Abe Hirschfeld was a very unique individual. We constantly had to track him and his bodyguard down to get bills paid and decisions made. One morning around 3am I got a call from Abe in my hotel suite. He said "Maarrkk. I want second act first!" He seemed to get the idea that the show, which took you through Broadway numbers from the past up until "Dream Girls", would be better if we started with the big numbers in the second act first. I told him that we could talk about it over breakfast at 8am. It wasn't five minutes later that Greg Thompson calls me screaming into the phone about the lunatic Hirschfeld. He threatened to take his show (and all of the lighting equipment he invested in) and leave. I told him to meet me for breakfast at 7am and we would work out a plan.
That morning on my way to breakfast number one, I stopped in to see Charles. I told Charles I needed him to round up "for free" a group of ladies, at least 100, to come to a free preview matinee the day we were having our dress rehearsal. I also gave him special instructions for these guests to rave about the show during intermission but to complain how stupid it was to put older songs at the end of the show. I then went to my first breakfast with Greg and asked him to do second act first for the preview and I would guarantee that would be the last time he would have to do it. Consider it a rehearsal. then I met Abe at 8pm and told him that we would do what he wanted and it would be great for him to see it at the preview.
He agreed.
The day before the preview I met with the cast and explained it was all just a rehearsal with some of my friends and doing the acts backwards was no big thing. They were a great group of actors.
The preview came and it worked like clockwork. Abe and his bodyguard sat mid row and the ladies were some of the best actresses I have ever hired. They praised the show during intermission and Abe was beaming. After the show they complained so long and loud I was almost embarrassed for Abe. He came up to me and said "Maarrkk, put it back first act second!" That night I found a bottle of champagne in my room. He never admitted it but my guess would have been it was from Greg.
Kenley Players
John Kenley had seen some of my handiwork at the Cabaret Dinner Theatre and approached me to come on board at Kenley Players as his Assistant Administrator. I would work with all of the stars, their A.E.A. contracts, lodging, autograph signings, etc. I said I would as long as I could perform in one of the shows that season and that I could still retain my position as Producer at the Cabaret Dinner Theatre and President of M&M Productions (the touring arm of Cabaret).
He agreed and I was in for a whirlwind season.
There will only be one John Kenley to walk this earth and no one will ever replace this talented giant of Summer Stock theatre. John was unique in so many ways
but I will tell you that he had a wit and crazy charm that could win over anyone. He used to call me Whitey although he knew my name well, but it was this nickname because of my blonde hair that he found endearing. He also would say the strangest, sexually explicit things to just about anyone (he toned it down for Debby Boone) and constantly tried shocking me. After the first couple of weeks where I showed I was completely unfazed, he went onto easier targets.
I worked long hours in every department at E.J. Thomas for Kenley Players and occasionally bumped heads with Ethel, David and Jerry (the Kenley clan who would inherit the business), I really had kevlar skin and wasn't a threat as I was more interested in learning from the Master than taking over the realm. Because I was self motivated, and other than when John was in the office and I had to type Equity contracts, I was on my own to sell program ads, choreograph fight scenes and work with the new lighting board. It was a grand experience.
Ken Berry (pictured above) was a terrific hoofer and our first star of the season. I have a wonderful memory of him standing for over an hour doing autographs after the show and a young girl in a wheel chair had the biggest crush on him and stayed, even though she had been first in line. He was gracious and had a gentle and patient soul.
This was my first chance to meet David Landay and Larry Kasha of Kaslan Productions who were doing a pre-Broadway tryout of "Seven Brides For Seven Brothers" starring the marvelous and beautiful Debby Boone. A kinder soul has rarely walked the planet and she had an angelic voice. She sure could dance too!
Robert Urich was larger than life to me. First he was a Lambda Chi so it made us fraternity brothers. Second, I watched him for hours with his wife Heather Menzies on stage and he was a perfectionist. He would go over a scene dozens of times to get the comedic timimg perfect. I couldn't absorb enough of his craft as he methodically went to work. He knew the "business" side of show. Heather was sweet and matched Robert step by step like in a fine dance routine. When
Vivian Blaine blew onstage it was like a small tornado. I kept replaying in my mind the scenes with Frank Sinatra in "Guys and Dolls". This was a terrific tribute to Neil Simon's play.
Years later I would meet another FSU alumni and football player at Florida State University, BurtReynolds. I also ended up getting my
Masters at FSU. Small Theatre world! (Robert and Heather pictured above)
I was out doing a great deal of schmoozing for other shows when the Fifth Dimension was rehearsing so I didn't get to see the process but sure did enjoy the end result of them in "Ain't Misbehavin'".
I negotiated a motorcycle from Rick Case Honda to be on display as a "Birdie Bike" and we had people going to their location to sign up for a contest to win it. There was no purchase necessary but they had to be at the wrap party at the end of the week's run to see if they won and pick it up. We sold out that Sunday performance before any other night and we had a lot of subscribers for Friday and Saturday.
I don't know where the original Kenley program went to but I will use
this one for now. This show starred Don Ameche and Fred Grandy, Gopher
from "The Love Boat". I had a breakfast meeting with Don Ameche and
Peter Bellamy of the Cleveland Plain Dealer. Peter was interviewing
Don Ameche for an opening week article. It was all that I could do but burst out laughing as the interview progressed from someone who at 7:30am smelled like a brewery (more like whiskey) who asked questions of
this talented gentleman of stage and screen. Heck, I remember watching
Don Ameche as Alexander Graham Bell (re-run on T.V. - I'm not that old).
Mr. Ameche just continued on as if the odor and slurring were not noticeable
and I have to admit that Peter's article was a gem.
Another memory I had of this show was when I told John that I had
his set taken care of (I received $10,000.00 worth of office equipment
donated for a backstage pass to meet the stars of the show).
"The Music Man" originally was to star Gavin MacLeod, Captain of "The Love Boat" but we got a call that he had broke his leg and Dick Gautier was hired to replace him. He did a great job!
"The Greenwich Village Scandals of 1923" was John's big show of the season. He spoke of it all the time despite what show we were working on. This was a show where he brought in Imogene Coca, Cyd Charisse and Rip Taylor.
Imogene was a delight. She couldn't see very well due to a car accident she had been in so we had glow tape everywhere for her to use. Funny and gracious, I had a chance to meet up with her later at the American Stage Company where she had come to see a production.
I didn't have a lot of interaction with Cyd Charisse. I remember thinking
what great legs she still had. She stumbled over a dancer on opening night who was laying on the floor but she recovered nicely.
OK. I picked up most of the stars at Cleveland Hopkins airport and would
drive them to Akron to the Quaker Square Hilton. Most were wonderful conversations and I would fill them in about the theatre, the town and sometimes about John. Picking up Rip Taylor was like the first time on a roller coaster.
When I first met Rip Taylor as he came off the plane, he handed me a
brown paper bag and in a very loud and theatrical voice said
"Here you go My Boy!" and spotting a magazine store that sold candy,
he strode right to it. He bought several pounds of hard candy and
asked for the brown bag. Inside were crumpled up twenty dollar bills.
He grabbed several and threw them on the counter saying to
"Keep the change!" I then followed him out as he rushed to
the escalator throwing hard candy everywhere yelling
"Here you go!"
After getting his luggage loaded, we paraded to the car with Rip talking with everyone he could. On the trip to Akron, he kept asking me if I could get taps put on his tap shoes. I said that it would be my mission in life and he made me laugh the whole way from Cleveland to Akron. When he got settled in his room, I went off to get new taps.
When the season was over, I went on to mount "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" one last time at the Akron Civic Theatre. It was on Halloween that John came to see it and the was the last time I would see him. After the show I headed to Beverly Hills to work for Kaslan Productions.
The one thing that always stuck with me that John said about producing
was "You always want to get your stars on the way up or on the way down,
but never at their peak! It keeps the budget in line." There never will be anyone quite like John Kenley.
