I never intended to be in the play, but a good friend who did asked me to accompany him to tryouts for moral support. Drama teacher Pat O'Brien said I had to participate in tryouts or leave; rather than desert my friend, I read for an assigned part. Unfortunately, I think I wound up getting the part my friend wanted! But we remained very good friends thereafter. (I'm omitting the name of the friend here in case he might be embarrassed by this story, but I will thank him for getting me into a good thing I would not have otherwise considered.)

As part of the costume for the play we needed to have long hair, so we let it grow. This was not the style of the day (yet). One day I was sitting with three other male cast members at lunch in the Cafetorium practicing lines when a student walking by exclaimed “It's the Beatles!” I must confess that none of us knew what he was referring to. We soon learned who the Beatles were, and I managed to elude parental pressure to cut my hair for quite a while after the play.

Memories of opening night:

• Teacher/director Pat O'Brien appeared to be more nervous than any of the cast members; he was so pale I thought he might faint.
• I got irritated when too many people wished me "Good Luck." Any actor will tell you that luck is not involved, and the usual words to someone about to go on stage are: Break a leg.
• Being the first person visible on stage, I was supposed to signal when I was ready to start. Unfortunately, this was not (adequately?) communicated to me and I got impatient when the lights did not come up for a long time!