me and lee theodore

[spike3]

Posted: 5/29/11 at 3:59pm

a crazy, mean spirited, talented woman, could be evil one minute, charming the next.She loved a good fight. Sort of like 2 other people from that long ago show.
A quick memory,this conversation occured during rehearsals-

Lee:"You are such a good dancer, why didnt you audition for the Broadway (revival) company?"
Me: "I did"
Lee;What happened?"
Me: "You cut me"
Lee: "Oh."
She is gone but not forgotten.

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 5/29/11 at 4:35pm

I loved The American Dance Machine, they faithfully reconstructed dance numbers from Bway shows, we could use them today.

[spike3]

Posted: 5/29/11 at 4:43pm

Lee had her heart and mind in the right place. I was very sorry to see American Dance Machine disband. As far as I know, there is nothing like it today.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 5/29/11 at 10:57pm

I worked with her on that revival, and she was a goddess to me.

[peerrjb]

Posted: 5/29/11 at 11:42pm

Lee was my director on my first Equity show.... "The Fantasticks" in Arlington Heights, Illinois (with Richard Chamberlain, John Carradine and Barney Martin, no less). I was The Mute, and she determined to make the character more than a vague "prop-man". I virtually never left the stage. One day she came up to me and said she liked certain things I was doing in relationship to watching El Gallo (Chamberlain). "Try this today", she whispered. "Play it like you're Richard's 'kept boy'. See what happens." Too funny and always on the performers' side! She was always curious, always discovering things, always rethinking. Such an inspiration. When I composed music for a dance of hers, she'd stand in the middle of the room, one arm arched up over her head, hip cocked, in her "thinking position". I'd sit at the piano and start to noodle on a theme or idea, and then she'd start to move, improvising, about the room. We'd stop and rethink phrases, I'd sketch down what I'd composed, and we'd move along. She was once encouraging me to do a club show of my own songs, and we got together to go through my ideas...which went all over the place. She stopped me, blew some cig smoke aside, and said "Look. There's too much. This act doesn't have to stand for your whole life. Only your whole LIFE has to do THAT." I treasured our times together, and all I learned from her has been part of my "toolbox" in the arts ever since!

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 5/30/11 at 12:27pm

Here is La Theodore rehearsing a 19 year old Liza Minnelli in FLORA THE RED MENACE in early 1965:

[Aja Kane]

Posted: 5/31/11 at 3:13am

It's around...don't you worry...

[Aja Kane]

Posted: 5/31/11 at 3:28am

She was not crazy, mean spirited, or evil. She was driven, passionate, emphatic, and desperate for people to dig out the best in themselves. Her intensity was motivated by a desire to pass on the message that what we were doing and learning was extremely important and necessary to share with generations to come.

She challenged you to step in and dare to exchange energies with her. You either took the risk of faith...or resisted and walked away. Those of us who stayed are much better human beings as a result...not to mention some still pretty damn good performers.

[spike3]

Posted: 5/31/11 at 8:47am

my awful mistake, I should have continued.
In addition to the above first and always, she was a human being, with a heart as big as anything. She nurtered the new ones in the cast, and pushed the older ones. I worked with her during her illness, and she NEVER let it slow her down. She believed in me, and trusted me, and I shall always remember her.

[Aja Kane]

Posted: 5/31/11 at 11:17am

i was around then. do i know you?