Datebook: Erik Preminger wonders aloud whether it’s strange for a man in his 70s to devote so much time talking about his mother. In the home in Orinda he shares with his wife, Linda, there are nods to his mom in many places, most notably gallery of photos hung in a study. The glamorous black-and-white portraits show burlesque queen Gypsy Rose Lee posed seductively. In a few pictures, her skirts are lifted as part of the routine that made her famous.
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I remember doing a production of "Gypsy" back in Buffalo before I came to grad school. Although we didn't have a dramaturg, our Costume Designer did so much research on who Gypsy Rose Lee was, her relationship with her mother, and her climb into the spotlight. I remember thinking that it was remarkable how a musical about a stripper could be humanized simply by looking at the actual people behind the story. Similarly, one of my favorite actors, Alan Alda, has an autobiography called "Never Have Your Dog Stuffed," in which he describes what it was like to grown up with two parents who performed on the vaudeville circuit. Like Preminger mentions, "It was a very extraordinary childhood, but in a very ordinary way." It's funny how in today's society we condemn sex so extremely, and yet have very littler concern for violence, perhaps because it somehow always seems all around us. However, it's really beautiful in a way to see these huge sex symbols as real people with loving relationships with their children. Hopefully stories like this one will coax us into seeing all professions as honorable, and stop ourselves before we jump to preconceived perceptions.
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