Memory Lane

My friend Mike Sartor, who was also in this production of "Whoopee" twenty some odd years ago, sent me these photo's recently. I am the Indian with the eye glasses on the far right.

This was a Kenley Players Production in Akron, Ohio. (I wrote about John Kenely in a blog some time ago Go to Kenley Blog.) After the run in Akron we took it to Flint, Mi and Dayton, Ohio, which was at the time the Kenley circut.

"Whoopee" was an old Eddie Cantor vehicle in the 1920's and was revived on Broadway in the early 80's. It was the mid 80's by the time Kenley got the rights.

The show is about a hypochondriac named Henry Williams who goes to a Dude Ranch for his health. He takes his nurse Mary along who is secretly in love with him, and hopes they will end up alone in some romantic situation. Mean while back at the ranch, Western sheriff Bob Wells is preparing to marry Sally Morgan; she loves part-Indian Wanenis, the half-naked Indian in the middle, whose race is an obstacle. Sally flees the wedding with hypochondriac Henry Williams, who thinks he's just giving her a ride; but she leaves a note behind saying they've eloped! Chasing them are jilted Bob, Henry's nurse Mary (who's is trying to get her man back) and others. Of course, humor ensues. The big numbers are "Makin' Whoopee" and "My Baby Just Cares for Me", which I got to sing. The show was conducted by a very young, 19 years old to be exact, Phil Reno who is now the conductor of choice for the legitimate stage musical . I'm not sure why John thought of me for the role back then, but I will be forever in his debt for giving me a chance to be an actor on stage and not just the guy with a puppet. It is so easy to get "pigeon holed" in show business. Ventriloquists seem to have a permanent hole in the pigeon roost. John saw me as an actor who was also a ventriloquist.

The picture above is me as Henry trying to fit in with the Indians while hiding from the Sheriff.

Standing to my left during the bows is Karen Morrow who played Mary the nurse. She was even then a seasoned Broadway veteran who is not only one of the most talented performers I have ever known, but also the sweetest. We had such fun. We tried not to let the show get in the way of a really good time every night. I think the audience felt the energy. I remember the reactions were almost electric. It was my first Equity show and you never forget your first time.

I did a curtain speech every night. Since I was known, at the time, for always being with Bob on SOAP, I made a "ventriloqual" phone call to him to see where he was. We did a quick routine and Bob ended the conversation by asking,
"Did you and Karen get your usual standing ovation tonight?" Flustered a little by the question I said, "Sure... just like always." It never failed to cause the audience to jump to their feet cheering as the curtain went down the final time.

Occasionally you can look back and see where you have been, but you really never know where you're going. Of all the people on the stage at that time, the least likely one to ever win a Tony was me. The secret is to enjoy every second of the ride right now, knowing you are on your way to something wonderful.
As you were,
Jay