Lights: Despair, Faith, and Hope on Broadway

LIGHTS

Despair, Faith, and Hope on Broadway

RAJIV KAPOOR

Copyright © 2014 Rajiv Kapoor.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Lights is a work of fiction. Names, characters, events, places and incidents are either a product of the author’s imagination, or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales, is purely coincidental.

Abbott Press

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ISBN: 978-1-4582-1559-8 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4582-1561-1 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4582-1560-4 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2014907044

Abbott Press rev. date: 07/03/2014

Contents

Acknowledgements

Preface

1.     Hotel Carter – Times Square

2.     School’s out for Summer

3.     Summertime Blues

4.     Introduction to the Opera

5.     Performing Arts at Holy Cross

6.     The Runner

7.     Children’s Theater

8.     Wealth Creation

9.     Troubled Dream

10.   ‘Hold it Right There, Boy!’

11.   Juvenile Drug Delinquents

12.   Prom Night

13.   College Bound

14.   Protecting the Children

15.   Summertime Decisions

16.   Graduation

17.   Barnard College

18.   Release

19.   The New 42nd Street– A Commentary on Actual Efforts

20.   Back to Work

21.   The Slough Years

22.   City Friendships

23.   Renaissance

24.   Touring

25.   Cuisines Come to Midtown

26.   The Director

27.   Newark Gig

28.   An Artist’s Training

29.   Opening Night

30.   Presence

Acknowledgements

T o start at the beginning, I have to acknowledge the cosmic laws of nature that have allowed our species to evolve into intelligent beings, able to enjoy the arts. We live on a crazily tilted blue orb, which is spinning and revolving around our very own sun. There are billions of these suns in our galaxy the Milky Way and billions of such galaxies in our known universe and as such I acknowledge the extremely small probability of my very existence and ability to pen this book, and share it with you, my readers.

The next acknowledgement goes to my parents Bhim Sen, a true Karma Yogi, and his wife for 74 years, Shanta, a woman of quiet determination. They gave me their unconditional love and nourished my soul, unfazed by the unexpected arrival of me as the youngest of seven children.

From the daily rituals of the fire sacrifice (yagna) and prayer practiced by the family, I learnt that true knowledge is timeless and life has a higher purpose.

The next acknowledgement goes to the Jesuits as they schooled me at St Xavier’s High School in Civil Lines, New Delhi. They taught me a new language and exposed me to an international standard of education. These great educators added to the values I had received from my family and their Spartan lifestyles showed that knowledge does not need wealth nor its trappings. With this educational base, I went ahead to complete my formal education from the University of Delhi, The State University of New York, Binghamton and The Pennsylvania State University.

I am grateful for the unyielding support of my wife Sonia, and our dear children, Neha and Karan, which has helped me survive the many ups and downs in my life. They have stood by me through thick and thin. Now with the addition of dear Rayva, the circle of life continues.

The next acknowledgement goes to the great city of New York where I started life again at less than minimum wage (despite my MBA) for an auditor, doing audits of city programs to help the poorest of the poor. I traveled to all the boroughs and saw the old, poor and the destitute and understood urban blight can exist in this great city, in the richest nation on earth.

I am indebted to the working poor of the Garment District in New York and around the world, who battle against great odds. Their dedication to working endless hours each day and their ability to survive and prosper, when all the forces are working against them, is a testament to our human endeavor for a better life. My work with them over a decade gave me an intimate feel for this metropolis, which I have tried to share with a larger audience.

In this country of immigrants, being one, it is also a dedication to the legal and non-legal immigrants who work in the city of New York, and so many other cities all over the world. So many services are rendered by them, both social and economic, in the under bellies of our cities. I believe that without them; we would not be able to live the modern lifestyles we live today.

My next acknowledgement goes to the World Trade Center. On a clear September morning, I walked out of the burning North Tower, to see a second plane fly over my shoulder and hit the South Tower and destroy the greatest office towers I had ever worked in. It shook me to my core and from that day on, I wanted to do something to show the resilience of this great city and its people, who have given me a second life.

I acknowledge the contribution to the world of all the single mothers who strive every day to bring up their young in a hostile world, and are an inspiration to all of us. This tale is a testimony to their struggle against great odds to raise their children, with the right values and aspirations.

I am grateful to Mr. Ebrahim Alkazi, the Director of the National School of Drama in New Delhi, whose team, with their unique plays, like ‘Tughlak’ and ‘Razia Begum’, in the grand open theater of the Old Fort, showed what a live performance by stage actors in a great setting can do to enthrall us. From my early teen age years it inculcated in me the love for the theater which I have pursued in London and New York, or wherever I have had the opportunity to attend a live play.

The greatest acknowledgement is for all the writers, actors, musicians, stage hands, directors, producers and people involved all over the world who bring us live theater. This book is dedicated to their spirit and efforts to make the world of theater a magical experience for all of us.

I thank my publisher, Abbot Press, and my editor, Abha Iyengar, who helped me to complete this work and bring it to you.

Rajiv Kapoor

New Jersey, 2014

My personal blog is rajivkapoor123.com

Preface

How dull it is to pause, to make an end,

To rust unburnished, not to shine in use!

~ ‘Ulysses’ by Tennyson

"M ommy, Mommy!"

Little Henry stood by the doorman at the curb, under the gargoyles peering down at him from the entrance of their granite prewar building. He pulled at Vera’s skirt, Why do we have to move from here? I like it here and all my friends are here.

The doorman, in his well-ironed, starched, gray uniform, finally waved down a yellow cab. With his white-gloved hands, he opened the door for Henry and Vera to get in. Doffing his hat at Vera, he whispered, Have a good day, Miss Lights. He bowed and closed the door once she had settled in.

Vera instructed the cab driver, Carter Hotel in Times Square, 250 West 43rd Street. She noticed Henry staring out of the other window, fascinated by a dog walker taking six dogs out for a walk to Central Park.

She looked at her watch. She was running a little late, as it had taken her some time to settle Loretta with the baby-sitter and get Henry ready. He had insisted on coming with her. She looked out and watched the stately buildings of the Upper West Side and the fancy stores and restaurants go past as they headed downtown.

Vera was meeting one of her old friends from the theater district who had been a producer, and was one of the investors in the recently built Carter Hotel. She planned to move into two rooms of the hotel permanently. The current apartment was costing her too much money and she knew she had to do something, as her savings were dwindling every year.

The producer was offering her a ten-year lease at a ridiculously low rate as he had made a lot of money when he had invested in one of her past performances.

The doorman’s words clicked in the cab driver’s mind and he suddenly recognized Vera’s beautiful face. Wow! The cab driver said, looking at her in the rearview mirror, Ms. Vera Lights, the famous Broadway Star! My wife is a huge fan and has seen most of your performances. Wait till I tell the missus who I gave a ride to today!

Vera gave him a small smile. She was used to being a celebrity and evoking strange responses in complete strangers.

They finally pulled up to the façade of the hotel and the cab driver refused to take money for the fare saying, The missus will kill me if I charge her heroine, Vera Lights, for a ride. Please, this trip is on me and it is an honor to have you ride with me.

The doorman of the hotel held the door open of the cab as Vera and Henry stepped out; and then he guided them into the lobby. Vera and Henry walked in for the first time in their lives through the doors of the hotel which was about to become their Times Square residence.

*

The journey of Veronica Jones, a farm girl from rural upstate New York State, into a Broadway star by the name of Vera Lights, started at a regional theater in Albany.

Veronica’s parents were tenant farmers and she was an only child. She was a healthy young girl with a glowing complexion and had inherited her mother’s good looks.

Her school was part of a theater competition, organized by a philanthropic organization set up by some of New York City’s old families, for the promotion of the theatrical arts. Her natural talents as a singer, dancer and stage performer were recognized as she stood out amongst the other performers in the competition. When the director of a touring company of playwrights and performers from New York City expressed an interest in her joining their company, her father had objected strongly.

It was her mother who encouraged her. She did not want Veronica to have the hard life of a farmer that she herself, as an ex-city girl from Brooklyn had endured when she married her love and moved to the farm in upstate New York. Her dreams of moving back to the city had never materialized and she had resigned herself to her fate. She had worried about the mortgage and how to bring up Veronica so that she would have a more equitable chance in this world. She did not want her daughter to suffer the same fate and persuaded her husband to let her go and explore the world and make a new life.

It was the Director who coached and refined Veronica’s skills. She had worked with the larger troupe and learnt many of her early lessons in the theater, as they performed across the state and city. The travelling and the performances made Veronica very busy and she immersed herself into the acts and the plays. As is often true in smaller companies, she learnt multiple parts, and her natural talent was improved by countless hours of practice and rehearsals.,.

Her big break came when she was selected for her young fresh farm looks to play the part of Abbie in an off-Broadway revival of Desire under the Elms from the famous playwright, Eugene O’Neil. It was also at this time that the director changed her name to Vera Lights to make it more glamorous and appropriate for a star.

The play was a huge success and the young Vera played the tortured role of the young wife of the old farmer and his two grown sons in a lonely farmhouse to perfection. To the city dwellers the vistas of farm living were stark and made the characters appear larger than life.

A young critic at the New York Herald by the name of Jake Alexander was especially enthusiastic about her performance and gave her great reviews. A new star has been born and Vera’s performance brings alive the desolate life of O’Neil’s young heroine in a natural talent that is so fresh and yet so ageless. This revival is a must see as the young Miss Lights brings alive a role that many other major stars have struggled to portray. Her final scenes will be scorched into the audience’s memories and no one can come away unmoved by her enactment of her character’s moral struggles and lonely despair.

Vera’s career went on from there to new heights as she became a recognized star. She won new roles and became a regular feature in the leading theatrical circles of New York. She was wooed by many young men and married one of the young and handsome men after a whirlwind courtship.

Elliot, her new husband, and Vera, settled down in New York City where she bought an apartment with her income from her new stardom. They became a fixture in many of the city’s gatherings of young stars and old money as they hobnobbed with the rich and famous. Her life seemed perfect and she was living out all her dreams and all of Broadway and New York City seemed to adore her and put her on a pedestal of stardom.

She received another break when she was selected to play Stella in the Broadway production of A Streetcar named Desire, one of the most eagerly anticipated productions of that year.

*

Vera’s story is closely tied to the environment of midtown Manhattan and the history of the city’s decline and rise. There are references to actual events and persona during this period from the 80’s to present day for completeness and are in no way intended to represent their views or lives.

Midtown’s deterioration, the shutdown of some of the famous theaters of the area and its decline into a crime prone area, is tied into the lives of Vera and her children.

The neighborhood had become seedier and was soon known as the armpit of New York. Crime had soared to 2,300 felonies in 1984 or six assaults a day.

The Light family’s struggle is the story of the people of this great city who persevered against all odds, and especially of single mothers, trying to raise their children in a hostile world.

I refer to Herb Sturz of NJ who had taken up the cause of NYC revival and especially of Times Square with a passion and dedication unrivaled by other skeptics and doomsayers in the city.

In 1979, Sturz became deputy mayor of NYC, defining his job when he said, We want to bring fantasy back to Times Square and replace the grim reality, as reported by Sam Roberts in ‘A Kind of Genius: Herb Sturz and Society’s toughest problems.’ He enlisted the help of Rebecca Robertson, an experienced city planner, and involved other leading community activists to reinvent the Great White Way.

Douglas Durst and his landlord family, along with others with large holdings in the area, initially fought any government intervention, considering it wasteful. Eventually, Durst started to realize that Sturz was serious in his efforts and went on to build the 4, Times Square building on his holdings, with a major investment and boost for the area.

It was the first green 48 stories tall skyscraper. It houses NASDAQ with the largest LED screen (seven stories) and solar panels on the roof and taller floors. Gigantic fuel cells warm water for the building and Natural-gas chillers cool it, saving electricity. The air is cooled using special shafts and conduits to enhance filtering.

Also, plans were made to build a glass and steel tower at what became the prestigious new address of One Times Square in a revived midtown.

Cora Cahan, a theater impresario, revived the New Victory for Children plays, as it was her lifetime passion to revive family fun in midtown. As part of the city’s revival they reached out to many major corporations for support and Ford Motor restored the Lyric and Apollo theaters back to their former glory.

Disney renewed the most famous of Broadway theaters, the New Amsterdam, for live plays, based on their popular movies. Modern Broadway was born and over 20 million tourists a year made Times Square the greatest tourist destination in the US.

The theatrical revival led to 39 Broadway houses with 7.5 million theatergoers, making it the best live entertainment in the world. With the improved infrastructure over 200,000 commuters a day passed through Times Square, making its seedy past a faint memory.

*

From her rise to the heights of society, we come upon Vera at a time when her world is collapsing around her, at a time when the Great White Way has crumbled. Slowly, the theaters have closed and, as the producers move on to less risky investments, the work has disappeared.

After a series of unsuccessful short marriages with agents and leading men of her times, she has two children, Henry and Loretta.

The one shoulder she can lean on is that of her friend, Jake Alexander, who is also Loretta’s godfather. He has known Vera from her younger, vibrant days as a star. Jake is the theater critic of the New York Herald and goes on to become a Pulitzer Prize winning reporter and editor of the New York Times.

Vera, sick of touring the regional towns for negligible pay, comes back to live in her Upper West Side rented apartment in New York City. And then moves on to Hotel Carter.

Will the new world that aims to reinvent the Great White Way, with the revival of NYC and especially of Times Square, allow Vera and her family to bring alive their hopes and dreams from the depths of despair? This is the very essence of this tale.

Hotel Carter – Times Square

V era gazed down at the stark white tiles and, as usual, her mind wandered.

The tiles always transported her back to the institutional tiles at the Children’s Hospital. She had been there with labor pains for her baby girl and the delivery room had the same tiles. She had spent hours staring at them as the contractions continued, before the final delivery of a healthy little girl – her angel.

I wish I could go back home quickly, just to get away from these septic white tiles, she had thought to herself, irritated at being back in the hospital for another baby. The labor had exhausted her and Vera remembered smiling weakly at the baby girl the nurse held up for her.

No more babies for you, the doctors had warned her, you are getting old. I have my boy and girl, she thought, and so she had agreed.

*

Now Vera stared at her pale toes resting on the white tiles of the bathroom floor. She noticed that the nail polish had chipped from her big left toe. So much for the long lasting vibrant red that the Avon lady had sold me, she thought. She had just applied the new polish yesterday and it was already falling apart. There were no makeup artists or pedicure ladies around these days for her to command at the snap of a finger, unlike her days at the theater dressing rooms. She would have to fix the polish herself; but she had no time now. In any case, she would wear socks and comfortable shoes for her daily stint as a waitress, so the chipped nail polish did not matter.

She stared at her ankles, they looked a little swollen and some veins were starting to show. Thankful that her legs were still shapely, she sighed and quietly exited the untidy bathroom, with its lipsticks, tubes, toothbrushes, hairpins and scrunches.

She walked out into the room which served as both bedroom and parlor and asked her eight year old son, Henry, are Loretta and you ready to leave?

They lived in two connected hotel rooms, with one for her and the other for eight year old Henry and six year old Loretta. The kids had their own bathroom to get ready.

Their room also served as a kitchenette and there was a small fridge and electric stove. The kids normally had cereal and milk with some orange juice for breakfast before heading to school. Once in school, they ate a subsidized lunch at the public school cafeteria.

She would walk them the few blocks to their school and then she headed off to the Broadway diner where she worked as a waitress.

Loretta, her angel, sat on the small table and looked sleepy as she ate her cereal. Her hair was disheveled. Vera took a brush and straightened out her hair. Then she tied it with a rubber band in a ponytail at the back of her head. She smiled and asked, How is my little angel doing today morning?

Loretta looked up, some milk dripping to her chin, and smiled back at her mother. Loretta had bright, beautiful, clear blue eyes and a cute, slightly upturned nose. She wiped it with her sleeve and twisted it from side to side as she looked up at her mother. With one baby tooth missing, making her look even cuter, she made a pretty picture, even this early in the morning.

The child still had trouble getting up at 7am in the morning and was struggling to change her routine. She had just started public school and was not used to the idea of getting ready and leaving early, since preschool had started at a later hour.

Oh, Mom, she protested, Henry is telling me to hurry up again! Can you please tell him to wait for some more time? He is the one who was in the bathroom the whole time.

Henry was already at the door with both their book bags. He waited for his baby sister to put on her shoes. He smiled at Vera and said, We are going to be late again if we don’t hurry down.

Dressed in her pleated, gray, long skirt, and a white blouse, Vera made sure she had her pocket book and keys as she walked the kids out to the corridor towards the elevator, locking the door behind her.

Henry put his arm protectively around his sister’s shoulder as they stepped into the elevator. Vera smiled as she looked at his dark brown head full of unruly hair. He was tall for his age and carried his shoulders back. Have you finished the reading assignment for the week? she asked.

Henry smiled, Yes, Mom, I finished it the previous afternoon.

You had better make sure that you walk Loretta back home after school and do not go off with any friends. Vera reminded him as usual as they walked down to the sidewalk.

Loretta did not get assignments yet and normally just spent the time watching the cartoons and Sesame Street on TV.

Henry did not like this neighborhood school. He had preferred the Upper East Side school that they had moved from two years earlier. But Vera could no longer afford that swanky apartment and had managed a great deal on the Carter Hotel in midtown through a friend. So she had moved to Times Square to try and preserve her savings.

Vera reflected wistfully on her earlier residence, the East 70th Street fancy building, with the white gloved doorman, where everybody knew her by name.

*

She was Miss Vera Lights (of Broadway) who moved in all the theater circles and was often invited out to various dinners and lunches. She did bring a certain glamor to the events.

One of the restaurants which had catered to the theater trade in its heyday still had the poster which announced her as Stella in the production of A Streetcar named Desire. It was one of many colorful posters displayed prominently, commemorating great runs on Broadway.

She had been married at the time to her third husband Daniel, her leading man in the rave-reviewed A Streetcar named Desire.

Things had not been going well with her second husband Elliot before she married Dan. He had turned out to be a lush and weak, just wanting to enjoy the fame and fortune that his young and beautiful wife earned. They would attend and throw great parties, but somehow Vera felt that something was missing from her marriage. After a while, Elliot and Vera had just drifted apart, and Vera threw herself into her work.

When she and Dan met on the stage, they quickly displayed a chemistry together that seemed to bring the haunting world of A Streetcar named Desire into the theater.

She did not know when their close proximity turned into a romance. She remembered the tremors of excitement that coursed through her body at the rehearsals. They would exchange hidden glances and their eyes just could not get enough of each other. They had secretly kissed behind the curtains, and whenever they managed to get away from the people around them.

Daniel said to her once, passionately kissing her neck and shoulders in an alcove before a scene, Vera, my love, we have to find a way to be together somehow.

Oh Dan, you know that is not possible. But you are driving me crazy too, with your passion. She pushed him away, and went with shaking thighs onto the stage to complete the next scene.

She finally gave in to Dan’s request to marry him, going off with Elliot to Las Vegas to get a divorce.

Elliot was quite resigned to the divorce. Vera had made it very clear that she wanted to move on in her life. Vera darling, you know I have always loved you and will do anything for you, all you have to do is call me, he said, as he signed the papers before the Registrar. She gave Elliot her Manhattan apartment as part of the settlement, as he would not sign the papers without it. Elliot, now that you have taken everything from me that you could, it is time for us to move on with our separate lives. I now wonder if you ever really loved me, as it seems you just wanted the famous Vera and not the real me. Vera said to him, quickly signing off on the papers and securing her copy.

Vera had rushed off to Manhattan to meet Dan at the airport. She threw her arms around him and kissed him in public for the first time. Oh Daniel, I am sorry it took so long but I had to be confident that I was not falling into another marriage trap. It is so good to see you again. Thank God, that old chapter of my life is finally over.

Vera and Dan immediately fled to Paris to get away from the people around them.

As they entered the hotel’s expensive suite, Dan said to her, Welcome to the city of love Vera, darling. It’s so good to finally have you to myself.

And, at a restaurant off the Champ Elysees, Dan had formally proposed. Vera, will you please accept this ring so that we can begin our life together in this beautiful city? I am so in love with you and will make you happier than any man alive.

Oh Dan! This is beautiful, I love it and of course this is so romantic and it is everything that I wanted for such a long time… Vera said, admiring the rather extravagant, canary yellow, diamond ring.

Vera, you have made me the happiest man alive tonight, Dan whispered in her hair as they sipped the best champagne in the house and looked out at the lights of Paris.

Vera reached up and ran her fingers through Dan’s hair. Yes, it all seems like a dream and I wish that this dream never ends… She kissed him and then reached out for his hands. They sat there, enjoying the warm Parisian night.

After a night of exquisite love making, they had a leisurely breakfast in bed. Dan said, Today, we are going to go see the Louvre, as I have always wanted to see the Mona Lisa and her mysterious smile.

He courted her ardently in the various parts of the city on the left and right banks of the Seine River. The city of Paris had grown over the centuries into the twenty, clockwise spiraling arrondissements.

They loved the wide avenues, the beautiful statues and the extravagant fountains, gardens and bridges. They went to the Opera and were amazed by its history; and how the