Sunday, Nov. 19

 How often does this happen? You walk into a bar, sit down next to the old guy at the end and he takes it upon himself to bore you with drunken tales? This did not happen when we took a seat at O'Leary's during the World Series next to Dr. Waldo Fielding, who is 85. He nursed a beer, ate a bunless burger, cracked jokes, flirted playfully with my fiancee-playwright, and waxed wise. His story: Retired obstetrician, married to his late wife 52 years (a woman with perfect pitch), did the doctor-on-TV thing for Channels 4, 5 and 7 over the years, and is now a part-time actor. Lives in a Brookline penthouse. (He also gave up his father's inherited right to Red Sox season tickets in 1959. We all make mistakes.) He's wrapping up a small role in a local production of "Arsenic and Old Lace," and he begins co-starring in the two-person production of A.R. Gurney's "Love Letters" Sunday Nov. 19, the story of a life-long relationship between two people who wouldn't seem suited to each other. (The Sunday show is a 2 p.m. matinee.) Fielding says he's been friends with co-star Betsey Palmer 54 years and notes that despite her stage, screen and TV success, she may best be known to younger folks as Mrs. Voorhees in "Friday the 13th." The performances of "Love Letters" are at the Leventhal-Sidman Jewish Community Center and tickets are $28. It's a benefit for the Center.

333 Nahanton St., Newton, 617-558-6522 lsjcc.org