I was able to attend the reading of a new play, "A Moon to Dance By," at Primary Stages in New York City recently. I left proud as punch.

The playwright, Thomas Thomas, whom I've known for many years from Pittsburgh Playhouse and Little Lake Theatre days, has the distinction of once having this address: Thomas Road in the Washington County community of Thomas, which is rare in itself. His late father was a coal miner and his mother a housewife in the nearby rural setting.

Now, at age 66, his writing talent has kept Thomas involved with theater since the age of 13, when he was encouraged to follow his dream by a national stage actor, Douglas Watson, whom he met while Watson was touring in "Stalag 17."

Also encouraging his talent through the years were the late novelist Gladys Schmitt and teacher/playwright Arthur Wilmurt at Carnegie Mellon University.

We've known him in Pittsburgh for his introduction of the Odd Chair Playhouse in the South Hills some years ago, but he has been very busy since then, living in Los Angeles and writing a number of plays.

His first play was "The Ball Game," staged in New York and London, followed by "The Interview," which Jose Ferrer starred in and directed at The Pittsburgh Playhouse.

Regarding his new play, "A Moon to Dance By," I was curious about how a "reading" develops. It's not overnight, that's for sure.

It's a play about Frieda Lawrence, who, in 1912, left her husband and children in order to marry the budding author D.H. Lawrence, a student in her husband's English literary class.

"I intended first to write a play about Lawrence and his marriage to Frieda," says Thomas, "but there had been a movie about them, so I focused on Frieda."

"A Moon to Dance By" has been optioned for production in New York, and while that is excitement enough for Thomas, the actress he was able to get for the reading was none other than Jane Alexander, whose resume is long and impressive with Broadway and films, but who recently appeared as the psychiatrist in the very sexy and controversial HBO show, "Tell Me You Love Me." The first season ended Nov. 11.

She's 68 and, according to Thomas, is "attached" to do the role whenever/wherever, if she's available.

Along with Robert Cuccioli and Maxwell Caulfield (husband of actress Juliet Mills), they brought the play to life, even while holding scripts. They didn't want to stand and read behind lecterns, so they moved about the stage and became their characters. Thomas was very happy with the reading and left wondering how much more they could bring to it with more than six hours of rehearsal.

"Once I get the idea for a play, and it involves research, which I love, I usually stay with it," says Thomas. "This play first came to mind in 2000 and has evolved slowly but surely. Once I decided who/what the play was about, I wrote steadily, but there were many rewrites until the final outing you saw."

The night of the Tony Awards in June, Thomas watched Alexander present the directing award, and he knew he had his Frieda.

Oddly enough, her husband, Edwin Sherin, already had signed on as the director, but he didn't want to suggest his wife for the role for fear of nepotism. They had originally considered Elizabeth Ashley, but Thomas, who had a visual picture in his mind of the real Frieda, knew he had found her in Alexander. He called her and offered her the part, and she was delighted.

Thomas says he usually doesn't have actors in mind, but he had seen Cuccioli in a CLO production here of "Funny Girl" and saw him as Angelo. Caulfield had always been his choice for the grown son, Monty.

"I sent them scripts, and they all agreed to do the reading. Actors do readings to keep their talent 'well oiled' and also in hopes that if the play is done they may be cast in the role."

Primary States, on East 59th Street, has to approve of the play and the casting in order to have a reading, but nobody is paid, including the actors.

Thomas, by the way, is currently co-writing a stage musical adaptation of the very popular "Beaches" with its author, Iris Rainer Dart, also a former Pittsburgher.

He has a screenplay, with actress and director already set, in the hands of a producer, but the current writers' strike has put that on hold. Thomas fears this could be a lengthy strike, but obviously he has plenty to keep him busy.