1964 Tony was working at the NYC Parks Department on Lexington Avenue as a “parkie,” playing basketball and other stuff with the kids from the tenements. He was also studying for his master’s in Art History, being mentored by Ad Rinehart. And he was working at Cafe La Mama with other playwrights and directors on the play he began in college in Mexico City.
We frequently went to the theater there, hanging out with the other members. It felt like a commune to me. Everyone was expected to work on everyone else’s plays: stage hands, costumes, sets, etc. Ellen ran a tight ship that way. So in the beginning there were no *stars* that I could see. I met Sam Shephard a couple of times, casually, and now I realize that he was even younger than I was, which was very young in ’64, ’65. Everyone was incredibly young and talented, and excited about new ideas in theater and the arts. There was Caffe Cino, La Mama and soon the Negro Ensemble Company and they were all doing theater much different from the shows we saw on Broadway.
I don’t remember how we became involved with Negro Ensemble Company but we went to the St. Marks Playhouse for plays and enjoyed the small parties after opening nights with Robert Hooks, Douglas Turner Ward and Hattie Winston. Tony liked Hattie and Hattie liked Tony, and I nearly died with jealousy when Hattie asked Tony to be her date to the Grand Opening gala of the new Lincoln Center Metropolitan Opera. 1966 I think. I actually took the photo of Tony in his tux and Hattie in our railroad flat as they set off for “Antony and Cleopatra.”
Anyway, one night Tony wanted to go to see a particular classical oud player in a cafe downtown and he didn’t show up at La Mama to help out. In no uncertain terms he was out… totally and without recourse. Ellen ran a pretty tight ship with those mostly young renegade creative boys, but as a result of her insistence on devotion to the craft, many of them made the big time. So sad about Sam to have been taken by this cruel cruel disease. Such a loss. So many years of devotion to his craft. Words never seemed to fail him but they fail me now.
Just some thoughts 