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2005-01-14T14:04:00.000-05:00

THE DAY WE MET

2004-07-18T23:16:00.000-04:00

FRIDAY MAY 26, 1953, AN NNIVERSARY

   I was on a train heading for Kansas City, Mo. to
appear in ten Musicals for the Kansas City Starlight
Theater. The date was May 26,1953. It was a Friday.
   In Sept. of 1952 I had been released from a two year
stint in the army stationed at Ft. Monmouth and had
found an apt. on West 21th street in Manhattan. Within
a few weeks I found an ad in a theatrical journal for
a community production of Rio Rita which was to be
produced in Rye, NY. I auditioned and landed the part
of JIM the lead in the operetta. Two weeks of
rehearsal and then a weekend of showings. Not much,
but a start. It turned out that the director was the
wife Richard Berger who produced the Starlight Theater
shows in Kansas City, Mo. He attended our performance
and asked me to join his company.
   So here I was on the train heading west. I have always
loved trains and planned to enjoy my trip. The car I
was in contained only a handful of people but I
noticed the back of a young ladies head about three
rows ahead of me. The head was topped by a tam with a
foot long pheasants feather projecting straight up
from it and a long bright strawberry red ponytail
dropping down behind.
   I was fascinated. She HAD to be a dancer. I rose and
walked over to get a better look and was presented
with the sight of a five-foot tall red headed pixie.
“Excuse Me,” I said, “but you must be going to the
Starlight. I’m a singer and am going there as well.” I
was rewarded with a smile that made the sun come out.
That was fifty years ago. Her name was Joan Bowman but
everyone called her “Pixie”. We got better acquainted
during the summer season and when we returned to New
York continued the relationship until our marriage at
the Fifth Ave Prespiterian Church two years later.
Since then we have raised three great children and now
have 5 wonderful grand children.
   That train trip was a major turning point for me and I
often wonder what my life would have been like had Inot taken the job in Rio Rita.

2004-06-26T14:49:00.000-04:00

THE BOULEY"S

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THE DAY WE MET

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