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Overview
Vera Lights is a former Broadway star whose life has taken a new direction. Now a single mother living in a hotel in midtown Manhattan with her two young children, Henry and Loretta, Vera does her best to protect and nurture them, despite her meager resources. Alone after failed marriages and with seemingly no hope for a career revival, she must rely on her inner strength to carry her through her exhausting days.
While Vera works as a waitress in a Broadway diner to make ends meet, Henry and Loretta grow up in a dark, challenging world in which vagrants, pimps and drug dealers own the street corners, police turn a blind eye, and tourists avoid Times Square. But as life comes full circle and a resurrection of Broadway and midtown Manhattan begins, Vera and her children may be able to rise from the depths of despair and breathe life back into their dreams.
Lights is a poignant, sweeping story of revival as a Broadway actress attempts to restore her hope, faith, and separate destinies for her family while living in a city marked by hate, ignorance, and poverty.
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781458215604 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Abbott Press |
| Publication date: | 05/30/2014 |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 270 |
| File size: | 2 MB |
| Age Range: | 13 - 17 Years |
About the Author
Read an Excerpt
Lights
Despair, Faith, and Hope on Broadway
By Rajiv Kapoor
Abbott Press
Copyright © 2014 Rajiv KapoorAll rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4582-1559-8
CHAPTER 1
Hotel Carter - Times Square
Vera gazed down at the stark white tiles and, as usual, her mind wandered.
The tiles always transported her back to the institutional tiles at the Children's Hospital. She had been there with labor pains for her baby girl and the delivery room had the same tiles. She had spent hours staring at them as the contractions continued, before the final delivery of a healthy little girl — her angel.
I wish I could go back home quickly, just to get away from these septic white tiles, she had thought to herself, irritated at being back in the hospital for another baby. The labor had exhausted her and Vera remembered smiling weakly at the baby girl the nurse held up for her.
"No more babies for you," the doctors had warned her, "you are getting old." I have my boy and girl, she thought, and so she had agreed.
* * *
Now Vera stared at her pale toes resting on the white tiles of the bathroom floor. She noticed that the nail polish had chipped from her big left toe. So much for the long lasting vibrant red that the Avon lady had sold me, she thought. She had just applied the new polish yesterday and it was already falling apart. There were no makeup artists or pedicure ladies around these days for her to command at the snap of a finger, unlike her days at the theater dressing rooms. She would have to fix the polish herself; but she had no time now. In any case, she would wear socks and comfortable shoes for her daily stint as a waitress, so the chipped nail polish did not matter.
She stared at her ankles, they looked a little swollen and some veins were starting to show. Thankful that her legs were still shapely, she sighed and quietly exited the untidy bathroom, with its lipsticks, tubes, toothbrushes, hairpins and scrunches.
She walked out into the room which served as both bedroom and parlor and asked her eight year old son, "Henry, are Loretta and you ready to leave?"
They lived in two connected hotel rooms, with one for her and the other for eight year old Henry and six year old Loretta. The kids had their own bathroom to get ready.
Their room also served as a kitchenette and there was a small fridge and electric stove. The kids normally had cereal and milk with some orange juice for breakfast before heading to school. Once in school, they ate a subsidized lunch at the public school cafeteria.
She would walk them the few blocks to their school and then she headed off to the Broadway diner where she worked as a waitress.
Loretta, her angel, sat on the small table and looked sleepy as she ate her cereal. Her hair was disheveled. Vera took a brush and straightened out her hair. Then she tied it with a rubber band in a ponytail at the back of her head. She smiled and asked, "How is my little angel doing today morning?"
Loretta looked up, some milk dripping to her chin, and smiled back at her mother. Loretta had bright, beautiful, clear blue eyes and a cute, slightly upturned nose. She wiped it with her sleeve and twisted it from side to side as she looked up at her mother. With one baby tooth missing, making her look even cuter, she made a pretty picture, even this early in the morning.
The child still had trouble getting up at 7am in the morning and was struggling to change her routine. She had just started public school and was not used to the idea of getting ready and leaving early, since preschool had started at a later hour.
"Oh, Mom," she protested, "Henry is telling me to hurry up again! Can you please tell him to wait for some more time? He is the one who was in the bathroom the whole time."
Henry was already at the door with both their book bags. He waited for his baby sister to put on her shoes. He smiled at Vera and said, "We are going to be late again if we don't hurry down."
Dressed in her pleated, gray, long skirt, and a white blouse, Vera made sure she had her pocket book and keys as she walked the kids out to the corridor towards the elevator, locking the door behind her.
Henry put his arm protectively around his sister's shoulder as they stepped into the elevator. Vera smiled as she looked at his dark brown head full of unruly hair. He was tall for his age and carried his shoulders back. "Have you finished the reading assignment for the week?" she asked.
Henry smiled, "Yes, Mom, I finished it the previous afternoon."
"You had better make sure that you walk Loretta back home after school and do not go off with any friends." Vera reminded him as usual as they walked down to the sidewalk.
Loretta did not get assignments yet and normally just spent the time watching the cartoons and Sesame Street on TV.
Henry did not like this neighborhood school. He had preferred the Upper East Side school that they had moved from two years earlier. But Vera could no longer afford that swanky apartment and had managed a great deal on the Carter Hotel in midtown through a friend. So she had moved to Times Square to try and preserve her savings.
Vera reflected wistfully on her earlier residence, the East 70th Street fancy building, with the white gloved doorman, where everybody knew her by name.
* * *
She was Miss Vera Lights (of Broadway) who moved in all the theater circles and was often invited out to various dinners and lunches. She did bring a certain glamor to the events.
One of the restaurants which had catered to the theater trade in its heyday still had the poster which announced her as Stella in the production of A Streetcar named Desire. It was one of many colorful posters displayed prominently, commemorating great runs on Broadway.
She had been married at the time to her third husband Daniel, her leading man in the rave-reviewed A Streetcar named Desire.
Things had not been going well with her second husband Elliot before she married Dan. He had turned out to be a lush and weak, just wanting to enjoy the fame and fortune that his young and beautiful wife earned. They would attend and throw great parties, but somehow Vera felt that something was missing from her marriage. After a while, Elliot and Vera had just drifted apart, and Vera threw herself into her work.
When she and Dan met on the stage, they quickly displayed a chemistry together that seemed to bring the haunting world of A Streetcar named Desire into the theater.
She did not know when their close proximity turned into a romance. She remembered the tremors of excitement that coursed through her body at the rehearsals. They would exchange hidden glances and their eyes just could not get enough of each other. They had secretly kissed behind the curtains, and whenever they managed to get away from the people around them.
Daniel said to her once, passionately kissing her neck and shoulders in an alcove before a scene, "Vera, my love, we have to find a way to be together somehow."
"Oh Dan, you know that is not possible. But you are driving me crazy too, with your passion." She pushed him away, and went with shaking thighs onto the stage to complete the next scene.
She finally gave in to Dan's request to marry him, going off with Elliot to Las Vegas to get a divorce.
Elliot was quite resigned to the divorce. Vera had made it very clear that she wanted to move on in her life. "Vera darling, you know I have always loved you and will do anything for you, all you have to do is call me," he said, as he signed the papers before the Registrar. She gave Elliot her Manhattan apartment as part of the settlement, as he would not sign the papers without it. "Elliot, now that you have taken everything from me that you could, it is time for us to move on with our separate lives. I now wonder if you ever really loved me, as it seems you just wanted the famous Vera and not the real me." Vera said to him, quickly signing off on the papers and securing her copy.
Vera had rushed off to Manhattan to meet Dan at the airport. She threw her arms around him and kissed him in public for the first time. "Oh Daniel, I am sorry it took so long but I had to be confident that I was not falling into another marriage trap. It is so good to see you again. Thank God, that old chapter of my life is finally over."
Vera and Dan immediately fled to Paris to get away from the people around them.
As they entered the hotel's expensive suite, Dan said to her, "Welcome to the city of love Vera, darling. It's so good to finally have you to myself.,".
And, at a restaurant off the Champ Elysees, Dan had formally proposed. "Vera, will you please accept this ring so that we can begin our life together in this beautiful city? I am so in love with you and will make you happier than any man alive."
"Oh Dan! This is beautiful, I love it and of course this is so romantic and it is everything that I wanted for such a long time ..." Vera said, admiring the rather extravagant, canary yellow, diamond ring.
"Vera, you have made me the happiest man alive tonight," Dan whispered in her hair as they sipped the best champagne in the house and looked out at the lights of Paris.
Vera reached up and ran her fingers through Dan's hair. "Yes, it all seems like a dream and I wish that this dream never ends ..." She kissed him and then reached out for his hands. They sat there, enjoying the warm Parisian night.
After a night of exquisite love making, they had a leisurely breakfast in bed. Dan said, "Today, we are going to go see the Louvre, as I have always wanted to see the Mona Lisa and her mysterious smile."
He courted her ardently in the various parts of the city on the left and right banks of the Seine River. The city of Paris had grown over the centuries into the twenty, clockwise spiraling arrondissements.
They loved the wide avenues, the beautiful statues and the extravagant fountains, gardens and bridges. They went to the Opera and were amazed by its history; and how the city had grown into a beautiful place, for lovers to roam.
The press was happy to splash them in color at night with the lit up Opera House behind them. They looked like perfect lovers. She had on a flowing mauve silk dress with a plunging neckline, her arms entwined with Dan's, who looked dashing n his black tuxedo with a matching mauve vest.
They were photographed wearing the latest fashions from the city at the top of the Eiffel Tower and the whole of Paris seemed to be at their feet.
They spent a delightful day pick-nicking in the gardens near Versailles, enjoying wine and chocolates and the famous Parisian sandwiches and pastries packed into a hamper.
"Vera, just look at that view," said Dan, looking at the valley below that stretched out for miles, "I can imagine the king and his party hunting deer and other animals along the thick forests that seem to go as far as the eyes could see."
Vera was more enchanted by the fountain, the statues of the gods and goddesses, and the formal gardens around her. "I can imagine the Empress and her friends having a beautiful party in the gardens with all the food, drinks and services available for fun and games.
"There seem to be so many outdoor hideaways, suitable for lovers to find some privacy, as well as large gathering areas for groups of the young and beautiful to dress up and frolic. Oh Dan, this is so beautiful! I wish we could just stay here and enjoy each other's company."
The audiences in New York followed their every move and seemed to enjoy their obvious delight in their travels.
They followed them each day, feeling the same joy that the couple felt on discovering new finds in the flea markets or fancier stores. "Dan don't you think that this hat is absolutely stunning and it goes so well with these shoes and dress," Vera said, trying out new outfits in the latest boutiques.
"Vera, you look ravishing, and yes, please pick up whatever you want, darling. These are such pretty outfits and you may never find them in New York. There is that necklace in the window that will go well with this outfit ... you should get that too."
They arrived in New York with six steamer trunks loaded with the latest fashions and several other containers of assorted sizes for the hats, shoes, dresses and suits from Paris.
"Oh I am so glad to be home," Vera had said, reaching up and kissing Dan as they stepped down from the steamer, with her best hat set at a jaunty angle. The photograph of the couple landing in New York made almost every major newspaper and magazine.
Suddenly, wherever you looked, you could see Dan whispering back to Vera, "It is good to be back baby ..." as they kissed for the sheer joy of it.
They returned to Broadway like the modern heroes from an exotic world, and the audience loved them. The audiences had already been titillated by the gossip of their intercontinental romance, perceived the giddiness of their onstage chemistry and received them with rave reviews.
One matron poked another in the ribs as they stood in line to see the performance. "Do you know that he actually told her that he was going to marry her six months before, when she was still married to the other guy?"
"Vera looks so happy now since her marriage and she actually glows. I think, all this romance and love is good for her, if you know what I mean," the other matron snickered back at her, as they passed a giant poster of Vera in the lobby.
Jake Alexander, the young theater critic, who was normally extremely critical about most performances, had gushed, "Vera virtually sizzled in her role of Stella and set the stage on fire with her mannerisms and diction. The timing of her delivery was superb and she looked ravishing in the flowing dresses that concealed much, but she managed to reveal a desire that melted the audience. Vera has a way of laying bare her tumultuous heart and grabbing the audience, pulling them into her troubled world in the play."
The audience had given her five standing ovations and the cast had continued to wow the public night after night as the performances became more mature, and some said, even more riveting.
The play ran for three years and on that anniversary, a couple from New Jersey was interviewed by the TV cameras. They said that they had seen it on each of their anniversaries and would continue to see it for as long as it ran. They loved Vera. The woman said she still cried even when she got home from the performance, and could not shake Vera's presence, or her lines, from her head.
The restaurant also had Jake's review from the New York Herald in a small black frame next to the poster where he praised both Dan and Vera as a made for each other couple in these troubled times.
* * *
Her mind returned to the present from the halcyon days of romance that seemed so far away.
Now, she walked with purposeful strides through Hell's Kitchen and headed uptown to Public School 51 on 45th Street with her children.
Loretta skipped along, humming a tune from Sesame Street, her ponytail bouncing. Henry kept an eye open for traffic and the unsavory characters of the neighborhood.
It was early, so all the bums were still fast asleep and only some residents were walking their dogs, or going about their business.
As they approached the school they could see more parents walking their younger kids, as most of the older kids walked alone, or with their friends.
Vera greeted a woman who had a girl in Loretta's class. The two girls started talking about a TV cartoon show they had seen the day before. Vera knelt down and hugged and kissed Loretta.
Henry, not wanting his mother to hug or kiss him in public, stood a little away. Vera waved to him as he entered the school doors, holding on to his heavy school bag.
"Be good now, and take care when you go home," Vera shouted after the retreating kids.
* * *
Walking back through Hell's Kitchen, Vera noticed a drunk passed out under the staircase of one of the walk-up brownstones. He lay on a threadbare, gray wool coat, with a bundle under his head. A rusted shopping cart laden with the necessities for his vagabond life, half-covered by a black tarp, stood on the side.
The area was steadily getting worse and at night there were a number of pimps and prostitutes hanging out along the West Side highway, as motorists came by to take their pick. Drivers would also drive down from Jersey and other boroughs to pick up their drugs of choice from the dealers who controlled certain corners. The police would raid occasionally; but it seemed someone was on the take, as often the corners emptied just before the raids of the vice squads happened.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from Lights by Rajiv Kapoor. Copyright © 2014 Rajiv Kapoor. Excerpted by permission of Abbott Press.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.
Table of Contents
Contents
Acknowledgements, vii,Preface, xi,
1. Hotel Carter - Times Square, 1,
2. School's out for Summer, 10,
3. Summertime Blues, 16,
4. Introduction to the Opera, 21,
5. Performing Arts at Holy Cross, 28,
6. The Runner, 48,
7. Children's Theater, 57,
8. Wealth Creation, 69,
9. Troubled Dream, 79,
10. 'Hold it Right There, Boy!', 84,
11. Juvenile Drug Delinquents, 93,
12. Prom Night, 99,
13. College Bound, 109,
14. Protecting the Children, 113,
15. Summertime Decisions, 122,
16. Graduation, 129,
17. Barnard College, 136,
18. Release, 145,
19. The New 42nd Street- A Commentary on Actual Efforts, 154,
20. Back to Work, 158,
21. The Slough Years, 164,
22. City Friendships, 177,
23. Renaissance, 184,
24. Touring, 193,
25. Cuisines Come to Midtown, 205,
26. The Director, 213,
27. Newark Gig, 223,
28. An Artist's Training, 234,
29. Opening Night, 239,
30. Presence, 247,