What a Wonderful Week!

I'm still in "wow" mode.

Monday was marvelous. I sang in the Kaufman Center's Bound for Broadway Concert, which was held at the lovely Times Center since the Kaufman Center is being renovated. The Times Center is part of the new NY Times building and it is gorgeous! Beautiful on the outside and sumptuous on the inside! There's even a little garden of trees and grass right in the middle! Astounding!

The concert itself was such a treat! There I was, sharing the green room (actors lounge) with Broadway stars Mary Testa, Chip Zien, Kelly O'Hara and Jan Maxwell, not to mention the wonderful writers and other up-and-coming performers. Everyone was really focused, and while the mood was buoyed with laughter and good-natured jokes, everyone was there to do the best job they could.

Our Singing Nun group consisted of Tracey Gilbert, who plays my love interest, book writer Blair Fell and composer Andy Monroe. We seemed to hit it off with the Ever After writers, Marcy Heisler and Zina Goldrich, who were BMI Musical Theatre alumni like Andy and Blair. They were lovely ladies, warm and funny, and their musical based on the Drew Barrymore movie, Ever After, was AMAZING! The concert ended with their presentation, but I'm getting ahead of myself.

5 new musicals were showcased: The Next Thing You Know, The Tragic and Horrible Life of the Singing Nun, The Road to Qatar, Vanities, and Ever After. Liz Callaway hosted the concert, and she was WONDERFUL! Sweet, funny and engaging, she interviewed the composers, writers and directors prior to each performance. She also performed the last song of the evening from Ever After.

We were 2nd to perform, and Andy and Blair spoke a little bit about the real Singing Nun and her history, which had inspired them to write the show. They had the audience in stitches! And all I can say is, "Truth is stranger than fiction."

Then I took the stage to sing Jeanine's (aka the Singing Nun's) opening number, "Don't Be Afraid , Adele." It's about her journey to the convent, and she sings the song to her guitar, which she has named, "Adele," her mascot and inanimate best friend.

The audience was so with me on this ride, sharing the laughter and love. There is something so magical about that connection between a live audience and a performer. It's a communion of sorts, and I felt like we were in sync. It was wonderful!

Next, Tracey Gilbert sang, "I'll Follow You," which is a love song that starts adolescent but gets much more adult in terms of the depths a person will go to for the one they love. And we finished up with the duet "Offer It Up to God," which was Jeanine's actual idea of how to handle the love these two women were feeling. "All of the shame that we dare not name... we'll just offer it up to God."

It was an absolute blast and the audience seemed to have a good time. When I went out for the reception later, a lot of folks came up to me, saying, "Hey! Singing Nun!" The response was big, warm and very encouraging. :)

One of the cool things that came out of this is the director John Znidarsic, who was the stage director for the concert, called me in for the new musical, Hell's Belles. I auditioned and booked the show! Received the script today, and it looks like so much fun! I'll be performing Jan. 16-27, 2008. "Proud Mary keep on rollin!"