Be careful what you wish for. Especially when your significant other is Marya Coburn and shes connected to everyone in New York. Ive always wanted to sing, I even did a musical once (in the chorus), but I have always secretly wanted to be able to sing on stage, in front of a crowd, and not as an actor, but as a singer. So along comes Marya who quietly let me start taking a few lessons here and there with her musical director Carl DeLeon. And then the fear of God was put in me when another friend whos doing the music for a new Broadway play wrote in a part for me. THAT REQUIRES I SING!! I told him I was definitely NOT a broadway singer and he assured me they just wanted an everyday kind of voice. So I ran to my old friend Mark Tomorsky, who I would trust with me life, in Santa Monica and recorded a simple demo of King of the Road. That recording session showed me how many light years away from being really good I was. Now that may not sound like a big deal to you, but for me its a huge deal. Im used to being good at things, really, really good at things. If I do something, I want it to be at a world class level. So not being able to just open my mouth and sing like Elvis and Sinatra is very humbling to me. (Especially considering Maryas relationships with both of them). Im sure that when theyre up in Heaven in front of God, St. Peter or Gabriel, they give me credit for trying and for taking care of theyre girl. But when theyre together away from the big guy, Im sure theyre saying, what the Hell is he thinking?. As you can see, I have some pretty big shoes to fill and add in my own pressure of wanting to be good and then add in the fact that we hang out with some of the best singers on Broadway, I feel like Im screwed. Along comes Marya again. Now she sends me to our friend Badiene Magaziner for a couple of singing lessons. Badiene is one of the finest Opera singers in the world and one of the (if not the) foremost vocal coaches in the world as well. I was so far out of my depth with her it wasnt even funny, but shes a friend and we figured what the hell. 10 minutes into the lesson she looks at Marya and proclaims me tone deaf! A few more minutes of struggling and she stops, looks up at me from her piano and says maybe you should stick to acting. Ugh... To Badienes credit, I dont think she knew how totally un-musically-educated I was. Now enter Marya again, but this time with Linda Amiel Burns and her The Singing Experience. Marya signed me up (along with Paul Montalbano) to do Lindas program that would end up with me performing solo at New York Citys Triad.. Well, a few rehearsals later and private lessons with Linda and Richard Danley and continued lessons with Bobby, I sang Will The Circle Be Unbroken in front of a pretty nice Off Broadway crowd! Thank You Marya, Linda, Richard and Bobby! Now fast forward a few weeks later...Marya and I were asked to sing at the Metropolitan Room in their World Record Longest Variety Show. We got the 6:15am time slot on the final day. So again, what the Hell, whos going to be there at that time of the morning in NY? So what do I do, I choose one hell of a song and recruit Julie Ann Earls to sing back up for me. More rehearsal with Bobby and Julie Ann and the day finally comes. Im not to nervous, I know the room and know many of the people in the crowd. I had forgotten about one thing though. The live broadcast going out all over the world! I guess if youre going to do something, do it big!! I ended up a little nervous and forgot to breathe a couple of times, but the song Come Join the Murder lends itself to talk singing so I got through it pretty well, thanks to Julie Ann and Bobby. To wrap up my story Ill mention that Ive now been asked to sing at another night club in New York and I have to say I cant wait. Sometimes, what you wish for comes true. Oh, and thanks Frank and Elvis for smiling down on me and not sending a lightning bolt my way. I promise Ill make your girl Marya proud as I get better.
Posted on: Sat, 24 Jan 2015 05:23:47 +0000
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