Robert Patrick wrangles

Continued from Page 16) were to audition with the great man himself, many went rigid or limp and couldn't act (Maybe they couldn't anyway?). Usually stars don't audition., but Jack wanted to get to know us and to explore the role.

The scene we used was one in which Kink propositions Tom, and I wanted a quality of easy sexuality in the boy, as well as humor.

again and again, just to get that near the Jack. I hadn't realized how well-known he was, or that a major change had taken place in gay life: to these kids, Jack wasn't "just a porn star." They accepted porn without question or quibble. To them he was a great big, real-life, Major Movie Star. I was pleased.

Finally, came the break. A husky-voiced, heavy-eyed imp named Dale Merchant appeared and the atmosphere went twenty degrees higher. When Jack started to come on, Dale not only responded; he started taking Jack's belt off. They made a steamy team, and we were cast. The ensuing publicity orgy

encroached on rehearsal time.. he insisted on lots of time at the gym, and his film experience made him want to get things done fast. Whenever Dale or I would try to explore.character motivations, Jack would say. "You Method actors drive me crazy."

But satisfactory compremises of style were worked out. We opened previews after a bare week of rehearsal with a very funny (if not very deep) show.

The audiences were, as Jack warned us, sometimes weird. Mostly they loved us, but once in a while we'd get one full of very quiet older men who neither laughted nor left. Then, for the

Boy after boy was paralyzed when Jack touched his thigh. I'd tell them," "Respond Like it or hate it, discourage it or tease him, but respond." From most, we got zero. Sometimes they'd sit there, their pants-visibly buldg--made-my-head-spin-Working-brief, funny nude scene at-the-

ing with excitement from Jack's touch, and yet express only coyness or numbness. "Is it something I did?" Jack asked. You couldn't say he wasn't trying. Some boys begged to audition

with a star has good and bad sides. You draw attention, there's money and excitement, you know your star knows his own qualities.. On the obverse, Jack's other activities constantly

VINYL VIEWS

By Thumper

(edited by-Bambi) (Editor's Note: I would like to take this opportunity to thank Kenny Coss and Joey Romano for taking over my column for the past two months. Not only are they excellent at their crafts, but also, on a personal basis, they are both sweethearts! I enjoyed workng with them and hope to feature their views again in future months.

Also. I want to thank my dear friend Thumper for all the help and encouragement he has given me over the past yar. And to the people who actually read my articles. God! was that a shock!

As for the music contained in the album. some of it is a masterpiece; the material on side one much more than that on side two The choice of the selections on side one is beyond compare. Starting with the current bit "Guilty." followed by the roman tic Woman in Love." we're introduced to three more Gibb written selections: "Run Wild "a ballad "Promises," a soft-rocke and "The Love Inside." a mourn. ful ballad

Probably the most heartrendering song on side one cither than "Woman in Love" is "The Love Inside" This one will wrench all those pent-up brokenheart feelings from inside you, call them to the fore, and make. you deal with them Watch out it will sneak up on you as it did on

mel

Side two at best is amateurish. The songs, the orchestration, the lyrics-all would be excellent choices for someone else's first album But for Streisand's latest? Unacceptable if not unforgivable' 1 found no redeeminag selec lions here.

And now, you ask, would I still recommend buying this album? If only for side one. Yes' Side one far outweighs side two You'll find it contageious, playing it. over and over,

Simon's ONE-TRICK PONY

All right boys and girls. let's set his record straight. Paul Simon's lbyONE TRICK PONY is not about one trick, riding, or ponies.

Now that we have that covered let's proceed with our review For the sake of this article order to maintain perspective on the album itself I have not seen the film of the same time

But for the exceptional "Late in the Evening and the rousing rhythm and blues rocker "Ace in the Hole "the album is especially low-key A typical Paul Simon release

Simion seems intent on writing and producing melancholic and sometimes depressive songs

This is not to say that the album is bad: This is a special albumor those times when one is in a down-beat mood of not depressed)

Orchestration and atrangement are especially sensitive throughout.

Special mentions belong to the following gems "Jonah Long Long Day and "How the Heart Approaches What It Yearns "

Paul Simon has the knack to key in on those emotions shared by humanity. ONE-TRICK PONY beyond a doubt proves this.

end. Jack would tear off his Tshirt, and the place came to hardbreathing life.

Jack loved them all, from satirical intellectuals to dirty old men, and they loved him back. In the dressing room afterwards, he'd sit in his shorts shaking hands with any and all. Dale also came in for some attention, and once in a while Jack, hidden from me by a wall of masculline backs, would yell, "Well, tell Bob you like it;

DECEMBER 1980-HIGH GEAR Page 19

in Robert Patrick's "T-Shirts."

him would have been confidence-giv ing enough for anyone. My goodness, what a lot of breathtakers chased after Jack! There was always room for a new one, because they just didn't last.

I thought he was jaded, until. one day he confided in me: "They don't want me; they want the image from the movies. They all expect me to have trapeezes in my bedroom, whereas in fact I'm the most conservative guy ! know."

I asked the obvious question about his specialities in films.

"Oh, "he said, with real surprise, "Why, I'd never do those. things! That's my character!"

I remembered what Rita Hayworth had said about her busy lovelife: "Every man I ever loved went to bed with Gilda and woke up with me." But almost all the boys who waited around for Jack after shows were exceptionally.. nice guys.

A lot of them talked to me because they hadn't the courage to go in and confront, Jack, despite his availability. So ! earned what he means to them. It's not. just his good looks, hot bod and

he's over there; he wrote the Jack Wrangler and Dale Merchant big thing: they know he script." And someone would glance around briefly and say, "Oh, hi, you were good.".

I consoled myself with the idea that I was at least the funniest thing in the nude scene.

Sharing a dressing-room with a star is an experience in itself. He didn't bring the rabbit, but he brought Bobby, his good friend and dresser, who was a constant source of charm and good spirits. Now, you don't get to be a star without great powers of concentration, and what you concentrate on is yourself. I'm sure Jack would smile in agreement when I say that he made Jack Wrangler out of small blond guy. named Jack Stillman, and he didn't do it by being distinterested in himself. So sometimes it was hard to get the conversation onto anything else.

Not that Jack's story isn't fascinating. It is, from his description of his plans to make himself the top X-rated star (at a time there were none to speak of), down to his childhood stories of

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Photo by Wren de Antonio having Marilyn Monroe baby-sit with him (His family is long-time big-time show biz).

However, there is a lot of pressure that comes from being around that sort of concentration, and it usually seeks escape in humor. We had a joke that, if you told Jack that Mount Saint Heien had erupted, he'd look up and say, "I'm sorry; was it something I did?"

But, considering how awful sharing a dressing-room can be, Jack was one of the most fun mirror-mates I've had; he was, certainly, never dull. He knows a great deal about make-up. clothes and hair, obviously; we got something of a laugh out of the fact that he'd come in, look-. ing sensational, and spend an hour making-up, etcetera, only to wind up looking. exactly as sensational as he started. But it gave him confidence.

I would have thought the parade of fellows who hounded

created himself, and he's given them hope that they can be better.

J. think that's an admirable thing, and I think Jack should be proud of it. I had lots of fun and learned a lot, and I wouldn't have missed it for the world. "Well!!!!!," as Jack would say, "Maybe for the world?"

Robert Patrick's latest book of gay plays, "Mercy Drop and Other Plays", is available from Calamus Books, 121 Second Ave., N.Y.C., NY 10003.

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