Outside of family, oh, so many people have passed through my life as both friend and foe, fellow-laborer and competitor, lover and one-night stand, densely populating my dimming memory. Amidst this hurly-burly of encounters, however, are two of the dearest friends a man could have —”soul-mates,” if you will. The oldest, Charles Bright, a handsome Midwesterner from Minnesota, and the youngest, Anne Occhiogrosso, a shy beauty from Queens, NY. We formed a mad threesome that lasted for over forty years…and became a twosome in 2011 when Chuck sadly passed away. Time and again our fiercely unique friendship was sorely tested…and repeatedly we managed to keep our love for one another from being snuffed out. What we shared (and what probably kept us focused) was the theatre and our mutual conviction that it could not only entertain but be deeply meaningful to a community, a nation. I met Chuck, as an upper classman, at the University of Hawaii and at United Airlines where we were both employed. We immediately hit it off and hardly ceased from talking theatre. In Honolulu, we formed a small company with a big name, the Ensemble of Theatrical Artists. I put together two one-man shows based on the writings of Mark Twain and Edgar Allan Poe. We produced a few small modern “classics”—Jean Paul Sartre’s NO EXIT, Samuel Beckett’s ENDGAME, and Fay and Michael Kanin’s RASHOMON. Our theatrical endeavor came to an end when we became involved with the new “take-the-town-by-storm” musical, HAIR. (The producer Michael Butler found a Hawaiian cast but couldn’t find a theater, so he uprooted us Hawaiians and plopped us down in Las Vegas! This was my “professional” debut! Ah, the magic of show business!) Though Chuck was not part of the cast, he suddenly found himself among the producer’s closest staff. He and I were not yet finished talking theatre and dreaming of a classical repertory company. It was not too long before I left Desert Hair to do some work for Mr. Butler investigating the possibilities of one-man shows based upon the lives and works of Tolstoy, Hemingway, Somerset Maugham, George Orwell and Aldous Huxley.
It was at this moment that the lovely Anne Occhiogrosso entered our lives. Chuck was given the task of supervising an upper Eastside organic restaurant for Mr. Butler and I was invited to do a guest spot in Brendan Behan’s THE HOSTAGE at Hunter College. And that’s when the brilliant but painfully shy Anne Occhiogrosso entered our lives and before we knew it, she too joined in the gush of talking theatre. The conversations were endless, exciting, full of eager hope! For the next ten years we worked, observed, talked some more about our own theatrical venture…but that’s a story for another time. Let me shout it from the rooftops that my life was made rich with meaning, excitement, and joy because of the love of these two singular and extraordinary individuals. We three are forever joined as one and I finish my days deeply humbled and deeply grateful.
In addition to my two human soulmates, I am compelled to express my deepest thanks to two partners who enriched my moments onstage in two separate productions. Katie (on the left) partnered with me at the Guthrie in Gogol’s MARRIAGE and Audrey (on my lap) played Crab to my Launce in THE TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA at APT. They were much more brilliant than I could ever hope to be.
