I'll Always Speak Well Of You...

4/24/15

It seems fitting to me that my last day in Brooklyn, indeed my last day as a citizen of New York, would fall on the birthday of Brooklyn's own mega-hyphenate (actress-singer-producer-director-philanthropist-etc, etc.) Barbra Joan Streisand. Soon, just like Barbra, Brooklyn will be in my rear view mirror (metaphorically of course, as I have no intention of ever owning a rear view mirror, unless maybe I find one with Two Faces.)

Thank you New York for all of the laughs, the countless shows and concerts, the game nights at Michael and Tim's, the countless evenings in movie houses, the baseball games, the brisket with extra carrots, the fountain at Lincoln Center, the misspent time and money at Tower Records and HMV, the baked potato ice cream loaf at the Cowgirl Hall of Fame, the acting class with that crazy bitch from Cats, the random celebrity sightings, Shakespeare In The Park, the fireworks, the two City Hall weddings at which I was honored to be the only witness and guest, the #8 smoothie with vanilla yogurt and blueberries, and especially, most especially, for the friends I've made along the way. To paraphrase Taylor Swift, New York you and I are probably never, ever, ever getting back together, but I still love you, promise to visit, and will always speak well of you.

The Days and Nights of Blair Brown

This is a pencil sketch of  Tony winner and five time Emmy nominee Blair Brown that I put through a watercolor filter. It's based on a glamour shot she did about 25 years ago. She deserves so much more but all my art supplies are packed away except for my red pencil and my blue pencil.

During my time in New York, which is rapidly winding down, I've had the pleasure of seeing Blair on stage four times and meeting her briefly on two occasions. I enjoyed her in all of the plays, but her heartbreaking work in the musical "James Joyce's The Dead" was particularly memorable.

When I was in Costa Rica in 1990 I had an intense dream about Blair Brown that seemed to play out in real life a few days later.

In the dream I was in Central Park in New York with Blair. Someone tried to accost her and we wound up in a decrepit old police station filling out a report with an officer who typed our story on an old manual typewriter. The office couldn't get her name right and kept calling her Molly Dodd. Blair tried in vain to explain that she was an actress and that Molly Dodd was just a character she played, not  her real name.

A few days later I'm walking near Parque Central (yes, that's Spanish for Central Park) in downtown San Jose with my friend Ellen and her three year old son Michael (who is now a handsome and funny young man) when Ellen is spooked by two women who she thinks are following us and worries that they may try to snatch Michael.

We ditch the women and head into the park to collect ourselves. Ellen looks through her bag and realizes her wallet has been stolen. The next day we find ourselves in a decrepit old police station, I sort of remember it being in the lower level of a building, very dark like a basement.

A police officer takes Ellen's story down on an old manual typewriter. The officer has a hard time understanding why Ellen had two different last names. Ellen tries in vain to explain that she is an actress and her professional name is Ellen Kaplan but her married/legal name is Ellen Feder. The concept seems completely foreign to the officer but I think it sinks in eventually.

I'm not saying my dream (which also had Blair in a bright pink party dress talking about her pony pal Pokey) was prophecy exactly, but I couldn't help but see the similarities. And it's made all of my future dreams feel a little more real.

Anyway, Happy Birthday to the incredible and dreamy Blair Brown!

[Note: it's also Judy Davis's birthday but I've already drawn her at least 3 times so she gets a pass this year.]