Steve Allen's "A Meeting of Minds"
Steve Allen Theater,
4773 Hollywood Blvd,. Los Angeles, CA
Sunday, October 25, 2009

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On Sunday, October 25th, Ron took on the role of Martin Luther in a lively performance of Steve Allen's "Meeting of Minds."
A fellow Ron-fan, Susie Goldberg, was in the audience and you can read her report on the evening below.

Meeting of Minds - Episode 9

Cast:
Steve Allen......................Gary Cole (Entourage)
Martin Luther...................Ron Perlman (Hellboy)
Voltaire.......................Ray Abruzzo (The Sopranos)
Plato...........................Harold Gould (Golden Girls)
Florence Nightingale........Sharon Lawrence (NYPD Blue)

Directed by...........Frank Megna
Produced by...........Bob Ladendorf
and Diana Ljungaeus

Summary:
Voltaire, Martin Luther, Florence Nightingale, Plato and Steve Allen engage in a lively and often contentious discussion about injustice, religion, the nature of existence and Man’s boundless cruelty.


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A report on "Meeting of Minds" by Susie Goldberg

The Meeting of the Minds on Sunday was fabulous. I was seated in the very first row, about three feet from Ron Perlman.

The premise is based on the old Steve Allen shows, where actors portray famous people from different eras and interests coming together to discuss subjects. The setting is a round table with one actor being Steve Allen as a moderator.

Ron was the second person (as Martin Luther- not to be confused with Martin Luther King) to "arrive" at the discussion. It must have been great for him not to have to worry about any make-up, wardrobe or even memorizing lines. Each of the four actors read from a script.

He is so gracious; Gary Cole - the actor playing Steve Allen - spilled his entire glass of water at the beginning of the show. When Ron filled up his own glass he filled up Gary's as well. I'm not sure anyone even noticed.

It ran almost two hours as there were pages and pages of dialogue to go through. At the end Ron shook hands with the other actors, but kissed Sharon Lawrence on the hand - so Vincent.

It was a very special evening, one I'll remember for a long time.

Susie

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"Meeting of Minds" is presented as a theater-in-the-round staged reading performance by Opening Minds Productions in association with Meadowlane Enterprises, Inc. The photo above shows the lay-out of the performance, and how close the audience are to the actors taking part.

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