Harvey Korman doesn't LOOK black to me, but then neither do I -- and Tennessee Williams based the tall, silent, observing black character Mac on me in his last (unfinished), full-length play, In Masks Outrageous and Austere.
Due to a combination of old age and low oxygen in the stratosphere where my head is, only LATER did I think to post the "set-up" -- and on reminder by my email correspondent -- LOL!!!:
Press Release
New Musical About Tennessee
Williams Debuts at Arena Stage in
Kogod Cradle Series
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Sir:
It is with the greatest love and respect that I cherish communication with my readers that shows clear evidence of smarts or smartassiness, so I THANK YOU for this!!!
My response:
1. Great idea, but I'm sure Carol Burnett must have done this -- or could do it now. Perhaps this proves that Harvey Korman was black.
2. My fave since it has that tropical aspect, and I know ALL about threatening natives in the tropics!!!
3. Now, the problem here is I remember NOTHING about Milktrain, however, I love the cast. I doubt I've ever told you or my readers that other than Roy Rogers and Dale Evans often dropping in next door at Roy's cousin's house and dressing up in character to entertain us neighborhood kids (1953 - 1956 when I was 2.5 until just 6 at our Ebeneezer Road house in Cincinnati), I had a complete DROUGHT of knowing celebrities, until in the 1970s right after I came out of seeing Equus and I went to wait at the stage door to see whom I could meet, Anthony Perkins barreled out the door hunched over against the cold and wind and head-butted me without winding me. He mumbled "Sorry!" and sped on his way. NOT really a meeting, per se.
Also, I did go to NYC in spring of 1973 with my then boyfriend Jeff Work from Denison, we stayed in his ex-girlfriend's intern-employee digs while they were all out of town. Just happened to be Jill Krementz's place (walls covered with celebrity photos -- especially of the Beatles), where she lived with Kurt Vonnegutt, whose farm house near Clifton Park/Elnora. Now, Jeff and I DID go to the Continental Baths and to see Bette Midler. There Jeff pointed out Rex Reed dancing between two "Jungle Bunnies" -- effeminate, pudgy black guys dressed only in one white diaper, each. When I met Rex Reed at the TW-NOLF in the mid-oughts, I did NOT bring up this story, PROVING I DO know how to behave!!!
I had always admired Vonnegut's farm house -- even before I learned it was his, it being quite near my parents house at 5 Granada Drive (the biggest we ever lived in), and we moved there after my freshman year, then on to Peabody, MA for only nine months in the first house that had actual character, before they landed in East Greenwich, RI for my senior year and a few years beyond, before they moved back to West Chester, PA. I felt SO SORRY for Mike and Julie, especially for all the uprooting while they were in public schools!!!
But astute readers will remember that Jeff Work is someone I have in the past speculated Mom had killed. Via a Denison magazine a year ago, I learned that Jeff had died of unspecified causes in Germany -- Berlin -- where he was an "artist (painter, still, I presume), and teacher of artists".
ADDITIONALS:
A. This morning, the graphic of a play named Dunsinane (opening soon in Washington, DC), has been ALL OVER my internet, although I had not heard of it before -- and yesterday, I made a big deal of "Birnam Wood Done Come to Dunsinane" (and that blog posting has been hit like crazy, since then). What an impressive address that was, and my parents paid $19,999.00 for that house which had all hardwood floors, four bedrooms, 2.5 baths, our first actual dining room (where Jane embarrassed me in 7th grade announcing at dinner that I liked to play with boys, only, in the "Doctors" game we played several years before), our first ever basement (full), a play room and a den that Mom's Dad moved into for a couple of years until he died while on an extended visit to my uncles in Indiana (to help calm Mom's nerves).
In 1968, we move -- quite suddenly, Bob Jones already had permission to go on a family camping vacation with us to at least as far West as Yellowstone Park, but it was cancelled due to the move, and we ended up living across the street from, then, Assistant Coach at Ohio State, Lou Holtz and his NOT toilet-trained grade-school kids -- NOT AS IMPRESSIVE AN ADDRESS on Larwell Drive (and the house was much smaller and more expensive to boot!!!)
B. And this just in from the TW "NOLF", as it is now being called:
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Scott
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On Thu, Jan 29, 2015 at 9:18 AM, and Anonymous "Smarty" wrote:
Thanks for the warning. "A House of Glass" is a dull title, as is "Tom to Tenn," the underlying play. No participant has encouraging credentials. The book and songs need wild creativity, but likely there will be slogging thru the bio.
In my playwriting fantasies I've thrice had detailed thoughts, even notetaking, about TW:
(1) "A Streetcar Named Gone With The Wind," in which the female lead is Vivienleighish, and the male lead is a New York educated black.
(2) "Casitablanca," in which characters reminiscent of Blanche, Stanley, and Stella collide, on an uncharted tropical isle with a threatening native population.
(3) Play based on troubled production of "Milktrain," including Tallulah, Tab Hunter, TW, Tony Richardson--AND Rose Williams and Tony Perkins.
A.S.
>>> AND I'M SURPRISED, that Thomas Keith is not listed as a presenter this year. I hope he attends anyway, as I DO NOT BEAR GRUDGES and I THANK HIM for his contributions to my "harrowing recent-life story" -- REALLY!!!
Scott
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