NICK CORDERO
1978-2020
NICK ROCKS!
"LIVE YOUR LIFE"
This here is one NICK CORDERO who holds a special place in my heart from how he lived his life to how he struggled against death. Nick died from complications due to Covid-19 on July 5, 2020 and the world lost a kick ass performer. I had the great honor and pleasure of working with Nick in the last show he did on stage - Rock of Ages Hollywood.
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Below are a couple things I'd like to share with you about him - my brother-in-arms-in-theatre...
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July 5, 2020
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So it's time to say goodbye to me brother Nick. I guess 'giant' is the first word that comes to mind. Giant size, giant voice, giant talent that oozed effortlessly.
It's always a glorious thing when you get to climb on stage and play with a master. Nick came late to the rehearsal process as he and his wife (the amazingly mighty Amanda Klootz - and the baby Elvis too!) were making 'THE' move from NYC to LA, and he'd known the show well having done the role on Broadway.
I remember after the first time we had rehearsed together, we looked at each other and gave each other that head nod that said like, "oh yeah... we're going kill it." I can't really describe the feeling. If you're a performer you know what I mean. It defines teamwork.
Anyway that was my experience with Nick - two old pros glancing at each other with complete understanding, gearing up to rock and roll on stage and make people feel a little happier. It was just plain fun to share the stage with him.
It's really tough for me to comes to terms with this right now. I'm really pissed. Flat out, Nick Cordero was one of the coolest and kindest and brightest talents I've ever met or had the honor to work with, and his struggle and death have shaken me in ways i don't really know how to describe.
But I think I'll just follow the advice from a good buddy of mine...
https://www.shazam.com/track/451283959/live-your-life
see you on the flippity dippity brother
SIGN THE PETITION!
RENAME THE LONGACRE!
THE TALL BOYS
NICK IN ROCK OF AGES
"HERE'S TO YA!"
July 9, 2020
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So this here is Nick with the band for Rock of Ages Hollywood aka Arsenal. They formed THE TALL BOYS to be the house band for The Bourbon Room, and every Thursday they'd play after the performance of RoA so the audience could party for another hour after the show if they wanted to. It was just one more thing that made the Bourbon Room so special. I love all these boyz. These fuckerz ROCK.
This is one of my favorite memories of Nick:
For various reasons the running time on the show was a concern, and one of the things that was cut to make up some time was the guitar solo at the very top of the show. This killed me a little cause I loved it and thought it was a PERFECT way to open the show. I mean, it always had. But...show biz.
So Nick and I stood at the same place at the top of the show to make our entrances from the back of the house. After we rehearsed the opening, I saw Nick walk up to Pat Lukin (our monster guitar 1 player there on the far left) and asked him if he knew and could play the opening guitar solo. He answered Nick as if someone asked him if he knew his own name, "yeah, sure." Then I saw Nick walk over to our director Kristin or our producer Matthew or somebody, and he made a pitch to put it back into our show.
They did.
Next time we ran it, Pat comes strolling out center stage and plants himself above the fans embedded in the stage floor to whip his delicious rock and roll hair about while he's backlit with shards of white light, and on the video screen lightening bolts crash behind him as he shreds the ever lovin' fizuk out of the solo. It IS perfect. It tells you exactly where you are and exactly what to expect.
And it thrills the hell out of me. I'm infused with even more of whatever it is you get infused with when you get ready to perform. I turn around to Nick, slap him in the shoulder, and say, "Thank God dude, THANK GOD you talked them into putting it back in!" He looked at me and gave that fat smile of ten thousand teeth.
I really loved him then. I mean really really loved him. Cause that moment told me that we were brothers in the land of Theatre. We shared the same kind of appreciation of it and devotion to it. It was a moment of pure joy for me. I love the theatre so much but I never really talk about it for fear of sounding corny or boring people or worse - telling other people how wrong their opinion of theatre is. But I felt like Nick knew who I was 'cause he was was 'that' too. Dudes that love theatre. Of the many things there were to love about this man, this is where our hearts met.
I think after that moment I gave him a brief and awkward man hug, and then he looked at me and said, "Let's go, bro..."
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and we were on...
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THE TALL BOYS
Pat Lukin - Guitar one
Greg Coates - Bass
Maddox - Guitar two
Kevin Kapler - Drums
Jonathan Quesenberry - Keyboard & RoA Mus. Dir.
Nick Cordero - Frontman
NICK WITH HIS FAMILY
AMANDA KLOOTS & BABY ELVIS
THE SHOW WHERE THEY MET
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