Scene4 Magazine :: Arthur Meiselman Pirouetting Is For Words Too!

One night, last year, the phone rang after midnight. The caller knew I was still up (as I usually am) because he had called many times before at that hour. The voice said: " Hey Great Pooh-Bah… did you know that the word "nifty" is coming back. Ain't gonna date me any more. It's coming back and I'm coming back. I'm gonna stop zinging around in this Nawlins swamp and head for D.C. They need me there, yeah, and my Tao. I'm gonna tell little George about my father… hey did you know my father was in the Merchant Marine? Did you know I wasn't? How are you mi amigo?" The rest was nearly an hour of shared quips, and stories, jokes and critiques… and a lot of laughter. It was part of a delicious stream of contact that included phone calls and hundreds of emails. All with Steve Esquerré.

Steve was a boulevardier, a raconteur (my terms not his) in the "Big Easy", his beloved New Orleans. He had a wonderful sense of humor and a zest for life, the cultures of the world and… baseball, a passion for baseball. He once wrote: "Baseball imitates life or vice versa." He was also an inveterate world-traveler, fascinated by new sights and sounds and the differences and sameness of people. A man of strong convictions, stridently opinionated, he cared deeply about his family and friends and what was happening around him... all couched in a wellspring of humor. "Poor President Bush," he wrote about the Gulf War, "likeable C students just should NOT be allowed to be President. And, let's give a hip-hip to Tommy Franks. See How Tommy Ran after the War Part was finished… according to him, anyway. Thanks Tommy… a XXX performance…you screwed everyone."

Although he always wrote for his own enjoyment, late in his life he began to take it seriously. A few years ago, he started a column in the then ¿Qué Pasa? section of Scene4, with his wife and lover of 42 years, Lucille. It was a shaky start that grew into a strong monthly presence and developed a hefty following. It became a must-read in the New Orleans scene and often a controversial one. Last year, he began a solo column in Views/reViews. (His last two essays are published in this issue and the next.) Along with this, he fell in love with the theatre. He wrote plays and two screenplays. His play, OH… THAT LIGHT!, had a series of performances and was under consideration for a world premiere in America-enamored-baseball-crazy Japan. This is how he portrayed the play in vintage Esquerré:

"Out-of-body, from above, incredulously, Walter Esquerre witnesses his final moments on Earth. He 'awakens' in a dark tunnel. A LIGHT glows in the distance. The ever-lurking manCHILD in him comes out even now,humor/immaturity, ALL THE BETTER to avoid dealing with his life's failing trials and tribulations. He's drawn to it/reflects briefly upon his wasted life/wants to return/gets over that. Carries on in THE tunnel: Sings/Dances/ Imitates/Impersonates/Flies. Repertoire includes: Ethel Merman, Sinatra, Fats Domino, James Brown, Tommy Tune (Tommy Tune?!), James, Cagney, Michael Jackson, Lou Costello, and Peter Pan. Initially, he believes an odor is from Hell He does Costello's, "I've been a baaaad boy". But, it's cigar smoke! Aromatherapy/Chicken Soup for the soul. He also smells popcorn; as does the audience. [as PLAY continues, vendors pass out free popcorn] Three angels greet him donned in Baseball uniforms (unawares, so is Esquerre.) One is gay: chic, (no ready-to-wear rack stuff for him, he insists) matching accessories, hand-fan; one talks Brooklynese; one is a yuppie. They have tiny, rookie-wings. The LIGHT: an illuminated Baseball Field with lots of people (in stands, behind FRO fence is Purgatory, and players on field, vendors). He is elated. The first thing you do in Heaven is go to a Baseball game! GO to the game? Oh no, the angels say. He will be the Pitcher. It's the Home Plate Ump's idea. Good GOD … it's GOD!!! "

His screenplay, Shadowmaker, was also attracting interest and under consideration.

Steve's writing is deceptively awkward at times and seemingly cliché-ridden. "Zany-madcap", he called it. Deceptive because with an audience his writing is hilariously provocative, often delightfully sinister, and it lingers in the memory. Deceptive because he means his writing to be read... to an audience. When you take on his work, try reading it out loud, or imagine the author reading it to you. You'll find yourself going down amazing paths, with unexpected imagery and ideas. You'll find yourself pirouetting because his forté is the "pirouette". So the title, Pirouetting Is For Words Too! , which comes from one of his last columns. It's in the Scene4 Archives.

On March 19, 2004, Steve Esquerré left us after a long illness. He was 64. His family and friends miss him deeply. He was a good and talented man, and a good friend. I, too, will miss him deeply. And Scene4 will be that much less without him.
Look for him in the Archives. He's there.

A few notes (or "gumbo-grease" as Steve called it): The Archives contain earlier versions of his plays. The notated and updated versions will be published in Scene4 in the coming months, along with a new hip-hop-rap play, Don't Talk For Me. Said the author about this work: "Brother Steve may have taken his leave."

For more commentary and articles by Arthur Meiselman, check the Archives.

Arthur Meiselman is a writer,
telomeres hunter, and zingaro.
He's also the director of the Talos Ensemble

All articles are archived on this site.
To access the Archives

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