A couple reminiscences: the first time I saw Laura was in Chicago at the opera house. This was I believe 1968 or 1969. She was solo with the piano on this very large stage. Most of the girls and young women were dressed, of course, in black. There was a bit of a gasp when Laura floated out onto the stage in a gorgeous melon red dress. Heresy!? Time for a wardrobe change! At one point she, in a breathy voice, leaned into the microphone, looked out at the vast, darkened audience, and whispered " "It's all so big in here and you're all so far away". Which of course immediately shrank the room to a very intimate space. At the end she was given a dozen red roses but then burst into tears and rushed off the stage. As I look back on it and know now more about her moods I wonder whether she was in the midst of some kind of emotional turmoil that was more than just the emotions of performing. Who knows?
My other most moving memory is meeting her father at a performance of Eli's Coming at the Vineyard Theatre off Union Square (sort of West Side Story meets Nyro--great dancers). This was several years after she died. The manager of the theater said " Here's somebody you might want to meet". I was so surprised to meet Lou, such a very gentle, humble man. He talked about her with such love and affection. At one point his eyes welled up and he said "I miss her so much. And I miss her mother."