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Welcome (back) to New York!

  • Keely Carroll
  • Apr 16, 2024
  • 22 min read

Fewer things have shaped my life more than my experiences and exposure to dance, musical theatre and the arts at large. From people, places – including countless theatre, rehearsal rooms, and educational institutions – and the priceless moments and memories made (the good, the bad and the extraordinary). It’s a critical contribution in formulating the person I am, the path I have walked and, what I strongly feel, will continue to be a fundamental inclusion of the unexplored life ahead of me. While I previously shared details of my heaviest, darkest, and most impactful moments from a fragment of time that occurred both to me and for me, within the musical theatre world, it is undeniable that my most formative years and some of the absolute best times of my life have all been experienced in the same space.



With the exception of one very special lady in my life – we’ll call her Katie (because that’s her name) who I have been friends with since the age of 12 – no other friendship has been born and sustained in the same way. I’m not carrying stories of a group of lifelong friendship circles from my school/university years, where we get to see our children grow up together and when they come of age share photos with them of when we were their age. No. All of my most important relationships outside of my family have been experienced in musical theatre and dance.


It all started with a plie, a very small pair of pink leather slippers and an ugly duckling brown tutu (spoiler alert, I did turn into a swan!). All formulated by a woman who holds most of my childhood in the palm of her hand – Belynda Buck.


Most of us who have had the luck of Belynda entering their orbit at one time or another would share the sentiment of being pulled into line when not being at their best performative self on stage, or perhaps in class or for formal dance exams. Yet, we also understand that the firm and grounding consistency she provided us, in her own nurturing way, is something we arc back to as we continue in life as fully formed adults – some of us now older than she was when she entered our universe. At least for me she has been the backbone of my dance and theatre career.


I was very lucky when it came to my training in dance. I attended for free. Mum, as a single mother of two, not only worked full time but also used the majority (perhaps even all) of her spare time contributing to the dance school to supplement my training and education through an arrangement made with Belynda. From making costumes, to running administrative support and lending a hand anywhere and everywhere, she was never far from the stage – but always preferred being behind the wings, while I being in the spotlight. (I should preface what I’m about to share by stating that Mum’s efforts to allow me to be included in this narrative is in no way overshadowed by me taking this moment to talk about someone/s who impacted my childhood in positive ways. Mum is a powerhouse and I’m sure she’ll get her own chapter later!)


You may be wondering what any of this has to do with my time in New York? Time that was very brief, very smoky, and quite literally was just jumping from foyer to foyer, as I trapsed around town, wearing a mask to avoid smoke pollution while exposing myself to EIGHT Broadway shows over the course of four days!

Well… I wasn’t planning to write about my time in New York, purely because I was at risk at turning myself into a theatre reviewer. I find that in community theatre, such reviews are often unnecessary. However, they become a necessary evil in professional theatre; yet still, due to personal opinions on what is deemed 'good', I’m of the opinion that they are highly subjective. For my fellow theatre performers, we’ve all been on the receiving end of reviews in one way or another. Personally, I was pleasantly surprised and deeply humbled by the positive words written about me when I was fortunate enough to be mentioned in a review.


As someone who deals with high-functioning anxiety, depression, trauma, and extreme people-pleasing tendencies, coupled with heightened perfectionism and a constant feeling of inadequacy, it also comes with nasty side effects of feeling that I’m never good enough, and that I would always fall just short of being given a chance.


Of course, with these traits it isn’t surprising that I would never dare believe I was good. I’ve always felt I’ve had to fight extra hard to be given the opportunity to perform in the roles I wanted. When the disappointing outcome of not getting that role would happen, it made me feel that I didn’t try hard enough (when simultaneously I knew I worked harder than most). As a result, my confidence would dim with each rejection, and it likely comes as no surprise that after the tipping point in the theatre scene in 2016 (read about this in my New Orleans blog) I’m exceptionally scared to re-enter the space. I really want to though. However, rejection has become a massive challenge for me to overcome and will likely be something I will be working on for some time, in conjunction with my trust in others.


In community theatre (and I’m sure this is one and the same in professional spaces) the following thoughts/feelings/experiences have likely been shared by many of us. Often, you’re also battling with favouritism and pre-casting, or they would go with the person that had better vocal ability when dancing was something that would take a back seat. Then, when dancing was an absolutely necessity, you’d draw the short straw with an audition panel member simply not liking you or a parent being part of the production team – meaning you wouldn’t even get a look in – and then lastly, if all else fails, you could always count on good ol’ faithful, where you’d get incredible feedback but they decided the other person was a better fit… and that’s show biz folks!


At the end of the day, whatever our experiences are and the thoughts that run through our head at the time, I would always end up putting it down to just not being talented enough, rather than complaining about things I have concocted in my head… but, then again, those thoughts always grow from somewhere.


So, when I was worth mentioning, I was very surprised and felt very humbled by the positive words written for that girl. In my experience recognition from your peers and community provided me a piece of confidence and reassurance I didn’t know I craved so much, but also was something I desperately needed for my inner child.


Those tiny glimmers of my time on stage in the countless productions where I revelled in featured dancer moments, or when I did get cast in a dream role (‘Little Sally’ in Urinetown, the supreme vocal struggle of ‘Judy’ in A Chorus Line or by pure luck, ‘Anytime Annie’ in 42nd Street) made me almost believe I was pretty darn good.


Then there are those absolute golden moments, when you’re not expecting kind words, but they’re still gifted to you – it could be just one tiny passing comment from someone, but to someone who doesn’t often experience that kind of recognition and validation, it’s received as a delectable smorgasbord! I still hold what is likely a passing comment from Michelle Lansdown – a highly respected and regarded performer in both professional and community spaces – giving me praise for my dancing. It was just a little cabaret, nothing special. It was only in a small rehearsal space and certainly was not the finished product. Yet she approached me to shower me with sincere praise on my dancing ability (for ballet, no less – another unsurprising fact is I wanted to be a professional ballerina, but my poor little broken body had other plans in mind) and made sure I understood that I not only deserved to be told, but she was very serious about what she was telling me.  


In what would be my last show for an unplanned 7 years break, Jennifer Baker (another deeply respected performer in community theatre) sung my praises in what she deemed was a triple threat talent – leaving me gobsmacked – while my dance teacher Belynda (who also taught my Nanna and Mum dance – at one point we were all in the same dance concert together - a particularly special core memory of mine) saw my performance in 42nd Street and gave her gushing approval of my technicality in both dance AND singing… I can’t put it into words what it meant.


Belynda has been at the helm of countless productions in professional and community spaces, just as I know Jen and Michelle have - so it’s hard to ignore praise of that calibre – even harder to believe it when you’re not used to it!  I fight hard to give my best performative self and while there is always the supportive praise from friends and family (even when you know your red face gives away a lack lustre performance) these moments from three powerful women that I admire - and who are so loved and talented – were extremely hard to reject and are stuck to my heart like glue.


I don’t mention these moments now to brag about my talent either. I hope that it’s being understood that I straight up don’t believe I am talented enough for the many things desire. So no, this isn’t a moment for me to brag. It is for no other reason than for my own self validation – to serve as a reminder when I am feeling less than. NEVER. Never underestimate the words you say to people. Why? Because, people will often forget what you did, but they will never forget how you made them feel and it is so important to share love in all forms - you never know what a passing comment in your mind means in someone’s life - it might just be the one thing that helps them know their worth.


With that said I am going to talk a little about the shows I did see but, it comes as no surprise that while I wrote about these, some other memories that these shows bought to the forefront have spilled onto the page.  Like I said… I didn’t want to be a theatre reviewer!


We kicked off the fun with SIX: The Musical. This show has quickly become one of my favourites! It’s a little ironic, but New York would also be my 6th stop in my trip, and only on reflection does it appear fitting that it was the first show I saw. The women portrayed in this show, in the way they are portrayed are true reclaimers of their story. No longer living in the shadow of a man who couldn’t love them the way they deserved and needed. They turned their history into herstory. One day I hope to join a cast – hopefully as the energetic, carefree, and innocent Anne Boylen. I love the show so much I’ve even considered forming my own theatre company purely to cast those within my community theatre world that I feel would project the roles in the way that concurs the experience I have when watching it. I have already dreamt up my dream cast of women (all friends), preferred choreographer, and a small but formidable band - even how the cast would work together to present themselves in the story of these 6 amazing ex-wives! A bit of a pipedream perhaps… or maybe one day.


From women empowerment to religion that calls morality into question – the Book of Mormon never fails.

For the first time I got to witness this show undisturbed! Previous attempts have seen drunkards and disruptions ruin the experience to make it a spooky Mormon hell dream. This time I was seated next to a woman who had NEVER seen or heard of it before and her joy, shock, horror, and absolute amazement was hilarious to experience – especially as I loved the soundtrack before I knew what the story was about. For those who know the number I’m referring to, you can imagine this woman’s face when various shades of material was used to depict… well… bodily functions. Sure, it’s true that the characters of this show were written by the creators of South Park and the homosexual waves and undertones is drenched in a stereotypical gay pride parade like no other, however that doesn’t lessen the strength, talent, and technical excellence these performers have for their craft – in fact it empowers it – and when male roles are performed with dance excellence in a professional setting I can’t get enough! I love watching male roles being performed on a professional scale and I believe it’s due to their foundations in dancing. If there is any tip I would give those wanting to excel further in musical theatre, it would be to start with dancing – specifically ballet! I know all my fellow choreographers would agree when I say that we all would kill for stronger male dancers in community theatre! Ballet training carries so much more than just dancing technique, it is the foundation of discipline and strength!


Those two energetic shows were day one, and sprinkled between them was some of the best corner store pizza slices a girl could get, and a thick and heavy smoke that would not quit. If you cast your mind back to the start of June 2023, the news headlines plastered reports about the air pollution occurring in New York at the time. I’ve learnt to just accept that I often get the pointy end of the stick in life, so it wasn’t surprising that my arrival in New York was occurring at the time I was forced to be indoors to protect my health and avoid immediate cancer cells forming. The AQI levels reached well above 450. To help you gauge this, on average these levels sit around 0-50, when smoke/pollution isn’t great it is not uncommon to see it sitting around 51-100…  The air pollution at the time was shattering the glass ceiling, making it the worst recorded in history. The levels were five times above the national air quality standard – all in all it become a historic moment for pollution on the globe. Congratulations climate change!


These levels effectively meant, that while I remained inside as much as possible, not even that was going to protect me from damage and this was the situation on my arrival which sustained for two days. My plans to do some solid sightseeing where quickly forgotten, but I wasn’t sad. I’ve been to New York before where I did all the typical touristy things – I wish I had more time to do them again. But it was nice to just immerse myself in the best of the best of musical theatre for a minute and reconnect with a huge part of myself and by choosing the shows I wanted to see – even if I had seen them 20 times before. I owed not a single thing to anyone. This was my turn.


I had booked tickets to Funny Girl before I left Oz, but due to my own frazzledness (and that pointy stick I was talking about!) Something some people may not know is I was considering basing myself somewhere in the UK following my trip and in the planning of this I made some mistakes which meant I had to fly to the UK immediately following New York to collect my UK visa prior to the cutoff date. A big oopsey daisy on my part, and one that cost me a bomb to rearrange and ensure I didn’t create a domino effect to my entire world trip - all prebooked! Unfortunately, this meant that not only did I have to shift my tickets for Funny Girl with the one and only Lea Michelle, in a role that carries so much synchronicity for her life, but forced me to shift my entire time in New York and regrettably forcing me to drop Nashville off my list – supremely bummed about that! But I digress…


In keeping with my “Funny Girl” life, while I didn’t get to see Lea Michelle, I did get to experience the incomparable Julie Benko. But Barbra is always going to be my Fanny Brice.


I still remember growing up watching Barb in the Funny Girl/Funny Lady double movie musical VHS pack on repeat. One of my favourite songs – I discovered is only in the film version – was “I’d Rather Be Blue (Over You)”. She graces the small stage in a frilled up and ill-fitting purple and vomit green get up with grapes on her shoulders, a big bow on her bustle, nervous and timid with her glorious silky hair bundled gracefully a top her head. As the audience starts to engage, she slowly roller skates around the stage twirling her long-manicured fingers around, entertaining like no one else. A very old friend and I would sing this song in my bedroom as little pre-teens; pretending we were in the spotlight just like Barb. This friend was Amy Dunham.


Amy and I met in a little-known musical called Annie which Belynda was the choreographer for. Amy and I have drifted over the years, but I hold her and her family very close for the many special memories made and the truly formative years I experienced through their impactful and important presence. While the Dunham’s floated around my family since I was a toddler (as a result of my Father having some music connections with them – and who my Mum and Father named their fish after - or so I’m told!) it wasn’t until Annie that an extremely strong bond between Amy and I was born. She the singer, me the dancer – always wishing we had some of what the other carried. Amy has gone on to be highly successful in teaching and performing; gracing the stage in countless empowering roles and, from what I see, is a bit of a powerhouse director. But even though our experiences have been different in terms of on-stage success, we both have experienced very similar, but still incredibly individual, struggles.


While Amy and I NEVER performed in Funny Girl together, and I assume never will, something about it connects my memories of us to it. Likely from those funny little bedroom make-believe antics we use to play at – a modern Little Women of sorts. I even remember a band we were going to form when we were going through our “folky” era (which hit Amy a lot harder than me – she even released her own album. My favourite song from that was “Butterflies” I STILL remember the lyrics to this day. “You give me butterflies, weakened knees… something something… and some of these. I love you baby, but you drive me crazy you give me butterflies…”.


We called our band “The Clovers”, and even designed

t-shirt merch! I still have them to this day.


One day in 1999 my Mum called from Sydney. She had been staying with family after my Grandma (her dear Mum, Violetta) had passed away. Amy and I had been hanging out on her beige leather lounge (or was it grey?) chatting away, but I don’t remember what about.  The call was somewhat brief, and it was to let me know that a decision to move to Sydney had been made and that I would be packing up my life in a matter of weeks. My 15-year-old self slid off the lounge in a very dramatic sinking move, while tears formed. I swear ou could see a slow motion cut of the phone sliding out of my hand with Amy slow motion sliding down next to me as I was told I was going to be moving to Sydney. It was the absolute worst news of my life. Amy and I cried together on the floor leaning against her leather lounge wondering how on earth this could be happening. The two of us were truly joined at the hip. Liking the same boys, hating the same boys, admiring the same leaders, influenced by the same professionals and admired by each other. I was devasted to be leaving.


But, fast forward three weeks after the move to the big smoke and I quickly forgot about little old Canberra with all the frills and glamour Sydney had to offer.  I do miss Canberra though. However, with the years that followed for me, it will always be painted with sadness for me as it has somehow piled my childhood trauma into a neat and tightly sealed tupperware container. My move to Sydney acted as a slingshot on this part of my life – it initiated a huge amount of change that I wasn’t prepared for and as a result, when I do visit Canberra it’s often done quietly, and primarily to visit two of my best friends. The topic of this trauma is one I don’t speak on but one I am actively working through every day. I’m unsure if I will choose to speak on it in any of my upcoming blog entries (maybe we’ll also save that one for the book!)… so I won’t speak on it now. This posting is not the right one for it. This is all about my beautiful memories of theatre and dance! So, we’ll leave that tupperware container on the bench for now.

Back to “I’d Rather Be Blue (Over You)”!  


Funny Girl on Broadway of course didn’t have this song, (You can watch the clip I’m referring to here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4pYENXT9Ek) but the show itself sparks a lot of memories for me, mostly of how much I loved this show. Sprinkled with little moments of carefree childhood, before I knew what their portrayal of betrayal and pain really felt like. Just how I wasn’t prepared for the changes that came when I moved to Sydney, I wasn’t prepared for what my little heart would feel when the show drew to a close. I found myself in a flood of tears. As a child/teen watching the movie I couldn’t much relate to the adult themes but now, sadly, I was in a position of life imitating art. Fanny sits at her dresser while her beautiful Nicky turns away from her and breaks all the promises and dreams he offered her, stripping them away in a cruel twist of fate - a cause and effect of his own internal demons.



When I met Julie Benko, who portrayed Fanny, side stage I shared some of my story with her and thanked her for bringing my Fanny Brice to life on stage in the most beautiful way possible. She embraced me and told me how strong I was for the life I’m currently facing, and to continue carrying Fanny Brice’s humour, wit and strength with me as I go. I’m so glad I didn’t get to see Lea Michelle. This was a priceless moment for me, and one I’ll never forget. My childhood meeting my womanhood in the most beautifully bittersweet way.


To those two little girls dancing and singing around my room, and especially to those two tiny teenagers sitting on that leather lounge. The girls who thought Julian was “like so cute!” even though he dated Bronwyn first – urgh! Who both cried in the backseat of the car to Shania Twain’s “From This Moment” while we clung to Sam’s red cap. To the weird teddy bears we both got from that one guy in Annie who told us both to name our bears after him (the bears name to this day is Jeffrey and I feel we were very lucky to side step something darker happening there?). To hanging out at Ben’s house whose Mum was some kind of important politician at the time and that was our biggest claim to fame. To practicing Indian chants developed by our parents in the hallways of Peter Pan rehearsals. To the underage drinking we all got caught out on during that same show, or the way we made sure everyone had their moment during the Barbie Girl/Grease video workshop. To the mass sleepovers and the beautiful letters, funny notes or fun drawings we all left each other in our manilla folders…


… And especially to all the little girls who sung their hearts out either on stage or side stage during THAT number in Annie


Because while we all wanted one of the orphan roles, as adults we now see it doesn’t even matter what role we played in that production as it truly has become about the memories and moments we made that are forever imprinted on our hearts as we sing “SMILE DARN YOUR SMILE” at the top of our lungs!


To those little girls… I hope we have made you proud, that you know we will keep growing, healing and remembering. And above all, never question the fact - I love you.


All of that right there. NONE of those memories would exist without Belynda. But I also don’t forget our darling Deb – no longer with us – and the countless others who invested their time and energy into creating this space for us all. Thank you for giving us the true magic that is so special and unique to a very select group of people during that time. You all carried stress, and as adults in theatre we truly understand now and offer you many glasses of wine as a show of gratitude. But I also hope you know that it all resulted in our little child selves being left with beautiful memories filled with magic. Always know it made all the difference in my life, and I thank you deeply for it.


The rollercoaster of emotions I experienced through all the shows I got to see sent my head spinning!



Some Like It Hot was a show I’ve never seen before. All I knew is that Marilyn had been in the movie adaptation. But I also knew that one of my all-time favourite Broadway gems, Christian Borle, was playing the lead and he did NOT disappoint. It was such an incredible show! Comparatively, I near feel asleep during the highly acclaimed play A Dolls House staring Jessica Chastain. But hey! I was there. I saw it!





Sweeney Todd is a show I didn’t even realise I liked as much as I do, until I did! It’s strange, because it’s not a dance show, it’s pretty dark, and I saw the film adaptation before a stage version. I’ve seen it countless times in various settings, but you can’t really compare to a Broadway production with your favourite female Broadway star Annaleigh Ashford as Mrs. Lovett, coupled with none other than Josh Groban (WHAT?!) as Sweeney! But it didn’t stop there. I also got Gaten Matarazzo (Stranger Things) as Tobias, Jordan Fisher who has been in many movies but who is most remembered for his portrayl of Evan, following Ben Platt, in Dear Evan Hanson. But I was extraordinary lucky to be in the prescence of the incredible Ruthie Ann Miles as the Beggar Woman. Ruthie is a tony award winning actress (infact the first Asian actress to win a Tony award in her category for Lady Thiang, The King and I)! Ruthie's story is increble, her history so heartbreaking and her talent immense. I encourgae you to read more about her here.  She very clearly drew on her pain for her performance – I’ve NEVER seen this role performed in such a spectacular way before. Honestly, the entire show was a star studded extravaganza and all I could say was GOD THA’TS GOOD! (IYKYK).



Amongst these shows I finally got out for some fresh air in Central Park. It was hot, I was tired and the movies/TV lie to you. There were SO many people in the park. I preferred it last time I was there with a thick carpet of snow! But I made the most of it, hired a bike and cycled around a little. But that was also exhausting. I was feeling the effects of the last three weeks of travel compounding everything else, so it was lovely when the evenings were ever so slightly cooler, and I knew I had another show in store that would let me just relax while I sat and watched.  


On one evening, before seeing Sweeney Tood, I found myself dining on delicious pizza with Corey, Belynda’s partner! And THIS is where my full life circle moment, the first of many I encountered throughout my travels, occurred. While I blame Belynda and Deb for the magic some of us have from our younger years, Corey is just as much to blame.


Corey is your behind the scenes’ guy. The lighting guy! The set guy. The techy guy. The one making sure everything is working properly while the rest of us do our thing. It was perfection to hang with Corey as an adult and insane to do so in the middle of NYC. Ironically a huge memory from my first production of Annie was the vocal bridge in the iconic song “NYC”. From memory the girl who was to sing this role was sick so there was a quick scramble to reassign the vocally demanding moment to someone. It went to Melissa who was already playing Tessa, I think it was (or at least one of the scripted orphans) yet was a fully grown woman! Much like me now, Melissa looked far younger than her years. But throw a fake fur on her and prop her up with heels, a suitcase and mic that wasn’t needed with the vocal belt she carried, and the audience was none the wiser. I performed in a production of Annie as an adult many years later, and when that moment in NYC came along I still think back to this little memory. (some clips are below for those who are interested in seeing my awful bob haircut that was so hip and fashionable for the late 1990’s!)


To wrap up this whirlwind time in New York, I placed myself in “cry central” for the incredible production of Parade. I was cautious going into this one, not only for the heavy themes it carries, but also because I didn’t want to ruin the experience I had from what was my first experience of it with Regals Musical Society and the incredible performances of David Valks and Stacey Wilson that have stuck with me ever since. But I can confidently say I was not disappointed. You can’t help but leave the theatre shattered; with a wealth of things to reflect on as human beings and the way things can so quickly unravel in life. It’s not a light musical and for me it also holds a sentimental connection to the person I was trying to heal from. There are some moments from that show that speak to me in ways that truly grab at my soul, or did in the most beautiful special ways, and what was once a true understanding of love has evolved into a complex understanding of how heartbreaking things can sometimes turn. Something I hope never to experience again in any lifetime.


There is a moment worth mentioning with this show which was during interval. Ben Platt plays Leo Frank, and he was sublime. It was even more striking when at the conclusion of Act 1 we’re left with a narrative of Leo Frank awaiting trial. For the entirety of interval Ben sat in the middle of the stage continuing to act. That is a solid 20mins of time on stage. Completely alone, portraying a Jewish man whose fate would be death, if found guilty, for a crime he did not commit. You couldn’t look away.


A heavy production, (as my swollen eyes in the picture to the left depicts!) but an even heavier history to grapple with. To dispel the heaviness of the show, I waited side stage and got to meet many of the cast. I also was lucky to see Micaela Diamond in her gorgeous gown for the Tony’s which were occurring that night, plus a quick blink and you’ll miss it pass by from Ben before he jumped in the car to head off for the Tony’s too. Unfortunately, I didn’t realise the Tony’s were on while I was in town otherwise I would have organised to be there as an uber fan to see all the stars! Oh well, no loss – it was time to head off for my last show!


We finish on a fun note with another movie musical favourite of mine growing up – Little Shop of Horrors! As always, the ending of the stage production is particularly quirky and weird, but what off Broadway show wouldn’t be complete without it! It was great fun and I had wonderful conversations with a family I was sat next to. I don’t recall the gentleman’s name, but we struck up conversation around all things film and production as he was a director in the industry. He gushed about his son’s talent and his son was so thrilled to be there while he spoke to me about how he had dreams of one day playing Orin Scrivello D.D.S (the dentist immortalised by Steve Martin in the film adaptation). I’m sure, somewhere in the future I’ll see him up there!


A quick hop, skip and a jump across 42nd Street – the real one - and I was back to my hotel, reflecting on the love I have for the arts, for theatre, for dance, and music. For old connections and new connections, plus those connections we sometimes wish never happened but understand that it’s all part of the experience!


I discovered, that on this visit, NYC continues to be full of contradictions! Some of summer mixed with smoke. Others of Christian morals that are imposed on minorities and while equality for those same minorities is promoted through writing, art and the magic of musical theatre in all it’s camp glory! From sad memories to new memories and all the magic in-between, I was not only reminded what makes up a huge part of the person I am, but I was also able to reconnect with a part myself that has been on a hiatus from the stage since 2017. But she might just be ready to grace her stage again very soon…

 

New York, you’re a hell of a town – but it was time to go lay on an island with a strong rum and coke!



Some fun old school clips from late 1990's childhood.

 

 
 
 

Comments


Thanks! I can't wait to send you some juicy updates!

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