Laura Freeman Sings!

I was so fortunate to do the Porchlight benefit, last week. It was a wonderful experience on so many levels. First, I got to work with the production team of Rob Lindley and Doug Peck. These guys are so talented. Rob is a fine performer in his own right, but his ability to get such a wonderful cast together was no small feat. Oh sure, the benefit was for a truly up and coming theatre that produces commercially successful non-equity work here in Chicago, but most of us came to work because of Rob and Doug.

 Doug is a passionate music director and a joy to work with. It was an honor for me that they choose me to perform such a difficult number that night. I don’t really even know these guys. I haven’t worked with anyone in the musical theatre world here yet and to be included with the top of the ladder folks was such a treat.

I must say the highlight for me was Ms. Peggy Roeder. Have you seen her? She has been around forever. One of those actresses who has tread the boards here in Chicago for a lifetime, it seems.

So, I have had the pleasure of performing three times with Three Cat Media. On Thursday, I did a special event entitled, “This Day in History”. It was clever and had a lot of promise. The shows there are very impromptu and exciting. You never know what to expect. There isn’t any rehearsal and you really are flying by the seat of your pants. It’s a great skill for a performer. To just get up there and wing it and not fall on your face or to, heaven forbid, crash and burn; they are both important lessons in your theatrical training. Cause it isn’t the end of the world if it does blow. Most of the time, you are much harder on yourself than the audience ever is.

Here is the problem…no one comes and see them! They are cheap, they are nice and short, and it is not that far from downtown, each show has about 5 people in it…and still no audience. It is so frustrating. I feel so bad for the producers. The fella and I have really tried to support the other shows (one’s I am not involved with) there and sometimes we are two of 7 people in the audience. If you have any ideas on how to spread the word, please let me know!

Why does a callback always feel so much easier than an initial audition? The first audition, I am a wreck. I am nervous, I push; I psych myself out trying to guess what it is they want. But, at a callback, I know they like me. I know they saw something they want to explore and that makes me relaxed. I just have tons of fun at callbacks.

Marriott called me back for Nunsense this week. It was great. The cool thing and the reason I won’t get it is, they called me in for Sister Robert Ann. If you know the show, you know she is the tough nun, if there is such a thing. She is the one with the street smarts, who is always getting into trouble for being a smart ass. Not really where you would put me normally. So, it was fun putting on the character. I have always thought of myself as a character actress trapped in a normal face. Not an easy place to be. So, adding on the body language and the attitude was so fun for me.  

All was going great. I had a kick ass accent going on…and then they asked us to stay and dance. Well, I am a mover, not a dancer and I haven’t “moved” for years. The first kick-line routine went remarkably well. I was so pleased with myself. I kicked my leg up to my chin and had a smile glued from ear to ear. It was actually fun even. Then we had to tap. Now, I have never tapped in my life. Not one to say I can’t in an audition; I decided I would just do a lot of bouncing and move my arms a lot. Trying to mimic tap, brilliant, right? At the end of the routine was a big “tad ah” step. I tad ah’d like nobodies business. It was so big, I caught one of the auditioners eyes and we both laughed at me…which is a lot better than being laughed at and you are not laughing. Fun, fun, fun.

You know what is the coolest thing about the internet? You find people that have been lost from your life for years. I have a myspace page, too. There I have run into past students, old musical directors (well, they’re not old, I worked with them thousands of years ago), people I worked with onstage, people I’ve slept with….thankfully; they aren’t all the same people.

Wouldn’t you all have a different opinion of me if I was Mary Kay Letourneau?

Some of you are making smart ass remarks right now, about how I have always liked them young…but, come on! There has to be limits. Besides what do you talk about? While I was watching Friday Night Flights, he wasn’t even born yet! That is just wrong. And yes, it all comes down to pop culture references. If you say, “Remember when Clinton played on Arsenio?” And your date wasn’t born; you are dating someone WAY to young for you. Women get this….men, not so much. Don’t they understand that if they have a girl on their arm, it makes them look older, not younger?

I auditioned for Marriott Lincolnshire this week. It was the first time I was lucky enough to audition with Beckie Menzie playing for me. Most of you know that I sing with Beckie, a lot. She plays for my various gigs around town, as well as a few of the open mics I attend. She has to be one of the best people I have ever had the pleasure of creating music with. Most of the time, I sing with people playing…with Beckie, I make music with her. We play the music together…listening and reacting to what ever the other one is feeling. It is truly, making music with a top notch musician.

Well, there she was in the room for this audition. (Ok, I have to admit, she told me what day she was playing and that I should get my ass there on that day.) It was like singing in my living room. I have never been so comfortable at an audition in my life! Instead of focusing on what the hell I sound like with this guy I have never worked with before, I got to focus on having fun and connecting with the piece of music I was performing. It was magical. I recommend that everyone sing with someone you love. I wish she was there with me for every audition. Wouldn’t that be wonderful?!?

Well, I actually had some time off this week. That never really happens. But, both of the operas I was dressing closed. All I did job wise was a day on a Patrick Swayze pilot called The Beast and one day at the opera putting away Boheme.

 So, my work schedule being so lax, I got to check in with two close friends, get a mani/pedi and go to the doctor’s. I also auditioned for Mamma Mia and I sang at Davenport’s on Monday in a holiday cabaret show which was a benefit for Teen Living.

It was fun. You know I was nervous about my one song in that show. I hate songs that don’t have a through line. You know, it’s just a list of words…the thought doesn’t end anywhere or begin anywhere. It’s just an annoying list of words. I have a real mental block about memorizing those kinds of songs. Oh yeah, I have all of the tricks down. Is the list alphabetical? Are some of the words organized by sounds, rhymes, and consonants? Can I use imagery to put the words in some type of order? It was impossible. The only thing that saved me was that I hammed it up for the audience and they just went with the visual, letting the unrhyming couplet go.

Well, this was an interesting week. A lot of opera, but no performing of my own, it hasn’t been the most creative week of my life.

 On the personal front, I took my fella home for thanksgiving. He’s met the folks before, but not all of the siblings. We walk in the front door, which was unlocked, into the kitchen where food was on the stove and in the makings. Nobody was there but the dog. I went out the back door, which was open; to see if they were in the backyard for some strange reason, but there was no one back there. My family had been vaporized. Minutes later, Sarah (my sister) called…her dog had run away 2 hours ago and the family was out looking for it. So, Eric and I hopped in the car and took up the search as well. The entire family was looking for her dog. Zach (her fiancé) and his family were out looking for her dog. Eventually, everyone in the neighborhood was looking for her dog.

The thing is we never found it that day, or the next, or the next…its Monday and still no dog. My sister is beside herself. This is a woman that can nurse an ant back to health. I have never known someone so kind and giving to animals. Strays end up on her doorstep. She is a real life Disney princess…calling nature to her to be a part of her family.

So this week…I had an audition for Les Miz at Marriott Lincolnshire, an audition to be the new voice of Yoplait yogurt, did a reading at Three Cat Media Thursday’s, had three operas to run….and the only thing I want to talk about is the insult I gave to the wonderful costume designer of Frau at Lyric.

Kevin is in town from London. So nice. So friendly. Really wonderful designer. He even brought with him an equally wonderful assistant. That is one of the best things about working at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, meeting these incredibly talented designers. And to be fair, most of the designers who have come in have been amazing.

Well…Kevin was standing amongst us all, as we were huddled over our areas sewing on sequins to little India tunics. (Ironically, the Gap was busted earlier that week for employing young boys to do the same job. But, that is neither here nor there.) He was talking about how next season he and his assistant would be back to design Lulu. The company was in talks about where and when this opera would be set. He was thrilled that it was to be set in the 30’s and how he loved that look. And I piped up, unwarranted, that I loved seeing 300 pound women in bias cut silk. I wasn’t trying to be mean about the women, but I felt I needed to lash out at a gay designer who had never bothered to look at who he was designing for and what their bodies would look good in. These opera singers, although it is changing, are not known for being svelte beanpoles. These are zaftig women, people. These are not tall, flat chested, no hipped pre-pubescent boys. Anyway, he seemed shocked and then laughed at my observation. Thank god. Who the hell am I to tell him how to design? Shortly after my outburst he left and the room stayed eerily quiet.