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1199 program to do O'Casey's plays. I notice that John Roche is in the cast with them, who is now well known on television. I notice that at the Salute to Israel, Johnny Randolph appears with Herschel Bernardi, and the Jewish People's Chorus, appearing with Johnny Randolph, by the way, who has a very big role in “Prizzi's Honor.” He has a very big role in it. He's good, very good. But with him is Sam Waterston, who was very, very young, appearing in dramatic readings of Yuri Suhl's stories.

The Thomas thing is part of a series of forums on current issues. Thomas was at one, David Livingston, I remember, was at one on the labor movement, my brother Phil spoke on the Negro worker. I can't remember the others. Those were Friday nights. The Theater 1199 was monthly on Sunday night. The Salute to Israel was a Sunday afternoon. Then it also says, “Coming up, as the weather encourages outdoor activity are an 1199 concert-going party July 10, to see and hear Ella Fitzgerald at Lewisohn Stadium, a theater party to the Shakespeare Festival at Hartford, Connecticut, to see Ruby Dee in “Taming of the Shrew,” and a picnic at Heckscher State Park on Long Island on the 29th of August.” So you get an idea of the variety of things that were going on.

Here is an article in the New York Times, “Drama Program Started by Unions,” dated February 6, 1965. Then in March of '65 in “Arts and Leisure” section of the Times on Sunday there is a feature on Theater 1199 with photographs of Cynthia Belgrave performing a scene from “In White America,” with pictures of members in the audience, which is called “Few Had Seen Live Actors.” That was the point we were making. Here's an article from the magazine, Alan Alda and Rose Gregorio in a scene from the show “The Owl and the Pussycat.” I remember the producer was Philip Rose and the show was on Broadway. Diana Sands was not able to come, so she was in it with Alan and Rose Gregorio was the understudy, so she came to it. Rose is now in Hollywood and doing a lot of stuff there. Her husband--I forget his name--is a very important film director. Alan had come to us through Ossie, because Alan was in “Purlie Victorious” on Broadway that Ossie wrote, a play that later became a musical. So that's how he got to know Alan. Also in the show with Ossie in that same play was Godfrey Cambridge, so Godfrey used to come and perform for us. See, everybody who got involved with Ossie ended up with us.

Then in '67 we produced a film called “Like a Beautiful Child,” which I think I've talked about before.





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