Barefoot in the Park

THEATER 48
-summer 1999
Jason asked whether i was interested in reading for a play to be performed in a new dinner theater in Bonita, about twenty minutes south. He'd been asked, but was too busy. I met the director, Michelle Moran, and she offered me the lead role of Paul. She couldn't promise any money unless the show sold really well. I was hesitant, but signed on because the part was too good to pass up (for all my experience, i hadn't played many romantic leads). It's the Neil Simon comedy about a couple moving into a tiny New York apartment, who go through a compatibility crisis in their first week of marriage. I often biked to rehearsal, well over an hour away (i had also biked to Sanibel rehearsals). I got along with Michelle. She was also busy as restaurant manager. We performed in the Flying Fish Cafe, on the ground floor of the Rooftop Restaurant. It was at the tip of Bonita Beach, right on the water. It was fancy, and in rehearsal we were sometimes brought wonderful food. It was a fun group. Sarah Cobley, a theater student at Edison College, played my wife Corey. She was bright and perky, and we had nice comedic chemistry. I was attracted to her a bit, but she was always a little standoffish offstage. Lee Meyers played Corey's neurotic mother, and her husband Joe was our eccentric neighbor Victor Velasco. He did a credible Hungarian accent, and the two of them were a pleasure, onstage and off. Sal Pedone played Harry Pepper, the phone man. Great comedic presence. I thought he could have picked up his cues a touch quicker, but the audience loved his scenes. The audience loved the whole play. The county's top reviewer, Maureen Bashaw, wrote that she'd expected a yawner, but Sarah and i played the parts as though they'd never been played before. Michelle was dating the restaurant owner, Ron - a genuine, good guy. They treated Sarah and i to a fancy dress-up dinner at the end of the run. It was all a sweet, sweet experience. Michelle was able to pay me a little when i agreed to run a summer theater camp with her. We had about fifteen kids, and they were wonderful. I abridged a version of Simon's FOOLS as their final project.