My son Mateo may be my mother’s biggest fan. We’ve visited Radio City Music Hall in NYC and he’s fascinated that his grandma once danced on that great stage as a Rockette. Five shows a day, fifty weeks a year, for five years.
While searching on the internet, Mateo found this vintage photo of my mother, as she’s getting fitted for her costume for the Music Hall’s famed Christmas Show, circa 1950.
Thank you, Mateo. I love everything about this picture.
In 2014, I participated in the San Francisco performance of Listen to Your Mother, reading “My Mother the Rockette.”
This past May, I sat in the audience of the Brava Theater, spellbound, and listened this year’s cast tell their stories. Every vignette was terrific, but one–“She Was All I Ever Wanted” by Regina Louise–left me sobbing. The piece is about growing up in foster care, transracial relationships, the meaning of “mother.” Three months later, I’m still thinking about it. xoxo
A few months ago, a friend told me about a phenomenon founded by Ann Img called Listen To Your Mother, in which writers submit essays about any and all facets of motherhood or mothering, and read the pieces aloud on stages in 32 cities across the country. The official description is “A national series of orginal live readings shared locally on stages and globally via social media.”
I submitted an essay about my mom, “My Mother, the Rockette,” and was thrilled when the producers in my region, Kim Thompson Steel and Kirsten Nicholson Patel, chose me to read it for the May 2014 performance at the Brava Theater in San Francisco. The evening’s show, including my reading, is posted on on the Listen To Your Mother YouTube channel.
I urge you to check out the Listen To Your Mother website for information about next year’s auditions. The experience was challenging, positive, and fun from start to finish. Try out if you can! Or look for a live performance. Hope you enjoy!
My Mother, the Rockette on YouTube.
Image credit: Damian Steel
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