Joel Vig Special to The Citizen, AUBURN – Like so many adventures in show business, it all began with a phone call.

It was early August 2009. My dear friend Joanne O’Connor is speaking a mile a minute: “You’ve got to call Patricia … see if she is up to doing a few shows of ‘A Christmas Memory’ in November … a cute little theater in my hometown of Auburn, New York … think it could be great … see if Patricia is game and call me … gotta run … love ya!”

Patricia is my very good friend Patricia Neal, the Academy Award-winning actress. “A Christmas Memory” is the classic short story by Truman Capote about his childhood spent in Alabama learning to bake fruitcakes and fly kites with an elderly distant cousin named Sook Faulk. I adapted the story as a readers’ theater piece years ago for the Theatre Guild to star Patricia and myself when we were both part of Theatre At Sea, a program that presented theatrical evenings on board luxury cruise ships sailing to exotic ports around the world. I decided to wait until I had a bit more information before calling Patricia.

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