19/06/2024
When one wakes up late in the day, one misses tragic news that does not become less arduous with time. Reading the many tributes to Marlon De Bique going back hours, I am aware of the impact this renaissance man of the arts had on a sector, on a cohort of creatives, on a nation. I knew him in many spheres. As a fine tenor voice with The Trinity Tenors he wowed with his control and superlative timbre. I missed his performance as Jean Valjean in The Marionettes Chorale production of Les Misérables, but noted the kudos from patrons. (Nigel Floyd was excellent.) Musical theatre, and theatre generally, has lost a prominent figure, onstage and behind the scenes. We crossed swords during his role of Cultural Officer at Min. of Culture over my reporting on the production of All Jazzed Up at Carifesta XIV in 2019. No time now to recount battles made irrelevant by time, but we were on the same page, subsequently, as he took on his role as CEO at Naparima Bowl. His opinions were sound and mattered, and he defended his art solidly. "Excellence" was his middle name as he brought a level of unparalleled quality to everything he touched. His development of the Naparima Bowl Jazz Festival over the last couple years was promising, as it positively added to the group of outdoor events beyond the Carnival we like to call "Jazz..." The Bowl became the new mecca for a Northerner like me, as "the cultural soul of the south" made commercial and creative sense since his tenure as CEO. I drove 40 miles to see the Creole Chanteuse and many others like it was normal. In a different time, going south for me was a journey, he made a Bowl outing and its setting, a pleasure.
As a critical person , still young and important with much more to offer in the cultural, creative and policy sectors of our T&T creative industries, Marlon will be sorely missed. May he rest in peace and may his legacy inspire others towards excellence in the arts in Trinidad and Tobago.
