In 1992 I volunteered for the Senate Campaign of Geraldine Ferraro. I volunteered in January and by April I had been offered and accepted a staff position as a fundraiser. My main job was to obtain contributions from unions and any other organizations that had PACs. But I also felt that I could make my own contribution by producing a “theater for Ferraro event”. Wendy Wasserstein was a supporter and she gave us a list of folks for us to call to solicit contributions. One of those people was Gerry Gutierrez, an up-and-coming director. I had a great conversation with Gerry, he shared that he was about to have surgery for cancer of the mouth. He made a contribution and told me his mother would join us at the event but that he would be out of commission for quite a while.
Gerry Ferraro lost the race, mostly due to another woman who sabotaged her race in the final days. It was heartbreaking. Many months passed and Gerry Gutierrez was back working. “The Heiress” was a huge hit on Broadway. I received a call from The Public Theater asking if I might be interested in Stage Managing a new play by Connie Congdon and directed by Gerry Gutierrez. Hmm I thought, uh yes. An interview was set up and I knew a couple of the other women who were being interviewed. The interview was to be in the stage manager’s office at the Cort Theater, (now the James Earl Jones Theater), where “The Heiress” was playing. I went last and was a bit cocky. I introduced myself to Gerry and mentioned that we had met on the phone during the campaign. Needless to say, the rest of the interview was about how angry Gerry was about the woman who had sabotaged the race. AND I was hired. The production of “Dog Opera” is another great crazy theater story but for now I will share that Gerry and I became great friends and I did two more Off Broadway Shows with him.
In 2009, there was a NYC race for City Council happening and he called to ask me who he should support and we agreed on a young man from Brooklyn, named David Yassky. He volunteered for his campaign passing out leaflets at the subway and other office jobs. He never shared that he was in theater. When Gerry passed, I asked David to speak at his memorial service at Lincoln Center. David remembered Gerry fondly but had not realized who he was when he volunteered and was honored to be asked to speak.
2nd story
In 1998 I was back working for Gerry Ferraro’s 2nd Senate campaign. This was the year of the first celebrity gala of V-Day. I was asked to be an assistant stage manager and I accepted. It was a short gig so it did not interfere with my work on the campaign. They asked me if Gerry would participate but she told me no she was shy. A few months later I was asked by a friend who was producing a fundraising Gala at Carnegie Hall if Gerry would make a cameo appearance. This time she accepted and came down a grand staircase with Philip Bosco. There was a grand piano on the stage and when asked if she wanted to play a bit she very shyly went up and played one note. It was lovely to see how respectful and demure she was but she was thrilled that she got to “play Carnegie Hall”.
