I Hated to Do It: Stories of a Life by Donald C. Farber Read Free Book Online Page B

kibitzers. We became friendly with Alan and in a few weeks invited him and his charming wife, Arlene, for dinner and continued to associate with them for some time.
    Alan got busy, we were busy, and we did not see them for some years. He had landed a part in a television series called
M*A*S*H
and became one of the biggest stars in the business. Lots of stars “forget” their friends. Not Alan.
    We had not seen Alan and Arlene socially for about twelve years; we all just got busy. Annie was demonstrating by marching in the street and pitching our liberal cause, probably concerning the Vietnam War (back then some of us did that kind of thing), and Alan was out protesting too. Alan, now very famous, saw Annie in the mob, ran over to her, and started reminiscing with her about old times. One nice guy.
    Alan’s father, Robert Alda, was an established actor in film and stage and was the star in the original production of
Guys and Dolls
on Broadway. Frank Loesser composed the music and wrote the lyrics of
Guys and Dolls
and Abe Burrows and Jo Swerling wrote the book, which was based on two Damon Runyon short stories. Since I had developed a friendship with Frank Loesser, we were invited to the opening of the play, which at this time starred in addition to Robert Alda, Vivian Blaine, Stubby Kaye, and Sam Levine.
    I saw the performance in its entirety. I don’t know how much of the performance Annie saw because this guy Clark Gable, the megastar of
Gone With the Wind
, sat down beside her. She spent much of that evening gazing at him. I don’t know of a woman in the world who would blame her. Probably some men also.
    Tamara Geva
    Tamara Geva was a client and a friend. Yes, we met Zia through her, and indirectly Joan Bennett when Tamara’s ex-husband moved in with Joan. But we were also friendly with Tamara, though we saw a lot less of her. She who was an incredibly talented, determined, strong-willed woman.
    In 1936 Tamara and Ray Bolger created a Broadway sensation in the Rodgers and Hart musical
On Your Toes
, for which George Balanchine choreographed both the dramatic “Slaughter on Tenth Avenue” sequence and a balletic parody. Reviewing the show in the
New York Times
, Brooks Atkinson wrote that Miss Geva “is so magnificent as the mistress of the dance that she can burlesque it with the authority of an artist on a holiday.”
    In addition to dancing, she acted in many well-known films and stage productions. Tamara was so fixed in her ways and knew a great deal about theatre, which was what I helped her with the most. What was remarkable about her was the fact that, in spite of her strong feelings on every subject, she was always ready to listen to my advice about theatre producing and to actually utilize the advice that I gave her.
    I was thrilled to be associated with this world of theatre, film, TV, and ballet. When our daughter, Pat, was young, she got herself into the American School of Ballet, without our help, and at the age of nine or ten was dancing as one of the fairies in
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
at Lincoln Center. Of course we got to the theatre early and wanted to see Patty after she went on.
    We got on the backstage elevator, and to my surprise there was a handsome gentleman there in a tuxedo. I said to myself, “My goodness, because it is opening night, how chic, even the elevator operator is in a tuxedo.” I then asked the gentleman in the tuxedo to take us to the third floor. I was told when we got off the elevator that I had just asked George Balanchine to take us to the third floor.
    Kurt and Music
    It’s not fair, but I have discovered that some people who have talent are talented in more ways than one. Kurt was a writer, an artist, and more than that, a musician. Most people knew that he would jam with a group that included Woody Allen at a place called Michael’s Pub. Kurt, we all knew, played the clarinet. What we didn’t know was that he also played a mean, wild ragtime piano. He didn’t