I have always been attracted to artistic and creative
people. My husband is no exception. In his youth, Eddie was very creative and
artistic. He could have been a singer, dancer, actor, stage performer, poet,
writer, and even a party planner. He did spend a major part of his youth
singing. It was a passion he carried through college. But once he started his
career, got married, had kids, got involved in a number of non-profit boards,
music took a back seat.
Luckily, thirty
years later he came back to it. Four and a half years ago he decided to
audition for the
San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus, the oldest and one of the most
prestigious gay choruses in the nation. He had to prepare a solo and present it
in front of the audition committee. He made the cut. The chorus took about half
of the men who audition. He has been performing with them ever since. I love
watching him sing on stage. He has such focus and intensity when he sings. It
is not an easy gig. They have a 3-hour rehearsal every Monday night, plus sectionals
and retreats throughout the year. All the music has to be memorized and they
have to learn choreography that goes along with performance.
His newest artistic passion is writing reviews of the plays
and musicals we see. It began in January when I set up a blog for him to post
reviews (
http://theatreeddys.blogspot.com).
The theatre community noticed the reviews and he was asked to join the
San
Francisco Bay Area Critic Circle. The purpose of the SFBATCC is to promote and
serve theatre of all types and sizes throughout the nine Bay Area counties. Then
about a month later he was ask by a national theatre (
http://www.talkinbroadway.com/regional/sanfran/)
site to be the primary reviewer of South Bay theatre. And then most recently,
he was accepted as a member of
American Theatre Critics Association.
Update: He has now no longer just a reviewer for the San Francisco Bay Area at
Talkin' Broadway, he is the primary reviewer for the new section San Jose/Silicon Valley at
http://www.talkinbroadway.com/regional/sanjose/.
Eddie’s reviews are very supportive of theatre and promote
the notion of going out and attending a live performance. He wants to excite the reader to be motivated
to go see a show. He also presents an audience viewpoint of the various
elements of the show: acting, sets, direction, music, etc. He then offers a
critical analysis where the production excels or falls flat.
Personally, I enjoy it when he reads his drafts to me and we
discuss the finer points of the production. We both have a great love and
passion for theatre.
