The Inspirational Sir Peter

What inspired me to complete the American Miniature Theater?

Initially, it was not toy theaters themselves.

I have messed around with toy theaters off and on for a long time but what gelled my interest was a chance trip to London. A friend of mine, drowning in frequent flier miles that were soon to expire, offered me a free round-trip ticket to England. I gobbled it up in a second. While in London, I visited Pollock's and purchased as many toy theater booklets as I could afford. I also attended as much live theater as I could. With my limited budget, I ended up in the cheap balcony seats but I didn't mind. They gave me a bird's eye view of the action. The plays were excellent. What truly captured my imagination, however, was an evening with the actor and raconteur, Mr. Peter Ustinov.

Having taken the wrong Underground train (what we Yankees call a subway), I was a good ten minutes late to the theater. Thankfully, Mr. Ustinov was even less punctual. Eventually, he walked out onto that sparse stage (decorated only with a stool, a rug and a gigantic picture of his bemused self) and faced that restless audience. He began to speak. Within five minutes, Mr. Ustinov had mesmerized the entire audience with his jovial tales. He was not performing to a crowd. Rather, it seemed as if he was addressing us individually at an informal dinner party, treating us like guests. He held us in the palm of his hand and we loved him for it. It was then I learned the power of the stage and how one maestro could command it.

No wonder Peter Ustinov (1921 - 2004) was knighted in 1990.

After that, I worked periodically on this miniature theater project, sometimes letting years slip by before returning to it. Finally, my childhood friend and aging buddy Steve gave me his old computer, an IBM clone, and I started transferring my old Commodore 128 files, a daunting task. That was when I discovered those bits of miniature theater manuscripts I thought I had lost. Thank heaven for backup disks. They got me cooking again. I haven't stopped since.

Thank heavens, too, for Steve's generosity or this WebSite would have never existed.