Note- I wrote this post a few years ago…
On Sunday I visited a friend in the hospital. She has been in the ICU for weeks and I offered to give her a foot massage. While I worked on her feet and chatted with her husband I had this overwhelming feeling that I should offer to sing to her.
So I asked if she wanted me to sing. She has a tracheotomy, so she just nodded yes.
I started by singing a few Broadway favorites using accompanying tracks on my phone. After a few songs she mouthed something to me that I could not understand, but it was obvious she had a specific song she wanted me to sing.
She tried a couple times to convey to her husband what she wanted, finally we both realized she was asking for Love is Spoken Here.
Paul and I sang that song at her sons funeral eight years ago.
I quickly hooked into the hospitals wifi and found Mo Tabs you tube version to use as my accompaniment.
I started to sing and felt the Holy Spirit fall down on our heads like a flood.
As I sang the nurses came in to suck out her lungs. I asked if they wanted me to stop singing and they said, “no, keep going.”
So I sang along with the choir while my friend coughed and the nurses worked on her and then administered medication.
After the nurses left my friend mouthed, “Sing it Again”.
I felt tears begin to well up as emotions overflowed.
“You want me to sing it again?”
Nod.
K. So I rewound the player and gave it my all.
I have learned over the years that while I truly love to perform on stage and at other venues, it is in these service opportunities when I use my voice to invite the spirit that I am able to feel and experience the full joy of music.
I have sung at many funerals for elderly friends and most of the time, while there is a sadness and loss, the music is a blessing and a joy for me and hopefully the lives of those who hear.
Conversely I have sung at funerals for a few babies and small children and the mourning and overwhelm of these untimely early deaths makes it nearly impossible for me to sing.
As I sang Love is Spoken Here to my friends I just about choked with the overwhelming sensations running through my mind.
I sang a few more songs and then finished up with O Divine Redeemer, a song that I have been trying to perfect for over twenty-five years.
I have performed this song many times. But singing it on Sunday for my friends was the best I have ever performed it and again, the Holy Spirit poured down like rain from Heaven.
The lyrics to this amazing song were so fitting as the cry for help from Jesus Christ is put to music in the most dramatically striking way. I sang it quietly and earnestly while sitting in a chair massaging Lavender into the lung reflexes of her feet.
As I sang the last note Ashley closed her eyes and mouthed the word “Beautiful”.
I do not believe I have ever heard more thunderous applause for my singing than the silent word whispered by my dear friend during her dark night of the soul.
Her Mom reported on Facebook on Monday that she is doing markedly better. As much as I believe in massage and essential oils, I know the healing power of music is real.
During many, many overwhelming and difficult moments these past few years, when I did not know what to do to lift my spirits and ease deep emotional pain the Holy Spirit would remind me to SING!
This is the thing…
I do not believe that I have that great of a voice.
I struggle with asthma and cannot breathe well enough for long phrases. I have not had too many voice lessons, so my technique is almost non existant.
I love such a weird mix of vocal styles that it is difficult to pin down what sort of a singer I am or aspire to be.
One of my earliest memories is playing an old 45 of Bob McGrath from Sesame Street singing the song, “Sing”.
“Sing, sing a song, sing out loud, sing out strong.
Sing of good things, not bad…
Sing of happy, not sad…
Sing, sing a song
Make it simple, to last your whole life long
Don’t worry that it’s not good enough, for anyone else to hear,
Sing.
Sing a song
La, la la la, La, la la la la la la la…”
I played that record on our little play stereo so many times it broke.
During the darkest moments of my life, music has been the key to my sanity.
So please, be kind. I know how presumptuous it is to throw my songs on the web and call myself a singer and even assume that people will pay me money to teach their children to sing.
True Story…
When we had a gig for The Neil Simon Players, I was doing a mic check and a few of the patrons were in the room while I sang into each mic.
I sang a few lines from a King and I song and then we started our show. After the show a woman came up to me and said that she wished I had shared my voice with the crowd.
Only a few people were still milling around, but I asked her if she wanted me to sing a song. She said yes. so I sang You’ll Never walk alone from Carousel. She and the others in the room loved it, so I sang Climb Every Mountain from The Sound of Music.’
Afterwards she told me that those were her two favorite songs. (Aren’t they all of our favorite songs?) This experience was so gratifying that I asked Richard if would be OK for me to prepare a set of Golden Oldies to share as an alternative set with our patrons. He said to go for it.
I think a side of me was wishing he had said no.
I am so much more comfortable as a Director than as a performer.
Performing solo work is one of the most nerve wracking experiences possible.
Add to the mix my lung problems, a high altitude city (5,800 ft), a general terror that my voice is not good enough, and the constant visual in my mind that I am just deluding myself like the character Mary in Pride and Prejudice, utterly clueless about my own limitations.
For those of you not in the singing world, breath support is the key to holding long phrases and singing the high notes.
When you are befuddled by Asthma AND Hypoxia and need to be on Oxygen supplementation a good portion of the day like I am and utterly refuse to wear the tubes while performing… a perfect storm of low oxygen saturation coupled with the altitude forces me to take sips of air ALL THE TIME.
This is not a big deal when you sing in a choir as you have other voices to fill in the gaps. But when singing as a soloist, it makes the songs sound choppy and breathy.
Death to the song.
Hopefully most of my gigs will be in St George which is 3,000 feet lower than Cedar and I actually sound like a singer…
I told my pals on The Neil Simon Board of Directors about this plan to sing the oldies as a set, not really informing them that I had about a years worth of rehearsing and memorization that still needed to happen before I would be ready for a 90 minute show. My friend Dave mentioned that he felt my songs would be perfect for the Honor Flight crowd.
Well, the Honor Flight might be ready for me, but I only had two weeks to prepare, and only four songs memorized.
After freaking out for a couple days, I realized that I only needed to sing the songs that I already had memorized and that we had options in terms of what show we did.
When I talked to the gentleman organizing the event I explained to him the show that I envisioned with lots of different songs from our team of players.
He said it sounded perfect.
So I still have the sense of having been thrown into the deep end of the pool and swimming frantically to stay afloat, but I am determined to give these songs my best shot.
Last night I decided to tape myself singing the set into my phone. I use this tactic with my vocal performance students. as a way for them to self critique.
As I watched the videos today, I was mostly mortified by what appeared on my You Tube Channel.
At this point the only thing that is keeping me going is the look in the eyes of those people who I sang for a couple weeks ago and the joy I felt singing to them.
As I told my daughter Shelly today, I have to start somewhere…
The Utah Honor Flight
The Honor Flight program takes veterans back to Washington D.C. free of charge to see the memorials. They will be taking about 25 local WWII and Korean War veterans back to D.C. in June.
Here is more about this event from a recent article in the Spectrum:
Early in the morning June 4, 30 veterans of World War II and the Korean War Veterans from Iron County will once again answer the call as they board a bus from the Leavitt Hangar at the Cedar City Airport from which they will deploy to Las Vegas for their departure to Washington D.C. for a two-day stay to visit the WWII memorial along with others in the National Mall.
The veterans depart Cedar City on a Thursday and return on Saturday after raising the flag over Fort McHenry that morning.
With the help of Dennis Robison, an Air Force veteran from Cedar City and Ron Lewis, a retired Navy captain living in New Harmony, the Iron County Honor Flight will take wings for the first time.
“We were initially looking for 15 veterans because that is the amount you need to sponsor an Honor Flight,” said Robison of this Iron County Group. “The response when we were looking just mushroomed on us. We have 30 on the flight now.”
The Players will provide the bulk of the entertainment for the families and community members who will greet the vets as they return to the Leavitt Hanger on Saturday June 6th.
I cannot even put into words how excited I am that my little group is going to do this gig.
So happy to do it!
It was such an honor to provide the entertainment for the Honor Flight Party. I bore my testimony today in our Sacrament Meeting and talked about how it was such a blessing to be able to use my singing to serve those who had served our nation.
It really does not get much better than that. (OK, OK, I admit, singing lullabies to my babies trumps all singing gigs, but this was definitely a close second.)
Our soloist from the Neil Simon Players came down with a nasty chest cold and had to bail at the last minute. I offered some serious prayers on his behalf, but he did not recover fast enough, so I had to step in and sing the final two songs.
I was so nervous about singing Homeward Bound to an accompaniment track that was for a tenor, that I asked my son Jeff to sing it with me. He had about 24 hours to learn it and I think he did a pretty good job.
I bawled during the final number, God Bless America, and asked the crowd to help me sing and it was a nice way to end the evening. I was so choked up from seeing all of our vets get off that bus, that to sing was just about all I could do. It was late, I was tired, and I gave it my best shot.
I was a little befuddled by having to play sound tech while singing. That is why I kept holding the phone while I sang. I did not want to finish a song and allow the tracks to end and go into the next song. It was distracting to me, but the crowd was gracious and still managed to applaud despite my wearing several different hats while we performed.
I was so pleased that our Neil Simon Players Alex and Samae Allred joined us for a fifteen minute set and my class from the Kimber Academy danced several dances that I taught during class. It helped to have some variety. I also sang a couple more songs that we did not capture on video. Three little girls holding flags came up and danced around while I sang that set. They were so cute.
My amazing daughter Shelly played the roll of “I will do everything Mom cannot do today” which translated into her fixing supper (and bringing us a packed lunch), setting up the tables, chairs, taking some photos, and setting up some of the sound equipment, driving me to the gig, and watching the homefront (and Ben) while I rocked it out at the gig.
Musical Theatre is also WAAAAY cheaper than therapy and since we have not had health insurance for the past few years, there is no way I am going to yank a hundred bucks out of our limited family budget to go talk to my therapist.
A couple times this past year I was sorely tempted to make an appointment with her, but we are just barely scraping by and yakking about my problems with a trained therapist is a luxury we simply cannot afford.
This post is an amalgam of three posts I wrote in 2015 when I was revving up my Musical Theatre Career.
Go HERE, HERE, and HERE to read the original posts.
The most meaningful gig I have ever done was organizing the entertainment for that Cedar City Utah Honor Flight.
She also came back afterwards and packed up all of the equipment, took everything home, lugged it into the house, and fed the three people I keep house for.
Another misnomer because she does almost all of the shopping, laundry, home health care for Elaine – which includes taking her blood pressure three times a day and driving her to all of her doctor, dentist, hair, and pharmacy trips- and she gardens, takes Sammy for his morning walk, takes Ben to soccer and the Library, and is just an all around joy and delight.
Whenever you see these musical theatre posts on my blog, just know that none of these endeavors would have been possible the past three years without Shelly’s help. I have been so consistently ill for over ten years, with chronic low energy, multiple hospitalizations, and a variety of lung, emotional, and digestive ailments, that stepping out and performing and directing is only possible with huge amounts of help at home.
I still spend most of my days sick in bed and drag myself out and get dressed to run rehearsals, home school Ben, and do these occasional shows. Both Paul and Shelly have agreed that doing theatre is key to my mental health and so they are both highly supportive of me bringing in a few bucks now and again doing theatre. (We earned three dollars, two loaves of sourdough bread, and a jar of jam for this gig!)
Peace
Peace
Rose in Bloom
This is why I am writing a Musical based on these two stories.
Eight cousins and Rose in Bloom depict home making and Motherhood as the highest ideal. When Mac and Rose decide to adopt an orphan even before they are married, you know that the family they will create will be given tender and dedicated care!
Jenny Marie Hatch
Let’s be honest: if 'Eight Cousins' came out today, it would probably be dismissed as “soft.” It’s got orphans, a kindly uncle, lots of talk about health and morals, and a bunch of rowdy boys getting into mischief. It’s got Sunday-school sweetness and Victorian table manners. Instagram wouldn't know what to do with it.
But read a little deeper—and suddenly, it’s not so quaint. It’s a quiet molotov cocktail in lace gloves.
In a culture where girls are still being told to “smile more,” to shrink themselves, to post filtered selfies and monetize their femininity by age twelve, 'Eight Cousins' feels alarmingly relevant. Rose Campbell, just thirteen, inherits not just a fortune but a future that everyone around her is already trying to manage. They want her pretty, polite, and passive. But Uncle Alec has other plans.
He gives her a spine.
Let that sink in. A male guardian in 1875 refuses to corset her body, teaches her about her own anatomy, feeds her vegetables instead of dainty cakes, and tells her plainly: your worth is not in your looks, but your mind. In a world where we’re still battling for body autonomy and fighting the mental health fallout of beauty culture, that’s not Victorian idealism—it’s pure disruption.
This book casually slams diet culture, the male gaze, fast fashion, toxic masculinity, and the commodification of girlhood—before the telephone was even invented.
And those cousins? They’re not just boy-shaped ornaments. Each one presents a version of masculinity that Rose has to reckon with. She doesn’t choose the loudest, richest, or most charming. She doesn’t choose at all—not yet. She studies. She waits. She learns to value character over charisma. In the age of TikTok thirst traps and alpha-male podcasting bros, that’s revolutionary.
The real genius of 'Eight Cousins' is how it wraps its rebellion in gentleness. There’s no manifesto. No viral call-out. Just a girl, learning to walk into rooms with curiosity instead of apology.
Alcott’s world isn’t without its flaws—race and class remain largely unexamined—but her vision of female empowerment is refreshingly tactile. It’s in posture. In education. In not apologizing for ambition. In learning to say no.
Read it now, and it doesn’t feel like a relic.
It feels like a blueprint we still haven’t fully implemented.
BOOK: https://amzn.to/4iP3W1U
Peace
Peace
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