Media & Press

Pasión Project presents “Bum Farto -The Musical,” a hilarious true crime musical that tells the tale of an infamous fire chief and his clan come to life along with the federal agents who set him up in a 1975 Key West drug sweep known as Operation Conch. The smokin’ hot show opens at the San Carlos Institute in Old Town, Key West on Thursday, October 13 with a sizzling 70s Gala featuring pre-show cocktails and hors d’oeuvres in your best bellbottoms, platforms, and polyester to benefit the Key West Firehouse Museum.

 Created and directed by bestselling author, actress, and comedian Pamela Stephenson Connolly, “Bum Farto - The Musical” is led by a cast of  internationally-acclaimed actors, dancers, and musicians including  Broadway showstopper Aaron LaVigne (“Jesus Christ, Superstar”) who bring all the right moves to a dozen-plus dance styles— from Argentine tango to tap to Salsa to swing to the Carolina shag— set to 27 sensational songs such as “Ford Galaxy,” “Just a Girl with a Badge and a Gun,” “Bum Was Pinched,” and “Smoke Your Tuna Here” by musical director Dan Krysa and a live band. Get your hot little hands on tickets now at bumfartothemusical.com.

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Firehouse Museum to Benefit from “Bum Farto- The Musical” Gala Opening on October 13

Break out your bellbottoms, pull on some platforms, and get your tickets for the Sizzling 70s Opening Night Gala of  “Bum Farto- The Musical” on Thursday, October 13, at San Carlos Institute Theater in Old Town, Key West. The evening pays tribute to the island’s firefighting heritage by benefitting the Key West Firehouse Museum, with groovy tunes, pre-show cocktails, hors d’oeuvres, and square grouper (joke!) that precede the hilarious true crime musical about the infamous Key West fire chief who tempted fate and federal agents in the 1975 Operation Conch drug bust. 

“What they got him for back then today would be, let's say, routine,” says retired firefighter Alex Vega “The feds couldn’t get the drug kingpins they wanted so they made it look like he was. They knew he knew a lot of the players and this might force him to talk.” 

Vega knows this history and more, not just because his dad worked with him or that he was also a firefighter. Vega saved the 115-year-old building from demolition and ensured it was restored and preserved with the help of local donors and state grants. The former Station No. 3  is now filled with prominent artifacts, including a firepole, an antique fire truck, and the shoes Farto wore—flaming red like most everything else he owned. Even his house. 

“Bum Farto did things a certain way, his way. And that was it,” says Vega. 

A snippet of true Key West history blended with fiction, “Bum Farto- The Musical” is produced and directed by actor, comedian, and author Pamela Connolly and is a swift 90-minute production that’s raucous, sensual, and at times, tender. Acclaimed actors, dancers, and musician from around the globe and locally— including Broadway’s Aaron LaVigne, the Jesus Christ Superstar lead who trades his crown of thorns for a tourniquet and needles to play Brutus, the heroin-addicted snitch, music producer Dan Krysa’s rollicking score of more than two dozen song-and-dance numbers, vibrant lighting design, and historic images and news clippings projected against sparse but colorful sets, the diverse “live-and-let-live” world of Key West in the mid-seventies comes to life and Farto back in the spotlight— this time, to be celebrated. 

“He loved the fire department and always looked after the fire department,” says Vega. “Whether it was legally or illegally, he did things to make sure that the fire department stayed running.”

Tickets start at $35—get your hot little hands on them now at bumfartothemusical.com. Sponsored in part by Key West Art & Historical Society.

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IMAGE:

Alex Vega holds up a uniform worn by 1975 Fire Chief Bum Farto, on display at the Key West Firehouse Museum. The museum will be honored with  “Bum Farto- The Musical” and the Sizzling 70s Opening Night Gala, with proceeds to benefit the nonprofit museum located on Virginia and Grinnell Streets. The show is a hilarious true crime musical that tells the tale of an infamous fire chief who tempted fate and federal agents who set him up in a drug sting known as Operation Conch and  opens at the San Carlos Institute Theater in Old Town, Key West on Thursday, October 13 through October  27. Bumfartothemusical. Image by Cricket Desmarais

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 The Birth of Bum Farto— The Musical: Pamela Connolly Revives a Mystery in a True Crime Musical Comedy 

When Pamela Connolly saw a “Where’s Bum Farto?” tee-shirt in a fisherman’s café in late 2020, she didn’t know it would be the seed that would grow into the true crime musical comedy “Bum Farto— The Musical,”  featuring one of Key West’s most infamous characters and more than two-dozen song-and-dance numbers in a two-week run from October 13 – October 27 at San Carlos Institute.  

“I became enthralled by the whole story - the mystery, the lawlessness, and the messiness of it,” says Connolly, the show’s producer and director.  “But I was particularly drawn to the people - the pool of truly fascinating folks who were basically just doing what was considered perfectly acceptable in those times. I was tickled to hear about the misguided efforts of certain law enforcement officers - bumbling their way through a poorly executed sting - and began to weave a musical that was part true crime, part fantasy. 

After sketching a rough outline about the fire chief and his 1975 arrest by federal agents during the Operation Conch drug, conversations with her daughter’s partner Dan Krysa, an award-winning composer and musician, sparked a show-opening song called “Ford Galaxy” – a tribute to the car Farto worshipped, complete with the Santerían shrine glued to the hood. There was no turning back. 

“From creation to performance, it was ver­­­­y fast, less than a year. It just seemed to write itself,” she says. “I think a lot of that was because we had no plan. There was no pressure. We just did this for fun, which is how a lot of the best things happen.”

Connolly’s credits and talents are many. The professional psychologist has authored 7 books, acted in full-feature films and TV series since 1970, dances in festivals, and now runs her Pasion Studio for dance in downtown Key West— all talents she lends to the creation and production of her musical.  She is also a comedian.

“The lyrics I'm most proud of in the entire show are ‘surely there's just one bag of blow in this whole goddamn archipelago?’”

A snippet of true Key West history, the show is a swift 90-minute production that’s raucous, sensual, and at times, tender. It features an ensemble of 24— 18 local and 6 from Connolly’s and Krysa’a professional dance and music communities across the globe, including Broadway’s Aaron LaVigne, the Jesus Christ Superstar lead who trades his crown of thorns for a tourniquet and needles to play Brutus, the heroin-addicted snitch. Fiction blends with fact as the story unfolds to showcase a multi-dimensionality of the characters you first thought you were rooting for or against, revealing the “One Human Family” live-and-let-live mentality that Key West is well known for. 

“Out of compassion for family members who still live here, I was determined to tell only an uplifting, generous tale,” Says Connolly.  “It’s not a moral tale but rather a glorious celebration of an infamous but iconic man whose fate and place in history was linked to so many others.”

With a rollicking score of more than two dozen song-and-dance numbers, vibrant lighting design, and historic images and news clippings projected against sparse but colorful sets, Connolly brings the diverse world of Key West in the mid-seventies to life. 

The smokin’ hot show opens on October 13 with a sizzling 70s Opening Night Gala featuring pre-show cocktails, hors d’oeuvres, and groovy tunes to benefit the Key West Firehouse Museum, and runs through October 27. Tickets start at $35 up to $235 for top-tier balcony seats featuring a private VIP bar. The popular show is expected to sell out so get your hot little hands on the best seats now at bumfartothemusical.com. Sponsored in part by Key West Art & Historical Society.

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IMAGE:

Creator and director Pamela Connolly goes over notes with music composer Dan Krysa and dancer Master Braz Dos Santos for Pasión Project’s “Bum Farto -The Musical,” a hilarious true crime musical that tells the tale of an infamous fire chief who tempted fate and federal agents who set him up in a 1975 Key West drug sting known as Operation Conch. The smokin’ hot show opens at the San Carlos Institute Theater in Old Town, Key West on Thursday, October 13 through October  27. Bumfartothemusical. Image by Cricket Desmarais.

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Articles & Reviews

MEET PAMELA CONNOLLY: ON STAGE WITH THE DANCER & DIRECTOR

Pamela Stephenson Connolly watches her dancers sway in an open embrace across the floor of her Southard Street dance studio with a focused intensity. The Latin ballroom dance is elegant, sophisticated and downright sultry. Bodies rock together in syncopated rhythm, hips tilted, rolling, the sensuality building. In a visceral instant, there’s a whipping spin; hair flies and the woman drapes backward over the arm of her partner in a deep arch of ecstasy… READ MORE

“Bum Farto – The Musical” returns

Author and performer Dr. Pamela Stephenson Connolly created the production of “Bum Farto — The Musical” in the midst of the pandemic. It was a period that proved creatively freeing and with less pressures… READ MORE

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