I once met a host of Saturday
Night Live.
He grew up in my hometown, The
South Bronx of America .
His name was Ed Koch, the mayor
of New York City .
I met him at a Manhattan
playhouse where actress Miriam Colon drafted me to man the coat check counter,
an unpaid job best reserved for girls (No, Miriam Dearest! Don’t browbeat me! I
believe in equality! GET THAT COAT HANGER AWAY FROM ME!)
The Amazing Mister Ed came up and
shook my hand with a joyful HOW I’M DOING!
Not too shabby.
He made my smile pack up and
leave the borders of my thin face to La La Land.
King Koch had the common touch.
He made me forget the premise of
the play he watched with a royal audience (that included Raul Julia*) was
stolen from a guileless teenager, yours truly.
Call me The Puerto Rican of The
Opera.
And now the story can be sung.
Payback’s a blog.
*I hugged Raul Julia as he smiled
with childlike disbelief at a coatroom in chaos when an overhead rod snapped
under the weight of mink coats that buried the 1%. He was a beautiful human
being not far removed From Gomez Addams. And so was Uncle Eddie, who, I’m sure,
could make a light bulb light up in his big mouth.
Again, call me THE PUERTO RICAN
OF THE OPERA!!!
P.S: Miriam Colon is the founder
of the world-renowned Puerto Rican Traveling Theatre. Among numerous stage and
screen credits, she portrayed the suffering Cuban mother of Tony Montana as
portrayed by Al Pacino who grew in The South Bronx of America .
Hey, Miriam, you want a play?
Say hello to my little pen.
