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might expect. A lot of what Billy Edd had to say made a certain

amount of sense but a lot was based on his prejudice about the past

two years, particularly in the case of the two major roles played

by Equity people in the past. At final dress Ewel showed up, having
been invited by Billy Edd. Rusty was not told but found out the after-
noon of the rehearsal and said he didn't care. He greeted Ewel warmly
and there seemed to be no rancor. I thought it regrettable that neither
Ewel nor Billy Edd had a word to say about the show after they saw it
together, not even to me let alone to Rusty. Again Rusty said he did
not care, particularly after the show got a standing ovation and he

got praise from the Hollywood TV crew there taping stuff for PSA's.

On guite another topic, I do not know whether you have set the
program for the IOD meeting in October but I have a couple of thoughts
you might want to file away. One subject I think worth discussing is
the use of and dependence upon actor-techs. We had a lot of problems
at YOUNG ABE and the theme was echoed when I got to Harrodsburg and
again from Charlie Otte who happened to be down from BLUE JACKET. We
all find that there is a certain reluctance to do the tech side and a
different mind-set than used to prevail. My thought is that the device
and its us and our dependence on actor-techs ought to be reviewed.

Another subject for discussion worth considering is dance. There
are several things which might be considered. The thought came to me
seeing the sand floor at Harrodsburg and the concrete in Indiana. What
are the problems and solutions to choreography for mee S rent floors,
both from the standpoint of imaginative choreography and the welfare
of the dancers? I also think it might be worth discussing the nature
of dance in many of these shows. I was struck by the mundane folk
dancing in BOONE as compared to the same basis for dances in ABE being
handled in a far more interesting and imaginative way. Since so many
shows include dance and much of that dance is based on forms which are
normally fun to dance but not, necessarily, to watch, how do we inject
the correct note of theatricality to give them 1d you want
to do a panel on dance I recommend you consader Mike Eger as\a partici-
pant. I say that based on seeing his work bth BOONE, LINCOLN anda
YOUNG ABE. He's someone other directors might want to know about.

This has all gotten longer than I planned but I know you have
nothing to do but read my mail so I don't feel bad. Incidentally,
if you are in Manteo I may see you; we are going to Avon for the week
of July 9 and I hope to come up to see the show. We are going down
with my daughter and her husband and their three year old and four
month old daughters; I have a hunch Penny and I will want to escape
one night. In any event, I hope to see you ere long and that you are
having a reasonably paced summer.

All the bgst,

David W. Weiss

PS One more small item. I thought BOONE was better 1it than I have
seen it in the last three visits, far better, in fact. It was done
by Mark Guinn (you may know him as Rat) who has done a lot of fight
work here and there but I had no idea he had such skills in lighting.