Tad Z. Danielewski

[John]

I just ran across this image online and wanted to have documented somewhere on the website
a tribute to Tad Danielewski, one of the most influential people in my life. I owe him a very great debt of gratitude and admiration.
I know this will mean virtually nothing to anyone else, but for me, it is powerful and dear.
The gesture in this photograph fills me with nostalgia and affection. I have had that finger pointed at me
in exactly that manner at some of the most meaningful, educational moments of my life as an artist.

[Tuly]

I also remember Tad. Here is some more info about him.

Born as Tadeusz Zbigniew Danielewski in Radom, Poland, he served in the Polish Underground during World War II and eventually ended up in a concentration camp. He and his then wife, actress Sylvia Daneel, emigrated to the United States in 1948. Early in the 1950s, they attended the University of Iowa. They were naturalized as United States citizens on April 19, 1954 through a Special Act of Congress. The couple later divorced.


Career

After the war, he studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London and started the Professional Actors Workshop in New York City, New York, whose students included Martin Sheen, James Earl Jones, and Mercedes Ruehl, who thanked Danielewski in both her Oscar and Tony acceptance speeches. He was president of Stratton Productions, Inc. (NYC), a firm engaged in stage, film and TV productions. He also worked at NBC as a studio supervisor and helped develop a new method for directing TV programs. In 1983, he provided the Polish translation of Sweet Georgia Brown for Mel Brooks's To Be or Not to Be. He worked at the Brigham Young University Department of Theater and Cinematic Arts from 1975 to 1989. He then moved to head up the USC drama department in Los Angeles until his death in 1993

[John]

I struggled to find the appropriate thread to respond to Mom's urging to post the following email sent by another theatre director I worked with extensively several years ago, Kent Johnson. It has caused me to again consider how fortunate I have been to have received first rate training in my field of endeavor.

Hi John.....

Yes, it's me... a voice from your past. I'm living in Seattle now and still doing a show or two a year and am in the process of writing a chronicle of my seventy years in theatre. I'm attempting to write a paragraph or two about every show I've done. Beginning in 1946 and averaging five shows a year... this is quite a challenge... but then again that is why I'm doing it. In reminiscing and reviewing the few videos I have I was reminded of your magnificent performance as Don Quixote at the Huntington Beach Playhouse. This stands out, by far, as the most impressive performance I can remember. Thank you...thank you... thank you. By the way... my daughter, Denise, was the stage manager for that production. She lives up here in Seattle and is getting married (for the first time) on October 23. YEAH!

If you haven't seen it.... there is a reference to our production of Cyrano in WIKIPEDIA... go to CYRANO (MUSICAL).... you will find the last paragraph most interesting.

Hope you and Tuly and your large family are well and happy...

Regards,

Kent

And here is the wikipedia article he references:

Cyrano is a musical with a book and lyrics by Anthony Burgess and music by Michael J. Lewis.

Based on Edmond Rostand's classic 1897 play of the same name, it focuses on a love triangle involving the large-nosed poetic Cyrano de Bergerac, his beautiful cousin Roxana, and his classically handsome but inarticulate friend Christian de Neuvillette who, unaware of Cyrano's unrequited passion for Roxana, imposes upon him to provide the romantic words he can use to woo her successfully in mid-17th century Paris.

In the early 1960s, David Merrick had announced plans to produce a musical entitled Cyrano with a score by Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley, but nothing came of the project. Burgess had translated the Rostand play for the Guthrie in Minneapolis, and director Michael Langham suggested he adapt it for a musical version. Burgess joined forces with film composer Lewis, replacing dialogue in his play with musical numbers, and the completed work was staged at the Guthrie, again with Langham at the helm.

Following a tryout in Boston's Colonial Theatre and five previews, the Broadway production, directed and choreographed by Michael Kidd, opened on May 13, 1973 at the Palace Theatre, where it ran for 49 performances. The cast included Christopher Plummer as Cyrano, Leigh Beery as Roxana, and Mark Lamos as Christian, with Tovah Feldshuh making her Broadway debut in two small supporting roles.

Plummer won the Tony for Best Actor in a Musical and Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Performance, and Beery was Tony-nominated for Best Featured Actress in a Musical.

An original cast recording LP was released by A&M Records in 1973. An original cast recording CD was released by Decca Records in 2005.

In September 1994, an abridged version of the musical made its West Coast preview at The Newport Arts Center in Orange County, California. Directed by Kent Johnson, and starring well known regional actor John Huntington as Cyrano and actress Deirdre McGill (" A Thing Called Love ", " Dead Hollywood Blondes") as Roxanne. One song, "You Have Made Me Love", released on a Broadway standards album sung by Deirdre McGill.

[Freedomax7]

If you have stories of Tad Danielewski and his ideas with you, there is a documentary and dicudrama effort we are part of growing. Please contact us to record them at TadDanielewski.com