A Swishbuckler Was Born

It was 1977, at Christmas time, and I had been cast in my second show for Theater Under the Stars in Houston. Ever since I’d talked my folks out of spending Christmas afternoon of 1967 sitting through two showings of a John Wayne movie and we instead attended a production of “Promises, Promises”, I had been determined to be part of a TUTS musical.

The show was “Peter Pan” and it starred a Houston celebrity, Debbie Teare, as Peter. (I would later do the show with Cathy Rigby.) I was one of a large group of pirates, “Cecco”, by name. My big moment came when Captain Hook sent me to my death. (I still remember my line, delivered in a really bad Italian accent, “Please, uh Capitan, please-a-donna make-a-me go!” and I walked the plank:)

The chorus of pirates ranged in age from 20 to 50. I was a fresh-faced 22 year old, determined to make an impression. I remember that a couple of the guys were well-known drag queens in town; over all, we made a scruffy grab-bag group. We were encouraged by the director to individualize our characters, to make strong choices. In our big number, singing, “We’re bloody buccaneers....”, we were told to be “manly” as we worked about the ship, performing the choreography we were given.

As my character choice, buttressed by costuming, I decided to be an enforcer. I wore a big hat with a skull and bones on it, breeches and a black and white shirt with horizontal stripes. I grew my first full beard. I had an eye patch (actually very dangerous on the second level of the set as I had no depth perception), a parrot velcrowed to my shoulder and carried a bull whip. As some of my pirate mates swabbed the deck or climbed the rigging, I pretended to ready myself to flog the unwilling....I uncoiled the whip, stretched it, oiled it, tested it... (method acting...*grin*)

In our final dress rehearsal, the director took one of our less motivated pirates aside and said, “Terry, I’ve been patient, but you’ve got to come up with some business or I’ll have to cut you from the scene. Think what your pirate would do.” We then began a run-through of the number.

I was positioned on the second level of the ship. As I went about my business ... playing with the whip, swashing some buckles, Terry walked casually past me. I gestured threateningly with the whip, lustily singing all the while. Terry rolled his eyes at me, sat down and dangled his feet over the edge of the upper deck, calmly pulled out an emory board and began to file his nails, glancing up at me with a bored, over it look and then shyly smiled. All of us fell out laughing.

Needless to say, the “business” stayed in and Terry, the swishbuckler, was born:) Audiences loved him. I learned that sometimes you can get a better laugh from filing your nails, than playing with your whip. It’s timing, baby, timing:)

A Swishbuckler Was Born

It was 1977, at Christmas time, and I had been cast in my second show for Theater Under the Stars in Houston. Ever since I’d talked my folks out of spending Christmas afternoon of 1967 sitting through two showings of a John Wayne movie and we instead attended a production of “Promises, Promises”, I had been determined to be part of a TUTS musical.

The show was “Peter Pan” and it starred a Houston celebrity, Debbie Teare, as Peter. (I would later do the show with Cathy Rigby.) I was one of a large group of pirates, “Cecco”, by name. My big moment came when Captain Hook sent me to my death. (I still remember my line, delivered in a really bad Italian accent, “Please, uh Capitan, please-a-donna make-a-me go!” and I walked the plank:)

The chorus of pirates ranged in age from 20 to 50. I was a fresh-faced 22 year old, determined to make an impression. I remember that a couple of the guys were well-known drag queens in town; over all, we made a scruffy grab-bag group. We were encouraged by the director to individualize our characters, to make strong choices. In our big number, singing, “We’re bloody buccaneers....”, we were told to be “manly” as we worked about the ship, performing the choreography we were given.

As my character choice, buttressed by costuming, I decided to be an enforcer. I wore a big hat with a skull and bones on it, breeches and a black and white shirt with horizontal stripes. I grew my first full beard. I had an eye patch (actually very dangerous on the second level of the set as I had no depth perception), a parrot velcrowed to my shoulder and carried a bull whip. As some of my pirate mates swabbed the deck or climbed the rigging, I pretended to ready myself to flog the unwilling....I uncoiled the whip, stretched it, oiled it, tested it... (method acting...*grin*)

In our final dress rehearsal, the director took one of our less motivated pirates aside and said, “Terry, I’ve been patient, but you’ve got to come up with some business or I’ll have to cut you from the scene. Think what your pirate would do.” We then began a run-through of the number.

I was positioned on the second level of the ship. As I went about my business ... playing with the whip, swashing some buckles, Terry walked casually past me. I gestured threateningly with the whip, lustily singing all the while. Terry rolled his eyes at me, sat down and dangled his feet over the edge of the upper deck, calmly pulled out an emory board and began to file his nails, glancing up at me with a bored, over it look and then shyly smiled. All of us fell out laughing.

Needless to say, the “business” stayed in and Terry, the swishbuckler, was born:) Audiences loved him. I learned that sometimes you can get a better laugh from filing your nails, than playing with your whip. It’s timing, baby, timing:)