Readings, Recordings, and Reel - Oh my!

At the end of each year, I send out a Year in Review or Progress Report postcard to agents and casting directors, and this year has had the recurring theme of working on new and old projects with talented people from my past.

I was involved in some pretty big recordings, which was just thrilling. A delightful director whom I worked with eons ago hired me to do a voice over for an OnStar promo. He paid me a very high compliment by saying I sounded like a video game voice. Very cool! :)

The fantastic composer Andy Monroe, who wrote the music for this year's Off Broadway hit, The Kid, asked me to record a demo from his new musical Sally Peaches, and we also recorded a song from The Tragic and Horrible Life of the Singing Nun, which we had worked on at NYMF a few years ago.

 And Larry Moore, who orchestrated "Nun," hired me to sing for the upcoming CD series, "Unrecorded Victor Herbert Gems," which gave me the opportunity to work with some amazingly talented Broadway and opera stars. Simply mind-blowing!

We recorded in the concert hall at The Academy of Arts and Letters, and it was just thrilling the way the sound bounced off the walls!

I was also involved in some readings of new musicals. This summer, I reprised the roles of Judy Garland and Janis Joplin for the industry reading of Hell's Belles at HA! Comedy Club. I had played these characters (and about 10 others) in a production at the West End Theatre 2 years ago, and it was a blast to revisit the show with the same cast no less!

The producers and writer of Hell's Belles asked me to take part in another reading of a new musical, How To Marry A Divorced Man, based on the novel by Leslie Fram. The music was written by Clare Cooper, who had worked on Memphis and Toxic Avenger, and her style was just delicious! Great pop sensibility and one of the nicest people you'll ever meet!

I also reteamed with the wonderful Richard Binder, who played my husband Sigmund Freud a few years ago in the reading of the musical Vienna. We got to duke it out in a reading of an operatic scene for La Ribalta. Our fisticuffs ended with him sweeping me off my feet and taking me offstage in a very torrid manner. It was incredibly fun and a break away from my usual musical comedy.

Last but not least, I filmed a scene for the independent feature film, Marty's Magnificent Day-Glo Dreamathon, a wild rock musical created by Hippie Cream and directed by Daniel Maggio. I played the lead character's mother in a flashback, and had some juicy scenes which I hope make the final cut. If anything, I should be able to showcase the work in my reel.

So this year has been very fulfilling artistically and financially too. It is so important for an artist to get paid for her work!

I've been very fortunate to work with amazingly talented and good-hearted people, to share in the creative process and nurture each other along the way. This includes family and friends, teachers and classmates, casts and crews. We're all on this ride together! :)

Thanks to everyone who helped make this world bright and beautiful. I look forward to celebrating each day with you!

Happy New Year!