BOW-ing out
We just wrapped another very successful annual production of Broadway Our Way at Uptown Players. This year I truly felt that this show rivaled the show I had previously felt was the best BOW ever - the one 2 years ago that I call "The Bojangles Year" (when Evil Twin danced my staging of Mr. Bojangles as Linda sang - it was magic) Once again we had thrown everything together in about a week's worth of rehearsal and some things as always came together at the last minute.
Opening night was a mixture of emotions for me because it would be my first time onstage since Mom had passed away and I was performing a song that she would have enjoyed immensely - I was singing Mary Sunshine's song from Chicago "A Little Bit of Good" and I had the wacky idea to do it dressed as Glenda the Good Witch from Wizard of Oz. I knew Mother would have laughed herself silly to have seen me come out in that costume, knowing my childhood obsession with that movie. As we warmed up before the show, we sang our finale, a touching ballad from Altar Boyz called "I Believe" and I had to step away from the rest of the cast to gain my composure because I started to cry as I thought about the lyrics and Mom not being there. I had to fight back the tears again right before I went onstage as Glenda.
The audience went crazy at the end of my Glenda song and I hope Mom was listening - she would have been so proud to hear the response I got for my performance. I made it through the rest of the show without tears until the very end when it was time for the finale. I managed to hold back the tears during that song but it was hard. After the show, I saw many friends who had come and that made me feel better. I couldn't believe all the wonderful things people were saying about the show and my Glenda bit - I guess because I had been so focused on just trying to get the show put together successfully while I was still in the midst of dealing with all the 'business' of Mother's death (not to mention the emotions), that I hadn't anticipated the overwhelming response I got for my song or that people would think this was the best BOW yet.
After that first night, it got a bit easier to go on Saturday night and then at the Sunday matinee, I walked onstage in the opening number to see my "two other moms" sitting on the front row. These two ladies had run the children's theater group I had grown up in and they had been great friends to Mom, often coming with her to see me in shows. They had never come to see Broadway Our Way before but they came this time to be there for me. I had no idea they were coming until I saw them sitting there and it took everything I had to stay focused and not start to cry because I was so touched to see them there and also because in the past Mom would have been sitting next to them. I knew that they would get a big kick out of my Glenda song, especially since I had played the Wicked Witch of the West when I was a senior in high school with their children's theater company. They loved the show and left me a voice mail saying how proud Mother would have been of me - that meant even more to me than the 2 rave reviews we got from local reviewers.
Evil Twin John did another amazing job of assisting me and doing the choreography for the show (though I still haven't forgiven him for making me enter down the steep and narrow aisle steps in the opening number when I told him I was going to be in spike heels ;-) I really couldn't have done the show without him, especially this year when I needed his emotional as well as professional support. The show sold out its entire 2-week run and we were squeezing extra seats in so it was a huge success in terms of raising money for Uptown.
Of course now this means we have raised the bar that much higher for next year's BOW and now that I made such an impression with the audiences and reviewers with my vocal acrobatics as Glenda, I have to come up with something to top that next year - at least I have a year to think about it and get some brilliant inspiration ;-)
Now I have a few weeks to put my life and my house back in order after everything from these past few months - oh, did I mention I'm shopping for a bigger condo? Like I didn't already have enough to do, I wanted to start looking while the housing market is soft and it's a buyers market. So I'll be doing that as I go into rehearsals for the next show I'll be performing in, Blame It on the Movies (at least I'm just performing in it and not having to put it together, too!)
Opening night was a mixture of emotions for me because it would be my first time onstage since Mom had passed away and I was performing a song that she would have enjoyed immensely - I was singing Mary Sunshine's song from Chicago "A Little Bit of Good" and I had the wacky idea to do it dressed as Glenda the Good Witch from Wizard of Oz. I knew Mother would have laughed herself silly to have seen me come out in that costume, knowing my childhood obsession with that movie. As we warmed up before the show, we sang our finale, a touching ballad from Altar Boyz called "I Believe" and I had to step away from the rest of the cast to gain my composure because I started to cry as I thought about the lyrics and Mom not being there. I had to fight back the tears again right before I went onstage as Glenda.
The audience went crazy at the end of my Glenda song and I hope Mom was listening - she would have been so proud to hear the response I got for my performance. I made it through the rest of the show without tears until the very end when it was time for the finale. I managed to hold back the tears during that song but it was hard. After the show, I saw many friends who had come and that made me feel better. I couldn't believe all the wonderful things people were saying about the show and my Glenda bit - I guess because I had been so focused on just trying to get the show put together successfully while I was still in the midst of dealing with all the 'business' of Mother's death (not to mention the emotions), that I hadn't anticipated the overwhelming response I got for my song or that people would think this was the best BOW yet.
After that first night, it got a bit easier to go on Saturday night and then at the Sunday matinee, I walked onstage in the opening number to see my "two other moms" sitting on the front row. These two ladies had run the children's theater group I had grown up in and they had been great friends to Mom, often coming with her to see me in shows. They had never come to see Broadway Our Way before but they came this time to be there for me. I had no idea they were coming until I saw them sitting there and it took everything I had to stay focused and not start to cry because I was so touched to see them there and also because in the past Mom would have been sitting next to them. I knew that they would get a big kick out of my Glenda song, especially since I had played the Wicked Witch of the West when I was a senior in high school with their children's theater company. They loved the show and left me a voice mail saying how proud Mother would have been of me - that meant even more to me than the 2 rave reviews we got from local reviewers.
Evil Twin John did another amazing job of assisting me and doing the choreography for the show (though I still haven't forgiven him for making me enter down the steep and narrow aisle steps in the opening number when I told him I was going to be in spike heels ;-) I really couldn't have done the show without him, especially this year when I needed his emotional as well as professional support. The show sold out its entire 2-week run and we were squeezing extra seats in so it was a huge success in terms of raising money for Uptown.
Of course now this means we have raised the bar that much higher for next year's BOW and now that I made such an impression with the audiences and reviewers with my vocal acrobatics as Glenda, I have to come up with something to top that next year - at least I have a year to think about it and get some brilliant inspiration ;-)
Now I have a few weeks to put my life and my house back in order after everything from these past few months - oh, did I mention I'm shopping for a bigger condo? Like I didn't already have enough to do, I wanted to start looking while the housing market is soft and it's a buyers market. So I'll be doing that as I go into rehearsals for the next show I'll be performing in, Blame It on the Movies (at least I'm just performing in it and not having to put it together, too!)