Session: 123456789101112131415161718192021222324         Page 356357358359360361362363364365366367368369370371372373374375376377378379380381382 of 592

Hollywood, to make a film. It's a lot of money.” He says, “If you tell me that I should stay with this, I'm prepared to drop it.” I said, “Ossie, I'm not going to tell you to stay with this. You're going to get 1500 dollars to direct it.” He says, “I'll get you a director.” So we got a director, a black woman. I forget her name right now, but she came in very late and it was very difficult for her to give the thing -- we were in rehearsal when she came in to direct the show. So it was very very hard.

What was the movie? What was the movie that Ossie was doing?

[laughs] I don't even remember what it was. All I know is that he and Ruby were involved and it was a lot of money.

So before “Take Care” opens, it has to be performed before the delegates. It impresses them. It's obvious. I begin to see, “Is it bigger than ourselves?” See it starts to go on tour. Instead of six weeks it goes to eight weeks.

Touring where? In the hospitals.

Every day in a different hospital.

You haven't explained.

Oh! Didn't I tell you about the Howard Roberts Chorale and the Labor Theatre? Every day in a different hospital for six weeks, early and late shows, at lunch time? “Take Care” had to be forty minutes. Couldn't be longer, because people have to get in and out. Sometimes it ran too long, because too much laughs and applause. Or sometimes the cast ran too -- I remember National Public Radio [NPR] covered the opening of “Take Care.” I went to the hospital in Brooklyn, Brooklyn Jewish, with I forget her name, because she interviewed people, she was at the rehearsal (Rene'e Montagne -- she's now the co-anchor on “All Things Considered”). “Take Care” got reviewed! Not as a musical, but got featured in articles all over the place. As it moved around, radio would come to do features, television would come to do features and interview workers. Outside -- “What do you think?”. You know, that kind of thing. So members are seeing themselves on television. They're used to it all ready by now.

So “Take Care” does like six weeks in the hospitals. Then -- you can never have too much of a good thing -- DC37. I call them I say, “Come and see it.” Vic says, “Okay, bring it to the delegates meeting.” So “Take Care” goes to their delegates meeting, and it goes very well. He says, “Okay, we'll do a week.” So they do a week in different city