Two years ago, I met Bonnie Milligan. Two years ago, I was putting together the first-ever Once Upon A Time In NYC concert with Caleb Hoyer. The goal was to have writers, both emerging and established, write world premiere songs about New York City or someone they felt had changed it. Dick Scanlan and David Dabbon wrote this exquisite, hugely emotional song--- about someone they felt had really changed New York--- the Highline. (!!!) They had Brandon Victor Dixon all set to sing Wildflowers. We even rehearsed the song with him at Davenport Studios. THREE days before the concert, something happened, as somethings often do, and Dick & David told me, Brandon cant do the concert anymore, but we have this amazing singer named Bonnie Milligan who is going to step in. Great! But wow, interesting. A lady to sing a song you originally were having sung by a dude? Okay, cool. Excited to meet her. At Joes Pub in October of 2012, I met Bonnie. What she did on stage, with this world premiere song, was unbelievable. Being as immersed in this world as I am, it was THRILLING to experience someone so next-level, so 200% what musical theatre performers should be, so brilliant in every way interpreting this song--who I had never heard of before. I had to know this Bonnie Milligan. (Turns out shes as fun and sweet and awesome at being a friend as she is phenomenal at performing!) Over the past 2 years, I have watched Bonnie flourish, appear in shows, be the most-coveted singer for so many concerts. I have watched her become an integral part of the musical theatre community. Cut to 2014 and Bonnie was cast in the KINKY BOOTS tour!!! The happiness for her from the whole community was palpable. Bonnie is so loved because she is so loving: going out of her way for others, developing new work while exhausted from a day job, jumping into benefits at the last minute. And she always sings each song, performs each role, like shes rehearsed it for weeks. This girl CARES. And America gets to discover this amazing lady now! On a top tier Broadway tour! Several weeks ago, Bonnie was singing the finale at a late night at 54 Below. It was very late, but Broadway performer after Broadway performer said, Well Bonnie is the finale, and Im not leaving before that happens. And they didnt. They stayed and gaped. She blew the freaking roof off. All of the other performers were at the bar, going: Wow. Wow WOW. I went home and emailed Bonnie around 2AM, something like: BONNIE. YOU NEED TO DO YOUR OWN SHOW AT 54 BELOW BEFORE YOU LEAVE FOR TOUR. You just HAVE TO!!! How have we not talked about this earlier?! So we started talking about it. That concert is now happening TONIGHT!!! And when we were emailing back and forth about her show description, Bonnie emailed me a story... A Midwestern preacher’s daughter, Bonnie grew up in a trailer without much money, dreaming of performing someday. When her parents divorced, she moved to Ohio. While attending college at Ohio State, a mentor told her she’d “never make it as an actress, because of the fat thing”. Fearless up until that point, those words killed something inside of her. Upon moving to New York, Bonnie auditioned here and there but was typed out a lot — and started to hear the words of that mentor in her head, louder and louder. One day she decided to take a voice class at the Linklater Center, and during the class, she realized just how much those words 5 years earlier had affected her. After some therapy, Bonnie finally began to feel more confident and self-loving. She went to an open call at the Flea Theatre and got in! There, she met some incredible artists and began making connections – including with director/composer David Dabbon and writer Dick Scanlan, who asked her to premiere a new song in a concert. One thing led to another and before long, Bonnie was heating up concerts from 54 Below to Joe’s Pub, with an agent, and a national tour to boot! I had not realized just how much Bonnie had overcome. And I had not realized, up until the email, that Wildflowers was the thing that launched Bonnie into our world. Thank you David Dabbon and Dick Scanlan. Thank you Eric Davis. Thank you Brandon Victor Dixon. Thank you Once Upon A Time In New York City. I am sure I wouldve ended up with Bonnie Milligan in my life at some point, regardless if it started October 14, 2012 or not, but Im so grateful it was this moment. Im so glad these 5 minutes and 33 seconds changed all of us. I was always there in plain sight So big but taken for granted Or despised for blocking river views But you who romanticized What had been the citys past You had a hunch I might have a future...
Posted on: Sat, 16 Aug 2014 18:33:13 +0000
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