12.24.2005

I Acted With Manny Fried

I Acted with Manny Fried

(this news item posted on October.15.2005)

Okay. Well, maybe not really so much. But sort of.

Manny Fried is an acting icon here in Buffalo. But he is so much more than that. He is a union activist for more than 6 decades, he's a playright and noted actor, an author, and so on. Most importantly, he is a person who has fought for us all, at enormous personal cost to himself. He has been hounded by the FBI, blacklisted as an actor during the McCarthy "red menace" scare era, and had his family, friends and neighbors harrassed by our government.

Subversive Theatre is a really awesome local theatre collective that performs mind blowing and thought provoking works of theatre. For this, they charge no money, they ask for donations. Now and again they have something called a "Left Lunch" where they gather people and hope for support, contributions of time, money, dkills, energy and what have you.

So I just attended said event and they held a staged reading of a historical drama called "Are You Now or Have You Ever Been..." where Many Fried reprised his role as Lionel Stander. And not all of their actors showed up so they needed a stand in. And, so...

I got to read one line in a staged reading with Manny Fried. Not many people can say they've had the opportunity to act with Many Fried, so I'm gonna say it a lot.

Peace & Love,
-Alex