It’s deja vu all over again

I returned to NYC in August, after enjoying the luxury of reprising a role. This was only the second time I’ve had the opportunity to re-visit a musical theatre role, and I once again found the experience delightful. The show was Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, and I enjoyed it just as much – if not more – as the first time I played the role of Carole King’s mother, Genie Klein. It’s always exciting to see how different actors, directors, designers and choreographers approach their roles and jobs for the production. The one constant for both productions is simply that the show is beautifully written (pun intended), and because most of the songs in the show are autobiographical, the songs that lead us through the story feel very organic – not forced, as some juke box musicals might feel. And the songs? There’s no question why each song in the show had been a hit when it was written, and why many younger people still know those songs today. The icing on the cake was that the show was produced in my home state of Virginia, making it possible for my brother and some high school friends to drive to see the show!

Back to Rock ‘n’ Roll!

It was a thrill to play Jan Randall in a brand new show in March and April. Feels Like The First Time, The Foreigner Musical, is a beautifully written tale set in the 80’s, of course! Members of three families who live on the same street deal with the struggles of their various complicated relationships, while a washed up rock star shows up to give a backyard concert televised on MTV in an effort to redeem his career and reputation. I had a blast revisiting the songs of Foreigner that I used to sing with the radio blasting back in my formative years! With Adam Pascal directing and Lorna Ventura choreographing, this amazing cast made up of CW Post/LIU theater students mixed with six professional actors brought the house down every show!  Book by Stephen Garvey, orchestrations by David Abbinanti.