{"id":555,"date":"2018-03-26T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2018-03-26T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/kahn\/?p=555"},"modified":"2018-05-21T15:13:24","modified_gmt":"2018-05-21T19:13:24","slug":"barbara-barondess","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/kahn\/barbara-barondess\/","title":{"rendered":"Barbara Barondess"},"content":{"rendered":"

Barbara Kahn Blog #2<\/span><\/p>\n

During the early 1990\u2019s I would spend New Year\u2019s Day at the
\nhome of Barbara Barondess, who hosted an annual party. The gathering was
\nintergenerational\u2014from Abe Feder, the father of theatrical lighting already in
\nhis 90\u2019s, to 20-somethings and those of us who fell somewhere between. Abe
\nwould regale us with theater stories from way back, stopping occasionally to
\nflirt with one of the young women. Many who attended are now gone, but there
\nare others like me who recall our late friend Barbara Barondess. She loved to
\ntell her life story\u2014it was an incredible journey\u2014yet always remembered to ask
\nhow my mother was doing. In her life, she had been surrounded with stellar
\nfriends like Garbo, Harlow and Monroe, but she treated me with equal
\nfriendship. No one was more worthy of courtesy or attention than anyone else. I
\nonce had a play reading during frigid winter weather. Many people cancelled,
\nand I understood, but Barbara Barondess, already in her late 80\u2019s, showed up
\nfor me. <\/span><\/p>\n

Barbara had more spirit and strength than any human being I
\nhave known or known about. After breaking her hip, she was up and about without
\na walker in less than a year. She bounced back from a major stroke with the accompanying
\naphasia and memory loss. I went to visit her during her recovery. She was in
\nher nineties by then, living in a large apartment on 57th<\/sup> St.  There was assorted memorabilia from her life, 
\narranged on a living room table. She told me to take whatever I wanted. I
\nsuspected it was her way of making certain I would return. I told her I didn\u2019t
\nneed anything. She offered a signed photograph of Jed Harris, notorious
\nBroadway producer long before my time. \u201cBut it\u2019s signed to you,\u201d I said. She replied,
\n\u201cIt\u2019s only signed to Barbara, no last name, so you can have it.\u201d She told me
\nthat Jed Harris had a reputation as a mean, sadistic person. He was also a
\nwomanizer who seduced a number of actresses, including Barbara Barondess. Believing
\nthat his feelings for her were honest, one day Barbara went to his office
\nunannounced. The door to his inner office was closed, but she could hear him
\nand Ruth Gordon talking about her, laughing at her gullibility. She turned
\naround and walked out\u2014from his office and the relationship.<\/span><\/p>\n

Barbara was married four times\u2014from a marriage that lasted
\nonly a few days to one that lasted a few years. She once told me, \u201cI don\u2019t know
\nwhy I thought I had to marry them, I should have just gone away for the
\nweekend.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

When the Film Forum screened Queen Christina with Garbo, the
\nmanager invited Barbara to attend, since she had played the chambermaid in the
\nmovie. I joined her and a few other friends. The rest of the audience was
\nmostly young film buffs. Barbara was invited to speak after the movie. She
\nclimbed the stairs to the stage, shedding years with each step, and told the
\naudience about making the movie with Garbo and about their enduring friendship.<\/span><\/p>\n

I loved spending time with her. Her stories of Broadway and
\nHollywood were enthralling, and her encouragement of my own work was loving and
\ngenerous. Barbara used to invite me for dinner. She loved to cook. I said to her on one occasion, “I wish I could have met you sooner, maybe I could have met Garbo.” She replied, “Why would you want to meet her? She was an emotional miser. She was my friend for fifty years, and she made my life miserable for 47 of them.” When I gasped, she continued, “She used to call me, begging ‘Barbara, meet me for coffee, I’m so bored.’ I would tell her, ‘Greta, I have things to do. You haven’t had a life since 1942.'” <\/span><\/p>\n

After four successful careers\u2014Broadway, Hollywood, design and
\njournalism\u2014she created the Torch of Hope Foundation to nurture artists at all
\nlevels of their career path. When I received the Torch of Hope Award from the
\nfoundation, it was also given that year to Tony Randall, John Beal and Irma St.
\nPaule. If we\u2019re only allowed one person like Barbara Barondess in our lifetime,
\nthen I have reached my quota. <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Barbara Kahn Blog #2 During the early 1990\u2019s I would spend New Year\u2019s Day at the home of Barbara Barondess, who hosted an annual party. The gathering was intergenerational\u2014from Abe Feder, the father of theatrical lighting already in his 90\u2019s, to 20-somethings and those of us who fell somewhere between. Abe would regale us with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":58,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-555","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog2"],"metadata":{"_edit_lock":["1526929976:58"]},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nBarbara Barondess - Barbara Kahn<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/kahn\/barbara-barondess\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Barbara Barondess - Barbara Kahn\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Barbara Kahn Blog #2 During the early 1990\u2019s I would spend New Year\u2019s Day at the home of Barbara Barondess, who hosted an annual party. The gathering was intergenerational\u2014from Abe Feder, the father of theatrical lighting already in his 90\u2019s, to 20-somethings and those of us who fell somewhere between. 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They are who I am. Before I ever saw a play, I wanted to be an actor. I made scrapbooks of clippings from the Arts section in newspapers, and I read all the theater biographies in the local library, looking for clues on how to enter the world of acting. In school I gave a book report on the history of London\u2019s Drury Lane Theater and speeches about \u2018The Star System in Hollywood\u2019 and The Barrymore Family. I learned to love silent movies at the nickelodeon in the Franklin Institute Science Museum in Philadelphia. When my Aunt Bea finally took me to see a touring production of \u201cThe Miracle Worker,\u201d I was totally and irrevocably determined to pursue my dream. In high school, I joined a professional acting workshop in Philadelphia, later earning a B.A. in Theatre Arts from Adelphi University on Long Island, NY. I appeared in plays Off-Off Broadway before graduation. After graduation, I studied in a professional acting workshop and privately with acting coaches. I gained invaluable experience from the many talented artists I worked with \u2013 especially directors Ron Link and Bob Dahdah, actor Marilyn Roberts and that force of nature, Ellen Stewart of La MaMa E.T.C., to name just a few. Crystal Field at Theater for the New City has been my producer, mentor and friend since 1994. Throughout my career, colleagues who led the way have generously shared their knowledge and experience with me. I follow their example by coaching other actors and playwrights. I began directing professionally when I replaced a director who had been fired two weeks before opening. This successful production led to more offers to direct in New York, including a production that moved to Th\u00e9\u00e2tre Lucernaire in Paris and then to the National Theatre in London. We all have stories inside us \u2013 the legacy stories of our ancestors, the stories from our life experience and the stories of our imagination that as artists, we nurture and share. I grew up hearing about the cost of prejudice and oppression. Brecht\u2019s \u201cMother Courage\u201d is my favorite play, reminding me of my grandmother\u2019s bravery and ingenuity. With four children including my father, she was trapped in a European war, unable to join her husband and oldest child who were already in the United States. After years of danger and struggle, Shifra Lozawick brought her children to safety. I have written more than twenty-five historical plays with the goal of holding a mirror to the present. My plays have been presented in the U.S., France and Germany. I write about the history of prejudice in the United States and abroad, about racism, antisemitism, misogyny, homophobia and anti-immigration. Putting a personal face to injustice has a power that reading history books cannot duplicate. As a reviewer wrote, \u201cBarbara Kahn is something rare in theater: an historian and playwright\u2026 Aiming for our heads and our hearts she tweaks our intellect and kindles our emotions.\u201d Paulanne Simmons, NYTheatre-Wire.com, Feb. 17, 2012, Acting is my first love. I wrote roles for myself, including two one-character plays that I perform whenever the opportunity occurs -- \u201cCyma\u2019s Story\u201d and \u201cCO-OP,\u201d (named \u201cBest Short Play\u201d in the Downtown Urban Theater Festival). I am a longtime member of the Dramatists Guild, AEA and SAG-AFTRA. Along with stage work, I have appeared in several films. My life in the theater has been governed by a passion for justice and for quality. In the 19th century, George Sand wrote: \u201cAll I want is for people to question the accepted lies and call out for the forgotten truths.\u201d Portraying the truth gives me fulfillment as an actor. Directing with integrity and insight is what I offer other actors. 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They are who I am. Before I ever saw a play, I wanted to be an actor. I made scrapbooks of clippings from the Arts section in newspapers, and I read all the theater biographies in the local library, looking for clues on how to enter the world of acting. In school I gave a book report on the history of London\u2019s Drury Lane Theater and speeches about \u2018The Star System in Hollywood\u2019 and The Barrymore Family. I learned to love silent movies at the nickelodeon in the Franklin Institute Science Museum in Philadelphia. When my Aunt Bea finally took me to see a touring production of \u201cThe Miracle Worker,\u201d I was totally and irrevocably determined to pursue my dream. In high school, I joined a professional acting workshop in Philadelphia, later earning a B.A. in Theatre Arts from Adelphi University on Long Island, NY. I appeared in plays Off-Off Broadway before graduation. After graduation, I studied in a professional acting workshop and privately with acting coaches. I gained invaluable experience from the many talented artists I worked with \u2013 especially directors Ron Link and Bob Dahdah, actor Marilyn Roberts and that force of nature, Ellen Stewart of La MaMa E.T.C., to name just a few. Crystal Field at Theater for the New City has been my producer, mentor and friend since 1994. Throughout my career, colleagues who led the way have generously shared their knowledge and experience with me. I follow their example by coaching other actors and playwrights. I began directing professionally when I replaced a director who had been fired two weeks before opening. This successful production led to more offers to direct in New York, including a production that moved to Th\u00e9\u00e2tre Lucernaire in Paris and then to the National Theatre in London. We all have stories inside us \u2013 the legacy stories of our ancestors, the stories from our life experience and the stories of our imagination that as artists, we nurture and share. I grew up hearing about the cost of prejudice and oppression. Brecht\u2019s \u201cMother Courage\u201d is my favorite play, reminding me of my grandmother\u2019s bravery and ingenuity. With four children including my father, she was trapped in a European war, unable to join her husband and oldest child who were already in the United States. After years of danger and struggle, Shifra Lozawick brought her children to safety. I have written more than twenty-five historical plays with the goal of holding a mirror to the present. My plays have been presented in the U.S., France and Germany. I write about the history of prejudice in the United States and abroad, about racism, antisemitism, misogyny, homophobia and anti-immigration. Putting a personal face to injustice has a power that reading history books cannot duplicate. As a reviewer wrote, \u201cBarbara Kahn is something rare in theater: an historian and playwright\u2026 Aiming for our heads and our hearts she tweaks our intellect and kindles our emotions.\u201d Paulanne Simmons, NYTheatre-Wire.com, Feb. 17, 2012, Acting is my first love. I wrote roles for myself, including two one-character plays that I perform whenever the opportunity occurs -- \u201cCyma\u2019s Story\u201d and \u201cCO-OP,\u201d (named \u201cBest Short Play\u201d in the Downtown Urban Theater Festival). I am a longtime member of the Dramatists Guild, AEA and SAG-AFTRA. Along with stage work, I have appeared in several films. My life in the theater has been governed by a passion for justice and for quality. In the 19th century, George Sand wrote: \u201cAll I want is for people to question the accepted lies and call out for the forgotten truths.\u201d Portraying the truth gives me fulfillment as an actor. Directing with integrity and insight is what I offer other actors. Preserving the truth is why I write plays.","url":"https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/kahn\/author\/barbarakahn\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/kahn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/555","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/kahn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/kahn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/kahn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/58"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/kahn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=555"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/kahn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/555\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/kahn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=555"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/kahn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=555"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/kahn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=555"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}