By Joe Puccio
Any type of deviation to a cherished art form is inevitably met with resistance. When Ridley Scott’s 1979 horror masterpiece Alien was expanded into James Cameron’s decidedly more action-centric Aliens, science fiction fans were skeptical. When J. R. R. Tolkien’s beloved 1937 children’s fantasy novel The Hobbit received a sequel nearly twenty years later in the form of the considerably darker The Lord of the Rings, bibliophiles were uncertain. And when The Beatles began their ascent into music immortality with their whimsical 1963 pop/rock debut offering Please Please Me, ardent followers of the teen idols were assuredly up in arms over the band’s drastic shift in sound soon after on the psychedelic/rhythm and blues-infused Revolver.
Cue Friday the 13th: The Series.
The popular cult thriller (known in Canada as Friday’s Curse), which despite its name, has no connection to the iconic slasher film franchise, centered around two cousins who inherited an antique shop in which all of the store’s items have been sold off. Unbeknownst to them, the objects were cursed, and along with their expert-in-the-occult older friend, the trio embarks on a dangerous quest to retrieve the articles, one by one.
For the show’s first season and a half, John D. LeMay (Ryan Dallion), Louise Robey (Micki Foster), and the late Chris Wiggins (Jack Marshak) rounded out the relatively modest cast. But towards the latter half of its sophomore year, the character of Johnny Ventura infused the program with, forgive the pun, new blood, as a vain, fairly naive, womanizer, albeit with a good heart.
Effectively portrayed by Steve Monarque, it was the beginning of quite a radical change to the show’s dynamic. “This amazing casting director named Pamela Basker was a fan of mine and she called me up and asked me to meet with Frank Mancuso Jr. (creator and executive producer),” recalled Monarque, during a recent chat with Generation X Wire, explaining his pathway to the chilling series. “I read about a page and a half from the pool stick episode (“Wedding Bell Blues”) for Frank, he thanked me, and the next day I was on a plane to Toronto to shoot it. With that came a two-year deal. I flew back to the (United) States and I think it was only a few weeks later that I was back up there for the next year and a half. It changed my life.”
Although Monarque would only appear in two of that season’s installments, he was promoted to a series regular in 1989 for the show’s third, and ultimately, final year. Initially met with a fair amount of trepidation from the multitude of Friday the 13th: The Series supporters, the New Jersey-born thespian quickly won them over with his undeniable charm, leading man good looks, and most of all, the indisputable chemistry he shared with Robey and Wiggins. Fan favorite LeMay had exited the show and Monarque beautifully filled the void.
Since LeMay’s character was related to Robey’s (cousin by marriage), despite early narratives depicting his amorous feelings towards her, they were dropped rather swiftly. Monarque’s addition to the troupe, however, rekindled producers’ ideas of a romance between the two attractive, young stars. While he wasn’t surprised at the show’s intention to spice things up a bit, the actor was fully transparent with his disagreement at the prospect. “It didn’t really make sense in that genre of storytelling,” opined Monarque. “That never works out in those types of shows and I think it was for the best.”
Unfortunately, even though Friday the 13th: The Series possessed a rabid television audience, season three would turn out to be its swan song – a result of pressure from misguided religious extremists on the broadcast networks. Monarque, unwittingly, played a part in the unfair cancellation. “A few months before it happened, I was interviewed by one of them and was asked very specific questions about the show, like whether I personally watched it, my feelings about the cast, and what I thought about the blood,” he remembered. “I said I really didn’t have time to watch it since I would go down to see my family whenever we weren’t shooting, I said I loved who I worked with and that we were like vampires since we filmed all night, and I said the fake blood was like sticky candy that sticks to your body so it was sort of a bummer. They wrote that I didn’t watch my own show, that I felt the people I worked with were a bunch of vampires, and that I thought there was way too much blood. They twisted everything I said. It was a set-up.”
While the subsequent fallout didn’t please Mancuso, a meeting between the pair cleared the air and vindicated Monarque, but the damage had already been done. “There was a massive push at that time to stop content like our show because they thought it was satanic. I’m a Christian. It’s not satanic. If Satan was winning all the time, I’d say it was satanic,” he laughed. “Good always triumphed over evil.”
Before landing the role of Johnny, Monarque’s introduction into show business came courtesy of two ABC Afterschool Specials. Shortly after that, he landed parts in the John Hughes seminal 1984 teen comedy Sixteen Candles, alongside Molly Ringwald and Anthony Michael Hall (“I became really close with Anthony, who was the funniest guy I ever hung out with”) as well as in No Small Affair, a picture notable for being the film debut of Jon Cryer, Tim Robbins, Jennifer Tilly, and Tate Donovan (“I actually screen tested with Geena Davis on that one”).
Besides acting, the multi-talented Monarque’s resume includes writing, directing, and even music. “I’m very passionate about music. As a young kid, I was in the church choir, I started playing guitar at an early age, and I learned the drums,” he shared. “My wife and I eventually met through music.” A 1985 lead spot in the MTV video for an updated version of “25 or 6 to 4” by Chicago was a joy for the performer, an enthusiast of the group. “I grew up with Chicago and their music brings back lots of memories, both good and sad. I’m a huge fan of American music. If someone tells me the Eagles are America’s band one more time, I’m going to kick them,” he joked. “It’s The Beach Boys! Brian Wilson is a genius.”
The founder of MonaVision Films, one of Monarque’s proudest achievements is his 2014 award-winning made-for-TV movie Simpler Times, an endeavor which starred husband-and-wife comedy team Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara in their last onscreen appearance together. “Jerry was a gem of a man and I’m so glad that I got the chance to be in his life,” he beamed.
Monarque’s current passion undertaking is titled The Western Flyer. Set in 1963, the feature-length family film will tell the tale of a group of bullied middle schoolers who seek the help of a mystifying bike-riding superhero. “A friend of mine showed me videos about these kids in New Jersey who were bullied and committed suicide,” he lamented. “It really opened my eyes. I went to the Board of Education with the intent of bringing this into the school system. We’re going to cast real kids and shoot a trailer at the end of May. If one child comes out to talk about another child who’s contemplating suicide, then we win,” he continued. “I’ve come to a place in my career and in my life where the art of filmmaking and the art of entertainment can really be used to educate and to bring an awareness that will touch the hearts of parents and kids and will give them a completely different outlook and a direction in a crisis that is rampant in our schools. I’m ready to stick a fork right through the darkness to shine a light so it just goes away.”
In addition to The Western Flyer, other upcoming projects produced by Monarque include Get A Life, a full-length musical, Clown Bound, a fantasy film, Stagg Road, a horror flick, and The Guardian Man, a futuristic fantasy picture.
As for the program that Monarque is most remembered for, the actor has nothing but fond memories of Friday the 13th: The Series, its premature demise notwithstanding. “It was very creative and imaginative and it’s too bad that it had such a short shelf life because it could have gone on for many more years,” he contended. And to that notion, the visionary even has an idea for a 35-year continuation. “It could begin with Micki, Ryan, and I all visiting Jack’s grave, one at a time, running into each other after all these years,” he suggested. “And then something happens with one of the cursed objects at the gravesite and it’s like ‘here we go again.’”
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