Love Spooky Shit – Revelations

In my last blog, about my reading at Downey’s Bar & Grill, I mentioned how my dear friend (and #1 fan) Tina P

recovered the video of the first performance of my legit theatre play, Revelations, and provided two copies of it to me the day of the Downey’s Bar & Grill live reading.

This morning, I managed to dig up a hard copy of the play and the flyer from the night of that performance from the boxes of my “stuff” stored in my Casa Claire Office Closet.

I am still waiting for the digital conversion kit to arrive so I can send those tapes out but thinking about it made me recall a night in Spring 1993 when I met the original cast at the director Pat Francis’ beautiful home on Odell Avenue in Yonkers to go over the play. I recalled that there was a photo of that night on Pat’s office wall but I had no idea if Pat’s husband Michael may have still had it somewhere.

I could visualize the photo, and spent a lot of time yesterday morning thinking about it.

Then, at around 10 am (my time), I received the following text from Franco P.

Here is the actual photo.

L to R, that’s Ray Norberto (“Steve”), me (?), Michele Fulves (“Jack”/”Janet”), Mitch Poulos (“Barney”) and Pat Francis, the producer/director.

A little backstory, I named the character “Barney” after my grandfather, Spaghetti’s favorite brother.

Now, note that I never asked Franco about the photo. He just located it and sent it. He may have been the photographer (as annoying – in fun way – that Franco can be, he is an amazing photographer).

It’s funny, a number of the people that attended the Downey’s reading also were in the audience for The Village Gate performance.

Indeed, Eileen C, Joe Serrano and his now wife Donna (who I first met that night), were pulled over by the NYPD on their way home from the performance because Eileen was driving in the wrong direction on a one way street, and madcap Donna kept yelling from the back seat that she was being kidnapped, even after being pulled over. Add my craziest (and most likely inebriated) Puerto Rican friend and one time AVFH roommate into the mix and you have a 90s NYPD trifecta. Thank God no one was breathalyzed because an emergent accident occurred close by and the cops had to cut Eileen loose (with a warning) to respond. The Universe works in mysterious ways.

That’s Donna, me, Eileen, Lenny, Joe Serrano and BC at Downey’s. I’m not sure I ever saw Donna and Joe between the years 1993 and 2024. Maybe he did kidnap her?

Can’t remember for certain but I believe Lenny was also at TVG. Maybe even BC.

So, it is wonderous to me that the tapes for the play appeared the day we all came back together in Riverdale. Magic at its best.

A 40 plus year old play about a Trans crush. Maybe I am a time traveler.

I remember, writing it was my way of processing my sister (yes, Bonnie from TCS) coming out to me. She wept when she typed it (I still cannot type but now I have elves to do it for me – happy for the work after the Grimm Bros’ Shoemaker retired).

I cannot wait to watch the video, assuming I can get it converted to digital properly. The kit is taking forever to get here.

It’s something I would love to see performed again.

Maybe it can be staged at An Beal Bocht, in its Poor Mouth Theatre. It’s a small set and cast and the bar ambience would be perfect. Plus, as ABB is a small venue, it wouldn’t take much too much to sell out the tickets. And a slightly inebriated audience would appreciate the dialogue even better.

Just putting it out there. Packie Jo G and Scott Kennedy, I’ll send you the digitized video once I have it.

Lenny (who has performed at ABB), I would love for you to play either Barney or Steve, or Janet if you are really daring. Or, you could even direct? You’ve always had the creative chops. BC could lend you his FMPs (or play Janet himself).

Who knows, maybe it will give me another excuse to come back to the Bronx.

Well, if I’ve learned nothing else over these past seven years, if its meant to be it will be.

And now I have to move onto real world things like putting a legal motion to bed in pure Thursday fashion.

You fine, five readers go have that extra cuppa before facing Friday’s handmaiden. Let’s get this work week wrapped. It’s another October/Fall weekend approaching fast and we want to have our heads clear for apple picking, pumpkin patches, corn mazes, football, horror films and haunted houses. So, let’s do a final Thursday push to get all of the work-related shit done and dusted.

But first, I’m going to cuddle some kitties and make my rounds.

And, no matter what we get up to, let us make today a great one.