Around Christmas, 2020, right as we were coming out of lockdown and looking forward to a vaccine, my husband Patricio was diagnosed with cancer. Thus began the most difficult and painful experience of my life. It was a six-month struggle, ending with his death on June 27, 2022.
Patricio was my biggest fan, always supporting my writing and bringing his many friends and family to my shows. He made it possible for me to have a career in writing for the stage.
couple goals
If you never met him, you missed one of the brightest personalities the world has known. Visit Legacy.com to read his tribute.
After Patricio left, it was difficult to live in the city that we had shared for a decade and a half. So I decided that I needed to say goodbye to San Diego and put the past behind me.
Where to go? If I’m going to pursue theatre seriously, then there’s really only one option: New York. (Okay, I considered London, but now’s not the best time to be an undocumented refugee.)
It took me almost exactly one year of hard work, putting our affairs in order, tying up loose ends. I even gave up my dog, Mathilde. But after months of stretching myself thin, on June 24 I boarded a Delta 747 and flew one-way to JFK.
I have accepted the Chrysler Building as my personal lord and savior.
And now I’m here in the big city. Several projects are in the queue. First up: a full-length musical, working title: “Alan Turing & the Queen of the Night.” Think of it as a queer fantasy, a big wild spectacle, operatic and epic in scale. I’ve finished a draft of the book, and now I’m on the hunt for a brilliant composer.
(If you’re a songwriter, drop me a line. I want to hear from you!)
And so that is my status as of the summer of 2022. I went through hell to get here, but now that I have arrived, I’m more excited than ever. Cue Mama Rose: “You’ll be swell, you’ll be great! Gonna have the whole world on a plate!”
Thanks for being part of my adventure.