All That Jazz! Musical Lovers, Is This The Ultimate Dream Role?

Budweiser’s DreamBig campaign has us doing just that… My musical theatre career didn’t get off to the best of starts. I landed the coveted lead role in my senior infants end-of-year play, portraying “Rosie” in Rosie’s Tea Party. My mother had (severely) braided my hair and I wore a MASSIVE dress with roses on it. I was five years old and by god I knew my lines and was not going to mess this up. The whole play ran without a hiccup until the very end, when I was supposed to lie down on the floor, yawn, and say “I’m tired, I think I’ll go to sleep” before nodding off as the curtain came down. However, just as I opened my mouth to speak, one of my co-stars who was playing Little Bo Peep, spontaneously shouted “Bye Dad!” from the rostrum behind. Everyone laughed and no-one heard my last line. I was fuming. However, I had gotten the bug. I loved every second of it and continued to perform through school and went on to do it professionally when I left. I wasn’t lucky enough to study musical theatre and go on to pursue a career on Broadway or the West End – real life got in the way – but it’s always something I’ve dreamed of. I loved the work I did in Dublin, I’ve played every Disney princess there is – Snow White in the Gaiety Panto, Cinderella at the Helix, Dublin and Cork Opera House, Belle at UCD, but I’ve never gotten to play an edgy, sassy, kick-ass part like Velma Kelly in Chicago, and that’s the dream, even if it was just for one day, for a matinee performance or even a rehearsal. I’ll never forget seeing A Chorus Line on Broadway eight years ago. Ten minutes into the show, one of the actresses strutted to the front of the stage and slowly started to raise her leg, while her voice simultaneously climbed octaves. By the end of the piece her knee was at her ear and she was belting out a note so high that it could have shattered glass. After the show I went around the corner to eat lunch at a hamburger place. After we ordered, our waitress, a young girl aged around 20, jumped up on the back of my seat and belted out Broadway Baby. My friend explained to me that this was common practice on Broadway - aspiring performers would take jobs waiting in diners, literally singing for their suppers in the hopes that they would be spotted by that producer. She was just as talented as half that girl I had seen on stage at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre thirty minutes ago in A Chorus Line. That is the essence of Broadway – the “dream” and the “dregs” are literally rubbing shoulders. If you are a dreamer - you are always just moments away from your big break. Chicago is one of my favourite musicals because it captures this. It is raw, gritty, slick and sparkly all at once, just like Broadway. To stand on The Ambassador stage, where so many performers have tread their first “I made it!” steps, dressed in a leotard, bowler hat, fishnets and tap shoes, armed with a chair as a prop and a beaming spotlight overhead, is my big dream. (And it would SHOW that focus-puller Little Bo Peep.) If you want to Dream Big with thanks to Budweiser and live your American Dream to the value of €50,000 then head over to the Budweiser Facebook Page or visit BudDreamBig.ie to enter. Over 18s only. Please enjoy Budweiser responsibly, visit DrinkAware.ie.