It was a freezing night. After the twenty-degree drop from noon to evening, I was very, I mean extremely, under dressed. When I got out of the train station, a cold breeze flew right pass me and nearly knocked me over. I embraced the cold, seeing as that was the only way to get through it. I passed the Roseland Ballroom, lit up for the entire city sky to see, and wished I was with my boyfriend and his family, partying, at the Michael Jackson Soundtrack Premiere. However, I was on my way to fulfill a requirement for Honors 125.
When I got to the distant, lonely building, I followed the signs that read “INTAR NYC.” At first, I was petrified and I thought it was all a little too weird. The signs directed me to ring the bell, go into the elevator, and go up to the fourth floor. As I entered the elevator, which looked like more of a freight carrier, I pressed the number four and realized that it didn’t light up. The door of the elevator wouldn’t close either. I was more than nervous. I pressed the number three, and the doors closed. However, when it opened up to the third level, there was no entrance. I really started panicking, but luckily I got to the fourth floor, safely.
When I got there, Professor Healey was nowhere in sight. As I waited, a tall Hispanic man came up to me and asked me if I would be joining them. I explained to him that I was waiting for my professor to come and he was overjoyed when he heard the name, “Meghan Healey.” I waited for about fifteen minutes and I was nervous that I was in the wrong place, but in came Professor Healey, Michelle, Janine, William, and Nicole with empanadas and arrepas in hand.
This was sure to be a very different experience than what I had expected. We sat in a small theater with a few chairs, a podium, and some really good lighting for such a small place. I was ready for some awesome Hispanic music and spoken word, although I didn’t originally expect that it would be so laid back.
The actors, singers, writers, and directors came one by one up to the podium, speaking on the theme of “Home for the Holidays.” The first man, who was, by far, the funniest of the bunch spoke about abbreviations and acronyms. He was moving, hilarious, and most of all, engaging. He shared with us something he had just wrote that day and I was amazed by the great piece he came up with in one day. I would have probably taken years to come up with something as clever as that. Another man who was from Brooklyn, I believe, spoke about being an adopted child and how “home for the holidays,” really does have a different meaning for those of us who don’t really know where our home lies. I felt really bad for him and I still wonder if that was a true story.
The next man I remember was an actor and a writer who spoke about his live in nanny from his childhood days who suffered a miscarriage and held her dead baby in her arms. He wasn’t just reading. He was acting. You could tell by the way he spoke that he was indeed an actor, and a good one at that. He used rhythm and volume to really emphasize the different moods that he was feeling, and the different moods that his nanny was feeling. It felt almost like we were there with him, and we were a part of his “family,” even though we were merely MHC students. This was my favorite piece of the night. I couldn’t take my eyes off of the actor once he started reading because of how intensely awesome, for lack of a better word, it was.
Then, there was a woman who resembled someone I had seen on television before, but I still can’t quite make out whom that might have been. She read a story about a woman who bit her (Rosie the Reindeer, I believe). It was really funny and it showed a change in the character’s views of Christmas. Like the first performer, she was also very humorous and left us all laughing when she started to sing “Jingle, jingle frickin’ balls.” What I like about this piece is that it was humorous, but also very serious at times. I could really relate to this woman. Then, she busted out an awesome quote, which I had to write down, but because of my lack of paper and a pen, I had to save it onto my phone. She said, “some things are better left in the past, it’s the only way to get on with our future.” I felt as if she was speaking to me, and at that point, I fell in love with her.
Finally, the last two performances I remember were by a Cuban woman, who was sent to America by herself, and Cristian Amigo. They were phenomenal artists. The woman’s voice was very raspy and masculine, yet pretty and traditional. (I actually snuck my Vado in to take a video of her singing, which I will post in this blog). Then came Cristian Amigo. When Professor Healey started screaming as he came out, I knew I was in for either excellence or Ralph Lemmon. Cristian Amigo started playing his guitar, and it took my breath away. He was awesome! I don’t really think he was trying to stick with the theme, as he mentioned before he started, but his music was phenomenal.
INTAR Theatre felt like a home of not only Hispanics, but for homosexual couples, those who feel lost, and for those who just want to share their art with someone else. I really liked the atmosphere, and even though I am only eighteen and I couldn’t take part in some of the “after hours” fun, I still felt comfortable being there. Maybe one day I’ll go back there and share something I wrote. Maybe.
