When I first came to New York, I heard about a one-minute audition held by the Barter Theatre in Virginia, founded by Robert Porterfield. The theory was that one minute was long enough for talent to declare itself. Each year, an actor and an actress were chosen, and each year the judge was a reigning star of the Broadway stage. In my year, it was Fredric March. The prize was a year’s residency at Barter. I showed up among hundreds of actors, did my minute and left. Next day, a phone call. I had been picked as one of the two finalists for male actor and was invited the next day for March to decide between us. David Hedison, the other actor, and I stood on the stage for an agonizing half-hour while March dithered out front; finally he chose David. I fled the theatre feeling very rejected indeed. But, down the street came running Bob Porterfield; he wanted us both to come to Barter and so we did. It was the making of me: two years of touring in the U.S. in one-night stands, and along the way, my Equity card.
