CHARISMA AND CHUTZPAH
\nSomewhere in the mid to late 1970\u2019s I decided I would like to try my hand at directing. The only problem, I had never directed a show professionally, although I had directed several shows in college and high school. I was in my twenties and had the confidence that only comes with the young and na\u00efve \u2013 did not have a clue about how much I did not know. To make a long story short, one day in the Spring of 1977 I was on the M104 bus heading uptown when I ran into my old mentor\/friend Del Brownlee from my apprentice days at Melody Fair in North Tonawanda, New York. I knew she was affiliated with a producer of a small theatre near her hometown, so I boldly asked her, if the producer. Norma Bruce needed any directors for the Gilbert and Sullivan operetta she was producing that summer. I made as if I were an experienced director already, but Del must have realized how green I was. However, she said she would speak to the producer about me. Now at that point I had been in possession of my Equity card since 1971, and had performed in a variety of musicals and operettas. I understood the genre but had a lot to learn. In any event, Del soon set up an interview with me with Ms. Bruce. I spoke with incredible bravura, and I made much of the fact that I had performed in several Gilbert and Sullivan operettas, not the least of which was THE PIRATES OF PENZANCE at the Actors Theatre of Louisville in a principal role. In addition I had roles in New York in both PATIENCE and RUDDIGORE. I also had several large musical packages including the STUDENT PRINCE and was to tour that summer with Roberta Peters in THE MERRY WIDOW (in which I wound up understudying several roles). I made as if I had ample directing experience as well (a bit of a white lie). Well, Norma Bruce hired me for her SINGERS\u2019 THEATRE for the grand fee of $350.00, and the rest is history. I had my first professional directing gig and we opened IOLANTHE in August of that year in a lovely little outdoor theatre. I talked myself into that job with charisma and chutzpah. My boldness paid off. I did a creible job and I really fell in love with Gilbert and Sullivan and it was the first of many, many operettas to come.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
CHARISMA AND CHUTZPAH Somewhere in the mid to late 1970\u2019s I decided I would like to try my hand at directing. The only problem, I had never directed a show professionally, although I had directed several shows in college and high school. I was in my twenties and had the confidence that only comes with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":60,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-494","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-stockomania"],"metadata":{"_edit_lock":["1537204457:60"],"_edit_last":["60"],"_wpac_members_redirect_to":[""],"_wpac_show_in_search":["0"],"_wpac_show_excerpt_in_search":["0"],"_wpac_nonmembers_redirect_to":[""],"ase_map_component_start_point":["a:2:{s:3:\"lat\";d:29.760000000000001563194018672220408916473388671875;s:3:\"lng\";d:-95.3799999999999954525264911353588104248046875;}"]},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n