David Bruce

Create, Then Take a Break David Bruce

This book contains 250 anecdotes, especially about he arts, including dance. Some samples: 1) The famous actor Edmund Kean idolized fellow actor George Frederick Cooke. He even had a monument erected over Mr. Cooke's grave in New York and carried away one of Mr. Cooke's finger bones, which he displayed on a mantle. Mr. Kean's wife, however, objected to the display of the finger bone, and so one day it became "lost." Like many other actors, Mr. Kean studied life to gain effects to use in acting. Once, he was wounded while fencing, and he fainted. When he regained consciousness, his first words were, "How did I fall?" 2) Ballerina Alicia Markova became a celebrity when she danced Giselle in New York. During the performance, her foot was broken, but she continued dancing. Ms. Markova once told Agnes de Mille, "I continued the whole solo variation, little hops on pointe and all. Think of it: right across the stage on one toe on a fractured foot." By the way, ballet shoes last for only one performance, but they can be worth the expense. After each performance, Ms. Markova had to be cut out of her shoes. However, after each performance, four men had to help carry the bouquets of flowers she received. 3) In 1951, Eugene Conley, a tenor for the Metropolitan Opera, bought a homestead with no water or heating or other modern convenience in New Jersey. A stream called Plum Brook ran through the 50-acre property, suggesting a name for the estate: Plumbroke Farm. By the way, mid-1950s Metropolitan Opera baritone Frank Guarrera grew up in Philadelphia with parents who had emigrated from Italy. His parents continued their wine-making in Philadelphia, and little Frank sometimes went to school with his hands stained red from the grapes used for wine.