Million Miles From Heaven

“Crowding out my vision, I am drowning in religion and I’m still a million miles from heaven.” This line from the opening song from the off-Broadway revival of Bare rings true in my head as sit in front of laptop and will my fingers to type. Now its final week of performances leading up to a very premature closing Bare could not have come at a better time for me. With the revival of Rent recently ending and my other go to favorite Dogfight having completed its limited engagement run over the summer I was yearning for a show to fill that empty void and then along came Bare. I had heard nothing but praise about the past professional New York productions and the same can be said about this one.

There have been very few shows that I can confidently say have really moved and changed me, Bare being the most recent. It started at the beginning and as Peter began with his opening monologue saying: “I was asked to say a few words. I thought I should begin by telling you who I am. You know how when you see a group picture you try to find yourself in it? I never do that. I’m always surprised I’m there.” I knew that I was witnessing something so special and precious. Throughout the duration of the performance I laughed, cried and came to realizations. I grew up with a mother who is a devout Catholic (she almost became a nun) and a father who is the complete opposite. I went to Catholic high school, Sunday school as a kid the whole nine yards so I can relate on that level. But whether you are religious or not I feel that everyone needs to see and experience the phenomenon that is Bare. Bare is very literal about the issues that young people face from Peter and Jason’s’ romance, teen pregnancy, scandals and drug use all set in a Catholic boarding school.

While it is amazing in and of itself on paper it takes a special group of people to bring these characters and this very important story to life. I cannot even begin to say how wonderful this company and creative team is that it can’t be summed up in a 140 character post-show tweet. It was them that really completed my emotional journey that night and made me look at their characters as people not a piece of fiction. Taylor Trensch gives a truly stunning and emotional portrayal of Peter that broke my heart as mine broke for his as you see him deal with Jason’s death and short-lived romance turned pregnancy with Ivy. Jason Hite as Jason beautifully showed everyone that not we are not all black and white. He illustrated that while we are all different, we all are still people who love but that unnecessary stereotypes and social stigmas can cause more than just hurt feelings. Elizabeth Judd’s captivating performance as the hurt and damaged Ivy shows us that we have to move on after a terrible incident and make the absolute best of the next chapter but some kindness and acceptance from others can make all the difference.  Barret Wilbert Weed’s standout performance as Jason’s’ troubled sister Nadia makes us realize that like no person is perfect so is no family and as messed up as they may seem they mean the world to you even if you realize it once its too late. The wonderful Missi Pyle as the kind and understanding Sister Joan proved that all it takes is some compassion and willingness to listen can mean all the world to someone who is struggling. These actors made me really feel their pain as my heart broke for Peter, Ivy and Nadia at Jason’s death, I felt the hurt and confusion that Ivy is faced with now having to raise a child on her own as a teen with the father now dead and when they all started to sing “Dear Jason” I was toast. That is what made the show so effective.

After the final curtain I was left reeling, both moved to tears and thinking “this message is so important, everyone needs to see this show and take something from it.” A few days later I went to see the show again and I got something totally different out of it as these characters have so many different layers that, while still an emotional wreck I took something different with me that time, the same with my third performance a week later. Bare built upon what Rent and Dogfight taught me which is love and acceptance something that seems to be lost in the younger generation. None of us are perfect; I’m far from it as the song states, “I’m still a million miles from heaven.” We all need to be more loving and understanding like Sister Joan is in the show, which is a theme that desperately needs to be heard. While I’m devastated to see this beautiful piece of theatre end this chapter of its life I know its not the end but I will be there on Sunday to hear this masterpiece be told one last time and to celebrate the important message that this story tells.

Hello Buenos Aires(and 2,500 fans!)

Imagine coming to work everyday where dealing with hundreds to over a thousand screaming fans and meeting celebrities is part of your job? Well that is what it is like on the clock for Juan Garcia known around the workplace as “Cisco.”  Working as the doorman at the Marquis Theatre in Times Square located on 46^th street between 7^th and 8^th Avenues which is currently home to the Broadway revival of Evita is no where near a typical office job.

            Turning the corner on 46^th street to enter his office at the stage door, I pass a group of about a dozen gaggling and excited young ladies. “That’s normal” Cisco tells me. He explains to me that everyday since the show began performances, there is always a group of people out there, even now on a cold winter night the weather cannot keep them away. “They come before the show even starts and wait outside the door so they can meet Ricky [Martin]. We always tell them that he will not come out until the show is over and they always tell ‘Yeah we know.’” The fans are loud, they know what they want and he shared with me some of his crazy fan encounters, the celebrities he has met and insights on some of the greats who have walked through his door.

            Since the death of his predecessor Hector in 2006, Cisco has taken over his old post. Working to ensure that all the actors and crew are signing in and get in and out safely, monitoring the guest list so no one can sneak by and most notably, managing and controlling the waiting fans outside the Stage door who want to catch a glimpse of their favorite star. While Cisco has seen many big budget productions come through the venue from his first in 2006 The Drowsy Chaperone to Christmas with Donny and Marie [Osmond] and to Evita’s predecessor the Bernadette Peters and Elaine Paige revival of Follies, nothing has been quite like Evita. “It can get pretty crazy. Sometimes we have over 2,500 people out here. “ With huge crowd volumes packing into a small area, with the vast majority here for Ricky Martin, Cisco has seen it all. “Not even the crowds from past shows [9 to 5 and Drowsy Chaperone] compare to this. A lot of the fans are sometimes drunk. Different problems occur as everybody wants to see Ricky [Martin] so sometimes a fan gets upset because the person is a foot closer to where he is going to be and they either want that person moved back or be let closer.”

 With quite an interesting bunch of eager fans every night it comes as no surprise that he has called in for reinforcements on numerous occasions. “The police make their presence known and sometimes it is necessary to call the cops  to deal with someone” he tells me. But, that does not stop some fans from going to the extreme.  “About three or four weeks ago I was assaulted by a woman and the cops got involved” and that on few occasions people have overthrown the barricades. There have even been times that due to excessive shoving and pushing from the crowd he has had to move small children near the front over to the other side of the barricade for their own safety.

While each new production brings a new set of fans to the stage door, it also brings a new group of actors and celebrities. While he sings the praises of past celebrity tenants from Donny and Marie Osmond, he is  “still waiting for them [Donny and Marie] to come back to this theatre” as well as the “amazing” Dolly Parton, it is current X-Factor contestant Carly Rose Sonenclar from the short lived Frank Wildhorn musical Wonderland who stands out the most to him. A little girl with an amazing set of pipes a smile comes across his face as he recounts her bright smile that she would flash every time she walked through his door adding that he “would be surprised if she did not win the whole competition [X-Factor]”. While getting to work with celebrity performers on a daily basis, Cisco also gets the opportunity to meet some of their well-known friends and other celebrities that come to the theatre from Lea Michele to their most famous guest Michelle Obama. He has met the likes of Katie Holmes, Tobey Maguire, Marc Anthony, Eva Longoria, Sigourney Weaver and even the ex Mayor of Puerto Rico.

It is getting later, the crowd is getting bigger and louder and the first act is not even over. As he settles back down after coming back from leaving to deal with a dilemma upstairs I notice signed photos of Donny and Marie Osmond asking about the famous brother-sister duo, he smiles and says “that was the first time I have ever had sixty year old ladies trying to get backstage!”