Mia Truxaw

Mia was born July 1st 1952 at St Joseph's Medical Center, across the street from Disney Studios-more on that later-in Burbank. She was premature and her doctors warned her father, Ernest John Fazio( Ernie, Big E), that he might have to choose between his wife, Dorothea (Dorothy, Dotty, Dorf) Jane Nevins Fazio and his unborn child. Ernie replied that he would have them both. So Mia was born -or did she escape from the animation studio across the street? Maria Anne's birth fixed her place as youngest of three sisters and their older brother Ernest ( Skeeter or Little E) or forever as the Baby. Her sister, Constance Marie (Connie, "C", "Z') was unable to pronounce Maria, so Mia became Mia. Mia also had an older sister, Alicia (Leechar, Char) who would . . . now that would be getting ahead of the story. Big E was a real estate broker in the vibrantly developing San Fernando Valley. They lived in a somewhat modest home on Radford that had a pool. Dorf assumed the role of housewife, mother, Bridge club organizer and volunteer. Time to regress. Regressing time. Dorothy grew up in prewar Los Angeles. Her father, Pops, was an engineer. He and his wife, Eyeeye (sp?) had a very modest home. Dotty had a younger brother John (Jack) who would also become and engineer who eventually would receive a patent for an important transistor (much more on him later). Dorothy attended and received her BA from Immaculate Heart College in the hills leading to FernDell at the corner of Griffith Park. Ernie was the eleventh and youngest of two Italian immigrants. He grew up very favored by his older sisters and protected by several older brothers. They developed butcher shops and the furniture upholstering trade. He achieved spectacularly in school, dazzling his teachers and family. He was a sponge with a silver tongue, a golden voice, a remarkable memory and a calculator for a brain. He would likely have spent his life in Philly had he not been drafted while Hitler was invading Europe. Private Earnest John turned down opportunities to be fast tracked as an officer until Pearl Harbor was attacked. While blaming Roosevelt for getting them into the war, Ernie immediately applied to officer candidate school. He was again massively successful and ended up as a Lieutenant Colonel posted to a base in Southern California. I don't know his ranking when he fatefully decided to attend a dance at the Riverside Mission Inn. When Ernie met Dorothy. He was a dashing young officer resembling a young Elvis Presley, She as a beautiful young college graduate attending the dance with some of her friends. Luckily Ernie had the gumption to ask the beautiful young princess to dance, luckily, she said yes. He sang to her as they danced. It was definitely love and they were soon married. Not long afterwards Skeets joined them as they moved from base to base. When the war as over Ernie brought his growing family back to southern California. Ernie's golden tongue and his belief that each deal should be a good deal for everyone made him very successful selling furniture. Skills he soon transferred to Fazio's Realty. Specializing primarily in income property, his business blossomed and soon his family and social standing outgrew the Bradford residence so he picked a prime lot in the West Valley to build 5231 Vanalden. The business had its ups and downs so Dorothy had to choose air conditioning over a pool, The home had an attached apartment for Pops after Eyeeye passed. An apartment the Fazio family made available to a series of friends whether they were just looking for lodging as foreign exchange students, visiting relatives, or a newly married needing a place to transition into their own home. South of the boulevard, 5231 Vanalden gave Mia the ideal base to be a classic Valley girl. The family joined Our Lady of Grace parish and the children attended the school there. All three daughters attended the prestigious Louisville High School on Mullholland Drive while Skeets attended Notre Dame high School. They all did very well in school, Connie was a super achiever and class officer. Mia was a jock, perusing basketball and especially volleyball-a sport she would play as long as she was able to get to the venues. I was humbled by her abilities when I participated in some volleyball games. No one wanted to be across the court when she served, though her favorite role was as setter. We'll get back to that later. There are many anecdotes - some of which I hope to get her friends to include here. When she was exiled from the LVHS library because she reminder the Librarian to "Judge not, least though be judged". Or when she stretched out her arm from a balcony overlooking the entertainment dominant San Fernando Valley and told her prom date, John Bonaduce --who was from an important entertainment family- "this can all be yours." Then came theatre. She played a key role in Carnival. When it was time to apply for college; she chose Her Momboe's alma mater, Immaculate Heart College with a major in Theatre Arts and minor in Religious Studies. Next up when the story gets even more interesting for me at least. IHC. I pause now and ask those who knew her in her early years to add their memories I had had a glorious freshman year. I was in Kac Young's Something Other than opens Wednesday and Once Upon a Mattress. I spent time with a fellow hot-shot student, Ursula Hyman strategizing about freshman orientation and while being smitten with Ursula I was also very much smitten with myself. I was assigned the orientation for the theatre department. My little speech was themed "Come Play with us!" I had performed my introduction to three or four small groups in the "Little Theatre" room 110. This theatre was two classrooms that had the partition blocked from opening by cables running between lighting positions. It was set up as a proscenium stage. Anyway, I think I volunteered so I could strut and preen to a captive audience. Following my presentation I had my first introduction to the new drama instructor, Bill Shepherd. A muscular, intense young man, a bit on the shorter side, confronted me as I walked into the hallway. He gave what I was to learn was his patented intensity and declared quite firmly, "I do not play, I work" I don't think he said anything else at the time having successfully cowered me. As he walked away a group of freshmen approached me. Mia politely asked me where she could find the registrar's office. I don't think I answered her. I didn't really hear her. The registrar's office was only a few feet from where we were standing. I don't remember if that was the last presentation of the day. I only remember that I had been dressed down, and I had been terrible rude to Mia. My relationship with Ursula soured after I had visited her and met her Mother in the Claremont area. I remember driving the guts out of the beige Duster on my way home when my young male drives were not given any satisfaction. Ursula suddenly became ill and did not return to school for some time. Our engagement was never officially terminated but terminated it was. I was in some classes and in an original children's show "Sparries in the Pilderpips" which toured to several theatres throughout SoCal. I had helped build the main set piece which was a giant Soma Cube -- 6 by 6 foot. The first time I spent any time alone with Mia was in her dorm room when I shared with her the magic of the Soma Cube. We shared a great joy of theatre with the technical Director, Thurston James who intersects Mia's story several more times. Before long I was involved in a special intense Theatre Laboratory that resulting in a state close to self-flagellation was we "experimented with the physical, spiritual and ritualistic aspects of theatre, the nature of role, and the relationship..." as described in Towards a Poor Theatre. As I recall, Mia was able to keep her distance from Bill and his teachings.

When I had arrived at ihc a year before Mia, the department was divided into the Patty Madsen and Ruth Marie cliques. Patty had been at ihc where she worked herself up from technical director to heir apparent for the chair of the department. She was a single mother who had worked hard and had just received her PhD from UCLA in musical theatre. The chair had just retired and Patty had been ready to take the helm. She had been given responsibility for shepherding Megan Terry an innovative theatre artist who can to ihc to develop her original The Tommy Allen Show. I had decided to attend ihc when I visited the first day of the six week term my senior year of high school. Megan's new play was progressive to say the least. Some of the more conservative ihc decision makers found that it was too progressive and was inappropriate for a Catholic Woman's college. Patty fell into disfavor and Ruth was made the new chair. Patty was not happy.

The key musical theatre talent was in Patty's clique. Particularly Cathy Carricaburu who had been Fred to my Dauntless and for whom I had had a massive crush my freshman year. For some reason I took offense that they were being forced to audition so I took a stand that if they were forced to be in the show, I would walk. Ruth lost key talent that she was counting on but she persisted. Ruth met with us and through improvisation and probing us for what our fantasies were, she went home each night and worked on the script. It was an ambitious production that was to be toured throughout SoCal. Ruth had originally wanted the pieces of the Soma Cube to be light enough that they could be tossed across the stage. Thurston gave it his best but since they also needed to climbed on he settled for steel frame and sheet metal construction. Ruth tried to bring in a noted artist with no theatre experience which did not work out. She was overextended and was continuing re-writes when we started previews. Patty brought her son to a preview and in class the following day told us that we should be embarrassed by what we had presented. I never heard Ruth say anything negative about Patty or her work. It was a bit like being in the film The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie. Patty being the set upon leader of her girls. The show went on with fabulous puppets, a huge rotating teeter-tatter, I played the Dirt Man, Mia was one of the scientists exploring the Pillderpips. The hostilities remained between the cliques, Ruth always stoic and Patty sharing her disdain. Thurston remained neutral. Ruth taught some very good classes. In a beginning literature course I learned to read and appreciate Shakespeare. Her Theatre Games classes -based on Viola Spolin--were always inspirational. Patty taught solid acting classes. Thurston surpassed them both with his technical classes. Bill Shepherd was an enigma. I ended up in Bill Shepherd's Theatre Laboratory with Annette. It was intense and while dressed in skimpy swimming shorts I drove myself to exhaustion and felt I was able to step into my dreams. I don't remember why Annette and I dropped out but I later rejoined when Mark DeCastillo?? and Susan Wiesner also joined. While in the Lab, I was kicked out of one of Bill's classes for being late. I don't think Mia ever took a class from Bill. I remember telling Ruth that there were two freshmen that I wanted to work with, Mia and Jackie Genge.

Bill (now Will) Shepherd had joined the faculty. Ruth and Patty remained cold to each other in front of students. At this time I lived in the maids room of Regina Coeli, the building that contained the Theatre Arts office, attic, and costume shop. I decided I would like to know how they got along away from students. So I bugged their office and listened in on the department meeting. I don't remember what they discussed but I was somewhat surprised at how friendly they seemed with each other. I removed the bug. Mia's minor was Religion and she truly enjoyed her academic experiences. I still have several of her notebooks where her notes are truly amazing and dynamic graphic amazement. She took classes from Rabbis and Scientists. Comparative region, Joseph Campbell, Mircea Elliade, The triple Helix, etc. Meanwhile over 95 of my 120-some semester credits were in theatre. The classes that I remember most with Mia were Ruth's Theatre Games and then her directing class which I audited after I graduated. She also worked or rather played with me on a number of my misadventures. We did an original pieces based on The Wizard of Earthsea. Kathleen McManus played the central character, Ged. Mia and Bruce Mathews played all the other characters. They became a dragon with two heads in the climactic exchange at the end of the play. It was all done in the infamous black box, Rm 109 which is where Bill taught most of his classes and where he had his Lab. The room had shutters to keep out all outside lights. It was otherwise stripped down with walls and ceiling painted black, but with a warm oak floor. I ran a line on the diagonal so a large white nylon barrier could bisect the room. There were a couple of 3 paneled white and blue screens. We had benches against the walls for the audience and used one of the benches as a transformative set piece being among other things-Ged's boat, Look Far. I also had a few clip-on lights and household dimmers so I could create a magical transformation as Ged attempted to enter the Wizard school and constantly found himself on the same side. And then there was ihc street theatre . . .