VAN AND SOUP

One of my favorite "movie stars" I worked with at the Meadowbrook, was Van Johnson, a wonderful, kind and caring man.  I had a rather large role in a production of "There's a Girl in my Soup." playing the cockney boyfriend of the Girl.  It was great fun and I became quite good at the accent after a bit of coaching.

The show was a hit with the critics.  In fact, I received an award later in the year as Best All Around Featured Actor from The New Jersey Drama Critics.  (Surprise, who knew they were a group.)

At any rate,  shortly after the show closed,  I received a phone call from Van.  It seemed that his agent had booked him in quite a lot of theaters around the country doing "Soup" (sort of a mini-tour).  He very kindly asked me to be in the cast as it moved from venue to venue taking which would entail about a year.

I pondered it for a day and called him back and declined.   I was young and a little stupid, I daresay.
I just couldn't leave New York for that length of time.  I might miss my big break!

So much for the road not taken.    I wonder.......  Oh well, Van will always have a special place in my heart and I was saddened by his passing a few years ago. As I said, he was a wonderful, kind and caring man.  In retrospect, I wish I had been savvy enough to ask about his years at M-G-M and working with Judy Garland, Elizabeth Taylor, Esther Williams,  etc...…...Alas, hind sight has only become a strong suit as I age.

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