There is a place behind the eyes where affinity lies. There, in that place behind the eyes, a kind of fondness, an attraction, affection, and kinship occurs or re-occurs between two individuals transferring feelings and messages. Such was the case the first time I interviewed Minnie Pearl and each of the dozens of interviews thereafter.
I believe she could become a very successful character actress, especially in her later years. I’ll never forget her reaction when I shared my thought with her during an interview a few years before she ceased performing due to ill health.
She smiled nostalgically and, to my surprise, told me that it almost happened, that fate almost took her the direction of Broadway theater.
Minnie told me that it was Christmas Eve, 1941. The country had just been shocked into a world war. She was part of the Pee Wee King western band road show. The troupe was playing the Majestic theater in Johnstown, Pennsylvania—ironically, my home town.
Outside the theater there was three feet of snow and the temperature was below freezing. In those days, there was a stage show in between showings of a movie. The band had performed five shows to empty seats and had one more show to go. In the audience were two men with their overcoats and gloves on to keep warm.
Backstage the band and performers were tired and weary and just wanted to go back to the hotel. So they decided to “throw the show away”—that is, cut out some numbers, shorten the others, skip some of the bits and coast through the material. In other words, just get it over with. And so they did.
After quickly changing into her street clothes in her freezing dressing room after her performance, Minnie headed for the exit, but was stopped by the stage manager.
“What happened?” he asked quizzically. “Why didn’t you do your act?”
Minnie laughed and said, “We’re beat. Shoot, there were only two men out there in the audience, and they probably just came in to get warm. They couldn’t care less how we perform. Anyway, they left before we got finished.”
The stage manager looked Minnie in the eye and said, “Minnie they are song writers and producers from New York. They are casting a new musical and came all the way to Johnstown to see you! They were considering you for the staring role!”
The stage manager slowly walked away shaking his head in dismay. Minnie’s heart sank. But she learned a lesson she never forgot.
The two men were named Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein. The show they were considering Minnie for was called “Oklahoma!”
Minnie finished telling me her story and said, “And the moral?” she left the question hanging.
“Always do your best,” I replied.
“Always give your best,” Minnie corrected.
And she always did.
|
|
|
|
|
