Don and I just got finished having one of those conversations that remind us of the joys and heartbreaks in life and the paths we choose to take. Tonight we are watching the last episode of Cheers. The finale was originally ninety minutes long, but it has since been broken up into three half-hour long episodes. We’re on the last of the three. Don did some research and found out it had aired on May 20, 1993. He doesn’t remember watching it and now we know why – he was in Morning’s at Seven at the Old Globe. It had just opened because the reviews came out that day.
That means that within a week or so of May 20th, I was about to fly out to San Diego to be interviewed for the job I would eventually get, which would take me to the opposite side of the country for the next eight years. I know this because during the weekend of my interview, I attended the matinee of Morning’s at Seven. My friend Kathy was in it, as well as my future friend Lynne Griffin (who I had seen at the Stratford Festival years earlier,) Sada Thompson (who I would later work with and who was a great friend of ours,) and a guy named Don Sparks. Don and Lynnie sort of stole the show and I remember loving his performance, reading his bio in the program, looking at his headshot and thinking…hmmm, he’s intriguing.
I wouldn’t meet him until a year later when he came back to the Globe to play Malvolio in Twelfth Night. I recognized him at the Company Call for the summer productions – an event where everyone was introduced – which took place the last week of June. How do I know? Because Don was made an Associate Artist at that Company Call and he talked about having just turned 43 a few days before. (He will be 69 tomorrow.) This was an emotional time for all of us at the Globe and in the MFA program. On May 1st of that year, one of our students had been murdered while leaving the park late at night with his girlfriend, who was also one of our students. He had been just about to graduate with his MFA. I can honestly say that the loss of John at the age of 24 is hardest thing I’ve ever been through. (Later that summer, I would attend the trial of his murderers.)
In one of life’s unexpected twists and turns, when profound grief overwhelms you and you think you will never find joy again, I met Don on July 4th – just two months later.
This is a time of year that is always full of memories for us and we always take the time to remember all that went on in 1993 and 1994. What if I hadn’t applied for that job? What if Don hadn’t called the Globe to see if anything was available for him and then found out they wanted him for Malvolio? What if I had never had the honor and joy of knowing John? Of meeting Don? Of working at the Old Globe?
All of this triggered by finding out when that final episode of Cheers aired.
Don also lost a dear friend to murder in the same place, Balboa Park. David Huffman, a wonderful actor, was knifed to death when he ran to try and stop a thief who had just broken into someone’s motor home. That happened in 1983. This beautiful place, which Balboa Park indeed is, was also the scene of the deaths of two people we loved.
We are awash in memories, both heartbreaking and joyful.
That’s what this time of year brings to us in various degrees every year. We honor those we’ve lost, we express gratitude for our blessings and the seeming serendipity of meetings, connections, and what turn out to be momentous moments, of paths chosen, phone calls made, timing, and loss.
Stay safe.
Happy Tuesday.
