Innermost Thought

As a teenager I used to work as a scene changer in the summer season at Casa Manana theatre in Fort Worth. It was a summer job that paid little but alllowed me to spend time in a theatre, see a season of mostly classic musicals and be exposed to that mythic creature rarely spotted in New York, the working actor. Casa was my first experience with many great musicals: Carousel, Annie Get your Gun, Anything Goes, The King and I and Dreamgirls to name a few. It also solidified my love of other shows like Chorus Line, Man of La Mancha, and Sound of Music. I got my own special degree in a A History of Musical Theatre just by moving a piece of furniture up and down a ramp every now and then.

Some of those working actors were the most gracious and generous people. We were a crew of gangly teenagers, some asking wide-eyed questions, others flirting outrageously , pretending to be "adults". Most of the actors I met were patient, willing to answer all manner of questions, and more than willing to include us in those crazy short term families that develop as shows rehearse, open and then close. Some of my favorites were the entire cast of Dreamgirls. I loved those people and they loved us. We were a true family and "Huggy" (I can't remember his real name.) was such a nice guy. He never minded hanging out with the kids and it meant so much to us. Another time, I remember chatting with one of the chorus girls of a Rodgers and Hammerstein show and talking about what to study in college. Should one have a "back up major or minor" just in case? She said, "The thing about a back up plan, is that you just might find yourself using it." Perhaps not the most sage advice I've ever gotten, but good none the less (even though my mother is probably reading this and thinking "NOOOOO!") I also got to meet Van Johnson, Debbie Reynolds, Cheryl Barnes (who was in the movie version of Hair), character actor Lyle Kanouse, comedian Rip Taylor and then there was Ruta.

Ruta Lee was a perennial favorite at Casa. When I started working there, I confess I didn't really know who she was, only that she was the 7th Bride in the movie version of Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. I must have been one of the few in FW ignorant of her career because Ruta could sell a show faster than anybody. She was beloved by her FW audiences. Always unpredictable, Ruta was known to break character at a key moment to commiserate with the audience. The audience ate it up every time. Ruta, over the years of working at Casa, became one of the family to her DFW audiences. Though born in Montreal, Fort Worth considered her 100% Texas. She had a special place in her heart for us "behind the scenes" kids working on the shows just so we could see them. She insisted that we all come out at the end of the show to take our own bow. "Her Gremlins" she called us.

As time passes, and my tenure at Casa becomes a dim memory, I sometimes see Ruta on television in reruns of syndicated tv shows from eras gone by, in technicolor movies from Hollywood's Golden days and sometimes as a guest star in current projects and seasons. It always brings me back, not just to the Ruta shows, but to all of the moments I experienced at Casa Manana shuffling scenery. It takes me right back as if it were yesterday, and maybe even tomorrow. And then I think, "Wow. That's Ruta Lee. I wonder if anybody else knows how amazing her career is."

It turns out they do. On Tuesday, Ruta Lee got her own star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame. She calls it the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. But the rainbows not over for Ruta. I just checked her website and she's got nothing less than seven shows in production or development. Congratulations Ruta! You deserve it.

Meredith L.
gremlin