Forward by Barbara Pitcher

Dear reader, this is a gift. I want you to take this little poem book somewhere you can be alone at a time when you need not a lover, but a dear friend, when a deep love or friendship is necessary. I had such an experience. That is why I want you to have with Rob Maniscalco’s “Chromo Sapient.” when I first started in the theatre I had given up a chance to work with Joseph Papp (You might know him from the NYC Shakespeare Company he founded), to be in his repertory company and get my Equity Card at the one theatre in the country which proclaimed that one was truly a professional Actor. I must say that when things got scarce and rough in the theatre business, this kept me going, that label: professional. Joseph Papp and I were disappointed that I was not in his Company. The reason I mention this is that I was extremely happy with the work at the company I did join. But I was extremely lonely! I got in the habit then, whenever I had time off, to take my book, “Leaves of Grass,” to a nearby lake, and skip around, reading Walt’s poetry. I lightly marked the poems I read, until I finally finished them all, letting him be my deep friend and fill my thoughts with ideas that in my young-being I had only touched upon, but not fully explored. This got me through the summer, brought me back to Manhattan refreshed, and in an unusual way, saved me.

When one looks at a person, especially someone one is intrigued by, you often think, I wonder what they are thinking or care about. Sometimes that person may not even know themselves. This little book of Rob’s, who is a creative artist on many different levels, a musician, actor, writer, artist and renowned portrait painter, has combined these talents into an experience that is all its own, and is just calling for the perfect person to share it with. I challenge you to do as I have done at the playhouse. Take Rob’s little book to a quiet place alone and get to know this talent. You might not know him completely, but you will come away with the possibility of a sense of a deep friend. Find out about “forever love,” “endless possibilities,” and “when the light goes out.” And it might come at a time when you need that person, to give you your light.

The idea of putting modalities together is one that is both intriguing and fully experiential. I directed Rob as an actor at Carnegie Hall with his New Renaissance Chamber Artists in a complete play and a multi-level musical composition, throughout. The music acted as the emotional subtext of the play. This combination was very successful. It was called “Prisms.” “Chromo Sapient” is like that. This book not only adds music – with links in ebook form – but adds his exquisite artwork, enhancing the reading experience. As I said, at the top of my discourse, this is a gift, to be experienced and breathed in just for the fun and beauty of the thoughts and colors. But if there’s a need, an alone healing has the possibility of happening.

Barbara Pitcher has directed over 35 productions in NYC in over 25 venues and was awarded the Jean Dalrymple Award for Best Director in 1997 for Countenance and Heart Sounds. She has directed the works of Pinter, Chayefsky, O’Neill, Shakespeare, Salinger. As a performer she worked in television for 11 years in The Doctors, Search For Tomorrow, The Haunting of Rosalind, Blessed Are The What, and many other day and prime time dramas. She has received an Emmy “Disc” Award for her contributions to the Television. Highlights of her theatre career include Y Is A Crooked Letter, opposite Al Pacino, Mary Tyrone in Long Day’s Journey Into Night, and the creation of Monica in Robert E. Lee’s Sounding Brass, Ariadne in Theatro, and the lead in Wind Dreamers. Significantly influencing her work both as a performer and director was her mentor, Lee Strasberg (scholarship in his famed Private Classes) and the Actors Studio, where she “worked out” in the Actors, Directors, and Playwrights Units: exploring new and classical plays as an actor. She is currently a Permanent Resident Director at The American Theatre of Actors, and Production Director/Advisor to the Board of Directors for Theatre Within. After about twenty-five years, her work as director for Rob Maniscalco’s play, “Vincent John Doe,” which ran in Charleston’s Piccolo Spoleto in 2018 and 2019, was her fifth time working with Rob as dramaturg/director. The other four productions were in Manhattan — two most significantly were at Carnegie Weill, and The Alma Shapiro Theatre.