I corrected something in my piece about They're Playing Our Song. I've taken out the part where I wrote that it was Neil Simon's longest-running Broadway play. It wasn't and I can't recall what made me think it was. Probably something I heard once from a Hells Angel. (You know how much they love their show tunes.) Anyway, Neil Simon's longest-running Broadway play was Barefoot in the Park with 1,530 performances) followed by Brighton Beach Memoirs (1,299), Promises, Promises (1,281), and Plaza Suite (1,097). They're Playing Our Song lasted 1,082 performances which would put it in fifth place. My thanks to Joshua Kreitzer for keeping me honest. Or relatively honest.
Also, Garth Gersten sent me this which I thought deserved to be up here…
For all of his movie stardom, Tony Curtis did one project because it was the right thing to do and for which he did not seek recognition. I was told that he paid for much of the renovation of the Doheny Street Synagogue in Budapest, Hungary. It was the synagogue his father attended before emigrating, supposedly. Somehow (maybe it was Curtis) it got out that he paid for much of the restoration, but it was only verbal. There is a small plaque there acknowledging his contribution, but not very big — just a normal size plaque. Wikipedia claims the largest donation was from Estee Lauder and doesn't mention Curtis — but I've seen the plaques. Curtis' Wikipedia entry doesn't mention any donation, but does say he was on the committee for restoration. So, I don't know what the truth is. I heard of Curtis' involvement there when I first visited in 1994 and then again in 2003.
Outside at a memorial — a metal tree with a metal leaf for each person — remembering the Hungarian Jews who died in the Holocaust, he and Jamie Lee Curtis have small plaques in the ground with just their names — no bigger than any other plaque — although theirs are in the center.
Gee, that's a nice story. I hope that's true. In fact, I think I'll just assume it is.