rehearsals Annie and I met Kurt every night. We would start at Duff’s and end up in the office of the theatre. Duff’s was the meeting place for cast and crew, and we would have a scotch or two before we scrambled up to the theatre office, where we drank more scotch and frolicked, laughing and carrying on in an attempt to tweak the play in a way that suited Kurt. Kurt welcomed the suggestions from Lester, Annie, and me but had his own unique way of putting the words into the mouths of the cast.
Kurt was never satisfied with the ending of the play. Should Ryan (Kevin) shoot someone, should Ryan shoot himself, should Ryan go offstage to shoot himself and miss, should someone else shoot Ryan, or should Ryan shoot someone else and miss?
Kurt would write, read what he wrote, and break out into his loud, distinctive laugh, enjoying every word he had just written. We all laughed too, and we all drank our scotch, including Kurt, while we carried on fixing the play. Intermission found us at Duff’s, where we drank more scotch, consumed a lot of salsa verde, and had dinner. If a member of the cast was not in what was being rehearsed, they ate with us.
Come opening night, we all celebrated at a party at Sardi’s. Of course, Lester would want the party at Sardi’s restaurant, the Broadway theatre showplace and the private dining room of the stars.
After the opening we settled into the same routine. Meeting at Duff’s before the performance for our scotch and dipping the veggies in the salsa verde, picking up enough chocolate at the Lilac directly across the from the theatre to gorge on in the office during the performance, and then going back to the job of trying to get an ending to the play that we were all happy with. Kurt’s loud, deep-voiced laughter could be heard while he was writing away in the office. We were at this time leaving the office intermittently, sneaking into the theatre loge to watch the performance for a spell, and then hurrying back to enjoy the mirth in the office.
During the rehearsal and presentation at the theatre, Kurt was enjoying an extended family that he often wrote about, in this case a newfound theatre bunch. It was great fun for him to be involved in writing the play and the rehearsals, casting, rewriting, Duff’s fun, the office fun, and making new friends. It was a lot more exciting than sitting alone and writing a book.
When you get Kevin McCarthy, Marsha Mason, Dianne Wiest, Keith Charles, and some of the others in the cast around a table with Kurt at Duff’s, the theatre stories are going to result in almost constant laughter. It was a new and memorable experience for Kurt. And incidentally, it wasn’t only the salsa verde at Duff’s that was outstanding; the food was pretty good too.
Kurt was in heaven trying to fix the play, and he almost made it. With the five endings he came up with, when it came time to give a licensing agent the authority to license stock and amateur rights, Kurt said, “Don, you are my buddy, my agent, my lawyer, and my friend; you pick the ending.” I didn’t mind exercising my power of attorney to sign contracts, but this assignment was not what I anticipated. I did it; I chose the ending.
I did have the power of attorney to do whatever with Kurt’s work, but I always told him the deal and asked what he thought should be done. He always asked me what I thought of the deal, and I would tell him. Then he always said, “Do it.” We were a perfect team because we shared mutual respect for each other’s work. Respecting Kurt’s work was one easy job.
This play was dramatic, funny, and represented Kurt’s feelings about not killing people or animals needlessly and not fighting wars. It was an open secret that Kurt fashioned the lead character Harold Ryan, played by Kevin McCarthy, after Ernest Hemingway. I never discussed Kurt’s opinion of Hemingway’s writing, but we did talk about the lifestyle that Hemingway lived and represented. Kurt was not
Kurt was never satisfied with the ending of the play. Should Ryan (Kevin) shoot someone, should Ryan shoot himself, should Ryan go offstage to shoot himself and miss, should someone else shoot Ryan, or should Ryan shoot someone else and miss?
Kurt would write, read what he wrote, and break out into his loud, distinctive laugh, enjoying every word he had just written. We all laughed too, and we all drank our scotch, including Kurt, while we carried on fixing the play. Intermission found us at Duff’s, where we drank more scotch, consumed a lot of salsa verde, and had dinner. If a member of the cast was not in what was being rehearsed, they ate with us.
Come opening night, we all celebrated at a party at Sardi’s. Of course, Lester would want the party at Sardi’s restaurant, the Broadway theatre showplace and the private dining room of the stars.
After the opening we settled into the same routine. Meeting at Duff’s before the performance for our scotch and dipping the veggies in the salsa verde, picking up enough chocolate at the Lilac directly across the from the theatre to gorge on in the office during the performance, and then going back to the job of trying to get an ending to the play that we were all happy with. Kurt’s loud, deep-voiced laughter could be heard while he was writing away in the office. We were at this time leaving the office intermittently, sneaking into the theatre loge to watch the performance for a spell, and then hurrying back to enjoy the mirth in the office.
During the rehearsal and presentation at the theatre, Kurt was enjoying an extended family that he often wrote about, in this case a newfound theatre bunch. It was great fun for him to be involved in writing the play and the rehearsals, casting, rewriting, Duff’s fun, the office fun, and making new friends. It was a lot more exciting than sitting alone and writing a book.
When you get Kevin McCarthy, Marsha Mason, Dianne Wiest, Keith Charles, and some of the others in the cast around a table with Kurt at Duff’s, the theatre stories are going to result in almost constant laughter. It was a new and memorable experience for Kurt. And incidentally, it wasn’t only the salsa verde at Duff’s that was outstanding; the food was pretty good too.
Kurt was in heaven trying to fix the play, and he almost made it. With the five endings he came up with, when it came time to give a licensing agent the authority to license stock and amateur rights, Kurt said, “Don, you are my buddy, my agent, my lawyer, and my friend; you pick the ending.” I didn’t mind exercising my power of attorney to sign contracts, but this assignment was not what I anticipated. I did it; I chose the ending.
I did have the power of attorney to do whatever with Kurt’s work, but I always told him the deal and asked what he thought should be done. He always asked me what I thought of the deal, and I would tell him. Then he always said, “Do it.” We were a perfect team because we shared mutual respect for each other’s work. Respecting Kurt’s work was one easy job.
This play was dramatic, funny, and represented Kurt’s feelings about not killing people or animals needlessly and not fighting wars. It was an open secret that Kurt fashioned the lead character Harold Ryan, played by Kevin McCarthy, after Ernest Hemingway. I never discussed Kurt’s opinion of Hemingway’s writing, but we did talk about the lifestyle that Hemingway lived and represented. Kurt was not
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