Backstage:

Have you ever taken a flamenco class? Me neither. Though I'm guessing the difference between you and I is that I have to be performing flamenco-inspired movement on a Broadway stage in a few weeks. The mere thought of that is enough for me to need a Bromo-Seltzer. See, I'm a cast member in Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, a new musical based on the 1988 hit film by Pedro Almodóvar, directed by Tony Award-winner Bart Sher, with music by David Yazbek, book by Jeffrey Lane, and choreography by Christopher Gattelli. This production is Broadway's version of old MGM, with "more stars than are in the heavens." It stars Sherie Rene Scott, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Laura Benanti, Justin Guarini, Danny Burstein, De'Adre Aziza, Mary Beth Peil, and Patti LuPone. Patti f---ing LuPone, people!

When I heard they were making a musical version of Women on the Verge, I nearly flipped my wig. I had to be a part of this production. After numerous auditions, I heard calls started going out letting people know they had booked the show. I waited by the phone for my agent to call, like Vikki Carr singing “It Must Be Him.” One day passed, no phone call. Three days passed, crickets. One week passed ... well, you get the picture. Either I didn't book the show or, as with Maleficent in Disney's Sleeping Beauty, my invitation got lost in the mail. It's no secret that the business of show is a difficult one. Hearing "no" never really gets any easier. When that phone call finally did come (albeit a little later than my delicate nerves would have liked), to quote Ms. LuPone, I was "rainbow high." I did it! I got a Broadway show! I had entered a wonderful fraternity of people who had made their dreams come true.