a Post-Show Blog - Part 2

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, and to tell you the truth, I'm hoping that's the case because the video footage of the show had some beautiful shots...of the waiter walking directly in front of the camera on all but two songs. 

So after my slight meltdown about the footage that will never be seen on YouTube of last week's show, I set about hunting down stills that anyone might have taken that night. Fortunately, there were some good samaritans with cell phones and cameras in the audience. God bless them all. And by all, I mean Scott Levy, Enid Blount Press, Michele Jaffe Stork, and Carolyn Messina!

So for those of you who missed it as well as those who'd like some "misty, water-colored memories of the way we were," here's my walk down memory lane of a very special evening making music with my friends. And again, my heartfelt gratitude to Garry Novikoff, BethAnne Clayton, Tanya Leah, & Lorraine Ferro.

Backstage before the show L-R: Tanya, Lorraine, Ilene, Beth & Garry in front

The ensemble takes to the stage!

Me, opening with a brand new song

Tanya gracing us with the happy Ukulele

Garry, my fellow lefty Leo

BethAnne, rockin' the beautiful, bluesy stuff

Singing Goddess, Lorraine...I don't even need the audio with this picture!

The friends singing our encore "You've Got a Friend"

Garry and Ilene sporting the closed-eyes and open-mouths singing look

Post-show jubilation!

Thanks for stopping by and sharing the post-show fun with me! Please tell your friends...and come on out to my next gig on May 19th where I'll be part of the Music at the Mansion concert series in New Jersey! https://www.facebook.com/events/131497537044558/?ref=2



a Post-Show Blog - Part 1

I had this dream. Nothing as daunting as achieving lasting peace on earth – although, that is one I’ve had, too, but gathering some of my closest friends together for an evening of, well, what we did until the wee hours of the morning in my living room not long ago, which was play and sing our songs for and with each other, along with practically every other song ever written. (It was until the wee hours, after all.)

In theory, everything sounds like a good idea at the time you think of it. But I was serious. And as anyone who’s ever known me for more than five minutes knows, when I’m serious about something, I have a way of making it happen.

So within a couple of months of our gathering, a venue was booked, a date set, and the people I wanted to play with were asked. Let me explain the likelihood of five professional musicians being available to play on the same night together – none. But somehow the fates were with me on this one, because everyone managed to sign on eventually.

I had a vision in my head of what the night would look like. It would be my New York version of a Nashville Bluebird Café round. (For those of you who have no idea what I’m talking about, the Bluebird is a Nashville songwriters’ venue. And a “round” is four writers sitting in a circle taking turns playing their songs very informally.) Only in New York, there’s a stage and lights, and everything is more expensive. Plus the whole theater setting was far from informal.

In my vision of the evening, we’d each bring the fullness of our talents, hearts and souls to the table. Oh yeah, and also our humor. I live for the unscripted banter, the not knowing what’s going to come out of anyone’s mouth, including my own. I might possibly be the only performer whose pre-show prayer goes something like this: “God, please let me not suck. And oh yeah, please make me funny.” (Hey, far less lofty things have been asked for, believe me.)

Now, I could go into great detail about the journey leading up to last night’s performance – the one rehearsal we had, the changing of minds about song selection at the last minute, the chaotic nature of five very different personalities, not to mention…oh, why sugarcoat it…artists are all nuts. And I say that both with all the love in my heart as well as the full knowledge that I am one of them. But I was the nut whose brainchild this was, and so I felt like the success or failure of it rested on my shoulders. Yes, I wanted it to be great, but I also wanted it to be fun. My philosophy is if we’re having fun on stage, then so will the audience.

Show night was upon us. Did I mention my 50+ pound keyboard that I had to pack and haul? Let’s just put it this way, I have so many cuts and bruises on hands and various body parts that were used to prop up, navigate, maneuver and just plain schlep, that I look like I was mauled by a wild animal of some sort. And that was before I got to the theater.

When I dropped my keyboard off at the foot of the flight of stairs inside the theater (which was on the 2nd floor with no elevator), the manager came down to greet me, took one look at my ginormous keyboard case and said he’d give me a hand. And by “give me a hand,” I mean he just picked up the whole thing like it was made of Styrofoam and walked up the flight of stairs without breaking a sweat, let alone struggling in any discernible way. I briefly thought of offering him my firstborn, but then remembered I don’t have children.

Sound check was a little tense. Our one and only rehearsal had left us knowing we could sound great together, but that there was also ample potential for harmonic catastrophe, because did I mention we only had one rehearsal? Add to that the fact that all of us had never performed together before, though I’d performed with each person separately on many different occasions. Recipe for…well, it was the recipe for my word and lesson of the year – trust.

This gig was an opportunity, particularly for me, because I can’t speak for anyone else, to trust the people I chose to work with, to trust the years of experience that each of us collectively brought with us, to trust the work each of us did individually before we got there, to trust that the audience would appreciate our offering, to trust that there would even be an audience, and to trust that everything always works out for the highest good of everyone involved. And it did.

From the moment we walked on stage, the audience was with us. They laughed at our jokes; they participated when asked to join in, which was especially necessary on Garry’s song with the kazoos. And for those of you who were not present, I know you are really sorry about that now that you know there were kazoos. There was also a keyboard, two guitars, a ukulele, shakers, and a doumbek. It was a cacophony of creativity on that stage, I tell ya.

The show was everything I could have hoped for. By the time we saw the cell phone equivalents of the Bic lighters waiving in the air as we did our one cover of the show, our encore of “You’ve Got a Friend,” it was one big love-fest.

And though I’m waiting for pics and recordings, here’s a couple we took backstage before the show. There will be more in the next blog! Thanks for stopping by. Please tell your friends.

             L-R: Tanya Leah, Lorraine Ferro, Ilene Angel, BethAnne Clayton, and Garry Novikoff in front

L-R: Lorraine Ferro, Ilene Angel, BethAnne Clayton, & Garry Novikoff



And a note to my friends who made music with me - BethAnne Clayton, Garry Novikoff, Lorraine Ferro, and Tanya Leah – I am awed by your talent, I cherish our friendship, and I love you to pieces!!!

so anyway, as I was saying...

So anyway, as I was saying in my last blog about the things I was contemplating doing with the spare time that I used to spend worrying, here’s what I’ve found out about luging and mermaid camp. And really, how many times can you say those two things, let alone in the same sentence?

It seems there are at least a couple of luging options in these United States. My friend Alisa was nice enough to send me the links to them, because evidently I am not the only one whose curiosity was piqued at the mere mention of the word “luge.”

I noticed that luge place #2 requires proof of health insurance. Very reassuring. And don’t put it past me to try this, either. I live to be able to say I’ve luged. Is “luged” even a word? Spell check thinks not. But then again, who is spell check, really?

Ah, mermaid camp. I’ve discovered there really is no good segue from luging to mermaid camp – a thing I doubted even existed until I saw my friend, Loralee’s picture and tactfully asked her, “What the hell is that picture on your Facebook page? Are you wearing fins?” And thus, my introduction to this phenomenon was made.

But once you open that can of worms, there’s really no going back. It turns out there are quite a lot of people obsessed with mermaids. (Who knew?) My only prior reference to them was Bette Midler’s stage show and the movie Splash, which just goes to show you the kind of sheltered life I’ve led.

It turns out that, like luging, there’s more than one mermaid camp, too, the most renown of which is the one in Florida that my aforementioned friend attended. (http://www.weekiwachee.com/camps/sirens-of-the-deep-mermaid-camp.html )

Me, I’d opt for the one in Hawaii…that is if I was opting for mermaid camp – which I’m not. Ever.

And that brings us (logically) to the documentary I finally watched called The Boys: the Sherman Brothers Story. (I know, my skills at the art of the segue can really only be classified as a gift.)

For those of you without the fingertip-ready knowledge of who wrote the songs you’ve known all your life and have taken for granted, let me assure you that many of them were written by the Sherman brothers.

If you’ve visited a Disney theme park and ridden “It’s a Small World,” seen Mary Poppins or Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, or heard Ringo Starr sing “You’re Sixteen,” then you know the Sherman brothers’ songs.

I must admit that, going into it, I knew absolutely nothing about them. I assumed, based on nothing but their very cheery music, that they must have been two blissfully happy (and lucky) men who got along famously and depicted the optimism of the charmed lives they surely led in their songs. I would, of course, be completely wrong.

While my definition of a charmed life may well be “making a good living as a commercially successful songwriter,” (Project much? Nah!), the truth is the dynamics of their relationship were far more complex.

Robert and Richard Sherman were two very different men. Robert fought and was seriously injured in World War II, having been one of the first Americans to step foot in Dachau, seeing the horrors of the concentration camp atrocities firsthand.

Richard, on the other hand, didn’t see front line action. And while his inclination may have already been on the sunnier side, I can’t help but think that the impact of Robert’s experiences were both profound and permanent. And perhaps it was the melding of those two very different lives that held the magic we all know and love.

To be honest, I found myself more intrigued by Robert, whose demeanor appeared to be more brooding and somber than Richard’s. To be able to write such uplifting and positive songs after having witnessed so much darkness, takes the profundity of that accomplishment to a whole different level for me. It makes it a conscious choice about what one wants to put out in the world.

That the brothers spent years apart and estranged later on in life saddened me to no end, as did the shift in what the Disney company became after Walt Disney’s death. But we will forever have the films and the music. And if it keeps childhoods innocent and sweet for a day longer than today’s world would have them be, then I say that’s a pretty good legacy and one the Sherman brothers' children and grandchildren can be proud of.

For my last completely disjointed tidbit of this blog, might I suggest getting your tickets for my show next week on May 1st at 7pm in New York City? It is going to be an incredibly fun evening of singer/songwriters that include me (Ilene Angel), Garry Novikoff, Lorraine Ferro, Tanya Leah, and BethAnne Clayton. We will be swapping songs and unscripted banter. And believe me, with a description that includes the word “unscripted," hilarity is sure to ensue. You will not want to miss it.

Here’s the link to get your tickets or make reservations: http://stage72.com/?p=2434 or call 1-800-838-3006.

Thank you so much for stopping by and spending some time with me. I appreciate it beyond words...which I've used enough of...so I'm done for now.

the time in between

“It’s all happening.” I accidentally erased Almost Famous from my DVR yesterday. Was not happy about it, either, but then I realized I’d probably already committed most of it to memory, or at least the wisdom most useful from it – “Be honest and unmerciful.” – I seem to use this mostly when writing about myself, though. Hmm… “You cannot make friends with the rock stars.” – Yeah, this one I’ve disregarded entirely. And “It’s all happening.” – This reminds me both to stay present and that everything I envision already exists.

But what about the time between knowing something exists in the ether and seeing it come to fruition in your life? What do we do with the time in between?

That’s where I find myself now – knowing that both the vision and the groundwork have been laid, aware that little by little, day by day I’ve been doing the work. But the rest isn’t my piece of the puzzle to complete. And in many ways, that makes it the hardest part of all for me.

We live in a perpetual state of busyness, but there is a huge difference between being busy and being productive. Sometimes it’s productive to take a walk, go to a movie, clean out a closet or take a nap – although, frankly, I’ve never been much of a napper.

There’s a saying that goes, “The harder I work, the luckier I get.” And to the extent that you have to clock a lot of hours to become proficient, let alone excellent at anything, I suppose that’s true. But a lot of us feel that if we’re not working 24/7, we’re going to miss some big opportunity. And by “a lot of us,” I mean me. But here’s what I’ve figured out about that – that underlying belief has nothing to do with work; it has everything to do with fear. And fear has never taken me any place worth going.

So this year, I’ve turned over a new leaf, and I’m not gonna lie to you, it feels weird, but it also feels exhilarating, exciting, and completely unfamiliar. Now I am clear that there is a part of the equation of my life that is my job, but I’m also clear that there is a part of the equation that is not. And the part that is not is where trust comes in.

So I’ve got a little time on my hands, but mostly it’s the time I used to spend worrying incessantly, fretting needlessly, and generally freaking out. I kind of don’t know what to do with myself. I was thinking maybe pottery. Also on the list of potential activities is mermaid camp, which is a real thing, it turns out. I actually know someone who did it. And finding out where people learn to luge. Oh, not because I want to be an Olympic luger. I just want to find out where one would dip the proverbial toe in the proverbial water of the whole luge thing. How does one even get started in that, do you suppose? (See, these are the things I’ve been wondering about in the time I used to spend worrying. Way better use of my time.)

I’ve decided in the meantime to go watch a documentary about the Sherman brothers that I’ve wanted to see for a long time. Maybe I’ll tell you about it in my next blog. And also, if I find out the answer to the luging question. So much to look forward to. I can only imagine your anticipation.

Thanks so much for stopping by. Please tell your friends.

Redemption and Resurrection

A lady recently asked me in passing if I was religious. And I knew exactly what she meant when she asked, so I answered, “No.” But to tell you the truth, it’s kind of been bugging me ever since.

What she meant was do I regularly go to services and partake in the rituals and traditions of the faith in which I was raised. She wanted to know if I was a “believer” in the way people use that word to align themselves with a particular sect or as “a person of faith.”

The truth is I am both a person of faith as well as a believer in God, neither of which has anything to do with religion. And my desire to sift through the real answer to the nice lady’s question is not so much a need to justify as it is a desire to give voice to those of us whose journey has brought us to this place and time, appreciating where we came from, respecting those still choosing to remain there, while acknowledging where we are now.

There is, at our core, the place where we know. We know what is true. We know what aligns with our very being, what our soul recognizes as being a reflection of our Creator, our Source, God. We know. We may try to suppress, pretend, deny, ignore, or change it, but at the core of our being, we know what we know.

We are ever-evolving expressions of divinity. And to that end, I believe that life is a journey of becoming more and more ourselves, of who we are uniquely created to be, every day until our last in this form.

My belief system (for the nice lady who asked about my religiosity) can best be summed up in one word: love.

Use it as a noun. Use it as a verb. Use it as a dangling something or other. Take it as a suggestion, a directive, a commandment, whatever. It is not for the faint of heart. It requires bringing the best of ourselves to the playing field of our lives. It is both simple and complex simultaneously. It demands forgiveness. It requires courage. It exists in truth. It is bigger than our pettiness, accepts us just as we are. It cannot be won or lost. It is the eternal “enough.”

This is what I both know and believe. And so how do we go from that to redemption and resurrection?

This is a holy week, both for Christians and Jews the world over.

Jews are celebrating Passover, retelling the story of going from slavery to redemption. But what does that mean and how does it apply today?

To avoid grappling with those questions is to make the retelling just a nice story of days gone by. Never mind that the literal definition of slavery exists today in every corner of the globe, including our own, largely in the form of human trafficking. So let’s not pretend that slavery is a thing of the distant past just because it doesn’t happen to appear like it did in the movie The Ten Commandments.

Slavery is not just about people as chattel, though. I once heard a TV preacher say, “That which we make a God other than God, we become a slave to.” And we do that all the time with our careers and with every type of technology.

Short of a tornado touching down on your rooftop, what do you really need to know from a 24 hour news channel at 3am? What job outside of doctor, paramedic, fire, or police really requires the immediacy of our attention? What TV show or Facebook post trumps an actual conversation? (I mean, of course, with the exception of those posts with babies or puppies, because who doesn’t love a baby or a puppy? Sociopaths, that’s who. And I say that with all the love in my heart for sociopaths.)

We’re looking for validation as our form of redemption, but it will never be found in getting enough votes to survive the week on American Idol. Our redemption will never come from the criticism we exact upon each other. It will only come from how willing we are to liberate each other from the bonds of judgment in favor of tolerance and acceptance.

Wow, all of a sudden I feel like I’m giving a speech in D.C. instead of brushing off matzoh crumbs in New York.

So on to Easter, that holiday which celebrates the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

It is no secret that I’m a big fan of Jesus, much as my Jewish family and friends are squirming right now, and making hissing sounds…or possibly waiting for that bolt of lightning to strike me dead. Hard to say which of these, really.

Jesus walked the earth as the embodiment of unconditional love. He was a Jew, yes, but he was an outcast among them, too. He knew his truth, he spoke his truth, and he lived his truth until the very end. He loved those who hated him, forgave those who betrayed him. What is there not to love about that?

That he was crucified and rose from the dead is more than just a telling of the story. The power and relevancy in that story for us today is what it symbolizes.

We crucify ourselves and each other in ways big and small every day. What is it we need to forgive ourselves for, and how would our lives be different if we did? What dreams do we need to resurrect? What parts of ourselves do we need to bring back from the dead? This is the season of rebirth. We must know that what is of real value is never lost, even to death. I think that is the point of the story.

So whatever your religion or your faith, I hope you celebrate it in the fullness of its beauty. I hope this season finds you surrounded by love, in the company of family and friends, and in gratitude for both that which you seek and that which you already know.

Thanks for stopping by. Peace and blessings to you always.
Ilene

Words that Inspire

So here I sit, on my couch, after determining that the strange loud noise I just began hearing against the house is, in fact, hail. This would be after the snow I shoveled this morning…before the rain set in. Now, it’s hail. I do not know what chore hail will necessitate in the morning, but I’ve got my ice chopper and shovel at the ready. And I, being the eternal optimist, am thankful that we haven’t gotten to locusts, because that plague really freaks me out.

While sitting here in my catatonic post-shoveling state, I’ve been thinking about some quotes that inspire and/or amuse me. I decided to put some that I really love here in my blog. The order is completely random and the list is just a smattering of the pages and pages I’ve accumulated over the years. But maybe you’ll find some inspiration and enjoyment from them, too. So here goes…and thanks for stopping by.

“Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined.” – Henry David Thoreau

“Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all.” – Dale Carnegie

“I learned that it is the weak who are cruel, and that gentleness is to be expected only from the strong.” – Leo Rosten

“The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again, who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause; who at best, knows the triumph of high achievement; and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.” – Theodore Roosevelt, 1910

“Never believe that a few caring people can’t change the world. For, indeed, that’s all who ever have.” – Margaret Mead

“Our doubts are traitors and make us lose the good we oft might win by fearing to attempt.” – William Shakespeare, Measure for Measure

“Whatever you are, be a good one.” – Abraham Lincoln

“Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting. So get on your way.” – Dr. Seuss

“No army can withstand the strength of an idea whose time has come.” – Victor Hugo

“To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty; to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; to know that even one life has breathed easier because you lived. This is to have succeeded.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Throughout history, it has been the inaction of those who could have acted; the indifference of those who should have known better; the silence of the voice of justice when it mattered most; that has made it possible for evil to triumph.” – Haile Selassie

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate

Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure

It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us

We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant,

gorgeous, talented and fabulous?

Actually, who are we not to be?

You are a child of God

Your playing small does not serve the world

There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that

other people won’t be insecure around you

We were born to make manifest the

Glory of God that is within us

It is not just in some of us; it is in everyone

And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously

Give other people permission to do the same

And as we are liberated from our own fear

Our presence automatically liberates others.”

- Marianne Williamson (Nelson Mandela’s 1994 Inaugural Address)

“I expect to pass through this world but once. Any good thing, therefore, that I can do or any kindness I can show to anyone, let me do it now. Let me not defer nor neglect it; for I shall not pass this way again.” – Stephen Grellet

And from one of my all-time favorites, the wickedly funny Dorothy Parker:

“The first thing I do in the morning is brush my teeth and sharpen my tongue.”

“Take me or leave me; or, as is the usual order of things, both.”

“If you have any young friends who aspire to become writers, the second greatest favor you can do them is to present them with copies of The Elements of Style. The first greatest, of course, is to shoot them now, while they’re happy.”

What's Around the Corner

When the New Year begins, we all wax poetic about our resolutions. We optimistically envision a new and improved version of ourselves, both physically and in every other which way. Usually, by week three, we’ve given up on most of our goals and made peace with our self-disgust. But not always. And not me. And not this year.

Early on, it was recommended that I pick three words that would keep me focused and motivated, a mantra, if you will. My three words are Trust. Ease. Unstoppable. And though I had no idea if this would work for me at the outset, those words have turned out to be perfect for me so far as this first quarter of 2013 draws to a close. Oh, not because I haven’t momentarily veered off-course, but because I’ve been able to gently steer myself back on-course by reminding myself that this is the way I’m choosing to live now and show up in the world.

So about the blog title, I think it's fair to say that no one knows for certain what's around the corner. But I will say this much: I have been working on a new book, a new singer/songwriter project, live gigs, and writing for a young artist that I'm incredibly excited about. So I'm off to a good start!

For those fans of this blog and my first book, In Search of George Stephanopoulos, my new book is not another memoir, but rather of the self-helpy nature with hopefully enough snark to keep everyone amused while I'm bandying about my pearls of wisdom acquired largely by having done the opposite of what would have best served me all along. Better late than never, that's what I always say.

Another really exciting thing is the worldwide debut of a new song of mine called "Glory Bound," that will be sung by the incomparable Corinna Sowers-Adler in her show By Request on April 7th in New York City. This song is very special to me because I wrote it a few days after the New Town school shooting and no one has heard it yet except for Corinna. To pitch a song without a demo is rare in the music business. So to do it and have someone love it enough to want to sing it alongside the work of Sondheim, Irving Berlin, and Kander & Ebb is kind of blowing my mind. I can't wait to hear her sing it live, so come on out and hear it with me!

As for the forthcoming singer/songwriter project, it is going to have an inspirational motif. And for those of you who have heard me gig for the last decade and asked where you could get the version with me singing these songs, it's a'comin' and God bless you for wanting 'em!!! Plus, there's gonna be some new stuff on there, too, which is really cool and exciting!

Some of you on Facebook and Twitter may already know about my upcoming New York City gig, but for those of you who don't, holy cow, this lineup is nothing short of a) miraculous, and b) phenomenal! On May 1st at 7pm, I will be at the new and improved swanky Stage 72 (formerly the Triad) on West 72nd Street, between Columbus and Amsterdam. I will be joined by (and I am not just saying this because they are my friends) some of the best singer/songwriters on the planet. They are Tanya Leah, Lorraine Ferro, BethAnne Clayton and Garry Novikoff! To be joined by people whose work I love and whose friendship I cherish is going to be more fun than I can express in my little blog! So mark your calendars and reserve your tickets now! (http://stage72.com/?p=2434 or call 1-800-838-3006)

For those of you Jersey folks, I will be playing at the MAC nominated Music at the Mansion concert series again on May 19th! This is at the Oakside Cultural Center in Bloomfield, New Jersey and it is such a special place. It is always such a treat to play there and to go listen to other artists there.

Lastly, I've been writing a ton o' country songs again both by myself and with the Emmy-winning Debi Cochran for an exciting new artist, so stay tuned for more word on the new music, where you can hear it, and where you can go see Kerina play live. Good things are coming!

Well, that's about all my news for now. Trust. Ease. Unstoppable. Yeah, I think I'm gonna stay with those. Thanks for stopping by. Please tell your friends. And be sure to come out to one of these shows and say hi!