ICEBREAKER

I read with much interest Patrick Goldstein’s article on “Primary Colors,” Mike Nichols and Elaine May (“They All Have a Secret,” March 15).

I can assure you no tooth fairy arranged a chance meeting “at a party” that resumed their now long association.

I gave the “party” in 1966 to honor Mike and his many successes, including the completion of “Virginia Woolf.” The “party” was given at the St. Regis Hotel, New York, on their roof garden.

I asked Mike to do some of his comedy routines with Elaine. It was then I learned that they had not spoken for years.

I phoned Elaine, went to her brownstone apartment off Riverside Drive. She was a very difficult sell. In approximately an hour, she agreed to come and do their old routines. Her only qualification was that Mike had to call her and invite her, which he did. They have been working together ever since.

Oh, yes, Richard M. Nixon attended, and I sat him at the Henry Fonda table.

I’m still waiting for a “thank you.”

STANLEY ASCHER

Hollywood