Former Miami cop sees nudity as catharsis in "The Naked Ventriloquist"

State of play: Schwartz's one-act play "The Naked Ventriloquist" returns to Miami next weekend. 

• Originally supposed to be a children's show, the adults-only play follows a retired cop's journey toward self-acceptance with the help of his puppet alter-egos.
• The main character's struggles with trauma and self-loathing climax with a final act of "self-liberation," according to a press release. 

Flashback: Schwartz, who holds bachelor's and master's degrees in fine arts, was the spokesperson for the Miami Police Department during the Elian Gonzalez saga.

• As head of the public information office, Schwartz says he used his theater education to runportray cast the office like a TV show and communicate department talking points to local media. 
• "I was able to go to crime scenes and construct really good sound bites that I knew were going to get on the air." 

He became a cop after failing to make it in show business. But to him, law enforcement and theater are similar. Officers play different roles, from enforcer to consoler, he said.

• "I think it's very theatrical. Cop wears a costume right?" he recently told ArtSpeak at Florida International University.

Following his retirement in 2008, Schwartz returned to the performing arts and became a nude model at South Florida art classes. 

• In 2020, he premiered "The Naked Ventriloquist." 

What they're saying: Schwartz says he didn't set out to write about a naked ventriloquist. He began the play during a difficult time in his life.

• "The more that I worked on the script, the more it became clear that my puppets were pushing me toward a catharsis," he says in the release.
• "The nude scene represents that catharsis," Schwartz adds. "It is the shedding of the chains that kept me from letting go of past demons and moving forward toward self-acceptance."

If you go: Performances to be held Nov. 22-24 at Main Street Playhouse in Miami Lakes.

• Tickets are $32.