What would be left? Did I learn how to be tough or is it genetic? When I was the age when babies roll over and sit up, my mother was worried that I wasn't doing that. The pediatrician told her,…

What would be left? Did I learn how to be tough or is it genetic. When I was the age when babies roll over and sit up, my mother was worried that I wasn't doing that. The pediatrician told her,…

One of the cardinal rules: make each performance as if it is the very first one! You may have done the show many times over, but for the audience? It’s their very first time experiencing it, so make the several…

Didn't go to film school, the first shoots I was on were as writer/producer. Never noticed how the sound recording device was special, designed to run exactly the same speed as the camera, so what was said in front ot…

Breakfast I get up this morning, sunbeams dancing on the trees outside, ravenous birds swarming at the backyard bird feeder, and I look at the toaster and coffeemaker the kitchen counter, side by side, two eyeless chromed sentries, boring and…

Trevor's got a late meeting so instead of getting to bed right away, I'm writing. I told myself that Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday would be novel days — I plan to be holding that book in my hands next July,…

Last week, Gwen, a friend for 50+ years, was couch surfing in my living room. Meeting her all those years ago changed my life. I had hired her to direct and edit some dramatic short films that I wrote and…

She sat on the edge of a low platform , by herself, on the quiet, empty stage, well before curtain time, long before any audience would be seated. She fancied she could hear echoes of the famous spirits whispering throughout…

I turned 73 years old this year. It has its perks. Women smile at me on the street more than ever before. Really, I’m not imagining it. Mostly they’re my age; there’s sometimes a nice flicker of acknowledgement or familiarity…

An all- too-often - dream……though less frequent than when I first retired, took place, naturally, in some large theatre or other…..often a combination of a huge sports arena, a large Broadway theatre, or small ratty off- Broadway venue…..all the performing…

(Follows on the last two sections.) “Whoa, you going somewhere, buddy?” He grabbed hold of my arm and steered me back into the restaurant. “My dad—” I began. “I know, I know. But you’re really going to want to hear…

One weekday afternoon when I was 4 and my mother was working, I was sitting on the kitchen floor, playing. At the kitchen table, my father was staring at a letter of acceptance from an engineering school hundreds of miles…