Is THIS how DeNiro started?

The first time I remember being on stage was in Ms. Marshall’s fourth grade music class at Putnam Heights elementary in OKC. It was to be the traditional recital for all the students and parents in the school auditorium. A chorus of students on stage faced the audience with another class member in front, with his back to the audience, facing the class, and leading them in a song. To my disappointment several students were asked to lead each song, but I was not one of them. So I volunteered myself. Ms. Marshall took pity on me and said she might allow me to be the leader of one song - providing I did not sing! That’s right. We Richardson’s have never been known for our singing talents. She relented and I led the song while mouthing the words.

I never really cared for her after that. Once as she was skulking around the room spying on us, she noticed that I had drawn a picture of her on my paper. It was not a flattering likeness. She snatched my paper and pulled my hair at the same time. This was in the days before my flattop. Back in those days, my mother must have been a stockholder in Wildroot Cream Oil. I think she bought it by the truck load. My hair was so gooped up with the stuff, Ms. M’s hand slid right off my hair. So she did it again. Same result. She then wiped her hand all over my shirt. What is it about my hair? Always seems to get me in trouble.

I wrote previously that I did not memorize much while growing up. I had forgotten about songs. In Ms. Marshall’s class, we repeatedly sang “The Battle Hymn of the Republic”. I did not know until several years later, that the song was a Yankee song. I wish we had spent more time on “Dixie” instead of a song glorifying the “War of Northern Aggression”. Another reason not to adore her.

I tried out for the part of Albert Dussel in “The Diary of Anne Frank” during my senior year in high school. Mr. Dussel was a dentist who lived with the Franks in their hideout. According to Miss Locke, I did the best job of auditioning, but since I had never had drama before she said she had to give it to one of her enrolled students. But, I did join her drama class the last semester of my senior year. The fact that Nancy Denner, 1957 Miss Oklahoma and Miss America 2nd runner up was the student teacher was a plus as far as I was concerned. Unfortunately I wasn’t Mr. Dussel, but I did get a part in the play as a German storm trooper arresting the Frank family. My line, “Auf Machen, Da Drennen Schnell, schnell, schnell (or something like that). Not exactly sure about the translation. For all I know it could have been, “Your pizza is here”. I spent hours perfecting my craft, my German accent and my vivid facial expressions. I knew those lines. As it turned out, Miss Locke decided to use a recording off stage.

I did play Wiley Post once in a Lyric Theatre production of the “Will Rogers Follies”. I sat in the audience, standing only to talk to Will during one of the scenes. The dramatic and memorable line from that was “Let’s go flying, Will!”

My other world class line was when I was a butler for 11 performances in the musical “The Mystery of Edmund Drood” performed by the Lyric Theatre. My wife was on the board of this great community musical theatre group at the time and I had an IN. My line!! “The goose is cooked”. I was to bring a goose on a covered silver platter to a dining table. The platter looked silver from the audience’s viewpoint, but in reality it was silver painted rubber and had a rubber silver dome over the plastic goose (turkey actually). The prop lady would put a small empty tuna can on the tray with water and dry ice. The idea being that when I said my line, I would open the lid and seemingly steam would come out as though the goose was just out of the oven. At first, the rubber tray and dome leaked like a sieve and the steam never appeared. It would disappear as I was walking on stage toward the dinner table. One time, I was determined to make that sucker hold the steam. I pushed that lid hard down on the tray to make it air tight, and then when I opened it all this glorious steam would appear to the audience and those at the dinner table. I walked out stiffly as butlers are wont to do, said the first part of my line, ”the goose is”, raised the lid. Not a goose to be seen. Nowhere. At least, not on the platter – where could a goose go? I had squished the lid so tightly that the goose/turkey had become stuck in the lid. And, the lid was facing the audience as well as the male and female lead who were getting ready to sing to dinner guests. I thought those two were going to lose it entirely. I replaced the lid, wiggled it around some, released the tension holding the goose, raised the lid again, the goose magically reappeared on the platter, and proudly pronounced, “THE GOOSE IS COOKED”, and took my glorious leave.