressed by his passion and compassion.

I was heading down to buy a newspaper so I'd have something to read while I had my solitary dinner.  I returned the same way.  He saw me 1/2 a block away.  "Oh, there she is! Pretty toes!  He greeted me and I acknowledged him.  He asked again..."We'll go to dinner, right?  When I win the lottery?"  I said, "Oh! Yes! Of Course!"  (I was taken with him.)  This time he asked me to leave my husband.  He said he'd give me all the money.  Oh, what a gift, to have a stranger (now apparently my friend and fiance) offer such a gift.  I said, "Oh, yes!"

I've made a friend.

The delight he and I shared is a gift and totally unexpected.  "Pretty Toes" was a very good line, to me.  It worked.  Who knew?  He made me smile. That created a connection. I trust that this lovely homeless guy will look out for me now.  I love that. I love that he noticed my toes. Silly, but, what are relationships really built on?  Casual comments?  Yeah, you know, I think so.

I look forward to seeing my admirer again. I know he has also become my protector. For me, a very comforting thought.

Communion.

In tech again... It is going well.  My students are visiting and are more interested in what is happening on stage than what is in my book or what I am doing.  Hmm. Inter-resting.  I don't give pre-instruction.  I am checking their instincts.

I'd normally say at this point, "another show.." But, we are clearly doing a revised version of the show we just did for 6 weeks.  The lighting designer Peter, has the biggest challenge.  The space is just so different.  We are teaching the new crew. They are marvelous. Sound is challenged because our drummer is absent due to a death in the family. Ah, live theatre. Unending problems, but the show "must" go on.

And, on we go.

My attention is focused on the task at hand. I am so happy to be working in LA that the 45 min to 1 1/2 hour drive (traffic) I take each way does not bother me. I'm sorry to be so far away from my cast, but so happy to be with my husband. Fair trade. I get to come home at night.

The Geffen Playhouse allots a full week to tech. We did not need that much time and gave two days of tech over to first day business and spacing. We started tech tonight. In three hours we teched one quarter of the show! (We are fast tech-ers!) We still have 32 1/2 hours left of tech before our first preview.  We will be fine tuning and will have a well rehearsed show by then.  I may even get an opportunity to work with the understudies. Strange business.

I like the people here. I like the space. I hope they see that I could easily become a member of their family.

In the meantime, we tech, we rehearse, we perform.
We do the job that educates, entertains and informs. We are artists all, and we love the communion.