The island that got rich off bird sh*t is now a total train wreck. Nestled in a cluster of islands in the central Pacific Ocean is Nauru, a small country with a totally insane story. ----- Selling fossilized bird excrement was lucrative business. In the late 60s and 70s, people on Nauru were living large: In 1975, the country earned the equivalent of $2.5 billion — more than enough to satisfy its then population of 7,000 people. With its newfound wealth, people in Nauru bought cars and houses; the country built a hotel, a golf course and founded an airline so it could import Western food. But as the 80s became the 90s, Nauru’s phosphate resources became depleted — and its pile of unpaid bills grew higher. It was around this time that Nauru’s financial strategy took a turn for the weird. Duke Minks, one of the country’s financial advisors, convinced Nauru’s president to invest in a new piece of musical theater. Before embarking on his finance career, Minks served as a roadie for an obscure British pop band called Unit 4 +2. Together with the band’s lead singer, Minks co-wrote and co-produced a show loosely based on the life of Leonardo da Vinci. Perhaps the best way to sum up “Leonardo the Musical: A Portrait of Love” is with this line from The Independent’s review of the show: “Art historians in the audience may have felt queasy midway through Act One when Leonardo da Vinci slapped the Mona Lisa on the bum, and asked her to ‘help me with my research.’” The show closed only a few weeks after its debut in June of 1993, costing the Nauruans approximately $7 million in today’s currency.
Todd Brizendine