“I wanted to see what he does in new light,” said Slocum, who is the associate dean of students at Johnson & Wales University’s Providence, RI, campus and a self-described “chorus husband.” He and Beaudreau got married last year after 17 years together.
Besides seeing his husband perform on faraway stages, Slocum has a deeply personal reason for wanting to join Beaudreau on this particular tour. “As a black man, going to South Africa is going to be meaningful,” says Slocum.
His mother, who passed away a few months ago, was especially excited by the news of the trip.
“There was something about [me] being the first one from my immediate family to step foot on the continent of Africa that was really important to her,” Slocum says. Even though he won’t be able to share the experience with her, “I feel like I get to take her with me,” he adds.
Beaudreau is excited for Slocum to join him in South Africa and proud of the opportunity the tour presents for the chorus to raise money for HIV/AIDS service organizations in South Africa, given that there are an estimated 25.5 million people living with HIV in sub-Saharan Africa. He is also looking forward to the cultural exchange of sharing music and learning directly from the people of South Africa about their lives and their experiences.
“That’s why touring internationally is so important, and it’s so awakening, and it’s a big part of why I want to go,” says Beaudreau. “It’ll be exciting and it’ll be nerve wracking. It’ll be exhausting, but it’ll be so life changing, in the end.”
One could say the same about Beaudreau’s and Slocum’s relationship. After an awkward meeting in a bar in which Beaudreau was at once smitten and seized by shyness in Slocum’s presence, they had their first date a week later. Their relationship progressed quickly from there, but in 2010 they hit what Slocum called “a rough patch” and went their separate ways. It was during that time that Beaudreau moved to Boston and began singing with BGMC.
Beaudreau and Slocum remained in contact, in part, because they shared a dog. And slowly, says Slocum, “we just sort of found our way back to each other—with some growing up.”
“It took a long time,” says Beaudreau—three years, in fact. Cautiously, they began dating again.
“And we dated in the truer sense of the word because the first time…there was such a great attraction and such a great connection that we really didn’t allow certain things to develop, you know, at a slower pace,” Beaudreau says.
Beaudreau, a retail store manager for Sephora, enjoys the outlet BGMC provides him to express himself through music and performance.
“I like singing. I like being part of choral group,” he says.
Slocum is 100 percent behind Beaudreau’s pursuit of his musical passion.
“I like that he has expanded his horizons and is doing something that’s meaningful to him,” says Slocum. “And every season with the chorus, you can tell that it’s an outlet for him that he needs.”