MEMORIES OF MY DRAMA CLUB WITH ERIC ESTRADA

Contributed by: Christine Therese Laporte  In 1966 I was in the Eleventh grade and decided to audition for

Christine Therese Laporte
in 2013

Drama Club. It was run by a very unusual woman, Rita Brodley. Ms. Brodley had waist length full black curly hair, and was all of about 4'11" on her ever present spiked heels. I would say she was all of about 90 pounds of perfect figure...and....when she said "jump", six foot high school macho boys asked "how high?" on the way up. I was in her English class, which was not your standard English class. She was an amazing teacher who managed to make most of us appreciate and understand not only Shakespeare, but the ancient Greek plays as well. She loved to teach and, as tough as she seemed, really cared about whether we learned or not. She loved the ancient Greeks. She had a cat named Clytemnestra and a tiny dog named Cassandra. Looking back, she must have been in her mid thirties to early forties and her boy friend, who came to all our plays, was a handsome young thing in his late twenties. She was a cougar before it became fashionable. He seemed to worship the ground her heels trod on.

She ran Drama Club, and taught us acting, as if we were all going to become professional stage actors. She taught the Stanislovski" method of acting. I doubt any other high school drama teacher did. She taught us nifty useful little things like how to fall without getting hurt. It even helped in my falls off horses, almost all the falls I’ve taken since high school resulted only in a bruised butt. She never had us putting on the standard high school play fare of things like "My Sister Ilene" but had us performing "Blood Wedding" by Frederico Garcia Lorka and "Dark of The Moon". I played the jilted wife in "Blood Wedding" and Barbara Allan, the girl the Witch Boy falls in love with and becomes human in order to marry, in "Dark of the Moon". Eric Estrada, then known as Hank, played the witch boy. Yes, Eric Estrada graduated from Brandeis High School in 1968....and went on to "Chips".

Ms Rita Brodley's Drama Class

In 1967, Hank and I were good friends. Although there was chemistry between us as well, we never became more. Girls fell at his feet and he unfortunately had little respect for any of the ones who did. I refused to become one of his "chicks", something he called all girls except me...he did keep trying anyway, I kept saying no. I did get to know a lot more about him then anyone else did as he trusted me. To this day, I will respect the confidentiality and not share his entire life story. I will leave it as he had a really tough childhood, and adolescence and little self confidence excepting in his looks and ability to charm the girls. We had the same art teacher who was one of the really good ones. One day she asked me to stay after class....of course I was trying to figure what I had done now. It turned out she had noticed Hank and I were friends and wanted to know if I

had any influence on him. She felt his best chances of a good future lay in his presence, his big cat gracefulness and creativity, could I try to get him to audition for Drama Club. I could, I did. I knew he was very nervous about

Christine Therese Laporte
Class of 1968

the actual audition. I met him after his last class, helped him find a play, character and scene, rehearse and walked him to the audition. Well...he made it...and with Ms. Brodleys’ training, an actor was born. In spite of the fact his role in Chips had little to do with acting ability, he is actually a gifted actor.

To this day, whenever Eric Estrada is asked how he became an actor, he gives me the credit, using my full name. I don’t know that there is anyone else whose life I impacted as positively.

I never did become an actress. I do, to this day, present and express myself well in a strong voice I can project when needed, stand straight and confidently, do an excellent job of faking confidence when needed, and.....know how to fall as painlessly as possible. I credit Ms. Brodley for teaching me all these things that have served me well all my adult life.

Ms Brodley would be even more surprised by what I ended up doing for a living than I was, Eric would not as we held entire conversation with barely a word spoken out loud. If you’re curious, check out my web site;The Russian River Psychic. Ms. Brodley would probably think I’m nuts, Eric would not.