Their Vision of Love

Maurie Sherman proposed to his partner, Matthew Almeida, onstage with Mariah Carey at her Vegas show -- and he says the Mariah theme will extend far beyond their engagement.

By Michelle Garcia

Their Vision of Love 01 x390 (grab) | ADVOCATE.COM

Maurie Sherman stole thousands of hearts when he proposed to his boyfriend of three years before the almighty Mariah Carey at a show in Vegas on Saturday night. Sherman and his now-fiancé, Matthew Almeida, live in Toronto, where they’re planning for a legal, Mariah Carey -- laced wedding.

Advocate.com: So, I take it you’re big Mariah fans?
Maurie Sherman: He’s a huge Mariah Carey fan. I love him to death and would do anything for him and I thought, if given the opportunity, I would love for him to meet Mariah. So when they announced these intimate Vegas shows -- I mean 5,000 people -- I thought maybe there is this chance. It took me six months to do and I didn’t know we’d be doing it until five minutes before the show started. He had no idea until they started talking onstage. Her people brought us to the side of the stage, so I said, “[Your] birthday is next month, so happy birthday! I’m going to get you to meet Mariah and you’ll get a quick picture.”

So, I was brought side stage, by the mixing board, and they handed me her black Swarovski microphone and Mathew’s like, “I don’t want to sing. I don’t want to sing.” He had no clue. And it was just awesome and the crowd went nuts and they were talking to us after.

So do you have any wedding plans yet?
Um, it’s going to be two or three years in the making. It will be Mariah-themed. We are definitely going to send an invite to her. Of course, she probably won’t be able to make it, but at least I want her to know that everything went well. It will obviously be in Toronto.

It was so cool to see him meet his idol. It was just awesome. And it was great in my opinion, especially in the U.S., especially in Vegas, to do something gay onstage -- that’s just unheard of, and if given the chance I will wave the flag for equality, no problem.

‹‹Previous Article in Category | Next Article in Category››

Reader Comments

Back to top Post a Comment Report Abuse
Name: Bo
Date posted: 12/18/2009 12:52:35 AM
Hometown: Los Angeles

Comment:
Awesome, congrats! :)
Back to top Post a Comment Report Abuse
Name: Mike
Date posted: 10/16/2009 1:48:16 AM
Hometown: New York

Comment:
That was really moving. I'm so glad he got down on his knee to propose to his partner. How romantic! It brought me to tears. I'm just a big ol' softy!
Back to top Post a Comment Report Abuse
Name: Tim
Date posted: 10/15/2009 8:31:14 AM
Hometown: Kingston

Comment:
Sweet. Frightening taste in music, but sweet (I wouldn't marry anyone, but, in the event I were, I would at least wait until a Diamanda Galas, Yoko Ono or LimpWrist concert). Congratulations of a sort (I don't believe in marriage, but it's still sweet and, if it makes you happy and Rush Limbaugh and Anne Coulter nauseated, it's a good thing...).
Back to top Post a Comment Report Abuse
Name: Tim
Date posted: 10/15/2009 8:30:45 AM
Hometown: Kingston

Comment:
Sweet. Frightening taste in music, but sweet (I wouldn't marry anyone, but, in the event I were, I would at least wait until a Diamanda Galas, Yoko Ono or LimpWrist concert). Congratulations of a sort (I don't believe in marriage, but it's still sweet and, if it makes you happy and Rush Limbaugh and Anne Coulter nauseated, it's a good thing...).

PREVIOUS 1 NEXT

Don't Miss

Best of Broadway Dressing Felicia: Priscilla's Costume Designer Talks Shop
Costume designer Tim Chappel shares private sketches with The Advocate of his work on The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert and gives the behind-the-scenes scoop on that flip-flop dress.

Best of Broadway How Broadway Does a Flea Market
Find out why actress Kathleen Chalfant calls the annual Flea Market and Grand Auction in Times Square "the most glamorous flea market you've ever seen." It raised half a million dollars to fight HIV/AIDS.

Best of Broadway Especially for You, It All Goes Backwards on Broadway
Here's your chance to hear the best of Broadway sung with you in mind at the annual Broadway Backwards event.

Best of Broadway You Picked: Broadway's Best Moments
We asked for your most loved and loathed moments from the Broadway stage. Here are eight of our reader's favorite musical moments, plus two that were not so well received.

Best of Broadway The 15 Biggest Broadway Hits
The top-performing Broadway shows will surprise and delight you.

Best of Broadway Top 10: Broadway's Best Cast Albums Ever
Our managing editor throws down with his list of the best Broadway musical albums of all time. Disagree? You'll have your chance, too.

People Douglas Spain Becomes the Change He Wants To See
On the heels of coming out, the acclaimed actor discusses good luck, the importance of being true to oneself, and the benefits of playing a homophobe.

Commentary Op-ed: The T-Word Hasn’t Changed, We Have

The L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center’s Jake Finney responds to RuPaul and others and explains that the T-Word has always been inappropriate but few stood up for themselves.

News Is CPAC Illegally Discriminating Against Gays?
Fred Karger once again isn't being allowed a table at one of the GOP's biggest annual gatherings, and this time he's threatening legal action because he believes he's being discriminated against because he's gay.

News Obama Makes the Case for Fairness

He made the case for “a return to the American values of fair play and shared responsibility” — a theme pertinent for an LGBT community facing disproportionate poverty rates and legal barriers to equal rights.

Film Mosquita y Mari’s Path to Sundance
Director Aurora Guerrero talks to The Advocate about the making of her new film and how she believes mainstream media simplifies the lives of LGBT and Latino characters.

Film Young & Wild: A Director’s Perspective
The director and cowriter of Young & Wild, a film about a teen struggling to reconcile her raging sexual drive with an evangelical upbringing, writes about making the film and her own life growing up lesbian in Chile.

Commentary Op-ed: An Open Letter to Mitch Mayne on Living Openly

Republican presidential candidate Fred Karger responds to criticism about his views on Mormonism made on Advocate.com by an openly gay San Francisco executive secretary of the LDS Church.

Commentary Advice: When Hotels Aren’t Welcoming

When a gay couple isn’t treated like the straight guests, it isn’t always obvious. Is it better to let the slight slide or to speak up?

Photography Artist Spotlight: Kelli Connell
Connell's dual portraits create tiny moments packed with so much feeling that the fantastic technical work seems to disappear.

Comedy Best Tweet Ever: Come Out, Come Out
Also this week on Gaysayer’s Best Tweet Ever: The Golden Globes, Paula Deen, and Morgan Freeman’s best costar.

Arts and Entertainment Hot Sheet
The top 10 entertainment highlights on our gaydar this week: Ross Mathews takes over, Mrs. Danvers fondles again, while Halston and Carol Channing get documented.

Travel Gayest Cities in America, 2012
It's no secret that megalopolises New York City, Chicago, and Los Angeles have robust LGBT life — and we've even heard tell of little queer hoods like the Castro and P-Town. This isn't that list.

Business Best Companies List: Who Is on Your Side?
The Human Rights Campaign released its newly updated Corporate Equality Index today. Here's the complete list of companies that scored 100% for being LGBT-friendly.