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Left on Tenth is not a musical, but Daryl had recently seen Stroman’s play Dot, about a family dealing with illness, and she felt Stroman would know how to tell my story. Daryl also knew that Stroman’s husband, director Mike Ockrent, had died of the same disease I had fought, so my story would be personal to her. Stroman and I acknowledged that in our first meeting. We hadn’t discussed it much, just occasionally, but the understanding was there, a bond that underpinned the collaboration. I think the personal often brings out the best in us. To take a real experience, a trauma in this case, and turn it into something… it’s an act of healing, of helping others, of spreading joy. One from the other.
Susan Stroman is a talented director and choreographer who has won multiple Tony Awards. She often directs musicals. I grew up on musicals: The first one I saw was Guys and Dolls. I was about 6 years old and didn't understand anything, but whenever a Broadway musical came on in Los Angeles, where I grew up, my parents took us to see it. Oklahoma!, Carousel, South Pacific. I can still recite lines from West Side Story: "Where will you find 'Nardo?" "At the dance
tonight, at the gym." "But the gym is neutral territory..." And so on. I can't sing a tune, but I sang show tunes when I was a kid. Meeting Susan Stroman was a treat for me.
Susan Stroman is called Stro. Everyone who knows her calls her Stro. I can't imagine doing that. It sounds inauthentic, but it's true. I asked her when we first met if I had to call her Stro. She said yes, I did. It took me a while. I stumbled on "Susan" and corrected myself, embarrassed if I said to a friend, "Stro thinks..." or "According to Stro..." It seemed like I was bragging. Maybe I was. Because Stro is music, and because when collaboration works, each person learns from the other, there's music in our play, and there's also some tap dancing. My late husband Jerry and I were tap dancers. We loved that. So when I worked with Stro, I thought, Why not try a little of that? So it went into the play.
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