The old Players Theater
I had always been a girl with goals both large and small. Now my goal was to get through the day. I wasn't good at my job; my family was fractured and I had no idea what to do with my life. In the early 60's girls went to college and then married a lovely boy from another college to whom she was "pinned." Some girls had careers. I had been trained to become an actress, but for some reason I was too terrified to try. I had no idea how to start. I pictured myself living in New York City in a tiny apartment with four other girls. Working as a waitress while going to auditions. Being rejected. Over and over again.
To escape this grim fantasy (which was probably very realistic) I spent my spare time at the Players Theater, where I had spent a good deal of my youth. I made some friends; I worked on costumes; I went to cast parties. At work I went out to lunch with Lorrie who was pregnant and was trying to figure out if she should marry Boot. Marrying a Black man in 1964 seemed fraught with danger. Becoming an unmarried mother of a biracial child in the South seemed equally dangerous. But I kept these thoughts to myself.
On the homefront my parents were determined to keep my grandparents in the dark about their separation as they feared they would be shocked and upset. My personal feeling was that since dear Nana had abandoned her first husband and son when my father was 12 so she could have a better life, she had no real reason to be shocked. But as usual I kept my thoughts to myself.
But then one day everything changed. I needed to ask our director, Peter, a question. Someone said he was in his office so I went and knocked on the door. No answer. I knocked again and called out his name. Silence. I opened the door and saw Peter on the floor unconscious. I ran for help and honestly what happened after that is all a blur. I think an ambulance came and Peter was taken to the hospital. No one talked about what had happened. I never found out exactly what was wrong with Peter, but I knew he drank. If explanations were made, I didn't hear them. Quite suddenly Peter and his wife moved to New York without saying Goodbye. A new director was needed immediately to direct Bye, Bye Birdie, a musical Peter had already cast.
A professional actor and director named Paul was hired. He had run his own summer stock theater in Malden Bridge, New York, for many years and had given a 14-year-old girl named Barbra Streisand a chance to be an apprentice one summer. She turned out to be a capable little actress and played five roles. No one knew Barbra could sing. Paul stepped right up and directed Birdie, which turned out to be a huge success. I was his assistant for the next production and dutifully wrote down his notes for the cast at rehearsals. Paul turned out to be a sweet man I felt comfortable with and he could easily make me laugh. We became friends.
Six months later we were married.
