Beauty and the
Beast
by Jilliana
Ranicar-Breese
I was in New
York staying in Chelsea in a large brownstone,
originally the home of the famous American
actress Geraldine Page. Her elderly husband, Rip
Thorn, was still alive and lived in the basement.
The large house was inherited by her son,Tony
Torn, who lived in it with his poet wife Lee Ann
Brown. As it was expensive to run, Tony rented it
out with Airbnb and put in the advert that it was
a creative residence and would not suit everyone!
He was right. The building was full of stairs and
more stairs. It had been converted into an actors’
school called Torn Page using the Meisner
technique by Tony Torn who rented out one room to
artistic guests like my good self.
I was immediately included in its vibrant
activities which included a theatre featuring a
known Mexican actress, Maria Isabel Gomez Benet,
who seemed to be permanently screaming her words.
It was not a house to relax in. There was a very
New York energy.
I was made a fuss of being British by the student
actors because of my well spoken British accent.
I joined the family for dinner in the large
communal kitchen most nights.
One night there was a guest, a Meisner teacher. I
was not introduced to him and he was so ugly and
frightening looking that I felt uncomfortable.
The evening passed however and I left the table
early and went to my uncomfortable room. Well I
had been warned about the abode not being to
everyone’s liking.
Several days later I got talking to an attractive
Jewish woman who had given up her career in
marketing to train to be an actor. I asked her
why she had given up her successful job and she
told me she had fallen in love with her talented
teacher and married him! The way she described
his qualities and energy convinced me she was
madly in love and that he was the Prince Charming
of her life.
I gasped when he approached her. It was the ugly
man I had not been introduced to that evening. I
never knew his name but she ran into his arms,
kissing him passionately. He smiled and melted at
her embrace. I was fascinated by this loving
couple. He was charming and tender, not at all
the stern intellectual I had seen a few nights
ago. His face had softened and his keen eyes
sparkled with love.
It was beauty and the beast in love with no
boundaries in New York all those years ago.
1/12/24
written in Nightingale.
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