Procrastinet

hightailed it over to procrastinet as soon as i heard to offer my condolences to ESThaus & denizens.

really remarkable guy. enjoyed meeting him briefly a few times over the years. proved conclusively that you can make good theatre over the course of a life without the cowtow. very inspiring.

ineffable light, requiem aeternam dona ei.

Our condolences to you and your colleagues, R.J. We're in shock, too. He was a wonderful friend. RIP, Curt!

Sandy: I had heard from my mother that you guys had been back in touch with Curt recently. Condolences right back to you.

I gave her the EST number to give to you, but I'll also try to let you know about the memorial service arrangements - there's likely to be something smallish this weekend, and then a larger public thing down the line some time, so that folks can come in from out of town.

Thanks, R.J. I called the theater this afternoon as you recommended and got to talk to someone very knowledgeable and helpful there....who promised to let us know about that larger public service....later on. It's so touching to hear how much everyone thought of Curt (as we do) and all the efforts being made to honor his contribution to New York theater. To us, 71 is young so it's still sort of unbelievable! Thanks again, RJ.

RJ
Dick and I saw the wonderful Youngblood tribute to Curt yesterday; he'd be so pleased.

Not sure if you saw this:
http://www.playbill.com/news/article/105217.html

..."Finally, Curt Dempster died suddenly on Jan. 19. As the founder and only artistic director to date of the seminal Off-Off-Broadway outfit the Ensemble Studio Theatre, he was responsible for producing more than 6,000 plays. Many of those were short works that made up EST's most famous enterprise: the annual Marathon of New One-Act Plays. Dempster can be credited for keeping the one-act form alive over the past three decades, and for providing many an actor and playwright with an artistic home as fallow points in their careers. To scan the list of 500 artists who made up the "Ensemble" in the theatre's name was like looking at a directory of the New York theatre community. If everyone who's ever found a safe harbor at EST attends the memorial, they're have to rent a big auditorium."

(Robert Simonson is Playbill.com's senior correspondent. Reach him at rsimonson@playbill.com.)

Curt Dempster was first cousin of my father (Robert Curt Miller), who died in 1995. Curt still has a number of first cousins and other extend relatives living across the country. We used to gather at a lake in Michigan with his parents (although I was too young to remember meeting Curt). I fianally got to meet Curt a couple years ago while vacationing in NYC. He treated me and my family to a night at the Ensemble Studio Theater and a warm and friendly visit in his backstage office. I felt an immediate affinity with this creative and intelligent man. I can see why he was so popular with many people. My condolences to those who had a close relationship with him, and my regrets that I did not get to see him again.
Roberta Miller Wallace
Durham, NC

Sandy:

Thanks so much for pointing out that article - Robert Simonson has been out front with coverage of Curt that has been incredibly accurate and perceptive. It's much appreciated.

Roberta:

Thank you for leaving a note - we of Curt's theatre family don't know as much as we'd like to about his family family. I'm sorry for your loss, and that you didn't get to see him again.

There was a wake for him yesterday, as an informal precursor to a larger event down the line, and Mr. Simonson's observation was accurate - the funeral home could barely hold everyone who came to pay their respects. It was an extremely moving testament to how many lives Curt had touched.

RJ

You're most welcome.

We're so glad to hear how many were there at the wake. We wanted so much to be there, too, but couldn't work it out. Maybe the later event. . . .

And, speaking of all the lives Curt touched, you may find this interesting, too:

http://www.stageplays-forum.com/forum2/957.html

Hang in there, R.J. You're doing important work!

I hope this doesn't prompt another string of spam, RJ, but I wanted you to see this one, too, from today...if you haven't already:

http://www.backstage.com/bso/news_reviews/stage/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003542006

Your tribute here is such a fitting place for these nice comments about Curt. Thanks for creating it.

Well, it looks like the pharmaceutical spam is outnumbering the actual tribute commentary by a factor of 50:1, so I'm going to close comments. If you want to add something, please email me at rj at [name of the site].com.

Tonight, we opened the new one-act collection from Youngblood. Curt's legacy lives on.

And I say goodnight to him every time I leave the theater.

Good night, Curt.