King and I at Drury Lane

I saw my friends Chip, Christina and Emily in Drury Lane Oak Brook's King and I. Two of the little girls I did Miss Saigon and South Pacific last year with were also in it--Alexa and Maya. Well lo and behold, Joe Foronda, a man with big Broadway credits who I did a Cultural Center gig with three years ago played the King. It was a great performance. Joe was very commanding and had a sharp sense of comic timing. Emily Britanico, who played the lead of Kim in the Cicero production of Miss Saigon that I was in was fantastic as Tuptim. I never realized the range of her voice and how operatic she can sound--especially for such a petit gal. And her acting was great. She and her male lead had real chemistry. (Sizzle.)

Chip and Christina were great in the "Little House of Uncle Thomas" number. The dancing was fun and if you've ever seen it, the "Asian-ness" of the dance will make you giggle. In any case, I was able to go backstage and say hello. I hope to get those pictures from Basiae, the girls' mom. It's funny because I did two shows with them and they kind of forgot who I was. I guess all us big people start to look alike. (They remembered when I reminded them.)

I also let them all know about a big project I'm working on. We're trying to gather the former Miss Saigon cast members from around the Chicago area--there have been six versions in the last year--and do a large gala. It's a great thought, but we're also looking at the costs and can see that it might hit $100/person just for food. These events can literally cost $20,000 to start. Whew. Anyway, we're hoping to settle on some initial costs and move forward. Sounds daunting ... wish us luck!