Entertainment

A young man walks determinedly along a sadly dilapidated basement of a Bay Ridge church. His manner is undeniably cocky, and the sneer marring his handsome face only adds to the moment’s inherent intrigue. His golden hair nearly luminescent in the room’s artificial light, he almost bears the presence of an angel.

Ironically, this vibrant lad is auditioning to play the devil in the Narrows Community Theater’s fall musical, “Damn Yankees.”

In existence for nearly four decades, Narrows owes its humble beginnings to a myriad of holy buildings in the oceanfront neighborhood and – for quite a few years until 9/11 – the Fort Hamilton Army Base.

“Actually, we played wherever we could get space. Our problem has always been a home,” said Mickey Sullivan, a member of the Narrows board since its inception. “Over the years, we have lost thousands and thousands of dollars in props. We had to leave them – we had no place to store them.”

At 44 years old, Tom Moran, with his husky vocals and intense guitar, reaches out to teens and young adults with the message, as described in his just released, self-published second album, that he “Ain’t Gonna Give Up.”

“Do not be destructive. Teach society to make changes in the world,” he passionately tells his growing audience in one of his songs.

A physical education teacher by day, Moran, of Canarsie, embarked on a second career as a singer and songwriter because “you got to be crazy and have a little touch on how to express yourself freely,” he said in a sit-down with Bay currents “ Music is life and love. It’s good stuff and a powerful thing. And I can spread my message in a song.”

And what is that message? “Drinking and taking drugs is enough to ruin your life, and to lose the chance of achieving a goal,” he said.