{"id":801,"date":"2011-04-10T19:49:28","date_gmt":"2011-04-11T02:49:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rayivey.com\/wordpress\/?p=801"},"modified":"2011-04-10T19:49:28","modified_gmt":"2011-04-11T02:49:28","slug":"spring-forward-day-21","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.rayivey.com\/wordpress\/spring-forward-day-21\/","title":{"rendered":""},"content":{"rendered":"\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"rss\"<\/a>\"instagram\"<\/a>

April 2, 2011<\/h2>\n

New York<\/h2>\n

Blast From My Past!<\/h4>\n

Jose Quintero, a Panamanian, became known as one of the most important directors of American playwrights like Eugene O\u2019Neil and Tennessee Williams.\u00a0 He also pretty much invented off-Broadway theater when he co-founded The Circle in the Square Theater in New York in 1951.\u00a0 He was largely responsible for the careers of Geraldine Page and Jason Robards, Jr.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He was also a colorful figure, with a lyrical, humanistic sensibility.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The handsome Mr. Quintero. This is pretty close to how I remember him looking in 1978.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For some inexplicable reason, he agreed to teach a series of master classes at North Texas State University in 1978.\u00a0 Or, hell, it might have been early 1979.\u00a0 Actually, I imagine the reason he agreed to do it was the check cleared.\u00a0<\/p>\n

I was lucky enough to be a student at NTSU that year, and while I wasn\u2019t a drama major, I was still exposed to this remarkable man.<\/p>\n

On his last evening with us, everyone took him out for an evening of merriment.\u00a0 Near the end of the evening, we went up to a fellow student, who I\u2019ll call, oh, let\u2019s just call him Rick Higginbotham<\/em>.\u00a0 Rick had mightily impressed Mr. Quintero with his rendition of Cyrano de Bergerac.\u00a0 The old master slipped a piece of paper with a phone number on it into Rick\u2019s hand.\u00a0 \u201cCall me when you\u2019re ready, \u201d he whispered.<\/p>\n

Well. As you can imagine, there was an electrical fire in poor Rick\u2019s brain.\u00a0 This was every actor\u2019s dream.\u00a0 For anyone who is foolish enough to aspire to work in the theater, one of the main obstacles is the simple fact that there doesn\u2019t seem to be a direct and logical path to success, unlike most professions.\u00a0 You move to New York or Los Angeles, get some pictures, take some classes, stumble around town and try to get an audition.\u00a0 It really sucks, and it\u2019s really intimidating.<\/p>\n

But here was a famous director handing Rick his very own Golden Ticket!\u00a0 The heavens parted and the angels sang!<\/p>\n

A few months later I auditioned for and was accepted to The American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York.\u00a0 Perhaps not a Golden Ticket, but a Silver one, at least, or so I thought at the time.\u00a0 My father convinced of the soundness of my plan, I cancelled plans to do my junior year at the university and made my plans to move to New York.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The first apartment I ever lived in was in this building at 86th and Central Park West in 1979.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The idea of moving to New York was scary, of course, but made a little bit less so because Rick Higginbotham announced that he and a friend of his were going with me.\u00a0 Well, fantastic!\u00a0 I\u2019d start school while Rick got started on permitting Jose Quintero to turn him into the next Geraldine Page.\u00a0\u00a0 Yay!<\/p>\n

Of course, even at this point I considered Rick\u2019s game plan a bit shaky.\u00a0 \u201cSo.\u00a0 What exactly are you going to do in New York?\u201d I asked him, trying not to sound as dubious as I really felt.<\/p>\n

Rick rolled his eyes at my foolish question.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m going to work in the theater.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Yep.\u00a0 That was his whole plan.\u00a0 He was going to get off the plane, call the famous director, and on Monday begin rehearsals for some major Broadway production.\u00a0 As young and stupid as I was, this sounded a bit too much like a house of straw to me, but held my counsel.\u00a0<\/p>\n

We got to New York, found an apartment in this building:<\/p>\n

I started school, and it was magical almost from the very first day, it was all almost unbearably exciting.<\/p>\n

Rick called Mr. Quintero.\u00a0 Left a message.<\/p>\n

I got my stupid, humiliating dance class stuff (a Texas boy, even a closeted gay Texas boy, does not naturally fit comfortably into a dance belt and tights).<\/p>\n

Rick called Mr. Quintero again.\u00a0 Left another message.<\/p>\n

I began to make friends.\u00a0 I started to enjoy my classes.\u00a0 Even movement class, thanks to the dynamic instructor, Liz Milwe.<\/p>\n

Rick called Mr. Quintero again.\u00a0 Left multiple message.\u00a0 (I have no idea what his friend, whose name was Huckabee, was doing during this time.)<\/p>\n

\"Young,<\/a>
Young, stupid, scared, and abandoned by my roommates, I stood on the roof of this building and contemplated my future.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

One night after three weeks, Rick and Huckabee sat me down back at the apartment.\u00a0 \u201cThis city sucks.\u00a0 We\u2019re leaving.\u201d<\/p>\n

Poor Rick.\u00a0 He\u2019d finally figured out what most of us knew but didn\u2019t have the heart to tell him:\u00a0 That the scrap of paper with the phone number was not an actual invitation to come have a brilliant career, but simply a drunken gesture of a horny old man who\u2019d been besotted by the charms of an intense young actor.\u00a0 Mr. Quintero had sobered up.\u00a0 He would not be returning Rick\u2019s calls.<\/p>\n

I, of course, freaked out.\u00a0 Being in New York with two friends helped tether me to the real world.\u00a0 Plus, I\u2019d signed a lease!\u00a0 How would I pay the enormous ($600) rent myself?\u00a0 What if I couldn\u2019t find new roommates?\u00a0 I vividly remember standing on the roof of the Brewster and looking south from 86th<\/sup> Street and Central Park West at the glittering, beautiful, yet forbidding city of my dreams.\u00a0 I felt truly alone.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m also not proud to report that my thought bubble when Rick told me the news of his departure was smug and self-righteous.\u00a0 \u201cWow, three weeks, that\u2019s all your dream is worth?, <\/em>\u201d I remember thinking.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Rick and Huck went home and I never heard from them, or even about them.\u00a0 Well, I might have heard that Rick became a radio DJ, which sounded like a good idea (he had a terrific voice for radio).<\/p>\n

North Texas State University became The University of North Texas in 1988.\u00a0 Jose Quintero died in 1999.\u00a0 And while I have a very impressive Associates Degree of Occupational Studies from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, I have never acquired a Bachelor\u2019s Degree.<\/p>\n

Looking back on it, I find I\u2019m quite sympathetic to Rick and the mistake he made.\u00a0 Being young and full of dreams doesn\u2019t do much for your default IQ.\u00a0 Plus I\u2019m one to talk; I had my own mistaken illusions.\u00a0 I thought I was going to a swanky acting school, and while I did have some great teachers there, and make great friends, by the late 1970s the AADA was no longer a school whose reputation helped you get ahead in show business.\u00a0 Not like Julliard or Yale, or even for that matter SMU, which was just down the damn road a bit from where I was in college in the first place.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But at least I had more resilience than Rick, right?.\u00a0 I stayed in school and graduated.\u00a0 I did the struggling actor boogie for years.\u00a0 I moved to Los Angeles and did a commercial and walk-ons on soaps, and the odd play.\u00a0 After that, as everyone knows, my multifacetless career had an utter lack of any impact whatsoever on the world of theater in any way.\u00a0<\/p>\n

So you could argue that Rick was smarter, cutting his losses early and getting on with his life.\u00a0 I hope you have had a good one, Rick, wherever you are.<\/p>\n

The last thing I remember Huck saying to me was a breezy, \u201cYou\u2019ll be alright.\u201d\u00a0 Which I thought was pretty callous of him at the time.\u00a0 But of course, he was right.<\/p>\n

Notable Productions Directed by Jose Quintero<\/h4>\n
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  • Summer and Smoke (Tennessee Williams) starring Geraldine Page, 1952<\/li>\n
  • The Iceman Cometh (Eugene O\u2019Neill) starring Jason Robards, 1956<\/li>\n
  • Long Day\u2019s Journey Into Night (O\u2019Neill), 1957<\/li>\n
  • Strange Interlude (O\u2019Neill), 1963<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    Average Rating: 4.5<\/span> out of 5<\/span> based on 270<\/span> user reviews.<\/span><\/div><\/p>

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