The Miracle Worker 1
While I was learning how to adjust to my new job and fighting off ghosts, life still went on in Media. It was Michael’s last year of high school. Peter was running his business while taking over the sale of the house.
Michael had become interested in theater beginning in 9th grade. At first, when he joined the drama society at school, he was not interested in getting onto the stage and acting. However, he was interested in doing everything else. He collected props, acted as a “prompter,” taught himself how to use the lighting. He loved the excitement that led up to opening night; after the final production he joined his friends for a big cast party. I wrote elsewhere that he was able to experience the natural “highs” and “lows” that his contemporaries sought with drugs; a parent’s dream come true.
When he got older he joined a drama society outside of school called Barnstormers. This was a 100% volunteer effort–all the members, the actors, stage managers, everybody participated at Barnstormers for the love of the theater. Michael was the youngest person involved there.
Here comes the bragging part. My son is very, very smart, very clever, can make or fix anything. So from the beginning everybody loved him at Barnstormers. He could hold his own with the adults. I was the disciplinarian parent so I monitored bedtimes, homework, etc. But I relaxed the rules while Michael was involved in rehearsals. An inner voice warned me that, at 16, with all the adults in adoration of him, he could somehow not hold it together at school. But he was OK.
There was a woman named Pat Bradford who ran the whole place. She looked just like a robin; she was little, rounded, and spoke almost musically. And she absolutely loved Michael. It was really touching to see how people came to admire Michael so much. Pat kept urging him to try acting; finally, Michael decided to do what Pat suggested and took on the relatively small role of James Keller, Helen Keller’s older brother. The play they were doing was The Miracle Worker.
2
Of course I drove downstate to see the play!! And it was a remarkable experience. There was Michael, not flubbing his lines, being part of one of the few humorous scenes in the play, and getting laughs. God, he’s so handsome.
So back up north for work on Sunday. But the following weekend the play was scheduled for its final time and I HAD to see it again while I had the chance. So back down I went and saw the final staging of The Miracle Worker. One thing I learned early in my career as a mother; time with your child is never, ever, wasted. Here was a chance and believe me, it was worth the three hours and any fuel I used up, driving down again.
After the play there was a quite emotional scene. The little girl who played Helen Keller was somewhat fragile but did an outstanding job in the role. Pat Bradford had decided to play Annie, Helen’s teacher. So there were tears and hugs. Nobody wanted to let go of each other; obviously the emotional quality of the play bonded them together. The man who played Helen Keller’s father gave Michael a gift of a strawberry plant; there’s a scene in the play where, I think, the father is angry at the son for not doing enough and makes him plant strawberry plants.
However, I had an encounter with Pat I’ll never forget. She came up to me, grabbed my arms and said: “Oh, isn’t Michael wonderful?! He was so perfect, he’s so handsome and personable. He should go into acting eventually…” She had tears in her eyes, by the way. There was such a force coming out of her. From working closely with Michael for all those hours, she knew him as he really was and she loved him; it was plain to see. As Michael grew up and attained all kinds of mind-blowing goals he set for himself, I would be the recipient of many of these heart-felt comments from people I had never met but who loved and respected my son. I try to keep an even state of mind regarding the role I was selected to play in the drama of my own life. As Michael’s pediatrician used to say: “Mrs. Mastroianni, you have a tiger by the tail. All you can do is feed him, clothe him, and hang on for the ride.”
lgmwriting 