I don’t know how to bow, at least not gracefully. My lack of bowing prowess was on public display last month at the Venice Island Performing Arts Center in Manayunk. The premiere of “The Lost Tango,” a musical that I co-wrote with my friend and music collaborator, Howard Burke, had just concluded with a standing ovation from a sold-out house. We were called on stage with the cast to take a bow.

With a flourish of arms, the cast bowed on cue with the elegance of ballet dancers. I, on the other hand, bowed with all the coordination of someone who had just learned to walk upright.

I have had a modicum of success as a journalist, including winning a few awards. But never in my 74 years have I been asked to “take a bow” in accepting any award. Bowing wasn’t part of my body language vocabulary.

Nor was writing a libretto for a musical on my professional bucket list. I checked and, nope, nothing there about writing a libretto. Though completely unforeseen, writing the libretto (that’s musical theater speak for script) has been among the most creative and rewarding projects of my career.

The libretto, songs, the show, and my awkward bow would not have happened but for Monica, my significant other. It was she who convinced me to reconnect with Howard, with whom I had not spoken in 33 years.

Howard and I met in the late 1960s as members of the South Philadelphia String Band. He was a drummer and I abused a banjo -- if that is possible. In 1976 we formed the singer/songwriter duo of Burke and Calandra. Catchy name, right?

We spent the next five years playing the bars, restaurants, coffee houses, and street festivals in the city. Our biggest gigs were playing for the Bicentennial Commission on the Parkway; a live set on WXPN; and performing on stage at the iconic Main Point in Bryn Mawr.

Life took us in different directions. In 1982, Howard got married and I went to graduate school. I told Monica our back story. She did some sleuthing and found Howard on Facebook. “Message him,” she said. So, I did.

The week before Thanksgiving 2014, Howard and I met for lunch at Le Bus, located across the canal from Venice Island in Manayunk. We fell back in together immediately. The four of us had dinner in February. Howard talked about the songs we had written together and after more than a few glasses of wine asked me if I was “in.”

“In what?” I responded. Writing a musical based on our songs, he said.

I agreed.

The story would take place one night in a bar, focusing on six friends and a bartender. It would explore the twists and turns of life, love and friendship.

A month later, I sent Howard the first script, ah libretto, and collaborated on seven new songs. The musical was called, “The Lost Tango,” which was a bar where we hung out in the early 1970s. We had a show. Little did we know the hard part was just beginning.

We were warned that getting a new musical, by two unknown writers, staged would be a hard sell. Blessed with the naiveté of first timers, we were sure producers would love the story and songs as much as we did.

Of course, we were wrong. The next four years brought rejection after rejection, followed by another rejection, followed by, well, you get the idea.

In 2019, a friend and director with a New Jersey theater group agreed to read the book (aka libretto) and listen to music samples. She sent notes and we made changes. There was a table reading followed by more notes and another table read. Finally, the theater scheduled the show for June 2020. And along came COVID.

Before COVID, interest in our musical was at best indifferent. After COVID, getting a rejection email was cause to celebrate. It least acknowledged our existence. There were moments we considered giving up. Those quickly passed. We were determined. We believed in our show. We just had to find the right producer.

In the summer of 2024, I met Daralyse Lyons, then publisher of the Chestnut Hill Local. She also happened to be on the board of Venice Island. Dara graciously volunteered to present our show to Kelly Orenshaw, the center’s producer. As fate would have it, Kelly was looking for an original show to launch the theater’s new musical series.

After a January 2025 meeting, Beth Criscuolo agreed to direct the show. The premiere was scheduled for Nov. 21 with auditions in September and rehearsals starting in October. There were more changes to the libretto and songs. Beth’s sure-handed direction, Maria Jackson’s choreography, and Jim Wade’s precision vocal harmonies slowly molded and polished “The Lost Tango” into a finished production.

Opening night was surreal and electrifying. We were as nervous as two expectant dads. But when the theater went dark and the show began, the decade of rejections and disappointments dissipated like dust in a spotlight.

Watching the talented cast speak my words, hearing Howard’s beautiful compositions and soaring harmonies sung, and reveling in the enthusiastic audience response felt like, well, a synonym finder of words for ecstatic. Against all odds, we had done it.

And then I had to bow.