west View news – DENISE MARSA

Celeste Martin: Holiday Generosity at its Best

In The Pass Musical, I speak about my guardian angel, Celeste Martin. She owned the carriage house building in the West Village from 1810 that I live in. She passed on December 13, 2018. I have a vignette in my show, about the apartment, aptly titled # 5 My West Village Apartment, and the first time I stepped into this very charming space and started my life in NYC as an artist.

Today I remembered how every holiday Ms. Martin would leave bags of treats for every tenant. She had 36 apartments and 3 commercial spaces at one time all filled, and everyone got gifts! Every year she went to Macy’s and filled up bags and dropped them off at the door of every tenant with a personalized card. And there was always champagne and it was always Veuve Clicquot. I still have a 1999 bottle unopened, because of the date!

Memories can be very special if they are good ones. I like to focus on good ones and when the not-so-good ones come into my head, I whisked them away. No need as these days, are challenging enough. However recalling the holidays with Celeste Martin and the joy she brought to me and all her tenants, well that may keep me warm for days!

How lucky am I to have a memory such as this?

Here’s a story I penned, and West View News shared. A Requiem for Celeste

To generosity.

A West Village Original, ha! Living Large in Small Spaces

Michael D. Minichiello and I spoke over the phone and he summed up my life, career and THE PASS in 7 paragraphs! Now that’s some fine tuning! Really enjoyed speaking with him.

And I think the most charming part of New York is The West Village, hands down. Everything is smaller so maybe smaller is charming. But the people themselves live large lives in small spaces.” read Michael’s fun interview

Requiem For Celeste

http://westviewnews.org/2019/07/a-requiem-for-celeste/

 A Requiem For Celeste
 July 13, 2019
      Articles, People
Celeste Martin: November 11, 1927—December 13, 2018
By Denise Marsa

How many times have you heard about a New York City landlady giving every tenant in her multiple landmark rental buildings a special gift bag filled with Christmas goodies? Every year Celeste Martin looked forward to taking her staff, including her driver, carpenter and super, shopping at Macy’s Herald Square to help her fill 39 gift bags for her tenants. These were no ordinary gift bags, just as she was no ordinary landlady. As a tenant in one of her buildings, I was always thrilled with my gift bag’s content. One year I received a 1999 Perrier–Jouët (which I still have) and another year a 2011 Rose Veuve Clicquot. Yes, champagne! Accompanying the champagne was a bottle of Johnny Walker Black or a Johnny Walker variety pack. There were also always imported sweets and chocolates along with the spirits. read full article