The summer of 1981 was a truly “interesting” summer. My first trip to Mount Vernon was a “trip”! I walked up to Belair Road (1 ¼ mile) and took the #15 bus downtown to Saratoga Street and N. Charles. I then walked down Charles Street to Eager Street (1 ½ miles). I walked past The Hippo. As a young naïve 15-year-old, I thought, “Oh, I am too skinny to go to ‘The Hippo’. So, I walked up the street to Leon’s and pranced in to see Doris smoking a cig in a tube top and yelling, “What’s your pleasure?”, to which I responded, “Peach Fuzz.” A Peach Fuzz was what my mom, Betty, drank, so Peach Fuzz is what I drank for $2.25 at 5:30 p.m. on a sunny Tuesday afternoon. Then, I walked down Charles Street to Saratoga, took the #15 to Kenwood Avenue and walked home. As soon as I walked through the back door, my dear sweet mom yelled into the kitchen, “Take the trash out, you som bitch!”

As I lie in bed that night, all I could think about was my night at Leon’s. As I walked down Rossville Boulevard to Essex Community College to audition for Mame, all I could think of was, “Yes, I was at Leon’s” Little did I know it was a dump.

I had never been to an audition, but Doris the bartender at Leon’s told me about it. As I walked in, I could not believe all of the gorgeous, hot, sexy men with dance tights and leggings on. “Oh my!” was all I could think of. Before I knew it, I was filling out my application. I heard these gorgeous, hot sexy men chit chatting.

“Girlfriend, my legs haven’t hurt this bad since John was in town.”

“Child, who you talkin’ to?”

“Missy, get your momma some water. Oh, child!”

Well, if I had gotten excited, everything went down from there.

Well, everything went down until Mr. Spero walked in. He was a Greek director and let me tell you, everything they say about Greek men is true—and thank you Lord for them. After a 15-minute private audition upstairs with Mr. Spero, I had an extra part in the musical Mame.

Let me say, some of the dancers who did not get cast saw my name as an extra and they snapped their fingers and asked, “And who is she???” Well, Mrs. Jean Sheppard who was cast as Mame grabbed me by the shoulder and said, “His name is Skip, so back off bitches.” She drove me home and was ever so kind.

After several weeks of rehearsals, we opened for three weeks in August and it was a blast. I must say I don’t know which was more exciting or exasperating—the 15 minutes with Spero before the show or the show itself. Oh my, that is a story in itself—my 15 minute pre-show with Spero. Anyway, September soon come and my life on Boston Street was about to begin.