Kay Alexandra

My daughter and I went to see her friends in a show last weekend. A real, live show. It was just like we have many, many times before. Sort of. It was outside (and it was cold). Everyone wore masks. And there were no flowers or hugging photos afterward.

It is somehow September, the start of a fall that follows a spring and summer like none that has come before. Time turned meaningless, days seemed to last forever; weeks passed in the blink of the eye.

Thank you. Thank you Laura Benanti for asking high schoolers to send videos of them doing parts of their cancelled shows.

Parenting a girl who wants to make a living on stage requires a balance of moral support and difficult truths.

There are times when I deserve to be lectured and certainly my parenting is not above reproach. As a matter of fact, if someone decides to list my parenting fails, I'm sure I could name more.

When my daughter texted me a link and followed up with an in-person(!) plea for me to sign the #savebeetlejuice petition, I'll admit pride was not the word I was looking for. I mean of all the possible change.org petitions, this is what she brings to me with such passion? No social justice issue or environmental cause?

It takes approximately 30 seconds to sing 16 bars of music. This is typically the requested audition cut of a song. If performers are lucky, they get 32, which allows them all of a minute to prove themselves.

My friend texted me the Instagram post as soon as she saw it. It was April 2018 and the post showed Broadway's Patti Murin looking confident and in command in a photo of her as Frozen's Anna. The accompanying post talked about missing a performance to deal with her anxiety.

Caricatures come alive amid random acts of kindness in the holding room at children's auditions.

Their talent is amazing, but the true gift of these Broadway stars is the time they take with young fans at the stage door.