Lessons from John Ritter

In April 2001, when I was 17 years old, my mom took me on a senior trip to New York City. The highlight of the whole trip (and I STILL can’t believe my luck!) was when I met the late, great actor and comedian, John Ritter.

I attended his play, Neil Simon’s The Dinner Party, with my mom and don’t remember much about the play, except that I was starstruck by the man who I had a crush on since seeing him on TV in The Fantastic Miss Piggy Show. Also that Henry Winkler’s character was absolutely adorable.

That night, for one night only, they allowed members of the audience to stay for a special Q&A after the performance!! My dear mom accidentally insulted Len Cariou, which was the funniest thing I’ve ever seen. She told him she loved him in Sweeney Todd and he nodded slightly with a bit of a self-important sneer. She said she saw him in Los Angeles and he was the best actor up there. He hesitated, then replied, “I never played Los Angeles. You must have seen George Hearn.” I was agog. My mom proceeded then to argue with him that he was on stage, and he politely went to the next question. I informed her that it was George Hearn she saw, as she still had the Sweeney Todd playbill I had rifled through a million times as a child. Angela Lansbury and George Hearn were on the cover.

But back to John Ritter!

I nervously raised my hand and he called on me. I couldn’t help myself. I gushed, “I LOVE YOU! I’ve loved you ever since I saw you on The Fantastic Miss Piggy Show! He laughed out loud, “Hah! You know, I did have quite the thing for her!” My question was then cut off by another audience member anxious to move on, but after the Q&A, I walked up to the stage to ask my question to John. He warmly greeted me with the biggest smile and gave me a huge hug. I had him sign my playbill and told him I loved him in Noises Off and that I played Marilu Henner’s role of Belinda Blair in my high school’s production. He smiled and continued to sign my playbill. I asked him what’s the greatest advice he could give a young performer starting out. What he said completely caught me by surprise.

“Here’s what I would advise: read a play a week and see a play a week. When you immerse yourself in the work of others, it’s such a source of inspiration! It teaches what to do, what not to do, and fires up the imagination. So that’s what you should start with: see a play a week and read a play a week.”

And that was it. That was our meeting, our conversation, and our parting. I never forgot it. Though a little too poor to attend the theater at the moment, I’m immersing myself in shows by performing in them and I’m otherwise devouring actors’ autobiographies and memoirs and indeed reading plays in my spare time. John was absolutely right, and I remembered his words every time I would see a show a friend was in. When you watch a play, it DOES fire up both the imagination and inspiration because you constantly think about what you enjoyed and what you would do differently. And reading plays grows the limitless powers of the mind to see and hear a play unfold unblemished by someone else’s interpretation. Reading and seeing plays truly does help the actor grow like crazy. I’ve embraced this wisdom as much as I still embrace the memory of such a sweet, talented man, taken from us far too soon.