Essays and Blog Content
OPERA BACKSTAGE
When I performed with an opera company in Los Angeles for a season of La Traviata, I learned that backstage, behind the wooden flats, each singer had a hidey-hole for their throat lozenges, throat sprays, tissues, and water cups. The two-by-fours that supported the set pieces formed a kind of bookcase effect on the back of the painted scenery, which was perfect for stacking nose sprays and cough drops. The first time I saw that accumulation of drug store products propped up all over the two-by-fours, I burst out laughing. It made perfect sense to me! From backstage during productions, I watched the entire cast exit the stage, one by one, and stand or sit behind the sets, clearing their throats and sinuses with various remedies. Nobody was sick – they were simply soothing their throats, while the singers onstage sang their hearts out. Everyone stayed very healthy singing in that opera. In later musical jobs, especially during my ten years in New York, I would find the same collection of lozenges and throat sprays perched on wooden set frames backstage in many shows. It always made me smile. By then, I had a collection of my own preferred remedies and a sleek little blue cotton bag in which to carry them.
VERTIGO INTERRUPED MY CAREERS
I’ve been suffering with vertigo episodes since 1994, when I took a flu shot in NYC that destroyed my immune function and made me terribly ill for the next four years, after which, I suffered from constant health issues. In addition to red, itchy rashes, diarrhea, nausea, repetitive episodes of flu, and constant ear infections and sinus infections, I experienced vertigo events that struck suddenly, dropping me to the floor. My doctors tried about fifty medications that did not lessen my symptoms. I relied mostly on Advil to reduce inflammation in my left ear, and Sudafed to clear congestion in my sinuses. I carried on as an actor and singer, performing in stage plays and films with these new hinderances to my health.
In 2015, I evolved from film and stage acting roles into playing piano with vocal performances of Broadway show tunes. When I was scheduled to perform, if I was dizzy, I took Advil and Sudafed, which usually helped to steady me enough to drive the car to the venue. Vertigo made me feel shaky, nauseated, and weak, light-headed, dizzy, sometimes feverish. Sudafed made me jittery. Advil made me sweat. So, when the performance began as I sat on the piano bench, I could feel my body sweating profusely. My stomach was sick and I was nauseated, my hands were turning blue, and I was shaking all over. It was horrid! After a few years of performing with vertigo attacks, I gave up. Now, I perform only when I feel well. Advil and Sudafed no longer provide relief. My current rescue medications are Dexamethasone in low doses to stop inflammation in my damaged left inner ear, and antibiotics when I need them.
Essays and Blog Content
THE LIFE OF A WORKING ACTOR
For decades, worked as an actor, singer, dancer, with ten years in Manhattan. I was so super happy to be in all different types of shows -- to sing with the chorus, to dance with the corps, to kneel with nuns and fraternize with Kings and Queens in Shakespeare’s plays, to party with the casts, and contribute my work to the productions. I loved studying literature and stories and plays.
Some of the New York film directors mentioned I looked European, which helped me a lot with Independent European films. I had high energy, and a zany outlook that saturated my characters with fun. In thinking about why I preferred character parts, it might have been because I liked devoting focused time to my roles to make them special and memorable. Maybe it was because of my enjoyment of working with large casts in varieties of performances.
As a character actor in musicals, I learned many interesting songs. When I auditioned for a part, I learned all the music for all the roles in the show, because, inevitably, the Director asked me to sing a second song; and I came prepared. Later in my life, I was able to perform those pieces in the small venues where I played piano and sang in The Early Show. I liked the calmer environments. I performed in Bistros, restaurants, retirement communities, parties -- mostly local events wherever I lived. The audiences were always close-up and real. We talked, we laughed, we sang. That always suited me, and that’s where I felt most comfortable.