HOW DO YOU GET TO CARNEGIE HALL?

How do you get to Carnegie Hall?

Sure, there's that well-known alliterative adage. That's the traditional route. But since when have I ever been traditional? 

For me it's been twenty-one years of pounding the pavement, participating in concerts, and working on shows. Through all of that, Carnegie Hall wasn't ever something that felt attainable. It felt untouchable - a space reserved for world class instrumentalists and opera stars.

And as I added "business owner" to my theatrical resume, my research and expertise hovered around the forty-one theaters of Broadway. Carnegie Hall wasn't on that list. 

...until my phone rang a few months ago. Whenever Jack Cummings III pops up on the home screen of my iPhone, I know it's going to be intriguing. One time it was to ask if I could recreate their set design of The Patsy as a three-dimensional opening night gift for their star (and my friend) David Greenspan. More often than not it's to implore me to lead the auction at their annual gala to raise the funds for Jack's theatre company, Transport Group. But every once in a while it's an onstage offer: "Would you like to be part of the ensemble of our upcoming one-night-only concert of Stephen Sondheim's Follies...at Carnegie Hall?" 

GULP.

Yes. Yes, please. 

It's hard to put into words the emotions that ran through me on June 20th, the day of the performance. Just stepping foot through the ornate glass STAGE DOOR entrance I couldn't help but imagine who else had walked in my same footsteps. The moment I hit the top of the first staircase to reach the stage level I was greeted by Carnegie Hall's oversized ghostlight - it was beautiful. And then there was the first moment my Nike-clad feet hit the wooden boards of that stage as I looked out at the 2,804 red velvet seats that seemed to reach up to the heavens of New York City.

But the moment I don't think I'll ever forget? 

My friend Theresa Flanagan, on headset as the stage manager for the concert, in full command of the proceedings center stage, stage lights filtering in behind her. Comfortable and relaxed: right where she belonged. Also making her Carnegie Hall debut. Theresa was my stage manager - and later, friend - on the national tour of Gentlemen Prefer Blondes in 2006. Since then I've watched her rise through the ranks of every level of our industry. And I've been lucky to have her on my Green Team of Guides for over a decade sharing her personal stories at the helm of many a production while intimating our Broadway Up Close stories. 

I was especially moved by one of the first production's of Transport Group that Theresa had stage managed: Crossing Brooklyn. I asked if she would ever be comfortable introducing me to the artistic director, Jack. I would love to be involved in anything they're creating, I told her. Not long after they asked me to sing a few "oohs and ahhs" in their concert staging of Baby. That led to many more concerts. Then as their dance captain and Knight #3 in their off-Broadway production of Once Upon A Mattress. And, finally, Carnegie Hall.

So, how do you get to Carnegie Hall, you ask?

Put in the work. Speak up if you want to be involved. Be kind. Bring fun to everything. And maybe - just maybe - twenty-one years later you might end up center stage in a sold out concert of Follies as "Second Cavalier" uttering the words of Stephen Sondheim as your voice echoes throughout that glorious 1891 hall. 

Oh, and lots of practice.