Good morning, all! This morning I have a date with my barber to have a few hairs cut and a trip to Music Theatre International to look at the original London orchestra parts for THE MOST HAPPY FELLA. Following that, I will stop at NYPL at Lincoln Center for a bit of reasearch before heading back here. Depending on the elements, I may do laundry, but I may hold off on it till tomorrow since it means schlepping everything down the block.
I made two big moves, a disastrous one in 1971 to teach at Shippensburg State University in Pennsylvania, a major debacle in my life that sent me running back to mom and dad for several years, and then my move to Conquer The City in 1979. The move to Pennsylvania was good for two things: it proved to me that I was never meant to exist in small university Academia and it was the first step in getting to Manhattan.
I was hired to replace a popular teacher and I think the director of the dept's disappointment that I was nowhere near as qualified, as well as my general lack of interest in academic minutiae, was what caused his ugliness and open hostility. Add to that my feelings he was a boor and a lousy stage director, and it was a no-win combo. Within six months I hated him and his dept as much as they hated me. I was devastated at the time when my contract was not renewed and I was told to vacate the premises, but I now know it was the best thing that could have happened. My options were to head east to Manhattan or west to Ohio and I chose to run home. There I co-founded a community theatre, got to orchestrate for a community symphony, acted professionally, and grew up. A bit.
