Magic To Do, part two…

I hope you are well as you read this blog post.

So far this winter I’ve managed to avoid being infected by the flu, strep, Covid, RSV, and the common cold — all of which are leaping from one human host to the next here in the Boston area.

Maybe it’s because I remain an ardent wearer of face masks whenever I am indoors — leading Music Together classes, performing at retirement communities, shopping for groceries at Trader Joe’s, riding public transportation, or going to see a movie.

Deep breath of gratitude in.

Deep breath of gratitude out.

As some of you may be aware from news I’ve shared on Facebook, I was invited to participate in a 50th anniversary reunion concert with (most of) the remaining members of the original cast of the musical PIPPIN at a nightclub called 54 Below in the theater district of Manhattan.

I wrote a blog post in 2016 about my time as a standby for the role of Theo in PIPPIN when I was ten years old which you can read by clicking here if you are curious.

After I wrote that post — in which I wondered if any of the original cast members remembered me — I nosed around online to try and find contact information for any other original cast members.

I found one listed as a teacher at a performing arts school in Colorado — with what appeared to be a current email address — and sent her a message.

I was very touched to receive an enthusiastic reply in which said that she DID remember me!

She also shared that the remaining members of the cast stayed in regular contact — and that she specifically recalled a conversation we once had backstage about how I felt no pressure from my parents to stay in show business as I grew older.

I don’t remember that conversation, but it rings true…

Neither of my parents had any experience with the advertising/entertainment industries, but my mom had grown up in Queens, NY, and every summer my siblings and I and my mother would return to her childhood home and stay with my grandmother for a couple of months while my father stayed at our home in Washington, DC (he worked for the Department of Agriculture) and commuted up on the weekends to visit.

In 2017 I also wrote a blog post about how much I loved my summers at 47-39 197th Street — right on the border between Bayside and Flushing — and what it was like doing commercials, voice-overs, TV shows and movies as a child and teenager which you can read by clicking here if you are curious.

After I learned that I’d been cast as a standby in PIPPIN, I remember sitting on the brick stoop in front of my grandmother’s house and thinking very excitedly that my life was about to change…

And it did.

I think my parents said “Yes” to me being a standby A) because they thought it would be fascinating to see how a Broadway musical is put together; B) because PIPPIN would be previewing at the newly-constructed Kennedy Center in Washington, DC (where we had lived for seven years); and C) because most Broadway musicals end up failing…

But PIPPIN did not fail, and I ended up living year-round at my grandmother’s house — which meant that I could audition a lot more (for commercials, voice-overs, made-for-TV movies, and plays), and my career as a child performer took off.

Until it gently crashed back to earth a few years later, and I entered a prep school called Hotchkiss.

But that is another story.

Deep breath in.

Deep breath out.

In the fall of 2021 I was surprised to be contacted by a journalist who was writing a book about how PIPPIN came to be created.

After stressing to her that I had just been a ten-year-old standby for the very small role of Theo and probably had nothing important or insightful to share with her, she still wanted to interview me.

So we had a pleasant phone call and — to my surprise…. as well as my chagrin — I ended up being quoted a couple of times in her book, MAGIC TO DO, which came out in October 2022 to coincide with the 50th anniversary of PIPPIN opening at the Imperial Theatre in NYC.

My third PIPPIN-related surprise was being contacted last summer by the original standby for the role of Pippin, Walter Willison, who has had an illustrious career in the entertainment industry.

He told me he was organizing a 50th Anniversary musical event at a lovely club in Manhattan called 54 Below which would feature original members of the cast.

And he wondered if I’d be willing to join this musical adventure.

I reminded him that I had only been the standby for the role of Theo.

But he very patiently persisted with his invitation, and — with equal amounts of excitement and fear — I finally agreed.

Another deep breathe in.

And deep breath out.

I found his invitation to be quite profound because I have had an anxiety dream at least once a year for the past fifty years in which I am asked to fill in at the last minute for one of the cast members in PIPPIN.

In this nightmare I gamely attempt to learn (and/or recall) the necessary dialogue, choreography and blocking while being rushed into someone else’s costume…

Then the curtain rises, and I hit the stage with everyone else, and I try to keep up with what’s happening all around me…

And then I wake up in a cold sweat.

So Walter was basically inviting me to live out this dream/nightmare in real life with most of the remaining original cast members as my companions!

One more deep breath in…

And deep breath out..

Long story short… the four performances at 54 Below happened earlier this week — and were very well received!

PIPPIN Reunion cast at 54 Below (I am on the very left side of this illustrious lineup!) — Photo by Stephen C. Fischer

I will probably write at least one more blog post about the experience — which was full of many funny moments, poignant moments, loving moments, anxiety-inducing moments, joyful moments and much, much more!

I am deeply grateful to have been asked to participate — and very curious to see if I ever have my PIPPIN-related anxiety dream/nightmare again…

Thank you for reading another one of my blog posts.

Thank you to Walter Willison for the HUGE amount of work he did to make these performances a reality — and for inviting me to participate!

Thank you to all of the beloved original cast members of PIPPIN who welcomed me back into their hearts — forty nine years after I had outgrown my role as standby for Theo and left the cast.

Thank you to the people whom I did not already know — music director Michael Lavine plus performers Joy Franz and Aaron Lee Battle) who also participated in this musical adventure.

Thank you to Doug Hammer and Mike Callahan for recording “Magic To Do” with me as part of a show we did at Scullers Jazz Club in Boston called WILL LOVES STEVE — which featured songs written by Stephen Schwartz, Stephen Sondheim, Steve Sweeting, Stevie Wonder, Stephen Flaherty, Cat Stevens and Steve Schalchlin.

And thank you to Stephen Schwartz for writing all the songs for PIPPIN — which people around the world (including me) love to sing!

Deep breath in.

Deep breath out.

You are always welcome to visit my website — where you can find many songs and learn more about my musical life here on planet earth if you are curious.

Moon over Central Park

You can also find me singing on Spotify, Pandora, Apple Music, YouTube and other digital music platforms.

And here’s a link to play “Magic To Do” on digital music platforms.

Any song you “like” or add to one of your playlists will greatly improve the algorithmic activity of my music there.

I hope you stay well.

And I welcome any comments you may be inspired to write.

I will close with a photo of the moon over Central Park which I took as I was walking up Broadway at Columbus Circle after our second afternoon of rehearsals…

And one more deep breath in.

And deep breath out.

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