"A MUSICAL"

This past week I went to a Broadway Review at Citrus College and a Musical - NEWSIES!!  Man was it fun.   The Broadway review started with this song from Something Rotten.  It made me think, what is it about "A MUSICAL???"  and when did I fall in love with musicals.   I remember very vividly listening to records of musicals as a very young girl.  My dad would put a big stack on the record player and they would drop down, one by one, hour after hour.  I think my mom and dad were big fans.  Just looking at these album covers bring back such amazing memories.  Our family went to one of the first nights that Mary Poppins was in the theater in 1964.  I was six and Barb was four.  My mom has mentioned that she spent most of the movie out in the lobby.  I don't know if I was the one who kept her there, but I loved Mary Poppins.  I learned all the songs by heart.  We were glued to the T.V.  when Rogers and Hammerstein's Cinderella was shown.  Oh Leslie Ann Warren.

The picture above was probably from my first stage appearance.  It was a roadshow, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.  All I truly remember was riding on a bus going from building to building and thinking that was pretty neat. 

In sixth grade I had my BIG BREAK.  They needed a boy and a girl from the elementary school to play Ngana and Jerome in the high school's production of South Pacific.  I had already seen musicals at the high school. All I wanted to do was be on that stage.   Who could forget Terri and Clark in the Sound of Music and Clark singing GOOD . . . . . . at the end of So Long, Farewell.  The Director and Musical Director came to the elementary school for the audition.  I may have been a good singer, or they probably just recognized the last name.  I thought I was really cool to be in the high school play.  I had invited all my friends.  I told them I would signal them during the show by running my finger back and forth under my nose.  Well I must have been doing it excessively because my mom came back stage during intermission and told me to cool it!!!

In ninth grade I was cast as Josephine the female lead in H.M.S. Pinefore.  We were double cast.  Sue Anderson and I shared the part.  She was an amazing singer.  Why was I cast - I could hardly sing?  Maybe I was selected because of my acting????  That same year I was cast as the White Rabbit in Alice in Wonderland.  No singing necessary. 

When I was in 10th grade (first year in high school) the musical that was selected at JFK was Carousel.  I was selected for the ensemble and enjoyed all the great dancing in numbers like "This is a real nice Clambake" when I had another big break.  Really the big break happened to the girl who was playing Carrie Pepperidge.  She broke her foot and a few weeks before the performance I was asked to take over.  I remember being so excited.  I vividly remember calling my mom from the pay phone at Kennedy.  Then reality set in.  Oh yeah, that singing part again.  No body mics in those days.  You had to belt  to the back of the auditorium.  I did great if the note was was around middle "C".  There must have been plenty of tears at 2757 South Joslin Court.  I think my mom arranged for Philly Childress, an  over-the-top singer from our ward, to come over and help me try to nail some of the notes.  Kind of glad that there are no videos to document it, just the following pictures.  I think my dad was on the last row of the auditorium.  In these I am like a quarter of an inch in each picture - not really sharp - (another good thing)  I can be content with my memories and my imagination of what it was like.   Carrie is the more comedic roll.  Julie Jordan, the ingenue, was played by Pat Miller, another girl from our ward.  Good news, I got to hang out with boys a bit -that was fun.

My junior year we put on The Music Man. Sue Anderson got her due. She was amazing as Marian. I was cast as Zaneeta. Sorry no pictures. Good part for me - dancing, acting and very little singing - the directors were catching on.  The summer between my Junior and Senior year was when Denver City Schools decided to enact an Integration Policy. We lived close enough to the school to walk to school so I stayed at Kennedy, but most of my friends were bused across town and kids across town were bused into Kennedy. Mrs. Teaberry, the drama teacher, selected a great music for that year which represented how we were feeling. The show was West Side Story. I wasn't that interested in performing on stage, but for the first time I played in the orchestra. It was quite a learning experience for me with Mr. Shadwell.  That year  I had to be content with ending my acting career playing Mrs. Noah in our Ward Roadshow.  It was a story of all the animals that didn't make it on the Ark. It turns out having a picture with the guy who played Noah was pretty lucky.  He turned out to be quite famous in certain circles. Check him out here.  Go to more musicals folks - it will make your heart sing.