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.

Have You Traveled?

WHERE HAVE YOU TRAVELED TO??

I was going to post this as a poll on Facebook and then decided to post a poll here.  I was not happy with the result since it would take many lines to post all the countries in the world and would take up ALOT of space and it would defeat the purpose.  I decided to ask the question right here in the blog and anyone can use the comment to leave his or her response.  In order to know who you are there are a few steps to take.  

If you are commenting as an Anonynous (you don't have to sign up with a 3rd party) then leave your full name and the year you graduated.  If you have an account with any of the others listed and have a picture uploaded, it will show your picture and if not then no picture.  But for each one who comments, please give your name and year you graduated and tell us where you have traveled.  

If you were in the military, where did you travel while serving our country.  I am sure we have many alumni who have served in the military and traveled not just in civilian life.  We want to hear from you too!!

I will leave a comment first and then anyone can follow!!

Class of 1968 43rd Reunion 2011

June 25, 1968 was the day of our graduation and June 25, 2011 was our 43rd High School Reunion.  What a wonderful day to celebrate that day. We had a smaller group this year and it was just as fantastic as it was the year before.  Our celebration started at Tosca Cafe which is located in Bronx, NY and ended at Sonia Peralta-Munoz house for a gathering. It was a wonderful reunion and we all enjoyed seeing each other again.

Now that I am back from my fantastic vacation from New York City, I was a bit saddened that I was not able to spend more time with friends and more time in the city.  Our reunion turned out FANTASTIC!!..I as well as classmates who were able to attend this years reunion had a time of our lives.  A big surprise was in store for us all which Sonia Peralta-Munoz planned out but did not tell anyone except we were going to have a surprise coming.  I wondered why Sonia put her bag on the chair next to her and said leave this chair empty.  Could it be Eric Estrada?????...or (Henry Estrada) as we knew him.  He is our famous actor of our time..OURS because he belongs to LDBrandeis HS Class of 1968. How can anyone forget CHIPS!!.  It was a much BETTER surprise (we love you Eric!!), it was someone we have not forgotten.

Sonia had left the room and missed what was about to happen, and  here we are all talking with each other and catching up on what has been going on in our lives when a surprise caught my eyes and I turned to my left as our beloved teacher Miss Libby Bleaman walked in.

Miss Libby Bleaman

We were totally surprised, so surprised that I have proof on pictures how we all were shocked to see her. As one of our classmates wife said "She came right out of a Vogue magazine", I do agree!!  Miss Bleaman looked fantastic.She was as surprised to see us as we were.  There was plenty to talk about and catch up on all these years.

From left, Nylsa Carrasquillo, Miss Libby Bleaman, Maureen Johns-Davilla, Kenneth Lattimore (sitting),
Sharon McIntyre-Marks, Lurlene Lowe (back) Millie Diaz, Alma Medina Fielder, Senaf Dillon-Pickhardt,
Sonia Peralta-Munoz, Jean Moriwaki (sitting)

.  

As last year, I will be posting videos of pictures that I am working on and videos which were taken by Angel Munoz who is working diligently on them will be posted here.  In the meantime, please leave a comment on how you enjoyed the reunion this year and what you might want to see happen next year.  I welcome each and everyone to leave a comment.  Look for the videos very soon!!

JUNE 25, 1968 - JUNE 25, 2011 (Same day as our graduation)

Class of 1968 42nd Reunion 2010

Harlem BBQ

(Photo by D. Bell) Courtesy of UptownFlavor

Last year on June 26th, 2010 our Class of 1968 had our 42nd Reunion.  It was our first reunion since graduation in 1968.  Here is a video of the day taken at Harlem BBQ, NYC

I was not able to attend our first reunion.  Leave a comment on the bottom and share your experiences on this special day.

(You can turn off the IPad on the right panel in order to hear the video and when done you can turn it on
again)

Thanks to Angel Munoz, we have live videos of everyone who attended the reunion.  It is a long video and comes in 6 parts.  Enjoy!

Planning our 43rd Reunion for Class of 1968

Hello All!

Here is our first step in having a successful reunion. As was posted on Facebook, we will be posting all the information on the website as well. Reservations will be for 50 or more. You can bring a guest.





Time:              Saturday, June 25 · 11:30am - 3:30pm

Location:       Tosca Cafe  
                      4038 E Tremont Ave  (Corner of Miles Ave)
                      Bronx, NY   10465

More Info:     Our graduating class of 1968 will be hosting our 43rd High School Reunion at Tosca Cafe
                     located in the Bronx, NY.

                     WE HAVE 2 OPTIONS:

                    1. PRIVATE AREA - Cost for one person $36.50 (includes taxes BUT NOT gratuities) w.      
                         guest $73.00

                    2. PRIVATE ROOM - Cost for one person $50.00 (includes taxes and gratuities) w. guest
                        $100.00

                    Option 1 is for a private area and
                    Option 2 is for a private room

                    PLEASE LET US KNOW IF WE WANT A PRIVATE ROOM VERY SOON!!!

                    We will need a deposit of $200 before April 22nd. So we will need everyone who will be  
                    attending to send a check to Sonia Peralta-Munoz
    
                    We will have a buffet style..here is the menu Toca Cafe Menu

More will be posted as we get more information. We are looking forward to seeing all of you who graduated in 1968. This is also a very special day for us since this day, June 25th, 2011 is the same date we graduated on in 1968.

     Tosca Cafe  Go here to view other rooms and events