In a rare show of humanity, Walter Friday moved rehearsal to the early evening to give everyone time to pay their respects and to attend the Theater Wing’s Memorial at the Winter Garden. Plenty of grief to choose from. No waiting. Jayne and I dressed in our best show of mourning and arrived ten minutes late to the service at St. Mark’s in-the-Bowery at Second Avenue and Tenth Street. It was the perfect place for an actress’s funeral. Over the years the church had hosted performances by Isadora Duncan and Martha Graham, lectures by Ben Hecht and Edna St. Vincent Millay, and even served as a stage for Harry Houdini. The arts weren’t its only concern, however. It had been named one of New York’s branches for Bundles for Britain. Throughout the vestibule were boxes and crates marked with hand-scrawled labels indicating which donated item should go in which bin. Larger signs tacked to the walls distributed orders and reprimands: WE NEED SHOES AND BABY’S CLOTHING. THESE ITEMS ARE INTENDED FOR OUR ENGLISH FRIENDS.
What do You think about The Winter Of Her Discontent?
