Nick Cordero, a Broadway actor and musician, died on Sunday, three months after he was hospitalized for contracting coronavirus.
When I moved to New York to start college, I rejected the identity of a tourist. I told myself I went to the city enough times to know the streets and know which trains I should take. Yet, for some reason, I am still always in awe in Times Square; I just love Broadway and musical theatre. My freshman year, the soundtrack of “Waitress the Musical” was on constant loop.
Yesterday, Nick Cordero, a Broadway actor known for playing the ‘tough guy’ roles, Tony nominee, and a cast member of “Waitress”, died. He was in the hospital for three months after he contracted the coronavirus in late March. Even after he started testing negative for the virus, the complications of the disease jeopardized his health. He died at 41.
‘Not without a fight’
Amanda Kloots, Cordero’s wife, announced his death on Instagram. The couple just moved to Los Angeles last year and share a one-year old son, Elvis.
Kloots wrote, “my darling husband passed away this morning,” and continued. “He was surrounded in love by his family, singing and praying as he gently left this earth.”
Cordero’s experience with the virus is a heart-wrenching story. Two days after they diagnosed him with the virus, he went into a weeks-long medically induced coma. A month later, his struggles with blood clots while on a ventilator and an ECMO machine caused him to undergo a leg amputation. Cordero, whose singing and tap dancing won him a Tony nomination in 2014, lost his right leg.
While her husband was in the hospital, Kloots was on social media to give updates on Cordero’s health and spread positivity by encouraging his fans to sing and dance to his music. After Cordero’s leg amputation, Kloots posted a video of the couple dancing a choreographed ensemble at their wedding. She wrote, “we WILL dance again!”
For months, the Broadway stages remained dark, the seats empty, no music. As the industry and New York City recovers from coronavirus’ staggering blow, it is all the more upsetting to know that many great performers, like Cordero, will never take the stage again.
As the pandemic rages on, Cordero’s music offers strength and hope. In his song “Live Your Life”, he sings, “they’ll give you hell but don’t you let them kill your light/Not without a fight.”