Erin Leigh Peck - Page 8

Recently I got some solid 'Broadway Mom' advice from Super Moms and Broadway veterans Marissa Jaret Winokur and Kerry Butler. This month I got to continue my quest to find the secret to having it all when I spoke to Jessica Phillips, a mother of two who is currently playing Marion in Broadway's 'Priscilla Queen of the Desert'.

Last Sunday an old college friend put me to shame. Like most parents, I'm constantly looking for new and challenging projects to share with my children and then not doing any of them because we don't have any time and everyone just wants to watch TV. But my friend, actor and writer Gregory Jones (who I met in college about three thousand years ago), is not most parents. When Greg's nine-year-old daughter Hannah asked him to write a play with her, he challenged her to come up with a story. She did, and he got to work. A year later, they found themselves at the New York Public Library trying out their new play in front of an audience, and this is where my daughter and I discovered the story of 'Boris and the Really Boring Books'.

Let's just get one thing straight. My seven-year-old daughter does NOT like pink. Don't just think she likes pink ‘cause she's a girl and don't think that just because she's sitting in the audience of the Vital Theatre Company's long-running hit PINKALICIOUS, recently extended through March 11 at the Vinyard's Dimson Theatre, that it means she's some 'pinky' kind of girl. She went through her pink phase, but now she's all about yellow. Got it?

One of my favorite mom friends just took her three boys to see their first Broadway show and was kind enough to write about the experience. I hope this account brings back memories of your 'first' as it did for me. (Peter Pan with Sandy Duncan circa 1980). Thanks, Julie, for your contribution to BWW Jr.

Free BabySitting! No I'm Serious! AN AFFORDABLE OPTION FOR THEATRE-GOING PARENTS

Velma Gratch and the Way Cool Butterfly A LESSON IN METAPHOR (AND METAMORPHOSIS)By Erin Leigh Peck

It first happened to me about 5 months ago. I was out in public. My two-year-old son was pitching a fit in the stroller, catching the attention of every passer-by. I could almost telepathically hear the judgmental nannies and mothers of only daughters shaking their heads and thinking 'Why can't she control her child?' With 10 blocks to go until home, I was at the end of my rope. My mortification mounting, I reached for my last resource. My only remaining idea for how to calm my screaming son: I handed him THE iPHONE.

Any working mom will agree: it's a balancing act. Giving 100% of yourself to your job and 100% of yourself to your family means being twice the person and that's just not possible. So how do successful Broadway parents do it? How do they fit in a full night's sleep and full day of parenting while simultaneously performing at night and auditioning or rehearsing by day? It's something I've struggled with since becoming a mom seven years ago. When I'm not working, I miss being on stage and being a working person. When I am working, I'm constantly feeling guilty, overwhelmed and exhausted. Lots of other performing parents seem to do it all with ease, so I decided to talk to two of my favorite Broadway Moms: Original Hairspray Stars Marissa Jaret Winokur and Kerri Butler, to find out just how they perform the balancing act.

In 2008, Readers of BWW met then ten year old Nicholas Dayton, a New Orleans musical theatre fan who made a connection with the cast of IN THE HEIGHTS when he posted YouTube videos of himself performing pitch-perfect renditions of the show's musical numbers. At the invitation of ITH star Lin-Manuel Miranda, Nicholas joined the entire cast in filming 'Dreams Come True', the video that inspired so many and made Nicholas' personal dreams come true.

Stagedoor Manor, the Summer Camp that inspired Todd Graff's indie hit 'Camp' was the childhood haven for many future industry pros...