As the Shutdown Keeps Her From Flying Over Sunset, Michele Ragusa Can't Imagine Life Away from the Stage

Living near the theater district during the Broadway shutdown, photographer and performer Matthew Stocke has been haunted walking past the empty palaces sitting in repose, waiting for the lights and stars to return. In this new Broadway.com photo feature, he reunites performers with their Broadway home #AwayFromHome.

MICHELE RAGUSA
FLYING OVER SUNSET

A New York stage vet of 30 years, Michele Ragusa was set to take the Lincoln Center stage for the first time in Flying Over Sunset, which was scheduled to start performances on March 12, the day the Broadway shutdown was announced (There are now plans for the new musical to open next spring). Previously, Ragusa appeared on Broadway in Cyrano: The Musical, Titanic, Ragtime, A Class Act, Urinetown and Young Frankenstein, and received great acclaim for an off-Broadway turn in the musical Adrift in Macao. A new electee to the Actors Equity's National Council, she talks here about why recent attacks on the arts leave her insulted.

"I’m quarantining in New Jersey with my husband and our four cats. We actually met in Dallas doing a production of Guys & Dolls. He continued to perform for a while and now, he manages a spirits portfolio. He's been doing virtual tastings with liquor stores and restaurants—everybody wants a drink right now... Knitting gifts for friends has really brought me joy. I've finished a sweater. I made a hat. I made a poncho. I made a dog sweater... I actually went to college for business. While I was there, I saw a notice on the wall that one of the English teachers was going to be doing a musical. So I auditioned, and I got cast. It was like what Oprah says: the ‘aha’ moment. I literally left business college with like four credits left....The last night in the theater, we did our final invited dress rehearsal for a small audience. It was interesting, saying goodbye to everybody. We believed we would be back on April 13, so there wasn’t a huge amount of sorrow. [Now], so many friends of mine are leaving, just leaving New York. I understand but it makes me sad. I’m worried, too. I’ve realized—this is making me cry—that there is nothing else that I want to do. I try to think, ‘OK, if I’ve got to get another job or career, what am I going to do?’ There is nothing else. There is nothing else for me. I know a lot of people feel the same way. It’s a scary reality that I hope we all don’t have to face... I get concerned that there are people in our country right now that think of art as a luxury. They'll say things like, ‘It’s time to get a new career.’ That is completely unrealistic, and it's highly insulting because art has saved children. Art has saved teenagers that didn’t know where to go or didn’t know who they were. Art is relevant and important and essential. Art heals and art transforms. This is what many of us live by. The importance of art."

Photos by Matthew Stocke/Matt James Photo NYC for Broadway.com
Additional reporting by Lindsey Sullivan