A start at my "Autobiography"
Selected stories by Dick Whitney
No No Nanette
No No Nanette- Aug 1976
Peg, Dick and Dottie Dubriel
Following my involvment with Gateways
Anything Goes in Novemeber 1975, a group of us from Gateway took
tap
dancing lessons from Debbie Sichol. The following summer we learned of
auditions for a musical play that was to be put on in Pomfet, Ct called
No No Nanette. At the same time, I had reconnected with Peg after our 3
dates the summer before. I saw Peg walking on Elm St as Dad and I were
returning to work at AO. I yelled out the window and we agreed to talk
soon. I called that night be she was out shopping with her Mom. I
decided not to call again. A week later she called me. I mentioned that
I was auditioning for No No Nanette and wondered if she to would like
to audition. She said yes, so I now had a good excuse to pick her up
and be with her on the drive to and from Ct. The auditions came and
went and ultimately we both had small singing and dancing parts in the
play.
For rehersals, I would pick Peg up along
with another cute girl Donna. Also, usually in the back seat were
Taylor Bennvenuti and Dottie Dubriel. After a number of rides to and
from, both Taylor and Dottie could tell I was wanting to date Peg, as I
usually dropped of Donna first even though Peg was the logical first
drop off. I recall one time they were in the back and I was
obviously delaying having Peg get out of the car. From the back seat,
Taylor said "Oh for heavens sake, just go ahead and kiss her!" - which
I think I did. Over the course of rehersal, I soon fell in Love with
Peg - a prospect which I know frightened her for she had another year
of college and did not want to settle down.
Shortly before the opening of No No
Nanette, I went with my
parents to Marthas Vineyard. This year,
however, I told them I would be leaving early to make the play
rehersal and of course to see Peg. Mom at that point could correctly
sense (as often did) that I was serious about Peg. To leave MV meant
she was important to me.