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(November 30th1964 - TO DATE) OF  |
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(November 30th1964 - TO DATE) OF |
Three years ago – at the seemingly old age of 37 - music started pouring out of me like water through a hole in the dam. One song led to a full musical (INBETWEEN) and two years later - bim-bam-boom I had given up my home, law practice and friends in Boston and was living in NYC. I figured – if I’m going to be a fag writing musical theater I’d do it right – and live in the West Village!What a wild ride it's been.
Jeffrey
is my first name, but I go by Todd primarily because that’s what my grandmother
wanted to call me. She was a wonderful woman and my best friend growing
up. That’s her to the left. I miss her.
Tampa, Florida was a great place to grow up – if you were straight, white and could afford private school. I was unfortunately only white – but with Fernandez as a last name – confused about even that. It was years before I fully understood where the Fernandez fit in. |
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| In fifth grade, my mother (also
a wonderful, hard working survivalist) bought me a spinet piano (which
she still has) and by the end of sixth grade, my music teacher at school
gave me a trophy for music – and told everyone: "Todd said he’d play better
than me in a year, and well, he was right." I loved Mrs. Ellston (and the
recognition).
I kept it up and by high school was studying pre-college piano at the University of Tampa with Prof. Judith Edberg who was like a second mother. To her chagrin, however, I was easily distracted and during my years at Hillsborough High, I also sang and danced with a first ranked group called Sound System which performed several times a week at places like state fairs, rotary events, the Florida Strawberry festival, retirement homes and even Disney World. Race riots were popular 1978-1982 in a school roughly 50-50 black/white. I never understood them then – and they are unbelievable to me now. Piano performance as it turns out requires strict dedication from the age of 5 not 5th grade and early on I realized my attention span was more suited to being a jack-of-all-trades than a master of any. So – piano gave way to law school – and after conducting an orchestra for a college production of Sweet Charity and musical directing the law school follies – I traded my piano playing for a spot on LA Law (well, "Boston law" that was). |
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Litigating during the day and fighting for gay civil rights by night as chair of the MA Gay & Lesbian Political Alliance – all I did was fight! We were the first generation of gay people to be gay during the day (says "SEAN" in INBETWEEN). And, as with most emerging yet still fledgling civil rights movements – mostly - gay people fought each other. Growing pains are well - painful!
We had successes: the first domestic partnership ordinance in Boston, several pro-gay candidates elected – and - I actually hosted a town meeting on "gay marriage" way back in 1993. Needless to say the older gay activists were staunchly opposed to raising that ire (they were right – but look 10 years later- WOO HOO!! – bring it ON!).
Ultimately, and with much gay support, a pro-gay republican: Governor Bill Weld, came to power in MA – replacing a profoundly homophobic democrat – Michael Dukakis. And VOILA – openly gay people took their places at some of the highest-ranking state jobs ever (including two as Chief of Staff). I served seven years first as General Counsel to the Executive Office of Economic Development and later, as Director of the Governor’s Office for Brownfields Revitalization (see www.massbrownfields.state.ma.us).
I learned first hand: As the old joke goes: "You never want to see two things being made: sausage and laws." But WHO KNEW working in government and politics would be so relevant to the entirely unexpected next phase of my life: Musical Theater! Seriously!
I moved to NYC in September 2002 – and by January 2003 had a sold-out standing-ovation show at the Duplex, and by that summer had finished my second show: "ANOTHER LIFE?" Now, thanks to the mind-blowing generosity of many family and friends, a fully-staged production of that dramatic musical opens on June 25th 2004 in New York City!
To this day, I don’t know or understand where the music comes from. The first two musicals poured through the dam as if they had been waiting too long to write themselves. During the first year of writing I would look at myself in the mirror and ask: "Who the hell are you!?" Now I think: perhaps I’m the jack-of-all-trades that has finally found the role he will master.
| Thank you for your time.
Sincerely, Jeffrey Todd Fernandez, Esquire, Activist, Musician … p.s. I finally met "Mr. Joseph Fernandez"
(a/k/a bio-dad) this past summer. Turns out he lived in my neighborhood
in Tampa all along. We all went dancing recently to one of those retiree
dinner-dances in Clearwater FL (a mini-musical in and of itself!). It’s
nice to find that piece of the puzzle. Turns out my grandmother (from Sicily)
and grandfather (Spain) worked in Cuban cigar factories in Ybor City (Tampa)
FL their whole lives… don’t smoke cigars myself but they are sort of sexy…
p.p.s. All the gay people have left the West Village and now live slightly northward in a much less charming neighborhood called Chelsea. |
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| p.p.p.s. Though there have
been many loves and I have wonderful friends, my true love these days is
Samantha - Sam (pictured to the left). She’s named after Samatha Stevens
of course – as she’s quite magical – Samatha Stevens Fernandez is her full
name. We have no idea who her real parents are and don’t care.
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