Today has me thinking about the much-clichéd "six degrees of separation." The service today is for my close friend, Tracy's, father. Tracy and I have been super good friends for the last 27 years. I don't see her as much as we would like, but we still love each other dearly. The ironic thing is that although I have known Tracy for 27 years, I have known her father and stepmother for over 45 years, and didn't know of the connection when Tracy and I became friends.
Her father is one of the true legends of Tacoma Little Theatre back in the 50s and 60s. I finally got to work with Milt, when I was cast in THE MUSIC MAN in 1966. However, I had seen Milt do two of his finest performances years earlier when I saw him as Billy in CAROUSEL and then as Emile in SOUTH PACIFIC. In fact, it was this production of SOUTH PACIFIC in 1961 which prompted the letter he wrote to his director, which I will be reading today at the reception.
And even stranger is that when Tracy and I first became friends, I was working with her mother, but since they had different last names I didn't know of that connection either. It just happened that Tracy's mother mentioned that she was going to see her daughter in a play that was opening that night. I said, "That is strange, because I am working on a show that is opening tonight. Who is your daughter?" Small world, ain't it?.
