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[TCB]

Kennedy Assassination:  I was in the 8th grade in ‘63, and we had just started our Drama Class on that Friday morning.  Already, the main topic of conversation was the big fire, the night before, on the Tacoma waterfront that had completely destroyed a marina and boat sales company.  The marina had been owned by the parents of the girl who sat behind me in Drama, who naturally was not in class that day.  Our class was rehearsing for the school’s Christmas Play (gee, a Christmas pageant in a public school) and we were currently in competition with the other Drama Class to see which class would be selected to do the evening performance for the parents coming up in December.  Our teacher came in looking very serious (and very dramatic) and said that she had very bad news for us, which she hoped, would not affect our rehearsal.  We all assumed that she was going to tell us that the other Drama Class had been chosen over us for the evening performance.  Instead she told us that the President had been shot, and that it was believed that he had been struck in the head.  And then she started the rehearsal.  No other details, no class discussion – just rehearsal for a stupid Christmas play.  I will never forget the shock and horror of that announcement, but, at the same time, the very guilty sense of relief that we had not lost the competition for the evening performance (which we, of course, eventually won).

Two days later, I persuaded my Mother to let me miss church because they were going to be moving the President’s body to, I believe, the Capitol.  There was also talk that we might get to see the man accused of killing the President when he was removed from the Dallas jail.  Just as my Mom opened the front door to leave for church, the television cameras switched to the basement of the Dallas jail for the transfer of Lee Harvey Oswald.  I will never forget that moment, with my Mom at the door and me sitting as close to the TV as I am to this computer screen, when Jack Ruby stepped in front of Oswald and shot him live in front of our eyes.  Seeing someone shot on television was probably the single most powerful memory I have of any world event until the morning of September 11th  when I watched that second airplane fly into  the side of the World Trade Center.

And yes, Dan, you remember correctly.  All regular programming and commercials were cancelled from the time of the assassination until the last wrap-up of the events on Monday evening following the funeral, at which time all of the networks just went off the air until the next morning.

[bk]

Kennedy: It's a major part of a chapter in Kritzer Time so I don't want to spoil that for anyone who hasn't read the book (and you know who you are).

[elmore3003]

Elmore: It may have been a travesty, but I envy you for having the opportunity to see CARRIE.

DR Jason, and you have no regrets over missing THE NEWS?  

[Jason]

Crimes...hmm...I don't know if I can answer my own question!

I saw someone steal a roadsign once. I've seen people bootlegging at shows. I observe the photocopying and dubbing of music all the time, but as far as major crimes, I can't say I've ever seen one happen.

The only thing I can think of that I've done that is kind of a crime--I went egging with a friend of mine in middle school. I guess that'd be considered vandalism... Oh--and I forged my mother's name on a test that I failed in fourth grade (the teachers required parent's signatures when you failed a test so they knew you showed it to your mom and/or dad.) I was suspended from hosting the school's live television news broadcast for a couple of months as punishment, but I worked my way up to head anchor by the end of the year and I never forged anything ever again.

If I could commit any crime without fear of punishment, I guess I'd probably steal a great amount of money. I don't care to kill anyone, really, nor do I wish to damage any property. I just want to have a little bit of spare cash, so I think I'd hold up a bank. Yes, that's the crime I'd choose...I'd hold up a bank.

[JoseSPiano]

DR WEL - Regarding "Something Just Broke"... I haven't seen this production of Assassins yet, but in London - and in the lyrics - "Something Just Broke" actually refers to how people felt when they heard the news of the assassination of not only Kennedy but other presidents.  I don't have the text in front of me right now, but there are some subtle references to locale and time.

-Which is my main problem with the song...  After the Kennedy sequence, how could the audience not interpret "Something Just Broke" as only referring to the Kennedy assassination.  One production I saw ended up having the ensemble dressed in different styles, different periods, as well as projecting the images of the other assassinated presidents behind them.  It worked - for the most part.

Does anyone know if the lyrics to "Something Just Broke" have been tweaked for this "revival"?

[Charles Pogue]

I don't know about dinner theatre disliking actors, but it kept me gainfully employed from 1974-1979 in my chosen profession as an actor.  I also thought it a great training ground for learning how to get a show up slick and fast for an audience in ten days' time.  It was a great boon to actors and even though some of the shows were schlock, it brought audiences into the theatre that had never been there before.  It's pretty much extinct these days.  I would love to see it revived, but I guess with other diverstissments to attract people like DVDs, videos, internet, its time has pretty much passed.

Other than the occasional traffic violation or knowingly speeding on the interstate (but you can go a hundred in some stretches of Arizona and New Mexico and even the cops will pass you by), I've never committed a crime to my knowledge.

Once at the news stand at Cahuenga and Hollywood, I had my wallet lifted out of my back pocket.  I had my dog at the time, my Yorkshire Hotspur, with me.  I immediately knew the wallet had been lifted and I wheeled, the guy was running across the street.  I shouted at him to let everyone know he was a thief and kept shouting at him, as I raced across the street after him.  The guys at the news stand held my dog for me (I walked him down there almost every day so they knew him).  I chased the thief who was rather pudgy across a parking lot.  He was getting winded, despite the fact that I was running in sandals and don't know how long I could have followed him.  Anyway, breathless, he turned and threw my wallet back at me, yelling:  "I'm no thief, man, I'm no thief!"  I shouted back:  "Oh...what else the Hell are you when you steal someone's wallet?"  He had also lost his baseball hat in his flight and I had grabbed it.  He wanted me to toss it back to him.  I told him "no", I was going to give to the police (stupid, I know), but it bothered him.  Anyway, I got my wallet back and he hadn't had a chance to take anything out of it.  It wasn't the money I would have minded; it would have been the pain-in-the-ass trouble of having to replace credit cards and drivers licenses and crap like that.

My question for the day:  Do you keep reading literature in your bathroom? Some titles, please...
Mine...a copy of the Odyssey, Paperweight, humourous essays by Stephen Fry; Uncle John's Bathroom Reader; The Food of Death - 51 Tales by Lord Dunsay; The Murderer's Who's Who; After the Funeral (what became of famous people's corpses); The Big Broadcast 1920-1950 (about old radio shows); Private Lives (capsule bios of famous historical figures); Minute Mysteries; Curious Customs; Legends and Tales of the American West; They Went Thattaway (how famous people died) by Malcolm Forbes; The Histories and Poems of Shakespeare (I was working my way through Shakespeare's sonnets)

[TCB]

Crimes...hmm...I don't know if I can answer my own question!



The only thing I can think of that I've done that is kind of a crime--I went egging with a friend of mine in middle school. I guess that'd be considered vandalism... Oh--and I forged my mother's name on a test that I failed in fourth grade (the teachers required parent's signatures when you failed a test so they knew you showed it to your mom and/or dad.) I was suspended from hosting the school's live television news broadcast for a couple of months as punishment, but I worked my way up to head anchor by the end of the year and I never forged anything ever again.

Is that anything like a Head Nurse?

[JoseSPiano]

OK - I got some laundry started, and now I'm going to head out to get my hair cut!!!  OH!! And I need to look for a birthday present for Steve... Hmm...

See you when I get back from Mr. Lee!  *Who remembers EVERYONE's name who has ever come into his barber shop!  And he gives a great hair cut too!  And for only $10.00!!!

Laters...

[Ben]

Yes, DR Elmore, I (and perhaps Anthony) would like to join you and Penny O. I'm downtown in trendy, expensive Chelsea but am willing to travel to meet lovely and charming Hainsies and Kimlets. I also know that area of the UWS very well, having had a small theatre company ensconced in the upper floor of what is now The Triad and previously was Pallson's and then Steve McGraw's.

I was home from school (out sick that Friday) watching The Price is Right and folding laundry for my Mother when the program was interrupted with the first news bulletin. The time is burned into my memory. We did go to church that Sunday (my Father did not go) and when we got home he was waiting for us with the second most amazing news of the weekend, the shooting of Oswald.

I had gone home for lunch and turned on the television when I heard the news of the first shuttle explosion. I called back to the office to friends and most of them, obviously, didn't know. They turned on a television and we spent much of the afternoon watching the news.

Like Jason, I remember where I was when I heard about the second shuttle explosion because it happened on Saturday, February 1, 2003, the day before my 50th birthday. Anthony had planned a large surprise party for me (I knew nothing about it - it was a total surprise) for that eveningand because he was so involved in the preparations for the party, he knew nothing about it. The party still went on (it was a great party) but I'll always remember the second shuttle blow-up because of that.

[Jrand73]

DR PANNI - re:my waterlogged criminal - it must have been funny to see.

And - thanks for the video.  I am making you something special!

The Shuttle disaster - I was rehearsing to be in AS IS, one of the "aids" plays - and it was very depressing - I was at work one morning - working part time at the family's gas station when it came on the radio.

No customers for a LONG time, sad music on the radio...and very very sad to see the pictures when I got home later in the afternoon.

[elmore3003]

DR Ben (and Anthony), as soon as I know what DR Penny O is doing with her time, I will let you know.  Perhaps DR Jason and any other East Coast Hainsies would like to come along?  Get your copies of JEWISH THIGHS ON BROADWAY for signing and scandal!

[Jed]

JFK - well before my time
Shuttle #1 - I was in kindergarten at the time, but only went 3 days a week (full days as opposed to 5 half-days).  The shuttle was one of my days off, so I was at home watching the launch on TV over breakfast.  Being 6 years old, it wasn't very long before I was just irked that my cartoons were being pre-empted
Shuttle #2 - Being a Saturday, I normally would never have been up so early (west coast, remember), but it was the day of our area's high school vocal solo competition, and I had a number of students performing, so I was up and getting ready for the day.  Tuned in while they had lost contact with the shuttle and weren't sure what was going on, and just a couple minutes before they discovered they'd lost the shuttle.

[MBarnum]

I first heard about the space shuttle disaster (the first one) when I was at work at Bi-Mart. We had all the televisions on in the electronics department and all the TVs kept showing it over and over. I don’t remember if it happened while I was at work of if I only learned of it after I got to work.

I don’t recall anything at all about the other shuttle disaster. I must have blocked it out.

I was on the computer when I learned of Princess Diana’s death and saw the news flash on AOL’s home page...ditto with JFK Jr.’s plane crash.

9/11 is still vivid in my memory. I woke up as normal, around 6 am or so and flipped on the TV news to listen to as I got ready for work. I saw Katie and Matt on NBC and thought that was odd to see them this early in them morning. Then I saw what had happened. The second plane had just crashed into the towers and Katie was talking about how this couldn’t possible be just a coincidence that two planes would crash. I was stunned. Then as I was watching they reported a plane crashed into the pentagon. I got ready for work and was in shock the remainder of the day. Didn’t do a lick of work. My co-worker Amy and I drug the little portable TV out of the conference room and set it up by our desk and we just sat stunned all day long watching the newscasts that day and the following day. It really took me about 2 days for it to really sink in that this had actually happened.

[bk]

I don't think we mentioned it (we are getting complacent), but we recently passed 45,000 postings and are on our way to a new landmark.  

More questions.

[Jed]

To keep up with all the things MBarnum brought up...

Princess Diana - I was playing football with a bunch of my cousins at my grandparents' house.  I think one of my aunts came out and told us what was going on.
JFK Jr. - Driving home from a morning theatre rehearsal, heard on NPR
9/11 - I was housesitting for one of my professors, and had slept in.  By the time I got up and turned on the TV, both towers had already collapsed.

[Panni]

JR - Are you knitting me a scarf?

FS Pogue - You must spend a LOT of time in the bathroom! I used to keep a stack of books in the john, but my bathroom now is so small that the only place to leave books is on top of the trash bin - and they wind up falling in the trash. So now I only have magazines in there. Most recent : NY Times Book Review.

[elmore3003]

Huzzah, that the hotel room studio has a kitchen and microwave and toaster and laundry and a gym, and last-minute booking gets me a break on the price. And it's a 20 minute walk to the Equity office, and 5 minutes from Lincoln Center, and just across the street from the 72nd St. subway. That has made me feel so sunshiney on this rainy day.

DR PennyO, you'll get to see the new 72nd  Street subway station!

[TCB]

It’s strange how different events affect different people in different ways (wow, that is a different sentence.  Both of the shuttle disasters were, of course, tragedies, but they seemed to me to be almost inevitable.  The tragedy in the space program for me was when the three Apollo 1 astronauts died in their space capsule during a practice launch.  That was worse to me because, first of all it was the first-time we had actually lost a crew, and secondly because two of the astronauts were already well-known to all of us: Gus Grissom, the second American in space; and Ed White, the first American to walk in space.  Of course, I may have been more familiar with the space program than most kids, because my Mom made sure that I got up and watched the launch of each and every mission starting with Alan Shepard until sometime during the Apollo program when I was in high school.

mrkdl73 – I am glad that you are enjoying your production of HELLO, DOLLY!  I played Horace in a production last summer opposite my best friend who played Dolly.  It was one of the best experiences I have ever had in theater, and at the closing performance, the entire cast (and crew) cried our way through the Finale and the Bows.

Crimes:  Well, back in the 60s and early 70s, I suppose I committed a great many crimes (or a great many of the same crimes) that were still on the books at that time in Washington, Oregon, California, and Washington D.C.  Sadly, in spite of committing all those crimes, I am not at this time, a wanted man.

[Ben]

I was sitting in my office building not more than a mile and a half from the WTC and the phone rang at 8:45 am. Unsual for early morning. I knew it was an outside call from the ring. It was my sister in Minnesota in the parking lot of her office. She was breathless and asked if I was OK? I assured her I was and then she said a plane crashed into the WTC. My first thought (apparently I wasn't alone in this from hearing other people's recollections) was "oh, no, a small commuter or private plane hit one of the towers". Little did I know... People were still coming into the office (we open early but most folks work from 9 to 5). We all evacuated at one point and some of the folks on the street saw the second plane hit. I had run home (living a half block from the office) to make sure Anthony was OK. I came back and saw the second tower on fire. Management said we should probably be back in the office for safety reasons. We complied and while watching television i the conference room the decision was made to close the office. We went home around 10:30am and were closed for the next day as well. Ant and I went to the store and then stayed in all day calling to tell people we were OK and getting calls from friends saying the same. We went out around 4pm and walked to the Hudson River just as one of the last smaller buildings fell. It was quite a spooky time in New York, especially if you were in Lower Manhattan south of 23rd Street. The pictures of the missing went up almost immediately and in hours everywhere you looked were photocopies of pictures of people. They stayed up for weeks and weeks. Luckily, we didn't lose any friends but we had others who worked downtown blocks from the site and they have stories of running through the clouds of smoke and debris that will stay with them forever.

Enough of this. I will move on.

[elmore3003]

Wow! This is like the Great Disaster Tour at Disneyworld.  I love it.

The space shuttle in 1986:  I was here copying orchestra parts for JUBILEE, my Cole Porter restoration.  I had been running around delivering scores to copyists who were helping me get ready for the March performances, and I had the tv on for company.  I vaguely remember all the brouhaha and interviews before the launch and how horrifying the aftermath became.

9/11:  I was in London recording a Victor Herbert show from 1912, THE LADY OF THE SLIPPER, with Hugh Panaro, George Dvorsky, and Donna Lynn Champlin, and because of the erratic behavior of the Man In Charge, Hugh and George had been waiting around all morning to record.  After lunch break they went to the manager's office of Henry Wood Hall to kill time by watching tv.  George came down to the studio to tell us that a plance had hit the World Trade Center, and I - being thoroughly sick of the escapades of the Man In Charge - decided to see what was going on.  I saw the second plane hit and all the live coverage through the collapse of the towers.  I'm still in shock.

[Ben]

I have been the victim of a crime three times (mugging) and I have been involved in crimes in that I've been on juries 6 times.

I shoplifted when I was about 5 or 6 years old. A pack of candy. I can remember to this day the fear I felt. It wasn't fun at all and I couldn't even eat the candy I felt so awful.

[elmore3003]

I forgot to mention that my friend in charge of music preparation for the recording was on the British Airways  9 am flight to London on 9/11.  They taxied out and began the ascent, stopped the flight and took all the passengers back to JFK.  It took him over eight hours to get back to his apartment.  I later learned that a college friend was on the first plane to hit the WTC.

[Ben]

FYI, DR Elmore, on my lunch hour today I stopped into Footlight and there was Fine and Dandy with your name on the back (among others). Haven't picked it up yet but they actually had it for a decent price (I like Footlight but sometimes the prices they charge make me wish I wasn't so intent on owning musical theatre CDs).

[MBarnum]

On a more pleasant note, Columbia Tri-Star is realeasing a DVD set GIDGET: THE COMPLETE COLLECTION on DVD August 30.

GIDGET, GIDGET GOES HAWAIIAN, and GIDGET GOES TO ROME.

[elmore3003]

FYI, DR Elmore, on my lunch hour today I stopped into Footlight and there was Fine and Dandy with your name on the back (among others). Haven't picked it up yet but they actually had it for a decent price (I like Footlight but sometimes the prices they charge make me wish I wasn't so intent on owning musical theatre CDs).

I think today was the official store release date, DRBen.  I ran into my postman today and he said he had noticed that it took 8 days for the CDs to arrive from Bronxville.  Of course, he had no idea what the hell is going on with the US Postal Service.  Also, DRBen, I've been in touch with DRPennyO, and I suggested a possible time Tuesday after her audition, but I'm waiting to hear back.  Otherwise, it may be Wednesday after 5 pm.  We could do Midtown or the Upper West Side.  I suggested Joe Allen's since it is a part of Kimmel lore, but you may have some ideas.  Perhaps DRJason does as well?   I don't know the area around 72nd Street well enough to make any suggestion there.

[elmore3003]

Elmore, was it you who wanted a DVD copy of SUNRISE? If so (or whoever it was), here's where you can buy a used copy:


http://www.secondspin.com/buy/search.cfm?SID=120463328779

DR MattH, I never knew of this site, which may replace eBay as my fave (after HHW, of course)!  Thank you so much for introducing me to it.

[TCB]

Princess Di:  I had just left the theater awards banquet here in town and had gone to a friend’s birthday party.  Just at the same time I knocked on the door at the party, someone inside was talking to a friend on their cell phone who told them Diana was dead.  The woman had just silenced everyone to tell them the news, at which point the door was opened for me.  I was greeted by my friend’s sister not with a hug or a hello, but with this stunned expression on her face and the word’s, “Princess Di is dead.”

JFK Jr.:  I was at home, reading, when my friend, Sharry called.  We talked about several different things, and at one point she said something about John Kennedy’s death being such a tragedy.  Now, I thought that was rather a strange comment, since he had already been dead for almost forty years, but when you talk to Sharry, you just learn to go with the conversation regardless of what direction it takes.  So, not wanting to argue, I agreed that John Kennedy’s death was a tragedy.  It was only after I hung up the phone and  I finally turned on the television, that I found out she was talking about Junior, not Senior.

[Ben]

DR Elmore, either day is fine for me. I'm finished work at 4pm so I can just hop on a train. In spite of my previous statement about my theatre company being ther, I know that 72nd Street has changed in the past years. I don't know it well enough to make recommendations either. Joe Allen's is good for me and if we go sometime after 5 we could avoid the theatre crowds that come in a bit later in the evening before their shows.

[elmore3003]

DR Elmore, either day is fine for me. I'm finished work at 4pm so I can just hop on a train. In spite of my previous statement about my theatre company being ther, I know that 72nd Street has changed in the past years. I don't know it well enough to make recommendations either. Joe Allen's is good for me and if we go sometime after 5 we could avoid the theatre crowds that come in a bit later in the evening before their shows.

Fab!  There used to be a wonderful deli on the south side of 72nd Street between Amsterdam and Columbus, almost to Columbus.  I met friends there for breakfast several times.  Let's see how DRPennyO's thoughts go on the matter.

[Jason]

I got a random call today at work. It was Elmore! Color me surprised.... :-)  I think Joe Allen sounds splendid, but I'm up for just about anything, honestly. There's not much by way of food around 72nd Street, which has always baffled me. You'd think there'd be TONS of food around Lincoln Center, but no. You guys just tell me where to be and I'll be there. Perhaps I'll bring my copy of A DOLL'S LIFE for Ms. PennyO to sign. :-P

Princess Diana: My family and I were watching TV in our living room. We were all in shock. We spent two years living in England--we were there around the time of "The Wedding"--so we all felt a sort of connection to her. My father wouldn't turn the TV off until he'd learned every bit of information there was to be had.

JFK, Jr.: I was in a rehearsal for WEST SIDE STORY. The dancers were rehearsing "The Dance at the Gym" and I was in the lobby watching the small TV they had at the rehearsal studio when the announcement was made that he and his family were missing. They stopped the rehearsal for about an hour and we all congregated around the television...it was very sad.

9/11: I had started my very first temp job that day (in Louisville, not NYC) and I started work at 9 a.m. Of course, by 9:15 people started running in announcing that a plane had flown into the WTC and by 10 or 10:30 all Hell had broken loose. Rumours were going around that Fort Knox--which is about 40 minutes outside of Louisville--was a target and that we should all be prepared for the worst. Several of my graduate school friends had just moved to the City a couple of weeks earlier. I knew they were temping, but I didn't know where and I had no way of getting in touch with them. We were dismissed from work at 11:00 a.m. and I remember listening to the reports on the radio and getting this horrible feeling that planes were going to start falling out of the sky all over the country. When I got home I turned on the TV and started viewing what was the beginning of a blitzkrieg of images that still make my stomach churn. Surprisingly, after 9/11 happened, I not only wanted to come to New York...I felt that I NEEDED to come to New York. I don't know why...