July 17, 2024 • 18 mins
Hey there! 🌟 Meet Laurie Roldan, a singer whose passion for music shines through her incredible life story. 🎤 In this episode, Laurie shares how her love for singing started from a young age, inspired by her clarinet-playing dad and the timeless tunes of the Carpenters. 🎶
Laurie’s journey from shy kid to musical theater performer is truly inspiring. She opens up about her one-woman show, which intertwines her life experiences with the beloved songs of Karen Carpenter. 🎭 The show is a heartfelt cabaret concert that not only entertains but also motivates others to pursue their passions. 💖
With a fantastic band, guest stars, and even a kids ensemble, Laurie's performances are a must-see! And guess what? Her shows also support the local theater community. 🎉
So, grab a ticket, sing along, and get inspired by Laurie’s message of never giving up on your dreams. 🌈
LAURIE ROLDAN SINGS A SONG FOR YOU. A Cabaret Concert Inspired by the Music of Karen Carpenter
Show Dates: August 17th, 7 PM and August 25th, 3 PM at the Gateway Theater in San Francisco. Don't miss it! 🎟️
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Music.
(00:11):
Well, good morning, Laurie. Good morning, Ray. Today we have Laurie Roldan.
Yes. And she's our guest this morning. Can you tell me a little bit about yourself?
Yes, I have been. Well, I'm a singer, obviously. I have had a passion for singing
since I was born, basically.
I've been I grew up in a house where my dad was a clarinet player and was always
(00:35):
playing and inspiring me with a lot of the folk music in the late 60s, early 70s.
And so I got really inspired by that.
And I grew up laying next to my parents' speaker singing to the Carpenters' Records.
That's how I learned to sing. I loved it. So I started at 10 years old.
(00:58):
So you were born to sing. I was born to sing. I came out singing.
Most of us came out screaming you came out singing
came out screaming and singing i think i just love it
well singing is controlled screaming i've been told anyway so yes yes i haven't
(01:19):
i've heard that too yeah and so i started singing you know when i was little
and then i i um really i was very shy when i was young and i i started to learn
how to play the guitar at age 11 and you know sing some
of the folk and, you know, pop at the time.
And I just developed, you know, a more of a love for music and that genre,
(01:40):
a lot of the seventies music, you know, and loved it and started singing in
talent shows and then did shows in high school and went off and just have always
done musical theater, cabaret, inspirational music.
But this show that I wrote and that's really my heart is my passion in my life
right now. Tell us about that.
Yeah. So about, I don't know, So it's been, it's been, you know,
(02:02):
obviously like all shows, it takes a while to write.
And I worked on this show for about seven years.
And I, what happened was I was, I have twin daughters, actually,
I've got three daughters, but my twins just turned 25.
And when they were going off and I was bringing them to their college auditions,
I was, you know, just watching them.
(02:22):
I was so proud of them and watching them audition.
And they're all, we're all musicians. We're all singers and musicians.
And so I had been studying with my, my vocal coach at the time.
And he said, Hey, your girls are doing, you know, this new, why don't you look
at doing something yourself?
Why don't you do a, do your own one woman show?
And I had, I thought, wow, that's, I never really thought about, you know, about that.
(02:43):
And I, and I said, well, if I do that, that's a great idea.
If I do that though, I really would like to do something inspiring,
you know, something that would inspire people because I, you know,
I like to sing music that has a story that has a message that inspires people.
And so after many, many.
Well, after a lot of time thinking about that and processing,
(03:04):
talking with fellow actors and writers, and I basically, you know,
he said, think about the people that inspired you when you were younger.
Who, who really was your, and I said, well, the most influential for me growing
up, the one that I loved the most was Karen Carpenter. her.
I knew all their songs. I knew every single song by heart.
And as I had been singing in shows myself, I had had a few people comment,
(03:27):
hey, you have a similar sound to Karen.
And so during my life, I'd had a few reviewers say that.
And so I just took all of that and I thought, well, maybe I'll write.
And so at first I'm thinking, well, am I going to write a show?
What's the show going to be about. But after writing a little bit about maybe
Kieran's life, a little bit about my life, and then going back and forth,
(03:50):
I really decided through read-throughs and all of that, my friend said,
hey, we want to hear your story.
We know Kieran, so we want to
hear your story. And so it became a cabaret concert, which is what it is.
It's a cabaret with I have banter about my life.
And through the Carpenters music, which everybody loves and knows and And so
(04:13):
each song has a story, rainy days and Mondays, top of the world.
I talk about my life through the show, through their music.
And you're no stranger to the stage. I mean, you've done a lot of musical theater, right?
Yeah, I've done a lot of shows. I'm a San Francisco, East Bay, East Bay gal.
Yep. Been in a lot of shows, done a lot of concerts and things,
(04:36):
sang with the Diablo Symphony a few times, different symphony gigs.
And yeah, lots of music. Yeah.
I was watching some of your videos and you do have a similar sound to Karen Carpenter.
Thank you. It's quite touching. Oh, well, thank you.
It's really, you know, I just have this, I've just, I've always felt this kind of connection with her.
(04:58):
So thank you. I love it.
So this is my passion. And really, the big overarching theme for my show is
that I want to inspire people to never give up on their purpose and their passion
in life because we all have our gifts,
you know, and that's really my main message in my show that I'm hoping to convey.
(05:21):
And it seems that I've had a lot of, you know, good feedback that people do get that.
They want to, you know, they get inspired and that's what I want to do.
Well, I think that's a great message right now because.
I know personally, I am friends with a lot of performers and a lot of them have
lost sort of lost their passion through the COVID crisis and also all the political
(05:43):
strife that's been going on.
Yeah, it's hard. I don't know if you've experienced that at all.
You know, I actually was getting ready to debut the show in like 2020.
And of course, like a lot of people, then it was it was delayed.
So, yes, I've experienced that. And it made it even more empowering to me to
(06:04):
pursue this and never give up on this dream.
And yeah, when I debuted at the Lesher Center in 2021,
people were just starting to come out again, you know, and they really were,
you know, I think it was something that, you know, it's a good thing for people
to be reminded that, you know, it's never too late and reminded of your gifts
(06:24):
and stay focused on that because we all have our gifts.
It's so important because we also don't know, you know, when we do these shows and we all,
you know, we want to, we inspire each other, but we also don't know maybe what
we're going to say or what song is going to cause somebody to pursue,
you know, more of their own, you know, their own show or writing their own thing.
And I know I have a few friends that have done that through,
(06:46):
through me doing this. They have been inspired to do their own shows.
And so that's, that's really, that makes me really happy. Yeah.
And also just people who may have an interest in art in another form or just camping.
I don't know, whatever, backpacking, you know, anything that fulfilled our dream.
(07:08):
Oh my gosh, it's whatever. And I say this in the show, it doesn't matter.
Maybe your own life doesn't directly involve music, but it can always have harmonies
and melodies that set your soul aglow and lift the hearts of others around you.
Yeah yeah i grew up with that music as well and karen carpenter was such a huge
(07:29):
influence i mean on me in my life just her well you know there's a couple things
i mean just the tone of her voice,
and then just and the lyrics of the songs yeah just so they just get to you you know so yeah.
It's cathartic. People sing along. People have told me they hear Rainy Days
(07:52):
and Mondays, and I have a story about that song, and then I'll sing it.
Everybody goes back, and you would too. You go back to thinking about your life
at that time, or you have your own story, but it's kind of cathartic for people.
Now, do you know if she wrote those songs, or did she do it in collaboration with her brother?
Or network i i do they a lot of songs
were richard did write a lot of songs but they
(08:14):
also have songs that were written by you know a lot of different people
as well so it's i don't think she she wrote
any but i know that he richard did but yeah it's a lot
of a lot of material like like we've only just begun
was a crocker bank commercial and that song
and i didn't remember that yeah i didn't
realize that was from the bank yeah it was and
(08:35):
then it became this big hit you know obviously they took it and it was like
amazing and that you know people you know that's just people just get really
emotional with that song and me too because it's just you know it was every
wedding in the you know 70s or whatever so many people had that but that was
it was a bank commercial and and so funny.
That is that is funny wow well it
(08:58):
just goes to show you that if if you have that that unique
talent you could probably sing the phone book and get
people to break their hearts anyway well
you know again it's it's i'm glad i'm so i feel so blessed to be able to you
know have have come this far in doing this and i i'm just excited to do more
(09:19):
and more with it and bring it to bigger audiences i wish that cabaret shows
the talking part of cabaret wasn't called banter i hate that word.
No, I mean, I know it's kind of weird.
That's what we kind of use in the business, you know, like that was my banter,
but I don't, I don't think that the audience sees it as banter.
(09:41):
It's part of what really makes Cabaret wonderful.
Yes, because it's unique, you know? And so this is my, my unique story.
It's my life story. So it's, it's more than yeah.
Banter. It's actually a story about me and some different stories for each song,
you know so i go chronologically in my life and i
talk about the stages in my life through the songs
(10:03):
so yeah yeah ups and downs
i guess oh yeah if it's karen carpenter but but i i have a really inspiring
ending it's a little kind of a surprise but it's a very inspiring ending and
and just that's there's yes just like life ups and downs but we want to like i say stay focused on the
(10:23):
positive parts you know you don't want to get stuck in those
we you know we're in you're in the negative sometimes but
you want to always hopefully learn something or you know
we we focus on the on the positive parts of lessons learned
yes yeah and you you have some guest stars in your show i do i have some great
i have a great band i have guest stars i've got my friend jordan smith and i
(10:49):
have Debra Del Maestro and Monica Slater. And they're phenomenal.
They're wonderful. I just reversed with them this last weekend.
And my musical director is Mr. Brett Strader.
And I have, I, he's wonderful and has been with me at the beginning of this
project. And I love that we collaborate well together.
(11:10):
He's a very talented director and musician. So, and then I have a Michael Henning
on drums and Aaron Germain on the bass.
So wonderful. Yeah. I know Debra. I don't know the other people,
but I do know Debra. Yeah. Yes. She's great.
So I'd like to feature, you know, part of my message in the show again is,
(11:30):
you know, never giving up and pursuing it and featuring everyone
has a gift and featuring people i do that in my
show so i i want to be able to
share the stage and feature everybody a little bit so i like doing
that are there kids in the show too yes oh is that the surprise i wasn't that's
okay well it's in the press release it's in the press no it's not a surprise
(11:51):
i have a really amazing kids ensemble it's no the ending is as a little surprise
but it's but it's okay there i'm just so happy.
It's, it's been a vision for my show. I've had these kids cause you know,
when the carpenters did shows, sometimes they would have the kids choir in there.
And so I had these, these kids sing and they're, they're really,
(12:12):
they just, they're the highlight, the big highlight, a big highlight of the
show. And I love having that. It's great.
I have a couple kids that have kind of toured around with me and this time I
will be having those featuring those girls along with some of the 42nd street moon kids,
kids on ensemble as well so oh yeah
because they have a big school there yeah so gary stanford is is helping with
(12:36):
that and we'll be featuring some of them too so how come i don't know you i
mean like i've known gary for 30 years and i don't know you yeah i'm so glad
yeah i haven't known you but yeah.
Oh well yeah yeah have
you done this show before or is this the premiere
(12:58):
of it oh no i have done done the show i oh i debuted the show
in 2021 at the lesher center for the arts i have
done the show again at the lesher i've done the show in lafayette at town hall
theater i've done it at the el campanel and so yeah i have yep i've done the
show about three or four times so yeah looking at now it's going to be at the
at 42nd street moon at the what do they call it the gateway the.
(13:24):
Yeah. It's changed. I can't even remember the name. Yeah. Okay.
Yeah. The Gateway Theaters. Yeah. On Jackson Street. On Jackson Street. Yep. Near downtown.
Yep. Near downtown. So I'm excited to bring it to San Francisco and have some
new folks come see the show and get my message out more and more. Yeah.
Now, you sing with your husband sometimes?
(13:46):
I do. I do. My husband is, well, he lived 30 years in New York.
He went to the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, and he's a great actor and
singer, and I love to sing with him, and we really enjoy that.
So we do concerts and gigs and things all around the Bay Area as well.
What's his name? Dan Roldan.
That's a great name. Yes, it's a great name, Dan Roldan.
(14:09):
He loves to sing about that. I know. Dan Roldan.
Wow. He spent 30 years in New York City and did some on and off Broadway and
lots of acting and voiceovers and stuff. So yeah, we love to sing together. We do.
Do you ever get to sing with your daughters? I love to sing.
In fact, one of my daughters has been in a show. I have three daughters,
(14:30):
Charlotte, Bridget, and Natalie.
And one of my daughters is in New York right now. She is in Manhattan and she
just got her equity card.
She's off doing shows and things. And my other daughter has a music degree and she's great.
They're all, of course, unbiased, but they're amazing singers. They're very talented.
And my third one's talented, triple threat too.
And they're all just yeah we sing
(14:52):
together one of my daughters sings in the show occasionally and i
love that it's great it's right and i'll
i'll eventually like the super talented people all
move to new york and new san francisco and then they come back here and that's
guest artist yes yes yeah so are you going to continue doing this for a while
(15:18):
or oh yes i'm I'm actually looking forward,
like I said, to bringing the show to a new audience, a little new demographic out there.
I would like to bring the show to New York. And that's where I have some friends
there that I'm looking to present the show there at some point coming up,
hopefully in the next year or so.
Yeah, I'm looking at other venues and other areas to do the show and bring this
(15:40):
great music and inspiring message to people.
Yeah. Yeah. Fantastic. Yeah.
Well, it's been great talking with you, Laurie. thanks so much ray
thank you i'm looking forward to meeting
you in person too so yeah i i i will be there unless i'm the only reason i'm
hesitating is that i'm going to yellowstone and i'm not sure if it's at the
(16:02):
same time so if i'm not in yellowstone i'll be there all right well i hope you
yeah i hope definitely i'll see there it runs for two weeks so yeah so what
are the dates let's Let's tell everyone the dates here.
It's August 17th, Saturday night, 7 p.m.
And August 25th, 3 p.m.
And the other thing that's really important for people to know too,
(16:23):
is that this is a benefit concert.
It's not just, you know, me bringing
the show, but it's actually a benefit concert for 42nd street moon.
You know, theater world has really been hurting, you know, since COVID also.
And so we are, we are wanting to bring, you know, bring an audience to,
to support 42nd street moon too.
So please, you know, come and get a ticket and see the show and support 42nd
(16:47):
street moon and come see my message and hear this great music and sing along.
We love it. Yeah, they need that. They're a great, they're a gem here in the Bay Area.
And they've fallen on some somewhat difficult times financially,
I think, because of the virus. So the virus, COVID.
I know. Yeah, so that's great that you're doing that. I went to the Reef concert
(17:07):
last night. That was fun.
Fine. The benefit for a project. Yes, I read about that.
Yes, yes. Yes, and you had, I saw, Lawrence was posting to some people,
Lisa Roman and Debbie, you light up my life.
Debbie Boone. Debbie Boone, right.
(17:28):
You light up my life, Debbie. I was like, I was reading that.
That's wonderful. All of them are great. Yes.
I saw Lisa in Phantom.
Me too. Yes, I saw her. Way back in the old days. Yeah, way back in the old days. Yeah.
Some friends in that show. So she was on the show last week.
Oh yeah. I think I, yes, I think I knew that. Oh, that's fantastic.
(17:50):
I love it. Well, I am so grateful. I really appreciate you, you having me on
and I can't wait for you to see the show.
You know, I can't wait to meet you and, and just to talk to you more about it.
And I'm, I'm really honored to be able to be at 42nd street moon and collaborate
with them and do this and have a great time.
So great. So we have Saturday, August 17th, 7 PM.
(18:14):
And Sunday, August 25th at 3 p.m. at the Gateway Theater, which is at 215 Jackson
at Battery in San Francisco. Yes. Come out.
And great. Thanks, Lori. Thank you so much, Ray. Have a wonderful day and I
will look forward to seeing you soon.
You too. Take care. Okay. Bye. Bye. Bye, you too. Bye.
Music.
(00:11):
Well, good morning, Laurie. Good morning, Ray. Today we have Laurie Roldan.
Yes. And she's our guest this morning. Can you tell me a little bit about yourself?
Yes, I have been. Well, I'm a singer, obviously. I have had a passion for singing
since I was born, basically.
I've been I grew up in a house where my dad was a clarinet player and was always
(00:35):
playing and inspiring me with a lot of the folk music in the late 60s, early 70s.
And so I got really inspired by that.
And I grew up laying next to my parents' speaker singing to the Carpenters' Records.
That's how I learned to sing. I loved it. So I started at 10 years old.
(00:58):
So you were born to sing. I was born to sing. I came out singing.
Most of us came out screaming you came out singing
came out screaming and singing i think i just love it
well singing is controlled screaming i've been told anyway so yes yes i haven't
(01:19):
i've heard that too yeah and so i started singing you know when i was little
and then i i um really i was very shy when i was young and i i started to learn
how to play the guitar at age 11 and you know sing some
of the folk and, you know, pop at the time.
And I just developed, you know, a more of a love for music and that genre,
(01:40):
a lot of the seventies music, you know, and loved it and started singing in
talent shows and then did shows in high school and went off and just have always
done musical theater, cabaret, inspirational music.
But this show that I wrote and that's really my heart is my passion in my life
right now. Tell us about that.
Yeah. So about, I don't know, So it's been, it's been, you know,
(02:02):
obviously like all shows, it takes a while to write.
And I worked on this show for about seven years.
And I, what happened was I was, I have twin daughters, actually,
I've got three daughters, but my twins just turned 25.
And when they were going off and I was bringing them to their college auditions,
I was, you know, just watching them.
(02:22):
I was so proud of them and watching them audition.
And they're all, we're all musicians. We're all singers and musicians.
And so I had been studying with my, my vocal coach at the time.
And he said, Hey, your girls are doing, you know, this new, why don't you look
at doing something yourself?
Why don't you do a, do your own one woman show?
And I had, I thought, wow, that's, I never really thought about, you know, about that.
(02:43):
And I, and I said, well, if I do that, that's a great idea.
If I do that though, I really would like to do something inspiring,
you know, something that would inspire people because I, you know,
I like to sing music that has a story that has a message that inspires people.
And so after many, many.
Well, after a lot of time thinking about that and processing,
(03:04):
talking with fellow actors and writers, and I basically, you know,
he said, think about the people that inspired you when you were younger.
Who, who really was your, and I said, well, the most influential for me growing
up, the one that I loved the most was Karen Carpenter. her.
I knew all their songs. I knew every single song by heart.
And as I had been singing in shows myself, I had had a few people comment,
(03:27):
hey, you have a similar sound to Karen.
And so during my life, I'd had a few reviewers say that.
And so I just took all of that and I thought, well, maybe I'll write.
And so at first I'm thinking, well, am I going to write a show?
What's the show going to be about. But after writing a little bit about maybe
Kieran's life, a little bit about my life, and then going back and forth,
(03:50):
I really decided through read-throughs and all of that, my friend said,
hey, we want to hear your story.
We know Kieran, so we want to
hear your story. And so it became a cabaret concert, which is what it is.
It's a cabaret with I have banter about my life.
And through the Carpenters music, which everybody loves and knows and And so
(04:13):
each song has a story, rainy days and Mondays, top of the world.
I talk about my life through the show, through their music.
And you're no stranger to the stage. I mean, you've done a lot of musical theater, right?
Yeah, I've done a lot of shows. I'm a San Francisco, East Bay, East Bay gal.
Yep. Been in a lot of shows, done a lot of concerts and things,
(04:36):
sang with the Diablo Symphony a few times, different symphony gigs.
And yeah, lots of music. Yeah.
I was watching some of your videos and you do have a similar sound to Karen Carpenter.
Thank you. It's quite touching. Oh, well, thank you.
It's really, you know, I just have this, I've just, I've always felt this kind of connection with her.
(04:58):
So thank you. I love it.
So this is my passion. And really, the big overarching theme for my show is
that I want to inspire people to never give up on their purpose and their passion
in life because we all have our gifts,
you know, and that's really my main message in my show that I'm hoping to convey.
(05:21):
And it seems that I've had a lot of, you know, good feedback that people do get that.
They want to, you know, they get inspired and that's what I want to do.
Well, I think that's a great message right now because.
I know personally, I am friends with a lot of performers and a lot of them have
lost sort of lost their passion through the COVID crisis and also all the political
(05:43):
strife that's been going on.
Yeah, it's hard. I don't know if you've experienced that at all.
You know, I actually was getting ready to debut the show in like 2020.
And of course, like a lot of people, then it was it was delayed.
So, yes, I've experienced that. And it made it even more empowering to me to
(06:04):
pursue this and never give up on this dream.
And yeah, when I debuted at the Lesher Center in 2021,
people were just starting to come out again, you know, and they really were,
you know, I think it was something that, you know, it's a good thing for people
to be reminded that, you know, it's never too late and reminded of your gifts
(06:24):
and stay focused on that because we all have our gifts.
It's so important because we also don't know, you know, when we do these shows and we all,
you know, we want to, we inspire each other, but we also don't know maybe what
we're going to say or what song is going to cause somebody to pursue,
you know, more of their own, you know, their own show or writing their own thing.
And I know I have a few friends that have done that through,
(06:46):
through me doing this. They have been inspired to do their own shows.
And so that's, that's really, that makes me really happy. Yeah.
And also just people who may have an interest in art in another form or just camping.
I don't know, whatever, backpacking, you know, anything that fulfilled our dream.
(07:08):
Oh my gosh, it's whatever. And I say this in the show, it doesn't matter.
Maybe your own life doesn't directly involve music, but it can always have harmonies
and melodies that set your soul aglow and lift the hearts of others around you.
Yeah yeah i grew up with that music as well and karen carpenter was such a huge
(07:29):
influence i mean on me in my life just her well you know there's a couple things
i mean just the tone of her voice,
and then just and the lyrics of the songs yeah just so they just get to you you know so yeah.
It's cathartic. People sing along. People have told me they hear Rainy Days
(07:52):
and Mondays, and I have a story about that song, and then I'll sing it.
Everybody goes back, and you would too. You go back to thinking about your life
at that time, or you have your own story, but it's kind of cathartic for people.
Now, do you know if she wrote those songs, or did she do it in collaboration with her brother?
Or network i i do they a lot of songs
were richard did write a lot of songs but they
(08:14):
also have songs that were written by you know a lot of different people
as well so it's i don't think she she wrote
any but i know that he richard did but yeah it's a lot
of a lot of material like like we've only just begun
was a crocker bank commercial and that song
and i didn't remember that yeah i didn't
realize that was from the bank yeah it was and
(08:35):
then it became this big hit you know obviously they took it and it was like
amazing and that you know people you know that's just people just get really
emotional with that song and me too because it's just you know it was every
wedding in the you know 70s or whatever so many people had that but that was
it was a bank commercial and and so funny.
That is that is funny wow well it
(08:58):
just goes to show you that if if you have that that unique
talent you could probably sing the phone book and get
people to break their hearts anyway well
you know again it's it's i'm glad i'm so i feel so blessed to be able to you
know have have come this far in doing this and i i'm just excited to do more
(09:19):
and more with it and bring it to bigger audiences i wish that cabaret shows
the talking part of cabaret wasn't called banter i hate that word.
No, I mean, I know it's kind of weird.
That's what we kind of use in the business, you know, like that was my banter,
but I don't, I don't think that the audience sees it as banter.
(09:41):
It's part of what really makes Cabaret wonderful.
Yes, because it's unique, you know? And so this is my, my unique story.
It's my life story. So it's, it's more than yeah.
Banter. It's actually a story about me and some different stories for each song,
you know so i go chronologically in my life and i
talk about the stages in my life through the songs
(10:03):
so yeah yeah ups and downs
i guess oh yeah if it's karen carpenter but but i i have a really inspiring
ending it's a little kind of a surprise but it's a very inspiring ending and
and just that's there's yes just like life ups and downs but we want to like i say stay focused on the
(10:23):
positive parts you know you don't want to get stuck in those
we you know we're in you're in the negative sometimes but
you want to always hopefully learn something or you know
we we focus on the on the positive parts of lessons learned
yes yeah and you you have some guest stars in your show i do i have some great
i have a great band i have guest stars i've got my friend jordan smith and i
(10:49):
have Debra Del Maestro and Monica Slater. And they're phenomenal.
They're wonderful. I just reversed with them this last weekend.
And my musical director is Mr. Brett Strader.
And I have, I, he's wonderful and has been with me at the beginning of this
project. And I love that we collaborate well together.
(11:10):
He's a very talented director and musician. So, and then I have a Michael Henning
on drums and Aaron Germain on the bass.
So wonderful. Yeah. I know Debra. I don't know the other people,
but I do know Debra. Yeah. Yes. She's great.
So I'd like to feature, you know, part of my message in the show again is,
(11:30):
you know, never giving up and pursuing it and featuring everyone
has a gift and featuring people i do that in my
show so i i want to be able to
share the stage and feature everybody a little bit so i like doing
that are there kids in the show too yes oh is that the surprise i wasn't that's
okay well it's in the press release it's in the press no it's not a surprise
(11:51):
i have a really amazing kids ensemble it's no the ending is as a little surprise
but it's but it's okay there i'm just so happy.
It's, it's been a vision for my show. I've had these kids cause you know,
when the carpenters did shows, sometimes they would have the kids choir in there.
And so I had these, these kids sing and they're, they're really,
(12:12):
they just, they're the highlight, the big highlight, a big highlight of the
show. And I love having that. It's great.
I have a couple kids that have kind of toured around with me and this time I
will be having those featuring those girls along with some of the 42nd street moon kids,
kids on ensemble as well so oh yeah
because they have a big school there yeah so gary stanford is is helping with
(12:36):
that and we'll be featuring some of them too so how come i don't know you i
mean like i've known gary for 30 years and i don't know you yeah i'm so glad
yeah i haven't known you but yeah.
Oh well yeah yeah have
you done this show before or is this the premiere
(12:58):
of it oh no i have done done the show i oh i debuted the show
in 2021 at the lesher center for the arts i have
done the show again at the lesher i've done the show in lafayette at town hall
theater i've done it at the el campanel and so yeah i have yep i've done the
show about three or four times so yeah looking at now it's going to be at the
at 42nd street moon at the what do they call it the gateway the.
(13:24):
Yeah. It's changed. I can't even remember the name. Yeah. Okay.
Yeah. The Gateway Theaters. Yeah. On Jackson Street. On Jackson Street. Yep. Near downtown.
Yep. Near downtown. So I'm excited to bring it to San Francisco and have some
new folks come see the show and get my message out more and more. Yeah.
Now, you sing with your husband sometimes?
(13:46):
I do. I do. My husband is, well, he lived 30 years in New York.
He went to the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, and he's a great actor and
singer, and I love to sing with him, and we really enjoy that.
So we do concerts and gigs and things all around the Bay Area as well.
What's his name? Dan Roldan.
That's a great name. Yes, it's a great name, Dan Roldan.
(14:09):
He loves to sing about that. I know. Dan Roldan.
Wow. He spent 30 years in New York City and did some on and off Broadway and
lots of acting and voiceovers and stuff. So yeah, we love to sing together. We do.
Do you ever get to sing with your daughters? I love to sing.
In fact, one of my daughters has been in a show. I have three daughters,
(14:30):
Charlotte, Bridget, and Natalie.
And one of my daughters is in New York right now. She is in Manhattan and she
just got her equity card.
She's off doing shows and things. And my other daughter has a music degree and she's great.
They're all, of course, unbiased, but they're amazing singers. They're very talented.
And my third one's talented, triple threat too.
And they're all just yeah we sing
(14:52):
together one of my daughters sings in the show occasionally and i
love that it's great it's right and i'll
i'll eventually like the super talented people all
move to new york and new san francisco and then they come back here and that's
guest artist yes yes yeah so are you going to continue doing this for a while
(15:18):
or oh yes i'm I'm actually looking forward,
like I said, to bringing the show to a new audience, a little new demographic out there.
I would like to bring the show to New York. And that's where I have some friends
there that I'm looking to present the show there at some point coming up,
hopefully in the next year or so.
Yeah, I'm looking at other venues and other areas to do the show and bring this
(15:40):
great music and inspiring message to people.
Yeah. Yeah. Fantastic. Yeah.
Well, it's been great talking with you, Laurie. thanks so much ray
thank you i'm looking forward to meeting
you in person too so yeah i i i will be there unless i'm the only reason i'm
hesitating is that i'm going to yellowstone and i'm not sure if it's at the
(16:02):
same time so if i'm not in yellowstone i'll be there all right well i hope you
yeah i hope definitely i'll see there it runs for two weeks so yeah so what
are the dates let's Let's tell everyone the dates here.
It's August 17th, Saturday night, 7 p.m.
And August 25th, 3 p.m.
And the other thing that's really important for people to know too,
(16:23):
is that this is a benefit concert.
It's not just, you know, me bringing
the show, but it's actually a benefit concert for 42nd street moon.
You know, theater world has really been hurting, you know, since COVID also.
And so we are, we are wanting to bring, you know, bring an audience to,
to support 42nd street moon too.
So please, you know, come and get a ticket and see the show and support 42nd
(16:47):
street moon and come see my message and hear this great music and sing along.
We love it. Yeah, they need that. They're a great, they're a gem here in the Bay Area.
And they've fallen on some somewhat difficult times financially,
I think, because of the virus. So the virus, COVID.
I know. Yeah, so that's great that you're doing that. I went to the Reef concert
(17:07):
last night. That was fun.
Fine. The benefit for a project. Yes, I read about that.
Yes, yes. Yes, and you had, I saw, Lawrence was posting to some people,
Lisa Roman and Debbie, you light up my life.
Debbie Boone. Debbie Boone, right.
(17:28):
You light up my life, Debbie. I was like, I was reading that.
That's wonderful. All of them are great. Yes.
I saw Lisa in Phantom.
Me too. Yes, I saw her. Way back in the old days. Yeah, way back in the old days. Yeah.
Some friends in that show. So she was on the show last week.
Oh yeah. I think I, yes, I think I knew that. Oh, that's fantastic.
(17:50):
I love it. Well, I am so grateful. I really appreciate you, you having me on
and I can't wait for you to see the show.
You know, I can't wait to meet you and, and just to talk to you more about it.
And I'm, I'm really honored to be able to be at 42nd street moon and collaborate
with them and do this and have a great time.
So great. So we have Saturday, August 17th, 7 PM.
(18:14):
And Sunday, August 25th at 3 p.m. at the Gateway Theater, which is at 215 Jackson
at Battery in San Francisco. Yes. Come out.
And great. Thanks, Lori. Thank you so much, Ray. Have a wonderful day and I
will look forward to seeing you soon.
You too. Take care. Okay. Bye. Bye. Bye, you too. Bye.
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