I'm Not Dead... Yet! (62 page)
I have my problems, I have my flaws and I have my demons—sometimes my ‘life music’ is dissonant and the dissidents in my soul threaten to go on strike. But my beautiful family (and the people at The Cleveland Clinic) have given me the precious time and ability to try and live a
productive
life.
Read by the Author
When I met Karla in
Pirates of Penzance
on Broadway, we used to sing, ‘Take heart.’ Why has it taken 56 years to learn how to nurture my own heart even though I would sing the lyrics ‘Take heart’ eight shows a week?
Why didn’t I
truly
listen to Thornton Wilder’s advice in
Our Town
when the stage manager (in my case, Hal Holbrook) suggests to Emily, “…that saints and poets sometimes fully realize life as it is lived.”?
Where
was my mind when Emily simply, yet poignantly states, “Oh, earth, you’re too wonderful for anybody to realize you.”?
Was I merely a puppet repeating, reciting written words? An actor, lying still as if dead, yet alive and surely deaf? Why didn’t I absorb the deliberate inspection of humanity in Mr. Wilder’s uncomplicated, straightforward, effortless wisdom? Why, after life and death surgeries, had I been taking my heart, my life, for granted?
Why not ‘take heart’ as Gilbert and Sullivan would have us do, and bloom, blossom and flourish with the bouquet of a principled, virtuous human existence, rather than choose to do battle with the universe? Does life reside only in memories; are we merely spectators of our own lives as we think back? Why be a forward thinker if I cannot think in the
present?
Life is happening
now
. Can we be that one ‘straining star’ trying to make something of ourselves, as Mr. Wilder so purely, basically states?
Now my heart finally beats in tandem with my soul reminding me to (‘take heart’)
always
make choices based on ‘goodness.’ Not for my personal benefit—but for the benefit of others: our planet; the benefit of mankind; for the benefit of my children and their lives, and their children’s lives, and for the benefit of
now
.
I do know that one saying that has become a cliché must be inspected: ‘the quality of life.’ I found that in all of my years of having heart surgeries, I could still have an exquisite quality of life. That was up to me.
Now I take the time to appreciate the beauty around me…
Sunset
Man need not be stupid.
I am a man who moves forward, who truly believes that he can make a positive difference in this world—that despite the odds, there is much life to be lived and enjoyed.
This can be you… I hope this is you.
I still do not find life ‘easy’—but I have at least
discovered
it. And it took 56 years… how sad. But allow me to start anew: how spectacular!
I’m not dead... yet!
Open Your Heart
Film clips, Posters & Stills
The author would like to thank the many individual artists and photographers whose images have been selected from the productions listed above and his personal archives for inclusion in this book.
“JORY”
© 1973 Minsky-Kirschner. All Rights Reserved.
Courtesy of AVCO-Embassy Pictures
“JEREMY”
© 1973 United Artists, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Courtesy of MGM-UA
“DEATH BE NOT PROUD”
© 1975 Good Housekeeping Presentations. All Rights Reserved.
Courtesy of American Broadcasting Co.
“LUCKY LADY”
© 1975 Gruskoff/Venture Films. All Rights Reserved.
Courtesy of 20th Century-Fox Film Corp.
“ODE TO BILLY JOE”
© 1976 Warner Bros.Pictures. All Rights Reserved.
Courtesy of Warner Bros.
“THE LAST OF MRS. LINCOLN”
© 1976 KCET. All Rights Reserved.
Courtesy of PBS Broadway Theater Archive
“THE DEATH OF RICHIE”
© 1977 Henry Jaffee Entertainment Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Courtesy of National Broadcasting Corp.
“OUR TOWN”
© 1977 Hartwest Productions. All Rights Reserved.
Courtesy of National Broadcasting Corp.
“ONE ON ONE”
© 1977 Warner Bros.Pictures. All Rights Reserved.
Courtesy of Warner Bros.
“THE END”
© 1978 Gordon-Reynolds Productions. All Rights Reserved.
Courtesy of United Artists
“ICE CASTLES”
© 1978 Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Courtesy of Columbia Pictures
“WALK PROUD”
© 1979 Universal Pictures. All Rights Reserved.
Courtesy of Universal Pictures
“DIE LAUGHING”
© 1980 Orion Pictures Corp. All Rights Reserved.
Courtesy of Warner Bros.
“TRIBUTE”
© 1980 Tiberius Film Productions. All Rights Reserved.
Courtesy of 20th Century-Fox Film Corp.
“THE CHOSEN”
© 1981 Edie & Ely Landau Productions, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Courtesy of The Chosen Film Company
“PIRATES OF PENZANCE”
© 1981 Joseph Papp Production. All Rights Reserved.
Courtesy of New York Shakespeare Festival.
“TWO OF A KIND”
© 1982 Lorimar Productions. All Rights Reserved.
Courtesy of Columbia Broadcasting System
“RUNNING BRAVE”
© 1983 Englander Productions, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Courtesy of Buena Vista Pictures
“HARRY AND SON”
© 1984 Orion Pictures Corp. All Rights Reserved.
Courtesy of Orion Pictures Corp.
“CALIFORNIA GIRLS”
© 1985 ABC Circle Films. All Rights Reserved.
Courtesy of American Broadcasting Co.
“RENT-A-COP”
© 1988 Kings Road Entertainment. All Rights Reserved.
Courtesy of Kings Road Entertainment
“WHITE HOT”
© 1989 Rebo High Definition Studio/Jubran Group. All Rights Reserved.
Courtesy of Scotia International Filmverleih
“MODERN LOVE”
© 1990 SVS, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Courtesy of Columbia Pictures
“BEAUTY AND THE BEAST”
© 1991 Walt Disney Pictures. All Rights Reserved.
Courtesy of Buena Vista Pictures
“EVENING SHADE”
© 1993 Burt Reynolds/MTM/Mozark Productions. All Rights Reserved.
Courtesy of Columbia Broadcasting System
“THUNDER ALLEY”
© 1994 Wind Dancer Productions/Touchstone Television. All Rights Reserved.
Courtesy of American Broadcasting Co.
“ELLEN”
© 1994 Black-Marlens Co./Touchstone Television. All Rights Reserved.
Courtesy of American Broadcasting Co.
“FRIENDS”
© 1997 Bright/Kauffman/Crane Productions. All Rights Reserved.
Courtesy of Warner Bros. Television/National Broadcasting Co.
“OPEN HEART THE MUSICAL”
© 2004 Bengal Productions. All Rights Reserved.
Licensed & published by Samuel French
“BILLY: THE EARLY YEARS”
© 2008 American Trademark Pictures. All Rights Reserved.
Courtesy of Rocky Mountain Pictures
“BRAVE NEW WORLD”
© 2011 Fedora Entertainment/Sony Pictures Television. All Rights Reserved.
Courtesy of National Broadcasting Co.
Recordings of music and video from many of these productions
available at
Amazon
Musical Slideshows
Slideshows are original works by the author.
Music
Songs from “I’m Not Dead... Yet!”
Soundtrack available at
Amazon
Vocals by Robby Benson unless otherwise noted
“Forever”
From
Open Heart – The Musical
Music and lyrics by Robby Benson
“Run To You”
From
Open Heart – The Musical
Music and lyrics by Robby Benson
“Problems”
From
Open Heart – The Musical
Music and lyrics by Robby Benson
“Good Guys Win”
Music and lyrics by Robby Benson
“Mr. Weinstein’s Barbershop”
Music by Robby Benson
Lyrics by Jerry Segal
“Why Not Me?”
Music and lyrics by Robby Benson
“Falling”
Music and lyrics by Robby Benson
Duet by Stan Brown and Karla DeVito
“I Believe In Fate”
Music by Robby Benson
Lyrics by Jerry Segal
“Baby Boom”
Music by Robby Benson
Lyrics by Karla DeVito and Danny Lawson
Vocals by Karla DeVito
“Nobody Makes Me Crazy” (Like You Do!)
Music by Robby Benson
Lyrics by Karla DeVito
Vocals by Karla DeVito
“Classic Problem”
Music and lyrics by Robby Benson
“Bang My Drum”
Music and lyrics by Robby Benson
“If I Had The Wings”
From
Open Heart – The Musical
Music and lyrics by Robby Benson
“Vivienne’s Theme”
Music by Robby Benson
Piano solo by Sterling Smith
“Let Me In”
From
Open Heart – The Musical
Music and lyrics by Robby Benson
Vocals by Robby Benson & Karla DeVito
“Carousel Of Love”
Music and lyrics by Robby Benson
Vocals by Karla DeVito and Robby Benson
“Paint A Picture”
From
Open Heart – The Musical
Music by Robby Benson
Lyrics by Jerry Segal & Robby Benson
Vocals by Karla DeVito
“Let’s Get A Colonoscopy!”
Music and lyrics by Robby Benson
“My Heart Is The Sun”
From the album
Lyric’s Love Light Revolution
Music by Robby Benson
Lyrics by Lyric Benson
Vocals by Lyric Benson
and our newest song:
“Open Your Heart”
From the upcoming album
Karla 58
Music by Robby Benson
Lyrics by Karla DeVito and Robby Benson
Vocals by Karla DeVito