At Heart, I’m a Song-and-Dance Man
It’s true. When I graduated High School, I came from an immersion in swing choir, summer musicals (Motel the Tailor and Harold Hill), the drama club (four years of Shakespearean adaptations, culminating in playing a rapping Hamlet), and individual voice training that got me 1-stars in the State Vocal Competition.
I was going to be a gypsy. The plan was to graduate from BYU’s Musical Dance Theatre program, and then take Broadway by storm.
Little things like a family and military service got in the way. There’s a part of me that realizes that I probably got my life saved by that, as that was the era that the AIDS epidemic took its heaviest toll on the dance population in NYC. I did, years later, earn that dance degree, and I’m proud of my artistic achievements.
Never let it be said, though, that you can’t bring Broadway to you. Last night was the last rehearsal with Foxy Veronica’s Peach Pies before thursdays debut of me singing “All I Care About (is Love)” from Chicago. With choreography by me, in fact, and even some of the costume design done by me. It’s got sex appeal, of course, but I’ve got a lot of humor in there – it’s very Mel Brooks – and I couldn’t ask for a better group to be working with – Foxy herself, and co-director Ms. Behavin, have been not only giving me carte blanche to achieve my “vision” but also given me tremendous support. The dancers have put up with my abusive choreography and are filling in the gaps with their own brand of attitude which is going to make the number all the more fun.
And when I get up there, in the smoky bar, and get to the Big Belting Finish, kneeling with my arms spread a la Al Jolson, I am secure in the fact that Broadway wouldn’t have been any better than working with a group like this.
Foxy Veronica’s Peach Pies performs every second thursday of the month at the Inferno Night Club in Madison, WI.
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