About This Show
Passport Playbill is the story of Eddie Kirsch a native New Yorker who grew up with a love of travel influenced by the magic of the Broadway stage. He sees his passport metaphorically as a playbill and through this viewpoint reviews the real life roles he was cast in, as foreign countries become stages that record his entries and exits all over the world. In the 70s’ the 22 year old left the country with $500 and a return ticket ostensibly to “do” Europe. His five-year odyssey takes him through Europe, Asia, India and the Middle East during a time when “sex, drugs and rock and roll” was the chant of a generation, On the Road by Jack Kerouac couldn’t be reprinted fast enough and traveling the world was an easier thing to do.
From hash-smoking musician to shopkeeper Eddie’s travels take him to Amsterdam, Bombay, Katmandu, Paris, Spain, Iran and Afghanistan. His stories run from the ridiculous to the sublime. He tells of sneaking into Broadway theatres as a boy; the joy of appearing on stage the first time and the horror of the attempt made to kidnap his wife in Istanbul. He shares a headache cure given him by Ganesh Baba, a Hindu guru, while attending Kumba Mela in India, a drug-induced night of violence in Belgium and the spiritual experience that alters the rest of his life.
