Making Marriage Work, As Told By Former Vogue Theater Employees and Attendees

Cupid struck hard at this Indy hotspot
Happily Ever After on a sign.

Before the days of Tinder and swiping right, most people found their spouse organically through friends, work or social gatherings. Locally in Indianapolis, The Vogue was seemingly a romance hotspot in the 80s, 90s and early 2000s. Jock Maggard, a now-retired bartender who worked at The Vogue for more than three decades, estimates he knows more than 30 couples who met at the theater and later married, although he also admits that number is likely much, much higher. 

Steven Ross, co-owner of The Vogue from 1986-2019, attributes the long list of romances to intentional efforts to make the theater a safe and comfortable hangout. He and his staff made a conscious effort to ensure drinks were not tampered with and guests weren’t harassed by other patrons. 

“We always made sure that The Vogue was a safe place to be at, where you could come and enjoy yourself and have a few drinks and dance to whatever music you like,” Ross says. “It was a place people could go and meet people and enjoy their presence and not feel threatened by anybody.” 

We spoke with some of the couples who met at The Vogue to learn about their secrets for a long-lasting marriage and how they knew their spouse was “The One.” Now, we’re imparting their advice on you.

Bev and Jock Maggard 

The Maggards were first introduced back in the early 80s when Jock was hired as a bartender at The Vogue. Bev was already on staff and moved between various roles, including bouncer, waitress, bartender, and ticket seller. The specifics of who made the first move have been forgotten with time, but it didn’t take long for their romance to blossom once introduced. A year and a half after they started dating, they married in 1982.

After more than 42 years of marriage, the Maggards credit their complimenting personalities and values to making their marriage work. Jock leans more-so on the quieter side, while Bev can be the opposite at times.

“For me, I would say my belief that you marry somebody, you stay with them for life, is a big part of it,” Bev says. “The other part of it would probably be, you grow up and you realize that grass isn’t always greener on the other side. I’ve got what I want, why would I need something else?”

Alice and Mike McDermott 

The year was 1994, and 21-year-old Alice was at The Vogue for 50 Cent Draft Night. While taking a step to walk out of The Vogue, she slipped and fell straight on her bottom. There to witness this accident was 25-year-old Mike McDermott, an employee at The Vogue. He asked Alice if she wanted him to “kiss your boo boo,” and secretly she wanted him to. Fast forward to one of their first dates, Alice knew instantly he was The One when he reached for his wallet to pay for her movie ticket. At the time, Alice was wrapping up her degree at Purdue University, while Mike was a reservist in the military, attending Vincennes University to be an airline pilot, and also working at The Vogue. Alice started coming down to The Vogue more often to see Mike; so much so she was eventually offered a job there. 

“That sounds so silly, but that was the moment when I was like, “Oh, he does all these things and he still wants to be kind and take care of somebody,” Alice says. “I could take care of myself,  but it was just sweet and it was kind. I thought he was a good guy and he cared about his friends, he cared about his people. He obviously worked hard. It just all clicked when he got his wallet out of his pocket. I knew at date five that I was marrying that man.”

Lorri and Gideon Navarro

The Navarro’s were first introduced at The Vogue in the early 2000s when Lorri stopped in for an interview and Gideon was working as its Dynamics Manager. He pretended he was the one that was going to interview her and proceeded to get all her contact information, then told her, “Cool, your interview is upstairs.” After first being friends, their friendship developed into a relationship, which turned into kids and marriage, too. 

Today, the Navarros have been together for more than 20 years. Three years ago Gideon went into renal failure. When Lorri discovered she wasn’t a match to donate a kidney to Gideon, she donated a kidney to someone else on the transplant list so Gideon could be given priority on the  list.

“We both say, “You have to choose marriage all the time, even when you don’t want to,” Lorri says. We just decided we weren’t going to give up on each other. We’ve had a lot of people the last three years say, “It’s crazy that Lorri would donate a kidney.” To us it’s just another day that we’re choosing our marriage, our relationship over everything else. It’s not always going to be easy but ultimately you chose to be in this relationship, so you have to keep choosing it, even when things are hard.”

Zann and Rusty Beeler 

In Aug. 1996, Zann was working as a bartender at The Vogue and simultaneously working toward her nursing degree. During one of her shifts, Rusty came in for a show at the theater and went up to Zann’s bar for a drink recommendation. The two chatted a little but never exchanged names. However, Zann was intrigued by the tall, dark and mysterious man. A week later Rusty came back to The Vogue and went right up to her at the bar, and the two just clicked and have been together ever since. 

More than 20 years of marriage later and the two credit it to both trust and active listening. “Just listen to each other,” Zann says. “Actively listen to each other, not just, “uh huh, yea, sure, whatever.” And not to say that we haven’t had our ups and downs. Every couple has their ups and downs. But we’ve just been able to work through them by compromising with each other and not being completely against each other’s ideas on how to move forward with something.”

Stacey and Eric Stuteville 

In August 2003, Stacey and Eric met while they were in the crowd of a Flaming Lips show at The Vogue. The two stood next to each other for the show, shared glances and chatted a little bit. For Eric, it was love at first sight. “Oh, he was absolutely in love with me at first sight,” Stacey says. It didn’t take Stacey long thereafter to realize she too was in love with him. After the show, Stacey, Eric and her friends continued the night at the Alley Cat Lounge. Not wanting to take any chances with “pick-up games,” Eric got her phone number that night and called her the next day to set up another date. Stacey was almost certain he wouldn’t call. In addition to calls and texts, the two, who are both writers, started “writing lovely emails to each other that were almost little stories.” 

The two married in 2006, and their advice to other couples is to establish trust and communication. “Marriage advice varies for each couple but I think Stacey and I established an immediate level of trust and communication that we’ve always honored,” Eric says. “Hang on to that.”

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