Oklahoma blog
In January 1962 my family moved from the St. Nicholas projects in Harlem to a tenement apartment in
Brooklyn. I also left behind lifelong friends and my Doo-Wop singing group. I was 15 years old.
In 1962 Brooklyn was a haven for gangs. Gangs with names like the Dekalb Chaplains, Junior Sinners,
Phantom Lords and too many others to name. I began the second half of my senior year at the Mark
Hopkins junior high school. One day while walking home a female student began talking to me and
welcoming me to Mark Hopkins. She said goodbye and left. A few minutes later I was approached by
a gang member to tell me “You almost died”! “The girl you were talking to is their gang leader’s
girlfriend”. I said I didn’t know that and he told me to watch myself”! I knew I was in gang land
territory. I was assigned to Mr. Pasinkoff”s class. Mr. Pasinkoff’ was also in charge of directing the
school’s theatrical production of Oklahoma. I told him I could sing and he suggested I see the music
teacher Mr. Miller. Mr. Miller auditioned me and offered me the leading role of Curly.
I was then known by my birth name Hector Mercado and I had been accepted by the High School Of
Performing Arts. This was my first full musical production as an actor/singer. I remember waiting for
the curtain to rise and the nerves were unimaginable, I was scared! The curtain went up, I’m standing
there, the music began and out of my mouth came the song “Oh! What A Beautiful Morning”!
I remembered my lines and lyrics and the production was successful. I began to have many
friends. But outside the school, the gangs were always around and very dangerous. I made sure never
to talk to that gang leader’s girlfriend. Survival depended on that. In September of that year I began
my acting and dance classes at the High School Of Performing Arts in Manhattan. Each day when I
returned home to my gang infested neighborhood, I made sure to hide my ballet shoes!
