Back to My Roots...

When I start to get frustrated with the seeming impossibility of my career and my seeming lack of talent I find different ways of keeping my ambition and drive up. Sometimes it's to go back to different trigger points in the road to where I am now. I was listening to the RENT soundtrack for the last two weeks and this morning, after singing through nearly every song (that's right people, I don't just sing the songs in my range, I don't just sing the female songs...I sing every song. and I can sing all the parts in the song..ha! A one woman production) I decided to pop in the "Sideshow" soundtrack. And though my desire to perform wasn't first spurred by this, my last two years of highschool were spent forming my voice after Alice Ripley and Emily Skinner (the two leading ladies of the Broadway Musical "Sideshow"). This musical is not your cheesy, whimsical, "Carousel" "Oklahoma" "My Fair Lady", Grease Lightenin' stuff. The musical is based on the Hilton sisters...the original Hilton siamese twins, born of a prostitute and sold to a freak show. Thier talent brought them some minor acclaim and they were recruited to a traveling show where their vocal talent along with the novelty of thier appearance was showcased. The music is amazing and just gripping. I have loved it since I discovered it. My sister and I used to drive around singing all the duets and we identified with the two different twins, I was violet (Alice Ripley), my sister, Daisy (Emily Skinner). April and I even brought our duet to competitions and won some awards. We did thier song and dance number called "We Share Everything". Our dresses were sewn together and our touching legs bound together. It was so cool! We leapt and turned and crooned. aahhhh... Unfortunately in real life the Hilton sisters, after a brief rush of fame and fiery love affairs, died in obscurity in thier apartment, found days later because of the stench. At least that is the story I read about them.

All that to say that listening to that music helps to keep my spirits up sometimes. And so I call it my "roots" the beginnings of who I am and what I want now.