YOU DON’T HAVE TO to have much imagination to be bowled over by either of these guy’s accomplishments. Beny blasted through the world of Yale and California theater and has directed and produced Hollywood films, while “Nico” sallied through a career as an entrepreneur (including Cowgirl BBQ restaurant), a film actor, and director. They also co-founded the acclaimed New Mexico Actors Lab. Its first production of 2021, Lifespan of a Fact, was a critical success, but the COVID Delta surge hammered attendance. Nico and Beny were initially heartbroken, but have since shaken it off.
So, with all that they have done, and now flush with cash in the wake of just-awarded grants, as well as having successfully taken over the space formerly occupied by the Desert Rose and The Swan theaters, you would think these guys would be feeling pretty good about everything. You’d be wrong.
They do know what they have accomplished, but as we sat down, what they expressed was not self-satisfaction as much as an energized vulnerability. They met as a teacher (Beny) and student (Nico). We wanted to hear what they had to say about that, about their growing up, and how they got here. They wound up sharing stuff that surprised both themselves and each other—details unknown even after 30 years of collaboration.
I don’t know who had the best seat.
What accounts for your life force? Your enthusiasm just radiates, your dislikes, your curiosities. Most people associate that brand of fervor with younger people.
RB: Well, let’s see. First of all, my parents; I’m a first-generation Italian American, and my father, especially, had a lot of trouble assimilating. He was derided for not speaking English well—had to leave school after third grade in order to go to work to support the family during the Depression. And I was burdened with their hopes and dreams. It was made clear to me early on in indirect ways that my job in life was to fulfill all the things that they hadn’t been able to fulfill. The rule was that as long as I was happy doing what I was doing, it was fine with them. But there’s a subtext to that message, which is that what you do doesn’t make any difference.
Was that liberating?
RB: No, it wasn’t. It was confining, in fact, because I grew up in search of a sense of purpose…because no sense of purpose or service had been required of me. In my formative years, I had no boundaries, no guiding principle, except for what I could invent for myself. It took me decades to get past that and, in truth, I’m not sure I ever have. What I do gives me great pleasure, but what I’ve had to discover along the way is that that ain’t enough. Without a sense of purpose, a sense that what I do makes a difference or can possibly make a difference, there is no deep satisfaction or self-esteem in whatever success I’ve had. I’m constantly comparing myself to people I think have accomplished more than I have…Elon Musk, or Bill Gates, or…
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Photo Mary Moon
