The Magic of Being There. Pt.1.

It all started when we met "John-Boy Walton" Richard Thomas and his really sweet wife, Georgiana, at the Players Club Founders banquet. They were honoring several members that night, including Richard, who has been in theatre all his life -- and who has worked with most of the legends.

Since he's currently here in New York in the cast of RACE, a David Mamet play, he invited us out after one of the performances.

That night, we were on the prowl for a young actor who could play the role of Buddy in a benefit concert of The Last Session at the Theatre at St. Clement's (on the set of the Peccadillo's Theatre's impeccable production of "Another Part of the Forest," a Lillian Hellman play set in the post-civil war South. Stephen Bienskie had become unavailable).

After RACE, we got into the car. Jim got in the front seat and noticed the driver fit the description of Buddy. Realizing that everyone in this town is probably in show biz, he asked him if he sung. He said yes and pulled a CD out of his pocket and handed it to him.

I listened to it the next day and thought he had a pretty good voice, but nothing on it sounded like TLS. Still, it was worth checking him out so we invited him over for an audition.

He called his manager, who was skeptical. "You met two guys who have invited you up to their aparment? I don't know... where is it?"

The kid told him the address.

The manager replied, "You're not talking about Jim and Steve, are you?"

[TO BE CONTINUED in Part 2.]