Pasion Project is launching a brand-new, original stage show, “Bum Farto – The Musical,” showing at Key West Theater Nov. 9-11.
Based on a true and crazy story from the 1970s era in Key West’s fascinating history, about the charismatic local fire chief who disappeared in 1976 after being arrested on drug charges, this musical features a cast of 18 singers, dancers and actors performing 14 song-and-dance numbers in styles ranging from salsa to Carolina shag and even includes a tap-dancing “square fish,” the nickname ascribed to the floating bales of drugs that often washed ashore in the Florida Keys.
The show features original music by Dan Krysa and Latin music by La Mexx, all performed by a live band.
Here is a bit of background from author David Sloan about Key West’s notorious era and equally infamous fire chief, Bum Farto. Sloan wrote a series of investigative features for the Keys Weekly in 2020 while seeking the answer to the question, “Where is Bum Farto?”
Here’s an excerpt from one of his articles from May 2020:
“Key West Fire Chief Joseph ‘Bum’ Farto disappeared on Feb. 16, 1976, while awaiting sentencing for a drug trafficking conviction stemming from Operation Conch – a sting operation that found Farto allegedly selling cocaine from the city’s fire station. Bum became the Jimmy Hoffa of Key West, and the island has swirled with rumors of his fate since he disappeared.
“There was only one ‘El Jefe’ born in Key West, and his name was Joseph “Bum” Farto.
He was born in Key West, Florida on July 3, 1919. It was the same year the island was battered by the great hurricane that inspired Sister Gabriel to build a grotto asking the saints for protection from future storms.
“His father was a restaurateur who had emigrated from Spain to Key West through Cuba in 1902. The man who would become fire chief was the youngest of three children who grew up in Old Town, first on Fitzpatrick Street, and then on Greene Street in a home beside the
family business.
“They opened the Victoria Restaurant on Duval Street in 1917. Its location next to Fire Station No. 1 proved instrumental for young José Farto and his future career. It also set the stage for the saints José would call upon for protection from storms of his own.
“The father, Juan Farto, died in 1937, and his Victoria Restaurant property sold for $2,500 to a man named Joe Russell, who relocated his bar from across the street and brought a new legacy to the location, serving drinks to Ernest Hemingway. The building where young José ‘Bum’ Farto grew up has been known as Sloppy Joe’s Bar ever since.”
