See the Stars (Haiku)

Stars not seen in the night
Hidden by bright city lights
Seen in wilderness

Our understanding
Hidden by our distractions
Given when we think

Distractions the lights
Thinking and meditation
Like the wilderness

The starlight is seen
The understanding is made
When it is allowed

Financial Advice (Haiku)

Budget just your cash
Account for all your spending
Look before you leap

Shylock a character from The Merchant of Venice

Shylock (Background for a character in The Merchant of Venice)

I am a Jew and live with the other Jews on an isle more or less in the middle of Venice, where a foundry once was.  It was established  before I was born, to segregate the Jews from the rest of Venice.  We Jews must be there every night when the gates are locked.  I go to the main part of Venice every day because that is where I do business.

I was born here in 1543 to Joachim and Rebecca.  Because we are Jews, our family names are not usually used.  I am commonly known only by the name Shylock.  I am 53 years old this year.  I’ve spent my whole life here in greater Venice and people know me, although not many outside of the temple know me very well.

I have no brothers nor sisters and my parents are gone.  My home life was good as I grew up.  My mother was a typical doting Jewish mother and my parents made sure I understood from whence I came and that I not have any expectations that were beyond the possibility of a Jew in Italy at this time.

“I have a daughter, sir, named” Jessica.  Her mother is no longer with us and I raised her as best I could.  She has different values than mine and she has romantic intentions with a young Christian man about town.  She has been a constant source of irritation to me and now I think she has made off with a great deal of my money to be with her lover.  

I don’t really care if she ever comes back but I would like to have the money returned to me.  Women, after my wife, and romance are of no interest to me.  My desires lay with the more tangible, gold.

I have a circle of friends with whom I socialize, converse, and discuss the situations that come up in our everyday lives.  These are all Jews and we belong to the same temple.  We have an influence on each other that we probably don’t even recognize because our discussions are intellectually stimulating and even sometimes loud.

As Jews, we are prohibited from doing work using tools of any kind so I learned the basics of money lending from my father and continue to do that now.  I know the Christians are forbidden to lend money but they do.  They say they provide this service or that instead of saying they charge interest but, in fact, they are lending each other money at interest all the time.  These transactions are usually for large amounts of money, for building or ship construction or major trade expansion.  

My lending is usually for lesser amounts to those who are not connected to the big families here.  Because the loans I make have a higher risk of failure to repay, I usually charge a higher amount of interest.

My days are spent in the square around San Marco cathedral where people seek me out to make loans or repay loans that are due.  I don’t have many friends among the goya but those needing money find me by word-of-mouth when they need me.  I am known to be fair and reasonable but don’t default on a loan from me because I have people who will see to it that you understand how serious it is to repay the loan.

When Bassanio came to me for a loan, I didn’t want to give it to him because first of all I didn’t like him very much and secondly, it was more risky than I usually like.  He asked Antonio, a friend of his, to guarantee the loan.  I didn’t know either of them well enough but they pleaded with me.

I recognized them as being arrogant young men who thought they were better than me, or anyone else for that matter.  As a matter of fact, Antonio has expressed opinions of Jews that are salacious. So to teach them a lesson in respect, I exacted a special form of collateral.  I would make the loan but if it wasn’t repaid Antonio would have to give me a pound of his flesh.  That ought to teach him a little respect.

Now I am faced with a default situation.  We will have to see how it plays out but I am stressing that I want my pound of flesh.  That these young upstarts can be so disrespectful to me and mine has to be taken into account as we settle this debt of honor.

Entre les Scénes ('Tween Scenes)

This is Kiss Me, Kate and we are doing our 6th performance, it is the matinee on Sunday.  After Act 1 I have a long time before I go on again for the final scene of the play.  I am writing this as I wait.

The show is good, won Emmy Awards in the 50's and was revised in the 90's.  It is played often in theater and high school productions.  Ours does not take a back seat to any.

The cast, except for me is young.  My guess is mid 20's and three a little older, maybe 40-45.  They are talented and energetic.  Directors don't rely on auditions alone for casting but have many names and talents in mind and on file upon whom to call.

We have had three directors due to circumstances and only three weeks rehearsal to put it on.  Yet, the play is a tremendous success because of the talented cast and hard working crew.

Costume are from inventory and appropriate to the play.  Since this is a play within a play we all have at least two, Shakespearean and contemporary.

The set is artistically designed and built to change easily from "play" to "backstage." It was constructed for this play only and will be struck after the last show.  It is bitter-sweet  to see sets struck.

We have four more performances and then six more in Central Park, in Louisville.  The Shakespeare stage there will be a new experience for me, outdoors in Central Park.  There will have been a grand total of 16 performances of the same show; I'll know it by then.

Hidden Limitation (Haiku)

Capability
Limited by what we know
Imagination

The visionary
Imagines beyond the known
A true futurist

Limited we are
By what we can't imagine
Where to get a clue?

Woe is Me, Woe is Me (Haiku)

Why is it okay
For everyone else to do
But never for me

Harry Trevor (Character in Kiss Me, Kate) Backstory 1948

Note: Every character, real and in a play or film, has a back story; a life as lived until now.  The now in this case is 1948 when this one was cast in Kiss Me, Kate, a new musical by Sam and Bella Spewack with music by none other than Cole Porter.

Harry Trevor (1903) New York NY

Harry Trevor was born in Manhattan, New York at 10:20 AM on December 24, 1893 to John and Mary Trevor.  He was a normal, healthy baby boy weighing in at 8 lbs 12 ounces.

A word about John and Mary Trevor.  They were vaudevillians who became acquainted on the circuit.  They started out separately, met and, one romantic night, fell into each other’s’ arms.  John did the honorable thing when Mary told him she was pregnant and they were married on June 2, 1893, a Tuesday because they were performing on the weekends.

They rented an apartment in midtown Manhattan and John continued his performing in the city, whenever possible, and on the circuit the rest of the time.  Mary took the baby with her to wherever he was until it was time for Harry to go to school.

Harry attended public school in Manhattan until he finished 8^th Grade.  That was the extent of his formal education.  He and his mother joined his father on the road and Harry became part of the act with his father.  The act varied from melodrama, to comedy sketches, to song and dance; whatever the house required.  His mother was more of a supporter than performer.  The three of them had a good life together.

As the years passed and Harry matured out of the act and as vaudeville came to an end he went into the legitimate theater.  There, he found a ready market for his ability to portray a variety of characters; for whatever the script called.  He never aspired to top billing, or even second, third, or fourth line billing.  He was satisfied to support the stars and collect his pay.

Thus he gained a good reputation among producers and directors in the theater district and played every house of note in the city.  He often traveled with the troupe to the minor markets to hone a show and get it ready for the “big white way.”  His credits were significant and he enjoyed the respect of the more noted “stars” on Broadway.

As for his personal life; Harry was as lackluster as the roles he played.  At 55 he was still unmarried and, although he enjoyed the company of women, had no intention of marrying and/or starting a family.  His own experiences, though not bad, were not enough to engender such a desire in him.  He managed to keep an ever changing list of girlfriends, the changing being made when one became too clutching.

Among the guys, Harry was always up for a good time but eschewed overindulging in liquor and gambling.  He’d seen too many shipwrecks in his lifetime to get sucked into that.  Not a teetotaler, he enjoyed a drink as much as the next guy, but never overindulged.  The same with gambling, he loved the track and boxing but the $2 bet was his favorite.

As for finances; here again he didn’t aspire to stardom.  He knew that there was no pot of gold at the end of the rainbow so he religiously put aside 10% of his earnings, in cash, in a valise that he kept in his room or apartment wherever he was.  This seemed foolish to him during the 20’s but then after 1929 he congratulated himself over and over again.

He kept up with the news and could see that reforms were going in place to make banks safer so he opened an account at The Manhattan Company Bank and continued to add to his “nest egg.”   Then during WWII he regularly bought war bonds and was now looking ahead to a comfortable retirement.

One could almost sum up Harry Trevor as an ordinary fellow; one who never knew his full potential.  On the other hand, he was a good fellow to have around.

When his agent called with an audition for Kiss Me, Kate, he said, “Sure.” Went in and got the role of Baptista Minola, Katharine’s father.

He knew the company as one that was a little threadbare; some thought it to be taking its last breath.  The director was a bit of an egomaniac in that he was also the star of the show.  The leading lady was almost a has-been.  She and the director were divorced but there was still a lot of emotion in their relationship, both positive and negative.

Knowing this, Harry went in with his eyes and ears open, and his mouth shut.  He fit in very nicely as the man who wasn’t there.  He did his job, played his part, said his lines with Shakespearean flair and bowed appropriately when the curtain came down.

 Meanwhile, there is a fetching, not-so-young female member of the ensemble that is catching his attention.