One door closes and another opens 23

The show was deep into it's run and I had to keep working on the character to keep it fresh. There is a tendency, I think, for actors in a long run to go on automatic pilot. They may have done the scenes hundreds of times and may feel tired or depressed sometimes and not concentrate on playing moment to moment but, "phone it in".

I was determined not to fall into that trap because there was a different audience every night and I didn't want anyone to think," this guy stinks." I would change my "moment before" occasionally which slightly colored my performance. Of coarse there are certain parameters that you have to honor such as the pacing and blocking but within that area I was able to be spontaneous every night.

I did 195 performances of "Sorrows of Stephen" at The New York Shakespeare Festival and every one had my full concentration, even when I was sick. There were a few and I mean few performances when the show fell flat. But even with the new cast members coming and going, audiences mostly responded positively toward the show.

About 5 months into the run I decided to move back to the City, Manhattan. I had grown up in the City on 28 St. and Second Avenue but because of the slow moving gentrification of the City, my family moved to Astoria, Queens when I was 16 and now I would return at 35 as a working actor.

I found a small studio apartment on 48 St between 8th and 9th avenue that I could afford just 2 blocks from Jimmy Rays. I would  party to the wee hours of the morning, sleep most of the day and do the show at night. This was my routine and I was loving it, until a notice was put up on the call board that "Sorrows of Stephen" would be closing in 2 weeks.

After 6 months of acting heaven, was I destined to go back to cab driving? I had not secured an agent and no promising projects on the horizon. I would have to swallow my pride and go out and look for work like every other actor. I had hoped during the run that I would be offered another job. I was sure it would happen, everybody I talked to about my performance said I was great and one of the main reasons the show was successful. But it didn't happen and now I am to be just another unemployed actor.

I was offered a couple of OFF-Off Broadway shows for no money but I couldn't bring myself to commit . I heard that a well known film producer and CD were beginning casting for a comedy TV show to be shot in New York. I knew this producer and CD had seen Sorrows Of Stephen so they had to have seen me.

I decided to do what is considered forbidden, I would call the CD myself. I called and asked for LD the CD. The person on the phone asked ,"who is calling" and I said John Del Regno. The voice said to hold and the CD got on the phone. I was surprised as I expected to leave a message which probably would never be returned.

I told the CD that he saw me in Sorrows Of Stephen at the Public and could I audition for the CBS pilot he was casting. The CD said he didn't remember me but he gave me an appointment to come in a read for him.

I immediately went and picked up the sides and poured over them . The character was a pickpocket and the dialogue was simple and easy for me. Whether I got the part or not, I would use this opportunity to show these TV people who I was.

Burning my first bridge, then up to Bottom. 14

    Mid-Summer's rehearsals would not not start for a couple of months ,so I had time to study the play.

In the meantime, Owen, from Jimmy Ray's, turned me onto extra work in movies being shot in New York. Why not, it was a easy way to make a little money and see what it is like on a big time film set.

In New York, serious, out of work actors would do extra work to build up unemployment credits. In those days, you needed 20 weeks of work to qualify for unemployment checks. Unlike LA, where actors can get unemployment even if they worked just 1 week. I sometimes feel a little guilty about collecting in California for many years but if they are giving the money away, why not.

I did extra work a few times and did not like it.On a film set, there are very distinct class differences and extras are on the very bottom. The director, film crew and the cast barely acknowledge you're existence, except when needed and on some film sets, you are not allowed to look the principles in the eye. I knew my personality would not stand for this for too long, but I needed the money.

I was called to do extra work on a film " The King of the Gypsies". I dressed in my loudest clothes and went to the call. The director lined up all the extra gypsies and picked me for a upgrade to day player. This means 10 times the money of a extra plus eligible for residuals. It was a chase scene where I had to yell "hey" and "stop" a few times during the chase. It went very well and the director shook my hand at the end of the day and said "good job".

Two weeks later, I was called back by the extra CD for a big crowd scene, in the same film, King of the gypsies. They took me and all the other extras on a bus out to New Jersey. When we got there the CD starting handing out the extra paperwork. She stopped by me and gave me the slip. I told her, that I was not a extra but a day player and wanted the day player contract. She got very angry and said it was a mistake to ask me to come and why don't I just do the extra work for the day. I refused, she said she would remember that when she was casting again. I did not care, all I could think of was $600 for the day instead of $50 for extra. According to sag rules she had to pay for the day player. Then she said, she would not pay for "drop and pick-up" . I did not know what that meant so I agreed. "Drop and Pick-up" means she would not only have to pay me day player rate for the day, but the 2 weeks in between the 2 days. If I would have known that, I would have asked for that also. So, that was the end of my extra career. I was glad.

So , on to Bottom in "A Mid-Summer Nights Dream".  Bottom was a weaver, which was a working class guy back then. When I was speaking as Bottom, I made no attempt to cover my NY accent as the other actors used their own American accents, so why not me. I studied the play constantly, to know the meaning of what I was saying.

There is a great scene in the play when Bottom is acting before the duke. It shows you the great sense of humor that Shakespeare had because the play Bottom was doing was called "Pyramus and Thisby" which was a spoof of "Romeo and Juliet".

 I struggled with this part of the play until the director suggested that Bottom thinks he is the best actor in the world. Since Bottom is acting, I played the play within a play as if I was Richard Burton. Back then, Richard Burton was one of England's most popular actors. He spoke in a deep and pompous voice. I studied Burton in some of his roles and was able to imitate him quite well I thought. Playing a character that is acting, gives you license to do almost anything.

On Tuesday,January 25, 1977 Bruce Chadwick of "Daily News" wrote" Most of the performers are cast well and some are outstanding.The funniest scene in the play is the last one, when a group of laborers put on a play for the local royalty. The scene is stolen by John Del Regno as a Athenian named Bottom by way of the Brooklyn Bridge. His broad accent and bumbling creates a wave of hysteria in the theater."