John's page

Tuesday, October 16

The York Theatre has confirmed that Arturo's Window will have a second reading on Tuesday, Dec 11. I am very excited. Cheryl and Rod have been rewriting the play, and there has been some recasting of roles, and the character John, previously played by two people, will now be merged into one!!!

There may even be a new song!

I can't wait to see it and I hope you can come to see it too.

Wednesday, August 28

NO HONEYMOON HERE, SORRY TO DISAPPOINT

Though it touches my heart to hear all the congratulations, the fact is that the relationship between me and Tom Gualtieri is a WORKING relationship - not a marriage, and not a love affair.

Someone misread his website, he is not married to me and I am not married to him.

We are friends, only friends, so please don't tell anyone else that we are a happy couple. We are friends and associates.....thanks for all the congratulations but they are in error.....

Sunday, August 26

THE BOOK HAS NOT YET BEEN RELEASED

I am so very happy to see that people are eager to buy the book. It has not yet been printed, so I cannot direct you to places to buy it. It will be in English, and hopefully will be available at your local book store.

We will be happy to notify you when the book is released. Simply go to the mailing list page and send us your contact info.

Thanks again for your interest. We are excited to get all this attention.

Saturday, August 25

THERE IS NO SOLO SHOW!!!

A rumor has sprung up that I have a solo show. The only show about my life and times is Arturo's Window, which is a play with 8 actors, and I am not playing myself.

What I am doing, myself, is speaking about WOCHA, the support organization I am creating to assist women of color (Women of Color Health Awareness)

When my boyfriend was in the hospital, I became good friends with Verna, who was also sick with HIV. She gave me such comfort as he was dying. Then she died, but before she did I promised her I would do something to help other women in her situation. She had two little girls who were left without a mother.

I am a volunteer at St. Vincent's now, as I was back in the 90's, and still very passionate about the issue of HIV, and the people who get inadequate care - gay men, women of color, people without health insurance, you name it.

I am available to talk to interested groups about HIV, Hep C and other health issues, and perhaps may tell a story or two about the years I spent trying to help people with these illnesses. But that is as close to a solo show as I am going to get.

The WOCHA website will be up by the end of the weekend, and I am working on nonprofit status right now. Once that is established, the company will accept donations.

(For those of you who might be thinking "What about his light fingers? Where will my money go?", don't worry. I will not be the treasurer of the organization or have access to the funds, and my role as spokesperson will be an unpaid role.)

Tuesday, August 21

Cheryl and I read all the blog entries, often calling each other on the phone to share them out loud. We are thrilled that the story we are telling is so very interesting to others and that people take the time to respond so fully.

As for the Lorne story, yes, things have changed. I have changed. Life is better.

It is very gratifying to see that my struggles and hard lessons (and my willingness to talk about them frankly) have value for others.

We so appreciate all the comments, and are hard at work finishing the book and the play.

As soon as we have dates of release for the book or the next show dates for the play we will post it.

Thur, Aug 2

Someone on the blog asked me about my cabaret friends, and if they stuck with me. Some did, and some didn't.

Bobby Belfry (who I never produced, by the way, he had his own producers) is part of the cast of Arturo's Window, and we are still friends.

Some of my friends in the cabaret world came to visit me in prison, brought me clothes to wear.

Some of them were very upset with me, because their CD's were in the middle of production, and they were caught by surprise. My attorneys worked very hard, and my family helped out, and all of them got their masters from the production companies. I did the best I could.

Still, they must have been very unhappy to find out that I was using stolen funds to create their CD's. Some didn't get over it.

But most of them have been very happy about my resurfacing into the world after my time behind bars. They have emailed me, or met me for dinner, or called me on the phone. I am very lucky.

Thur, July 26

My very good friend Cheryl has been urging me to respond to the postings on the sites. I cannot respond to each and every posting or email I get--there are too many. I'd never have time to do anything else.

But I am very pleased that so many people are interested in the play and the book, and that my experience has provoked so much passionate soul-searching. It certainly has provoked soul-searching on MY part!

I will be adding comments to this page on a regular basis, with the date of the comment posted at the beginning, so if you have questions, check out this page. You may find the answer here.

Thanks for all your interest,

John