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Volunteer Spotlight
Teak Lewis loves the production numbers in Broadway Bares, and, judging from some of the risqué shots in his theatrical scrapbook, he would have made a very popular addition to the cast. In one photo from the 1960s, taken at New York’s Latin Quarter, Teak poses in a skimpy g-string, hoisting a buxom, pastie-clad showgirl above his head with apparent ease. Broadway, TV and International Tours Born in Barcelona, he moved with his family to New York in the late 1930s. After attending the high school for the performing arts, he spent a few years in the Air Force, completing his tour of duty in 1956. Teak got a job with the Pittsburgh Light Opera, and, from there, began working steadily as a dancer in bigger shows. “I did the national tours of a number of musicals, including Destry Rides Again. Then, in 1961, I was chosen as one of the four roustabouts in Carnival,” he says. In 1963, Teak appeared on a series of live television programs sponsored by Bell Telephone, one of which, Cole Porter: An All-Star Tribute, recently came out on DVD. Another career highlight was helping create a musical “from scratch”: 1966’s staging of Breakfast at Tiffany’s, which opened on Broadway as Holly Golightly. Teak remembers this as a fun show that pleased out-of-town audiences, but then bombed in New York after a series of ill-advised rewrites. “It was a great cast and Mary Tyler Moore was one of the most delightful people I have ever worked with,” he says. The late 1960s brought a nine-month run at New York’s legendary Latin Quarter, a series of well-received nightclub shows in Puerto Rico and the Bahamas, and then on to Europe and beyond. “Cairo was definitely the most exotic place I’ve been,” he says. After returning, Teak spent a year touring with Fiddler on the Roof as one of the four bottle dancers. A New Role After a few years working with a friend in a seaside gift shop in North Carolina, he returned to New York, went back to school, got a degree in Hotel/Restaurant Management and launched a second career, which included positions as cook in the executive dining rooms at American Express and a job managing the restaurants at Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Hall. An Opportunity to Stay Productive “About five years ago, I was in the (Equity) building looking for a group called Dancers Over 40. While I was there, Tom Viola came in and suggested I volunteer,” he remembers. “For me, it was the perfect organization because it involved theater and gave me a chance to help fight AIDS.” A Nice Balance “Almost all of my family lives in Spain, except for my mother, who lives in New York in a nursing home,” says Teak, who adds, “I actually had to miss Broadway Bares this year because I was in Spain—the last of my nephews was getting married.” Looking back, Teak treasures his dancing years. “The two highlights of my career were working with (director/choreographer) Gower Champion on Carnival and performing with (legendary tap dancer) Eleanor Powell on the Bell Telephone Hour.”
Other Photos: Photo Credits: Chris Economakos
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By Andy Smith