Kevin Michael Moran
Life is A MUsical, and a drama
Tales of Kevin Michael Moran, Zero to 70 in the speed of light, and love.
July 21,1955: Picture a sticky summer’s day in Brooklyn, many decades before the borough attains “the in-neighborhood” status:
Jean Moran (nee Genevieve) is on her back huffing, puffing, pushing and grunting. She has pink on her mind, but instead, the haze is blue. Which surprises her because Jean’s mom had four female siblings, so this lady in pain is convinced her third child will trend in that direction. But destiny begs to differ, and introduces Kevin Michael Moran, her third son, of four. This Irish-Italian consolation prize will grow up to become the sensitive, giving, and caring man we know today. A chip off the ol’ block. Read on, and discover more about Kev and the ol’ block.
September 1960, the first day of school: Due to a screaming scene rivaling Janet Leigh’s in Hitchcock’s masterpiece, Kevin sabotages his first day of kindergarten, and becomes a grade school dropout. He’s no fool. Life is too grand at home with mom, dad and the boys.
Fall 1961, first grade: Let’s try Catholic school! Home may still be grand, but the Emerald City sheen dulls ever so slightly, due to his newest infatuation. Nuns! “Angels on earth,” that’s what he thinks. These impeccably groomed creatures of God have wisdom to share, and Kevin is taking it all in. Plus, he has a huge crush on Sister Edward Mary. Not long after this, his lifelong obsession with the The Flying Nun ascends. So much so, that this wide-eyed 7-year-old sends away for Sally Field’s autographed photo, and later in life professes to be an authority on the versatile actress (feel free to quiz him). In fact, one day in the far-flung future, Kevin knocks on his idol’s door and takes all-grown-up-Gidget for a spin. Honest-to-nuns truth!
1964: On the classroom chalkboard, Sister Margaret Thomasine writes in giant letters, “SEX IS SACRED UNTIL IT IS MISUSED.” 9-year-old Kevin wonders if an instruction pamphlet needed for proper use?
1960-1972 the family uproots seven times, and the Moran boys attend 5 different schools. Reasons for relocation include destitution, new job for mom, divorce, etc. Following the marital split, oldest brother Tommy “honors” the cause in Viet Nam, brother Buddy hangs out at dad Ray’s place, while Kevin and little Frankie stay where the love is -- with the kind, unassuming Jean Rogers. Shared bedrooms at various houses for her boys take on various forms: a musty basement, a cozy upstairs hallway, and an attic-- where only Hobbits can stand erect. Three of the moves are back to Jean’s mother’s place, the House of Nana.
House of Nana: News flash! Nana and her four sisters were an act and didn’t know it. Nana’s voice rivaled Ethel Merman’s, and she and the sisters were required to sing at all events. To witness soloist Nana sing “You Can’t Keep A Good Man Down” was an earful to behold. But to Kevin, Nana’s best feature was something better. Indeed, the matriarch owned a candy store, and sweets were always on the house.
1962-1967: Kevin accrues more signed photographs such as Sandra Dee’s and Shelly Fabres’, plus starts his 45-record collection. Songs like Johnnie Angel, My Boy Lollipop and Going To The Chapel (the Dixie Cups version, naturally)……
Also during this era: Kev’s father Ray discovers a grand way to oversee his son while mom works. It begins with a stroll-- to the local tavern. Once seated, dad refers to Kevin as “Pal.” While Raymond bottoms up and kibitzes with other patrons, the skinny adolescent slurps on sweet cherry cokes, and crunches unlimited chips. This guileless “Pal” unknowingly observes alcoholic behavior. By the way, as a drunk, Ray is as sweet as they come. Therefore, this man is so easy to love, for most.
1969: Next stop, Christ The King High School. One may wonder, why was this good little Catholic boy the only brother of four elevated to private school status?
July 21,1971: Not Kevin’s best birthday. Despite dad’s lovability, Jean, dissatisfied with Ray's drinking and lack of employment, decides to move out -- with the boys in tow. To this day, Kevin thinks his mom was so keen on saving her family, that she didn’t realize she planned this final exit on her huffing anf puffing anniversary. Indeed, her third son would experience little celebration on this, his 16th.
1972: Kevin starts performing! His first casting ever is in The Miracle Worker. The deep drama is followed up by MUSICALS! The first at St Pancras Confraternity is Fiddler On The Roof (performed three more times throughout his lifetime, so far), followed by The Sound of Music and Annie Get Your Gun. Here, at St Pancras he meets Nadine Plumeau, with whom he remains friends for 53 years.
1975 is the year that Kevin’s eyes opened wide, beginning an era he refers to as the “renaissance of Broadway.” After his first viewing of A Chorus Line (count twelve times total) he desires to be on the stage—always! This Broadway junkie immerses himself, witnessing mind-blowing shows. He dives into Dreamgirls six times, admires Anything Goes eight times, and eavesdrops on Evita six. To name a few. Back then standing room viewing is a mere $10. Kevin is officially in “A New York (Times Square) State of Mind.”
9/11/1975: Tragedy slams the Moran Family as brother Buddy Moran is killed in an automobile accident at a tender age of 22
9/11/1976: Heartbreak again, as Raymond Moran passes at a young 54 years.
December 1976: Kevin nails an audition that results in the romantic lead Cliff in the musical “Cabaret.” And speaking of romance, he falls hard for a Beauty Pageant Queen. Her name? (drum roll) Star Nolan. Kevin says “Star had another boyfriend, and I was the mistress.” The tone of that comment may clue one in on what’s in store.
1977: The benevolent Jean is now office manager at Queens College bookstore, the campus where Kevin is working on his BA. The college’s title “Queens” intrigues. What WAS it named after? a bunch of Royals? The borough itself? A ‘clutch’ of stylish drag-dressers? The institution’s logo which is a crown could easily fit into any of these categories. Alas, the answer is. . . . anybody’s guess.
1977 ½: Meanwhile, to make ends meet, as Jean’s daily bookstore shift ends, she scurries across town to tend bar at Jade East Hotel. In a dark corner booth-- of the subdued inn-- sit her regulars, a “family” of note. The family’s name starts with a “G” and rhymes with bambino (and you didn’t hear it from me). At day’s end, Jean often arrives home with her pocketbook pleasingly padded. That’s because it is not unusual for the Italian-American “family” to drop their favorite bartender a $100 tip. In return, she keeps an eye out for New York’s Finest, and provides instant access to the rear exit, if needed.
1978: Big change for Kevin: To escape an environment of divorce, alcoholism and disfunction (might that motive ring a bell for anyone?), Kevin rents his first place, in Queens. Also, the 22 year-old also springs out of the closet, and meets his first boyfriend.
1979: Kevin performs summer theater in upstate New York: Jesus Christ Superstar, Pippin, The Boyfriend, and Applause.
1980 (summer): Off to the Jersey Shore --Beach Haven, where he’s hired to perform in 12 musicals in 3 months. Grease, Mame, South Pacific, Carnival, She Loves Me, Sweet Charity, Brigadoon, Lil’ Abner, Murder Among Friends, Rogers & Hart Review, and Fiddler On The Roof (#2).
An anecdote from the summer of 1980: Often shows overlap, and Kevin performs the closing of one musical’s matinee, and opens a different show that same evening. Such is the case when he portrays the character with a limp, in Carousel. That evening Brigadoon debuts. When Kevin makes his first entrance, he notices his fellow castmates are looking at him quite oddly. It takes a few minutes for Kevin realize that he is still limping!
1982: Kevin nails a National Tour! He bares his shapely ass around the country in the musical Oh, Calcutta! All in all, a great experience with one caveat: His “cheeks” get a little frigid in Anchorage. Burr!
1983: Kevin displays his dancing skills in the National Tour of Best Little Whorehouse in Texas starring Dolly Pardon’s sister, Stella. Also this is the year Kevin meets his second boyfriend Buddy at Gay Pride New York. This leads to leaving the tour early to move in with him, for the start of a five-year relationship of ups and downs.
1984-1986: Kevin enrolls in Herbert Bergdoff’s acting school where Sandy Denis (The Out of Towners, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolff) and Rita Gardner (the Fantasticks) are a couple of his influential mentors.
1987 Kevin joins Alanon (almost 40 years now) which gives him an understanding of addicts, and a grasp of the concept “letting go.”
1988: Kevin lets go. The relationship with Buddy ends, and Kevin moves to Los Angeles to pursue a career in film, and in education. To sustain, he takes on various jobs such as a waiter and limo driver.
1989-1991: Kevin gets involved acting in Alanon musical-parodies like West Side Story, and A Chorus Line. Part of Kevin’s big thrill is that director of the latter is Sammy Williams, who won the Tony Award as best featured actor in the original production of A Chorus Line. Side Note: This musical about dancers is 50 years old this year.
Kevin proclaims “1992 was the worst year of my life.” Tightly bound in ropes of depression, he is barely surviving, hunkered in a dark courtyard apartment in Gower Gulch. He’s stuck in this state. So stuck, that he is unable to travel home for Nana’s funeral. Back on Long Island, mama Jean wonders why, and worries. She rings her beautiful boy several times until the once happy-go-lucky spirit picks up in a somber tone. Like an abrupt scene change in the musical “Gypsy,” Mama Jean drops everything and moves to California to care for her baby. Her mind-set is “you can do it; all you need is a hand. We can do it—mama is gonna see to it!” And she did.
Jean makes a splash in La La Land: In true Jean fashion, she’s in care mode: she secures a job overseeing an elderly handicapped woman, and not only becomes Kevin’s caretaker and provider, but also full time “cheerleader,” and helps pay off his debts. Kevin eventually pulls down the covers from over his head and forages out, landing a waiter job at downtown’s Cucina Grill where he meets Kelly Ryan, a lifetime friend who can make him laugh like none-other. Look for her tonight. Introduce yourself to the striking blonde with a slight Long Island accent, and watch your laugh meter rise to the highest heights. (the best medicine)
1993 Year of the Care Bear: Kevin is hired by a company where actors dress as characters to entertain at children’s parties. One costume, the Care Bear is particularly warm. Kevin is asked to wear this stuffy fur shell to an event on one of the hottest days of the year. In the Valley! As a result, underneath the hot sack, Kevin dresses minimally. A particular young lad makes it his mission to annoy Kevin; he follows him around tugging on the costume. At one point, the brat pulls so hard that the lower half of the costume falls to the ground. As Kevin looks back, and the imp screams in a sing-songy tone “Ha Ha, Care Bears don’t wear underwear!” He whispers to himself, “Please God take me now.” Ahhh, the glamorous life of an actor.
Also, this year Kevin lands a groundbreaking role as a trans-woman in the one act Howard and Vici. He doesn’t need a wig because his friend Kelly volunteers to tease Kevin’s thick hair into a bouffant that Connie Francis would envy. Howard and Vici wins ‘best one act’ in a Los Angeles festival.
1993-1995: As history is in the making, Kevin unknowingly becomes an auxiliary adjunct to a momentous event. One day, Kevin, the limo driver, escorts a young brunette of slight stature into the back seat. Once settled, he gazes in the rear view mirror and notices she’s wearing a campaign button. “Do you know someone running for office?” he inquires. “No, that’s my brother” she responds sullenly. “Oh, what does he do?” “He was murdered by OJ Simpson.”
Kevin gasps, then utter quiet. He puts two-and-two together realizing the fare’s last name is GOLDMAN, destination county courthouse. Coincidentally, years later, Kevin has a fare, who happens to be a very cheap tipper. His name is Johnnie Cochran. Just sayin’ ”If the glove fits, the tip’s two bits”
1994: Finally, his lifetime obsession comes full circle: The dapper limo driver rings the front door at a dazzling domicile in Brentwood. He’s been hired to drive a distinguished doyenne to an event honoring Steven Spielberg. His client? A woman of many personalities: Sybil! And Gidget, Sister Batrille, and Norma Rae-- all rolled up in one. This is one of three times ‘his girl Sally’ will hitch a ride. Some other fares of fame include the demure Bernadette Peters, and the flashy Ann Margaret. (and there’s more, he’s writing a book on his limo adventures. Title suggestions?)
1994-2014 At age 39 he returns to college to gain his teaching credential, and shortly thereafter, his 20-year career in education begins. He teaches English Literature at John Marshall High School. There, he becomes coach of the speech team that he escorts – more than once--to state finals in Sacramento. Additionally, he starts a Musical Theater program to which Filipino students flock.
9/11/2001: Tragedy on this date is not lost on Kevin.
2002 (Winter) Through the dating site Planet Out, Kevin meets his future husband, a dance studio owner named Bill Brown (such an ordinary name). Ironies surface: One of Kevin’s colleagues in the English Dept. (Elaine Serrano) takes Bill’s Jazz class, and another past colleague (Maureen Palacios) had once tried to fix him up with her ballet teacher, Bill’s business partner, Terrance.
2003: Less than six months after Bill and Kevin meet, they move in together. Too soon? Nah! (22 years now)
2004- 2016: Kevin produces several musicals at John Marshall High, and Bill is brought in as choreographer. The duo also pen books to teen-focused shows, with adapted music: Winner (rivals vying for student body president), Dropout (an unexpected soul convinces two teens to stay in school), What’s Shakein? (vignettes of Shakespeare tales intermingle with school demographics include Romeo y Julietta, Hovick, the King of Glendale), War Bonds and Casualties (contrast of WW2 and Iraqi War), NY City Romp, Romp II, Buskers, Higher Grounds (a coffee house with hidden secrets), and Earth Angel (a nun, Sister Agnes, makes it her mission to save the planet). Yes, Kevin and the nun fetish re-surface! Oh, on stage is the “envirofessional” where ‘sins against the planet’ are confessed, and for penance roadside clean-up is prescribed. Side note: Singer Connie Nelson, a jazz student of Bill’s, leaps into service, and volunteers as the students’ vocal coach. She’s here! Dressed in summer elegant—not hard to miss.
January 2010: Jean Roger’s heart gives out. RIP. Bill reflects “During Jean’s life, she gave so much of her heart, that there was nothing left to give.” Each time she visited her two West Coast boys, Bill loved to entertain her with his Grandpa McCoy impersonation, repeatedly. During re-runs of Brennan’s unmistakable limp and distinct down-home voice in raspy tones, she’d laugh out loud, slapping her thigh -- like it was her first viewing. “Jean was my best audience.” Bill would say. Not long after the loss, Bill and Kevin, now orphans, officially adopt Carol Ardura as their mom. Just look around the studio and find a proud lady who is a non-stop talker, donning a wide brimmed hat. And say “Hi, Mom!”
September 6, 2014: In light of the US Supreme Court’s direction of marriage equality, Kevin and Bill tie the knot. The sparse ceremony (including “mom” and one other) is held in this very studio. The wedding is fittingly officiated by a shaman who happened to be a participant in the Stonewall riots of 1969. The scene is set: Candles, white orchids, and scents of sage fill the space as Shaman Don gently tie Bill and Kevin’s wrists together in the symbolic gesture. Spirits for the North, South, East and West join in, and bless. Magical.
June 2016: Kevin officially retires from teaching, and immediately focuses on getting an agent, manager, and is ready to pound the pavement. But before that can happen, a glitch:
A week after Kevin’s retirement party, in Bill’s jazz class, we find the instructor demonstrating a hip thrust into a rib circle, and in a heartbeat, he’s rendered flat, and passed out. He is rushed to the hospital. There he is diagnosed with a (“potentially fatal”) heart condition (ventricular tachycardia) that appeared out of nowhere: WTF?? He now has an implanted defibrillator as a safety net. Try not to get Bill too excited tonight, okay? There’s already enough theatrics in this studio. I mean, check out the drama in Bill’s jazz class where pesky personalities pervade.
2009 to present: On that note of drama, here’s a list of later-in-life performances by Kevin: A Little Night Music (Fredrik Egerman), After-Play (Matt), Biloxi Blues (Hennessey), Spinning into Butter (Professor Strauss) Snake Can (with Sharon Sharth, also here tonight. Once you hear an infectious laugh, follow sound wave to a vivacious, wild-haired individual flashing a thousand-watt smile), Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf (George), Promises, Promises (Sheldrake), The Cherry Orchard, The Seagull, The Ghee Ghee Pik (attorney), The Man who Came to Dinner (Butler/German Scientist), You Can’t Take It With You, Network (studio head) 25thAnnual Spelling Bee, Christmas Memory, Max Factor Factor (studio head), Miss Vulcan 1939, Tanglin’ Hearts, Silence!, Chicago Christmas Carol, Jekyll and Hyde, Lincolns of Springfield (Lincoln’s pop), Language Archive (George), Howard and Vici (Vici in drag), Sick (Sigmund Freud), Fringe Festival One Acts.
August 2019: Andrea, Kevin’s most precious confidant, unconditional friend, and fellow New Yorker, whom he met in alanon back in1996, passes from cancer at a young age of 56.
Tonight, if you happen to feel a warm puff of air skimming across your face, that would be Andrea Neidenberg Martino offering a friendly “hello.”
1991 to present: Through various circles, Kevin meets all of you, and to quote song lyrics from the musical Wicked, he proclaims “I couldn’t be happier”
Happy Birthday young man! (July 21, 2025)