I'm Not Dead... Yet! (15 page)

I could barely contain myself—I kept thinking, ‘I’ve got to play this part.’ I wanted to jump out of my seat and onto the stage! I felt my heart race; literally. It had done that many times before, but this time you could see my heart beating through my shirt.

By “Oh, Here Is Love” in the second act, I was ready to accept the challenge of the physical and vocal hurdles, and focus on making this a show where Frederic, the Slave of Duty, actually
fulfills
his duty.

When the curtain came down I thought ‘Screw it all.’ I was going back to eight shows a week. My true home. Theater. New York. ‘Old school.’

Funny, but my heart immediately calmed down.

My agent couldn’t believe it. I was in a position to start making big money.

How could I take a Broadway show? But I never took a job because of the money; I made choices based on my inspiration to do a part. I wasn’t a father and a husband yet, so I had that luxury. Broadway was
the kind of hard work I adored; fine-tuning each moment in every performance; feeling the ‘personality’ of each audience within seconds of being onstage.

Back to New York. Back to
real
work.

When I accepted the role, Linda Ronstadt was about to leave the show. Joseph Papp and director Wilford Leach assured me I would love Karla DeVito who was given the ingenue lead and would be my Mabel. (I’m certain they had no idea how
much
I would love her.)

Karla had toured the world with Jim Steinman and Meat Loaf’s original
Bat out of Hell
, creating the live “Paradise by the Dashboard Lights.” Fulfilling a dream of starring on Broadway, she put her solo album on hold to become Linda Ronstadt’s understudy when
Pirates
opened in January 1981—with a guarantee she would make her Broadway debut in the role.

It happened sooner than expected: on second reviewers night—just a few days after opening—with no rehearsal and 350 people from the press in the audience, Karla went on for an ailing Ms. Ronstadt. She sang like a dream, receiving a standing ovation from the packed house, and rave reviews from the critics.

To prepare for the role, I worked for two weeks with Dan Berlinghoff, the conductor, and Marge Rivingston, the ultimate Broadway vocal coach, finding ways to maneuver my baritone voice through the treacherous tenor shoals.

Then, during my first rehearsal, my life changed forever. A goddess walked into the room.

An Angel!

A saint!

I felt like the theatre gods were looking down on me.

I lost all sense of time and space and completely lost my head.

She was extraordinary.

She was funny

yet stunning!

She was Karla DeVito…

I fell in love instantly.
My heart felt like it was pounding again—but this time it was for a perfectly understandable reason!

Two weeks after meeting Karla, I told our conductor (Dan Berlinghoff; truly one of the great men/friends in my life) that Karla DeVito was the woman I was going to marry. (Of course, Karla had no idea of my feelings!) Dan was stunned by the speed of my decision and told me he thought “she may be in a relationship, but I’m not sure.”

I felt like a dog,