Joe Barros is no stranger to directing when it comes to theatre. He has the vision to see the actors, set, costumes, and lights create beautiful productions for the world to see. Directing is second nature, and he is in control. However, there are moments when life deals you something that you cannot control. When Joe was just 3, his grandparents contracted HIV, then known as GRID, and both lost their lives despite outcries to physicians. This was the early part of the epidemic and there were so many unknowns, including who could contract the virus.
“My grandfather had an emergency blood transfusion during a back surgery and received contaminated plasma, and he ultimately was infected with HIV pass it to my grandmother. They had full-blown AIDS and they both died. They died within two years of identifying that they had the virus.”
As Joe was coming of age, a gift in the form of a San Francisco production of William Finn’s Falsettos changed his life and helped put this uncertain world of the AIDS crisis into focus.
“Musicals are healing. I immediately felt represented and saw my family in the story and the show indirectly deals with the epidemic but is really about a modern family a chosen family on the brink of change in an evolving in America. Several years later, I had people help me raise funds to produce and mount the entire show [in San Francisco] and the rest is history.”
Featured in today’s video is Alysha Umphress (On The Town), appropriately performing “Holding to the Ground” by William Finn.
Storytellers will be available on Playbill.com and Playbill's YouTube channel, both including a donation button inviting viewers to contribute to Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, which works to provide meals, medication, healthcare, and hope for those in need across all 50 states, Puerto Rico, and Washington, D.C. The video series and live event are made possible by premier sponsor Gilead Sciences and in part by the Michelangelo Hotel.
For more, visit Playbill.com/Storytellers. To show your support with Broadway Cares, we invite you to help give back to this worthy cause by going to BroadwayCares.org/Storytellers.
