IT HAD TO BE YOU

It is possible you have heard of Hoboken born Frank Sinatra. He made a living singing and acting in Hollywood movies. It is less likely you have heard of another Hoboken lad who is featured in this yarn. Frank became the stepping stone to his success as a dramatist. 02/23/2016

IT HAD TO BE YOU

After reading a Hoboken Historical Museum chapbook devoted to the life of Louis LaRusso II, it inspired me to write this vignette.

Okay, I missed the boat. Not any old one such as the Cunard-White Star Lines steamship, Leviathan, but one that could have carried me to the same fame and fortune he attained. Hoboken born and raised, Louis wrote a play based on Frank Sinatra’s early life called, Lamppost Reunion. Clive Barnes, the New York Times theater critic, happened to see its first performance on October 17, 1975, in a church bingo hall located at 352 W. 53^rd Street, near Broadway’s major theaters. He wrote a review that praised it to the sky. The rest is history.

Louis followed up this success by writing numerous other plays, including, Marlon Brando Sat Right Here, based on his recollection of seeing this great actor in Hoboken during the filming of the classic movie, On the Waterfront.

Louis came from a humble beginning. As a young man, he worked on the docks alongside his father as had my brother and our dad for a brief period of time. It is not an ideal way to bond.

After serving in the army for a few years, Louis decided to become a playwright. He began by bumming around in the mid ‘60s with a friend who provided him Greenwich Village loft digs to help him get in touch with his Muse. The line must have been busy, because Louis didn’t do much but live the life of a hippie for many years, in New York and Boston. He had little time to hone his craft as free love kept him busy day and night.  Life could not have been too tough as he and makes no reference to ever being a hungry struggling artist. How does that work, I wonder?

He followed up his success as a playwright with a career as a screen writer, which forced him to live a glamorous and decadent life in Hollywood for many years. Finally, he came to his senses and returned to Hoboken in the mid ‘90s where he spent the rest of his days, sometimes sober, praise the Lord.

One does not have to see any of his plays or movies to hear how his characters talk. In the main, they have a distinctive “Joisey” accent. The men are all rough and tumble guys, dockhands, factory laborers, sweatshop workers, but nice, maybe even sweet. These characters tend to hang around with Ernest Borgnine-types as seen in Marty. Danny Aiello gets to play most of his leading man roles. (In fact, he did.)

So, the question is: Why did Louis pursue a writing career and not me? My family knew Sinatra, sorta. I observed Brando during the filming of On the Waterfront. My credentials exceeded those of Louis: College graduate, reader of Shakespeare and O’Neill, a fan of Broadway productions. The answer is simple. I had another job at the time, feeding some hungry relatives called children that restrained me from unleashing my writing talent.

His success defies me. What intangible forces did he muster to write successfully? What skills did he have that Hoboken sharpened? How did he manage to portray Sinatra’s life in a stage play while avoiding his wrath? Frank must have been somewhat angry. His bodyguard reputedly cut up the face of Gabe Dell, the actor who played a leading role in the show.

Strange as it seems, Frank’s agent signed Louis to a contract.

I can only remark: Gimme a break. Dat bum can’t write. Ain’t that right, Frankie? Frankie? You listenin’ to me? Ah, go croon yourself. Wadda you know ‘boud writin’?

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