Musings on Opportunity..

Alaska Methodist University was a small liberal arts college in Anchorage Alaska. It's now known  as Alaska Pacific University. I attended Alaska Methodist University in the 1970's.  At the time I was enrolled at AMU,there were approximately 400 students attending. Now for some folks reading this,400 students may seem rather minuscule,and maybe it was,but for me,a high school graduate from a school of little over 100 students,this was stepping up to the big time!

Attending AMU was very much like living in a small town in the sense that at the very least,you knew of most all the students,and professors,and professors knew who the students were as well.

Frank Brink was widely known as the father of theater in Alaska. He established not only the drama program at AMU,but the Anchorage Little Theater,and was known for persuading folks like Boris Karloff,and Will Rogers Jr. to come to Alaska and perform for little or no money with local casts.This is during an era when Alaska seemed particularly remote to the rest of the country. What first struck me when I met Frank Brink was,unlike others who wanted to be addressed as "Dr. Konigsberg" or "Professor Latham,he was addressed by and simply known as "Frank".

I didn't take any drama classes under Frank,but I'd often see him in the lunchroom located in the student union building. I found out later he'd see me too.

I had never experienced previously what I experienced socially at AMU. In elementary school,I was the shy kid who often times had to worry about getting beat up. In high school,while I had a few close friends,I was nowhere close to being a popular kid.
I was too shy to date in high school.
At AMU,I was one of ten blacks enrolled in the college,and one of two living on campus. For many Alaskan students,I was the first flesh and blood black person they had ever encountered,but in addition,I was from the East Coast,and had seen and experienced things (like rock concerts) that many,due to the isolation of Alaska had only dreamed of. With all this going on, I wasn't going to be able to quietly hide in a corner. In the dorm and outside the classroom,this quiet,shy student was sought after,and I'd often hold court with fellow students in the student union building lunchroom.

It was because of those holding court sessions in the lunchroom where Frank Brink got it in his mind that I might be able to act. He had written this play he told me,"Song of the Great Land"- a piece based on Alaskan History,and there was a character in the play,that he said,had me written all over it. Before giving me a chance to say no on the spot,Frank handed me a script.
The problems as I saw it was not in the ability to learn the lines.I'd always been blessed with a strong memory,and in reading the script,I was certain I could learn and play the role.
As I saw it,Problem #1 was: Rose Atwater. Rose Atwater,an Athabascan Indian woman with hair almost to her ankles was easily one of the most beautiful women on campus.In Frank's script,all my scenes were to be opposite her.
Problem # 2 was: according to the script,I was supposed to kiss her. Why is this a problem?
Problem #3: I had not dated and had never kissed anyone.
I'm certain I was not the only one on campus that shared my opinion on Rose,and I'm certain I wasn't the only one who entertained thoughts on what it would be like to kiss Rose,but the way I saw it,if I was to kiss her,it was going to be without an audience.

The kiss,according to the script was supposed to be a fairly passionate kiss. I first tried to get him to cut the scene altogether,and when he refused that,I tried to get him to compromise on the passion. He wouldn't budge...said something to the effect that the kiss and passion were integral to the script.
Frank wouldn't budge and neither would I,and 3 days before rehearsals were to begin in earnest,I dropped out of the play.




 Frank Brink's play,Song of the Great Land won an award,and because of that for a couple months,it became a touring production. It even toured on the East Coast.

In the almost 40 years since Song of the Great Land made its tour,there have been times I've wondered how life may have been different if I had chosen to make my first kiss a public affair. I mean I eventually ended up on the theater stage afterall..I just would have started earlier. In more than one of my own productions,I've smoked marijuana onstage which I think in most places carries more risks than a kiss..even the most passionate one.

Thing is: The lesson learned from that experience has proven to be over time far more valuable,in fact I doubt the theater experiences that came later in life would have happened outside of that experience.
I let a major opportunity slip through my fingers,and I knew it when I saw Song of the Great Land performed in Anchorage. The memories of the sick to my stomach feeling I felt then and desire not to feel that way again,serve as motivation when faced with opportunity.








 http://books.google.com/books/about/Song_of_the_Great_Land.html?id=etT5XwAACAAJ