Sleepless Nights

It's 3:11am. I <3 insomnia.

Picture-A-Day #78 & 79

My hair from the sides. Because you've only really seen it from the front.

Just like a Lesbian, right?

Steam Room: Scene III

(IGUANA enters the steam room on another day and it is empty except for a BALD MAN sitting there silently. The moment IGUANA enters the steam room the BALD MAN begins. Upon opening his mouth IGUANA immediately realizes three things: He's gay, he's southern and he's insane.)

BALD MAN: Has it started raining yet?

IGUANA: Huh? Oh. I don't know, I have been in the gym. I think it rained while I was lifting weights.

BALD MAN: I just love rain storms! They're so invigorating!

IGUANA: (Coughs from the steam.) Oh really?

(During the following monologue, the BALD MAN's towel seems to slip more and more from around his waist. IGUANA pays attention only because there is nothing else to pull his focus.)

BALD MAN: I grew up in the south, in South Carolina. And my father and I would always just pull out chairs on the front porch and watch the hurricanes pass by. It was amazing! So Godly in their power! So ever since then every time there is a thunder storm I get so excited and just love to watch them!

IGUANA: (Coughs) Wait, you'd sit and watch hurricanes "pass by"?

BALD MAN: (Laughs gaily) No! Well yes! But, no! The storms in the south are different, much different from those in the north.

IGUANA: (Under his breath) Ah, Belle Reve!

BALD MAN: Hm? They're so strong in the south! But recently they've been very good up here.

IGUANA: I slept through the tornado we had in Brooklyn last year. My mom called me to check if I was still alive. I didn't know what happ--

BALD MAN: Yes! That was in Sunset Park! It was amazing! Trains were held up, trees had fallen. It was muggy and damp. Just like the south! (His towel has moved from around his waist, to now just covering his crotch. He is getting excited.)

IGUANA: (Carefully) Have you ever seen a tornado?

BALD MAN: Yes! Well, no. But, yes! There was once a tornado near my house. But it was behind the house and I was on the other end. So I never saw it.

IGUANA: (Pause) Do I look like a drug addict?

BALD MAN: Hm?

IGUANA: Never mind.

BALD MAN: Wanna know what's also weird. I always dream of thunder storms.

IGUANA: I don't dream.

BALD MAN: Do you just forget them when you wake? Well I dream of thunder storms. I asked my doctor friend what is means. (Changes tone) "What does that mean?" I ask my doctor friend. He tells me that it means my life is unbalanced. (Changes tone) "Your life is unbalanced. Something is wrong." My doctor friend says. Well duh I tell him. (Changes tone) "Duuuuhhhh!!" He suggested it had to do with my sexuality. (Changes tone) No shit! I mean I've always had problems with my sexuality and coming out! So dreaming about Thunder storms must have something else to do with my life. I am trying to figure it out and I just can't seem to understand it!

(At this point the towel is so close to dropping and he is so excited, discretion is term no longer viable in this room. IGUANA jumps up and heads to the door.)

BALD MAN: What? You're going already? That's a short steam!

IGUANA: I need air!

Patti Lu-What? Who-thel Merman?

(IGUANA sits center stage at a desk typing in front of a computer. IGUANA is wearing a pair of pajama pants and a white T-shirt. FRIEND is Instant Messaging IGUANA from somewhere else. We never meet FRIEND. The entire scene isn't spoken, but only reacted to what they write. The text of their conversation is projected onto a screen in an easy to read font. Any of the FRIEND's subtext should be displayed through his typing if possible!)

IGUANA: Well when I'm up for a Tony Award. Go wild! (Smiles at the thought.)

FRIEND: I'd love to see you get one or two, thirty-five years apart of course. (IGUANA laughs out loud.)

IGUANA: Thirty-five years apart!? Wait when the fuck would be my first one? (Laughs)

FRIEND: (Laughs) I don't know, I was trying to reference to Patti LuPone in my awkward non-theater-knowing way.

IGUANA: (Determined) I don't plan living past my sixties, but I know my first Tony isn't coming until my late twenties...(Stops to reconsider.) My mid-thirties.

FRIEND: (Laughs) OK.

IGUANA: (Types furiously) When I get my second one. I'll accept it, (Thinks) do a kick ass speech. Then, just turn into a stone statue on stage. (Gets a better idea) Or bite into a filling of cyanide I'll have put there specially and drop "I got two!". (Triumphant) Dead.

FRIEND: Oh lord, (Laughs) what a spectacle!

IGUANA: (Decides to add on, but slightly change the topic.) On the Broadway message board I read. Someone tried again tonight to mock Patti. It's a daily thing, but is only really allowed for a certain amount of time and they wrote how Ethel's Diction in Gypsy was perfect and Patti's is inaudible and the Patti fans have had enough. One writes: (Reads)

Oh,I'm disappointed. What a silly post and really old stuff. Let's ignore the fact that LuPone's diction is fine in Gypsy. Let's let Liza do it and see how many you Doctor DoLittles complain then

(Beat)

IGUANA: (As if he has written it.) Genius!

FRIEND: I'm afraid that goes mostly over my head, (Laughs)...I am so, so ignorant when it comes to theater.

IGUANA: (Blinks) I'm going back to bed then. (Laughs)

FRIEND: (Laughs) Okay.

IGUANA: (On a mission.) Patti just won her Tony. And some have claimed her the rebirth of Merman Ethel Merman? You know powerhouse Broadway Diva? Starred in 50,000 shows? Cole Porter, Anything Goes? Small cameo in Airplane!

FRIEND: I know the stereotype of her, yes.

IGUANA: (Spelling it out.) You are a gay man, this fact cannot be denied. Everything I mentioned in that sentence is imprinted on EVERY gay man’s brain when they are born. Gypsy, Ethel Merman and Patti LuPone! When you are born all you need to do it see one of these. Just once and you'll know if you're gay or not. It's a proven theory!

FRIEND: Never seen gypsy, don't know the plot, didn't know who Patti LuPone was until Elizabeth made me watch that Will & Grace clip. That's the only way I know her. (Pause)

IGUANA: (Acts as if he’s heard nothing.) Anyway Liza. You know Judy Garlands daughter? Liza Minnelli in case you were wondering

FRIEND: Liza Minnelli?

IGUANA: Yea.

FRIEND: Is Judy garland's daughter?

IGUANA: (Sarcastically) Cause the number of Liza's in the world is numerous. Seriously?

FRIEND: I told you: completely ignorant. (IGUANA turns off the computer.)

The pASSt Returns

Apparently, there's some guy out there named Al* who has my exact tattoos and is jerking off in front of a camera! How odd is that?

And that ladies and gentlemen, is all I am going to give you.

*Note to Self: Don't run for high office, Al will bring you down.

Time Heals Everything?

One of my favorite Jerry Herman songs Time Heals Everything was Bernadette Peter's 11 o'clock number in the short lived Mack & Mabel. The story of Mack Sennett and Mabel Normad of EARLY Hollywood. Starring Robert Preston as well, the show was dark. This wasn't Hello Dolly! people. The storyline was very depressing and the two leads lacked chemistry due to the age differences. It closed after 66 performances.

Yet, Herman wrote Time Heals Everything. A song you only need to hear once and just become entranced with for the rest of your life. At work I found the rare 1988 Concert Version of Mack & Mabel and Georgia Brown sings this particular number.

Now Bern is terrific in this role, don't get me wrong. She created it and really works it out! But Georgia's rough voice totally adds to the pain that Mabel is feeling in that number. I mean the woman was taking Heroin! Sorry Bern, but just like in Gypsy. You've been outdone again. Thank God this CD is rare, huh? So no one can point out your flaws.

This is why I love flops. They leave room for reinterpretation and open ideas.

Since I can't find Georgia Brown singing it. I will give you Bern doing what she does best. As I said, she's hardly weak when she does this number. So enjoy...

Picture-A-Day #77

Looking like a Ghost from the Fatal Frame Franchise. Meaning what you would get in points would probably be significant because you took a head-on shot (meaning you probably upgrade your camera now!) Therefore stunning the ghost from attacking you for a short amount of time. Thank God you decided to equip the stun feature before you met up with this ghost!

I am a geek, sometimes. And I miss Fatal Frame, it's one of the only games that REALLY made me nervous and I don't think I've ever beaten one because they frightened me so much. I mean all you had was a camera for protection! And in order to damage the ghosts, you needed to take pictures of them. Meaning you had to wait until they we in the camera's view finder to damage them! But what was worst was you needed to capture a certain part of their face to deal damage and get points. They would always be looking at the floor or something.

This picture of the day took me far to long to create. Only proves that I am artsy deep down inside still.

Say Yes to Same-Sex Marriage in NY

If you're in NY I suggest to take two seconds and do this:

Hi all -
I just heard about this:

Governor Patterson has said that NYS will recognize
same-sex marriages from other states & countries.
He's doing a poll on whether people support it. Take
the time to lodge your support.
Call 1.518.474.8390. You will talk to a live person from
the Governor's office during business hours, or you can
leave a phone message after hours.

Just say: "I support the Governor's directive on
same-sex marriage," then give them your 5-digit (New
York) zip code.

Help others: Pass this on to all your friends.

Regards,
Woody Enoicaras

Picture-A-Day #76

I got my hair trimmed today.

Unexpected Development

The host of Playbill Radio is going on a vacation in the last week of July. He told me today he would like to hear my voice on the radio! I have an interesting voice. I've heard this before, but to hear a radio personality tell me. Well that a horse of a different color.

Especially when other things about my voice have been said like: Annoying, grating, loud and irritating. Weird how there truly are two sides to every coin.

Steam Room: Scene II

Scene II

(IGUANA is in the locker room of the YMCA a week later. I listens to his iPod shuffle and sits on the bench bobbing his head up and down. The MAN enters the locker room and looks around warily. He approaches IGUANA who looks up and nods shyly towards him.)

MAN: (Smiling and quietly.) Hey, it was great to taste you the other day.

IGUANA: Ex--Excuse me? D--Do I know you?

MAN: (Looks around to make sure no one is listening in.) The steam room, about a week ago.

IGUANA: (Remembers immediately) Oh...Oh...Yea. Hi.

MAN: So I have a question for you. Would you like to buy me a drink sometime?

IGUANA: (Hurriedly) Listen it was really hot. I don't normally do that, I just thought it was exciting and you are cute...Excuse me? (Laughs) This is the first time I've ever had an older man ask me to buy him a drink! (Laughs to himself.) Sorry, I didn't mean it that way, I just can't afford a drink for myself right now--

MAN: (Asks this question when IGUANA says 'myself'.) Do you do the drugs?

IGUANA: Pass that by me again?

MAN: Do you do the drugs?

IGUANA: (Looks around) The drugs? Well, sir, whose name I don't even know. You have to be a little more specific. And another thing, I blew you in a steam room. I wasn't asking you on a...

MAN: Pot is absolutely fine. E is tricky, but okay. Coke is the same as E. Shrooms and acid are cool, but must be done in proper situations. (Beat) Meth is the DEVIL! If you do meth, I'm sorry but we can't hookup in the steam room anymore.

IGUANA: (Pauses for a long moment) Hi, have we met yet? I don't know if I'm on the same page as you? What exactly did I do that warrants me this anti-drug talk from someone I just blew--

MAN: (Matter-O-Fact) When we were in the steam room, I noticed your pupils were dilated. So I want to know. Do you do the drugs?

IGUANA: (Raising voice a little) What is it with THE drugs?! (Catches himself) And I don't even know your name! Since you're being so upfront, I'll try to return the favor. I have done everything, I have tried everything. While some drugs I do more often than others I am not a tweaker! Yes, I smoke pot regularly. At that moment nothing was in me when I was in the steam room. So I think that covers the ground base area. So if you're excuse me--

MAN: Do you want to do E with me?

IGUANA: (Lets out a loud laugh, which causes the MAN to become nervous) You're kidding right? Is this a test? Like if I say yes you'll walk away and if I say no you'll continue to entertain me?

MAN: (Misses the joke completely) No. I'm serious I've been wanting to do E. I'm okay with E.

IGUANA: (Pauses for a moment then shrugs.) Sure I haven't done E in a while--

MAN: Do you know where to get some?

IGUANA: Well, with all my drug connections, it'll be easy (Beat) NO! Of course not!

MAN: Oh. That sucks. Well so about that drink?

IGUANA: (Looks around without purpose) So are you for real? Or am I being punished because I broke some divine steam room law?

MAN: Huh?

(Blackout)

Steam Room: Scene I

Scene I

(The steam room in the YMCA. A MAN sits near the back wall with his eyes half closed. He is lounging and seems to be waiting for something. IGUANA enters in a towel and sees MAN. A clever smile appears on his face. Godot has arrived. All the actions that follow are to be done slowly and certainly, until the real action takes place of course.

He sits at an angle so the MAN can see up through his towel. IGUANA too takes a semi-relaxed pose and positions his head so he's not looking at the MAN, but can spy him from the corner of his eye. The MAN seems to have the same idea. Both sit there for some time, letting each other catch glances of one another's bodies through the steam. IGUANA rubs his chest and neck, gently massaging them. He is a cat playing with his mouse before the kill.

The MAN touches his legs and opens his towel a little more. IGUANA stares off into space and knows the game is on. Slowly, IGUANA's hand moves to underneath his towel and he begins to touch himself. The MAN obviously sees this and begins to do the same. IGUANA lets out a silly smile.

IGUANA moves closer to the man. Throughout the rest of the scene they constantly check the door to make sure no one is coming. IGUANA immediately reaches between the MAN's legs and jerks him off. The MAN does the same and begins to jerk IGUANA off. The MAN notices the IGUANA isn't as hard as he is. IGUANA lowers his head down and begins to blow the MAN.

IGUANA lifts up his head and the man follows his example. IGUANA stares at the door. He is nervous, but the exhibition excites him. The MAN lifts up his head and abruptly asks.)

MAN: Have you been partying?

IGUANA: (Panting and wide eyed.) Huh?!

MAN: Have you been doing drugs?

IGUANA: (Taken aback) Wh--What? N--No...I'm just nervous...

(IGUANA continues to blow the man. Bringing his closer to climax.)

MAN: I'm go--gonna cum! I'm gonna... (IGUANA pulls off and follows his example and jerks off and cums. A short pause.) Well, that was hot. Thanks.

(IGUANA jumps up and mumbles something like, "My pleasure." He quickly exits the steam room.)

(BLACKOUT)

Of course this isn't the ending. Stay tuned for more.

Macbeth Told With Bombs?

I'm not sure what to make of this show, but I'm seeing it tonight at St. Ann's Warehouse in DUMBO, Brooklyn. Macbeth told with explosions and hangings and throat's being slit! How thrilling!

The backdrop is the Manhattan Skyline, the set is outdoors and you have to wear a hearing device in order to hear the (It's in Polish) dialogue! Allegories to the Iraq War are played out in this production and sure it may not have (Tony loser) Patrick Stewart. I am just really interested to find out what tonight will bring.

The Truth About Pearls...

Best Quote Ever:

Everyone knows that when you wear artificial pearls, the third time someone asks you if they are real and you say yes. They become real.

For Those of You Who Missed Her...

Fear her.

I cannot wait to read Post-Tony Articles about Patti. I mean what else can you write? I think she should end Act I of Gypsy now by breaking Louise's neck. Cause in the Tony's it seemed as though she just may. Which I loved mind you.

Oh, and one more thing. While we're on the subject...

Don't tell Mama what you saw...

Patti is the Winner and Don't You EVER forget it.

People will disagree, but she won anyway. Here she is boys.

It Made Me Go Boeing!

Boeing Boeing will probably win best Revival tomorrow. It's a terrifically funny and cute show. Every actor in that show is very solid. Mary McCormack most certainly proves that she is a genius in comedic timing! I loved everyone in the show and thought it was genuinely very funny.

The VIP moment goes to Mary Rylan who plays Gloria, the American Flight Attendant, in her incredible campy but Tour De Force role in Act II.

Bragging Rights...

I've had sex at least once everyday since Monday. Needless to say, I'm tired and haven't gotten much else done this week.

SCENES WITH MY FRIENDS: Composer Collboration

ADVISORY WARNING: The following is a work of fiction. None of the things said are proven true. If they are in fact true, then that is merely a coincidence.

(IGUANA sits with FRIEND. It's Tony Award time and thus the conversation is always on some sort of theatre related topic! As the conversation has progressed, they have mixed in the topic of sex. Theatre and sex are IGUANA's two favorite topics and the limits of what comes out of his mouth are limitless. We tune in already in progress.)

IGUANA: (Sits up and his eyes open wide) A shock thought popped into my head! I dare not repeat it...

FRIEND: Well now you have too.

IGUANA: I wonder if Stephen Sondheim fisted Jerry Herman in his Dungeon while John Kander taped it? How strange would that be?! (Long pause)

IGUANA: (Beat) P.S. rumor on the street, from Mary Testa, is Sondheim has a dungeon. (They stare at each other and laugh hysterically at the same moment.)

FRIEND: Almost as weird as Patti snorting a line off Hal Prince's cock. (Laughs)

IGUANA: (Determined to push the limits.) Do you know Carol's famed Hello Dolly song, I Put My Hand In? (Sings) I put my hand in here? I put my hand in there? (FRIEND nods)

IGUANA: I always pictured her fisting Jerry Herman while singing it. (Both laugh)

FRIEND: Sondheim was very hot in his day.

IGUANA: And a total top I'm sure, but still if he has a Dungeon that means he's a man who doesn't discriminate, because you just need to put a mask on them.

(SCENE)

(Young Herman)

(Young Sondheim)

(She's fisting him in this photo)

Adding Machine, Or Something Like It

Last night I saw Adding Machine and went into the show with much speculation. It won all the Lucille Lortel Awards this year. Along with a bunch of other awards. Yet, when I put in the CD my Supervisor gave me I scratched my head and rolled my eyes. It seemed so intense and dissonant at a first listening that I simply decided I must see it to decide whether or not this award winning Off-Broadway musical was worth all the Hullabaloo.

At 8:05 PM I realized why it got all the praise! As the two lead characters appeared on stage "lying" next to each other in a bed, while Mrs. Zero complained and droned on and on about her wasted life. I was sure that tonight's evening wouldn't be like any I'd encountered in a long time.

The story is simple, but takes incredible turns. I never found myself predicting anything before it happened. It was as if I was watching a twisted fairytale take place, but at the bottom of it all there was so much truth. The original play was written in 1923 by Elmer Rice and then musicalized in modern day. Yet, they kept the 1920s style true to a T, meanwhile, using synthesized music that was reminiscent of old silent movies.

The story is as follows:

After 25 years of service, Mr. Zero is told he's being fired and replaced by the new Adding Machine. In anger he kills his boss and thus begins a wild adventure to jail and to the great beyond.

Think it sounds simple? I thought so too, but then the show happened and I found myself mesmerized with the absurdities that followed.

The design elements were amazing. The lighting, though dark, was amazingly done. The depressing mood of the show was set before the show actually began. The set was simple, but always changing and you rarely felt like you were seeing an Off-Broadway Production, but a full scale Broadway musical.

The acting was very solid. I thought I'd hate Mr. Zero and Mrs. Zero (the missus has a voice that could make Elaine Stritch cringe), but I loved they both and the imperfect lives they lead.

The only thing that Adding Machine has going against it is the extremely modernistic score. Not that it's at all bad, actually it's brilliant! Yet, sometimes the normal person doesn't see the brilliance. They just wonder where the pretty songs have all gone. It's true, if I never saw the show and listened to the CD, I would (and did) turn it off very quickly.

Yet, once you get through Mrs. Zero's grating opening number and come to terms that this show is devoid of pretty songs. You can easily fall in love with it! Actually there are songs that are pretty, but they too hold an irony in them.

If you're in the city and love theater. I highly suggest Adding Machine. It may not be for everyone, but for those who do appreciate theater that tries.

I Am Trying...

So something came over me the last week or so. It was a feeling to not inform. To not let people know what is going on with me. It's also adjusting to the 9-5 schedule too. I feel like there's no more time in the day.

The gym is more difficult to go to at 6 am, when people always want to do things that go past 11 PM and you don't get home until midnight or later. Writing is difficult too, mornings when I would normally update are now filled with interning things. I've gotten some swell things out of it though. Free things. Like books and tumblers.

Then there is moving. Which luckily has been postponed until the end of July. As originally planned! That's a plus my friends. A big plus. Finding the place and such isn't as easy. I want to find a lease this time and with my friend by my side, we will.

I tend to feel like people expect me to be better because it's been sometime since things have come to pass.

Said even that happened in February has passed. It's now June. Move on.

Huh? Life isn't like a TV show where it's contained into small episodes. Once the 30 minutes is through you move on to the next issue.

You're only 22. You have so much more life to experience. So don't dwell on it.

Who? I do honestly believe there was a small difference in what you were experience when you were 22, than what I am going through now. I'm being selfish of course. When you were hyperventilating over a C- in Biology. How could I ever not see that as a crisis?

I thought a trip to Fire Island would suddenly relieve all my issues. How silly of me. It only showed me how some people are so comfortable in their lives they can go to Fire Island every weekend. Those people aren't me. They are the people I don't even see on this island.

Now the question at hand is:

Is their life the real thing?

or;

Is mine?

I'm sure that's an objective question. All I do know is despite all my trials one day some 20-year-old boy will look at me that way. And when he does, I may not even remember this thought I'm having right now.

Granted I live to 30.

The BIG 86!!

Wow, 86 already? Next year it'll be 40 years since you left us! What a legacy!

What it is To Black Out

While trying to escape from Fire Island I wasn't feeling very well. My stomach had been amiss the entire trip and I probably was dehydrated. With the weather at a minimum of 90 degrees, I basically needed an I.V. of Water running into my arm to stay normal.

As the Ferry hit the mainland I was eager to get out. I watched couples flirt and hold onto the fun they had on the Island. As I was just eager to get back to Brooklyn. Perhaps it was the nausea that comes with watching a couple flirt. Or it was the heat and lack of water.

Slowly my vision started to fade. I've never had that happen to me, but for a good 30 seconds I went completely blind. I couldn't see anything. Suddenly my music started to fade and I held onto a wall. I wanted to go home and not create problems.

So the brilliant idea of: You can just pretend you've got your sight and walk off the Ferry and it'll probably come back. Luckily, as I bumped into countless people it slowly came back. It was terrifying though. To be alert of the fact that you were due to pass out. Yet, I didn't because I don't like to be a bother.

Summation of Fire Island...

How was my weekend in Fire Island?

Bah. If you saw me in a box cut bath suit, wouldn't you say hey?

I never want to go to that Island again unless I'm financially invited or I am older. Bah.

P.S.

I <3 Filing away old playbills and production photos at Playbill.com!! I need to work in Woodside MORE than once a week!

Anita Morris with the replacement Guido in Nine.

Carol Channing and George Abbott. I have no idea really. It's probably 1994 here. So she's just revived Hello Dolly! and he's trying to figure out what they did to his script for Damn Yankees!

An Intermission.

I've been missing for several days on purpose. I have chosen not to do pictures-a-day or anything along those lines. I'm trying to figure things out and basically I'm just tired a lot.

Forgive me, you four people out there in the dark. I just am going through some changes.

I'm reading Kate: The Woman Who Was Hepburn and allowing a new obsession to evolve. I'm still adjusting to 9-5 jobs and how I'm going to have to "shift" my schedule to get used to it.

Also, the whole moving thing has brought me down in energy. Though for some reason my roommate told me I could wait until the end of July. Which ultimately brings me back to the original plan. So that's okay, but moving still depresses me.

I'll return I am sure.

Picture-A-Day #75

I missed my picture yesterday. I'm allowed to miss a few. I looked like this yesterday AND today. Ironic?

Diva Divine: Nell Carter

She was big, she was mean and she helped checked Liza Minnelli into rehab before anyone else could! Nell Carter was a lady above all on Broadway who's talents are sorely missed. She died in 2003 from heart complications. Most people will remember her from her short lived 80s show Gimme A Break. I remember Nell as a true performer and Diva Divine!

Annie Mar 26, 1997 - Oct 19, 1997
Angela Lansbury - A Celebration Nov 17, 1996 - Nov 17, 1996
Ain't Misbehavin' Aug 15, 1988 - Jan 15, 1989
Ain't Misbehavin' May 9, 1978 - Feb 21, 1982
Dude Oct 9, 1972 - Oct 21, 1972
Soon Jan 12, 1971 - Jan 13, 1971

You may have spotted Nell in Hair the movie. Or you may have seen her on various sitcoms on ABC. Ms. Carter got her start though from Ain't Misbehavin' where she won the 1978 Tony Award for Best Featured Actress. From the second number where she sang Honeysuckle Rose with Ken Page, to the moment when she belts out Cash For You Trash, and ending with her breaking your heart with Mean To Me.

Nell's rights to the Tony Award were secured with those amazing numbers. Especially when she had competition such as Imogene Coca (On The Twentieth Century), Ann Reinking (Dancin') and her own cast mate Charlaine Woodard.


Nell is [theatrically] legendary because she was supposed to be the original Effie White in Dreamgirls! This is a lesser known fact, but she was signed onto the project. She dropped it to do Gimme A Break. There is a rare 1979 Dreamgirls workshop recording done with some of the original songs that were never used in the show. Nell Carter does sing One Night Only and let me tell you. If she'd done that show, Effie 'Melody' White would've been much bitchier.

In the recording Ms. Carter is singing the song and (I am not sure if it's part of the original show or in the actual studio) someone tells Effie/Nell to speed the song up and Nell just screams, "NO!!!!" Then continues singing. I like to believe that Nell was giving sass to Michael Bennett, but who knows.


Nell's last famous Broadway role was in the revival of Annie in 1997. She played Miss Hannigan. Now I would give my left ball to see Dorothy Loudon in the original run. I would gladly give up my right one to see Nell in the revival! Therefore leaving me ball-less, but a happy homosexual.

Enjoy Nell singing Mean to Me. You will always be remembered Nell.