‘Top Gun: Maverick’ earning $86 million at the box office has a West Milford man smiling

With people flocking to theaters and the Warwick Drive-In to see the new Tom Cruise blockbuster movie “Top Gun Maverick,” a West Milford man’s memories of the actor give him reason to smile. William D’Andrea remembers Tom Cruise as a member of the Glen Ridge, NJ, high school, Class of 1980.

D’Andrea was responsible for the decision to give Cruise the role of Nathan Detroit in a Glen Ridge High School production of “Guys and Dolls.” This was the role that Sam Levine performed when the 1950 production of the show opened on Broadway. Frank Sinatra had the part in the 1955 film version of the story based on two Damon Runyon short stories – “The Idyll of Miss Sarah Brown” (1933) and “Blood Pressure.” D’Andrea, a freelance director who did the casting for the high school play, found the fit to be perfect.

In his high school days, Cruise was known by his given birth name of Thomas Cruise Mapother IV. That got him the high school nickname of “Maypo,” concocted from the beginning letters of his family name.

The high school had already chosen the musical “Guys and Dolls” for their production when, through a connection with Glen Ridge High School music teacher Nancy Tiritilli, D’Andrea, who had been hired to direct earlier shows, was again recruited to do their newest one.

D’Andrea said he always tries to spot talented people who show signs of acting ability for his productions. Often, he looks for popular high school guys with assurance that their friends will come out to see them in a play. Sometime these youths are chosen to be part of a group or to take part in fighting action-packed scenes.

When auditioning was beginning, Tiritilli mentioned to D’Andrea that she thought Tom Cruise Mapother IV would be a good choice for a part in the musical. He had been sidelined from running in spring track events because of an ankle injury suffered while wrestling.

When D’Andrea heard that “Maypo” was a bit of a jock, he initially wondered if it was a good idea to consider such a guy for the school play production. Initially D’Andrea assumed that this high school jock would be the type of person to sing “Wild Thing” for his audition. Wrong. When Tom said he would sing “I don’t know how to love him” from “Jesus Christ Superstar!” D’Andrea, who said he isn’t usually surprised by anything, was very surprised at the selection chosen by the student. He was stunned and his mind drifted back to a time when he held auditions for that role.

Cruise’s interpretation of sensitive words of the song immediately convinced D’Andrea that “Maypo” could handle the role of Nathan Detroit in the Glen Ridge School production of “Guys and Dolls.”

But D’Andrea almost did not direct the production. His full-time job as a trainer for racing horses at Freehold Raceway and directing the play three hours away seemed like just too much for one person to handle. He was rising at 5 a.m. and driving an hour and a half to the stable; working out three horses and rubbing and bedding them down, and then driving to Glen Ridge to work with the students on the play and finally driving back home. Casting a student on crutches (Cruise) where D’Andrea would have to walk through the part until Cruise could walk himself, finally seemed like too much for D’Andrea to add to his schedule.

After considering casting someone else for the part of Nathan – someone who could walk – D’Andrea said he realized that he could not ignore the talent he saw in Cruise.

“I felt if I did not cast Tom Cruise in the ‘Guys and Dolls’ role of Nathan Detroit because of selfish reasons, it would be a sin,” D’Andrea said. “As it turned out, when the audience gave the cast a standing ovation at the end of the show, it was a life changing experience for Tom. I believe it was then that he decided he was going to devote his life to pursuing an acting career.”

Cruise’s father was Thomas Cruise Mapother III, an electrical engineer. His mother Mary Lee Pfeiffer was a special education teacher and amateur actress. Both were natives of Kentucky. Cruise spent his early childhood in Canada where his father had a job as a defense consultant with the Canadian armed forces. He was 11 years old when his parents divorced. His mother moved back to Kentucky with Cruise and his three sisters. Eventually she remarried and she, her children and new husband moved to Ridgewood, NJ. Both of Cruise’s parents are now deceased.