waitress (an obsession)

My mom and I caught Sara Bareilles' brilliant musical on Broadway a few years ago and yo, we were obsessed. I can sing along with most everything (to my partner's utter surprise, while I was cooking for him for the first time this week), particularly to Sara's live show at Radio City before the show went to Broadway. Below: Jeremy Jordan (good god) singing the main tune of Jenna's, "She used to be mine." It's heartbreaking, and gorgeous in his voice.

I'm a big fan of musical theater. For those that don't know, I grew up on stage. That's right, folks: musical theater is in the blood. I was in "Annie" as Molly at age 9, continued to "Anything Goes," "Cinderella" and in high school, pit orchestras for "Pippin" (freshman year) and "Bye Bye Birdie" (senior year) and Glinda in "The Wiz" (junior year; goodness, Lena Horne had a low voice!). I also music directed ("Bye Bye Birdie" and "Pinocchio" for 6-13 year olds) and played pits ("Gypsy," "Oliver" and "Aida") at French Woods when I was 20, where I fatefully met my best friend of 15 years, Perry J. O'Halloran, a spectacular guitarist and singer in his own right, as well as a filmmaker. He's doing big things. He's not on the internet.

I have since sung songs from "Side Show" (I will never leave you, a duet), "Chicago" (Lipschitz in "Cell Block Tango") and "Rent" in a variety show freshman year at Oberlin; in the pit chorus for an all BIPOC production of "The Wiz" over winter term at Oberlin; and played the pit for Elton John's "Aida" (with bansuris!) at York College in Jamaica, Queens. I dream of playing a pit for Broadway, but I'm not a doubler, so my chances are very slim. Do I hear you calling, Times Square...? Is that you? Well, you know where I live.