MEANDERINGS – by
Peter Rocchio
Thirty-seven years! That’s right, thirty-seven years this week Bill and I have shared our lives together. I'd like to say, "Who would have thought it?" but the fact is, I never doubted it.
Our story is one of love at first sight. From that moment in a shabby honky-tonk bar outside Ft. Worth our love has only grown. Every aspect of our relationship gives evidence of it having been blessed by the Lord Himself. We have but one regret - if the culture had been then, the way it is today, we would have had a child. We have more than enough love to share and believe that we would have been fine parents. It thrills us no end to see and to know same-sex couples that have taken the selfless steps to become parents and to share their love with a child.
Contemplating the years of our happy and successful gay relationship causes me to focus on the fact that, we have done it our way. Each one of us has. As we made our way out, and into the real world no one told us how it should be done nor did we have any role models to emulate. We simply follow our hearts and heads and trust that it will work out.
Our straight brothers and sister commence their relationships with a support system that we rarely, if ever, experience. We have no engagement party, no gifts, no wedding, no gifts, no family given anniversary party, no gifts. This level of support may be reinforcing but it also can be unwelcome pressure. We, on the other hand, set our own rules and enter into and continue a relationship with no external pressure and totally of our own free will. We can buy our own fondue pots.
We are not defined by social mores, only what we determine to be a comfortable fit for us. What better example than the date we select to celebrate as our anniversary. It runs the gamut in our community. We select from the date we met, to the date we ‘got it on’, to the day we moved in together to the day we formally made a commitment to the date we got married (Vt., Mass., Ca.). We define ourselves and fully accept the obligations that that freedom entails.
Did you make it to the ORLANDO GAY CHORUS performance of their 'Their Playing Our Song' concert? If you didn't, you missed a landmark performance. We've been attending the Chorus' concerts for fifteen years and although we have always had an entertaining evening, I never saw the chorus as more than a dedicated and somewhat talented group of gay men and women who sang together. Well, times have changed!
The OGC has become a chorus of quality. The now larger (80+) chorus reflected more choral musicality than ever before together with an articulation rarely before heard.
This was the swan song of Artistic Director Terry Thomas. Boy will he be missed! One can only hope that the new Director, when they find a replacement, will be able to build on the exemplary work that Terry has brought to the Chorus.
BEING FOUND…Several years ago, when I was still doing talk radio a couple whom I loved dearly and with whom I had fallen out of touch (for more than thirty years), were driving thru Florida and heard me sign off the air and thereby knew where I was living. They looked me up and we re-established our relationship. Well, it has happened again. Through this column, friends up in Lake County whom I haven’t seen in over twenty years read MEANDERINGS, e-mailed me and we have re-connected. I hate that we lose contact with people we care about – but it happens. The important thing is that we make the effort to re-connect and find that it is as though we hadn’t missed a beat.
SYMBIOSIS ON ORANGE AVENUE…Recently Bill and I agreed to meet Tommy Manley and Chris Alexander-Manley for drinks at the Savoy on Orange Avenue and then head down to White Wolf Café for a bite to eat. Would you believe we were able to accomplish both at one stop? That's right. Your server at the Savoy will give you a White Wolf menu, take your order and serve you on proper dinner plates, not to-go packaging. We ate and drank out back under the gazebo and as they say, "a good time was had by all".
FRUSTRATION…I so want to share with you my thoughts on plays around town but sometimes I don’t get to see the production until close to the end of it's run – this not only doesn’t help you but it doesn't help the box office. I want theater to succeed in this town. That doesn’t mean that every play will evoke a rave review from me but hopefully I can help you decide on what may be of interest to you and worthy of your entertainment dollars.
I saw MARY'S WEDDING at Mad Cow. This is a piece of extraordinary writing and performed magnificently by two gifted actors but I’m afraid that its' 'art' will challenge too many theatergoers. The audience is advised from the git-go that the story will be told backwards and in dream sequences. For the next hour and a half (no intermission) you are presented with masterful imagery about rural Canada, young love, horses, the heavens and the horrors of war (WWI). I only wish I had been more deeply moved along the way. MARY'S WEDDING closes July 10th.
The other stage (Stage Left) at the Mad Cow has Thorton Wilder’s OUR TOWN.
I could bore you with an endless stream of superlatives but suffice it to say that Wilder himself would give this production a standing ovation. He has written one of America’s finest plays about life and how it is played out in the very small community of Grovers Corners, New Hampshire. Unlike most of the reality trash we are confronted with from television this truly is reality – life as it is lived. The gifted cast of eleven, playing 34 characters, have melded into more than an ensemble, they are the town of Grover’s Corners. It is the vision of Katrina Ploof, the director that makes this production as unique and powerful as it is. OUR TOWN runs through July 24th.
Shortly, Bill and I will be heading north - if I can work it out, I just might do a Meanderings from the road (Hampton style, that is).
Ciao for Now!
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