I love her! I saw her live, three nights in a row, in Santa Monica, back in 1988. I was the box office manager at the Mayfair Theatre and they did a summer concert series (just that one summer, sadly). Laura ended up being our HUGE sell-out, of all the cool performers in that series. And so many incredible singers came out of the woodwork to see her show. It was the perfect theatre for her... gorgeous... about 490 seats. (Actually, you can see the interior of the Mayfair in the "Puttin' On the Ritz" scene in the film "Young Frankenstein.")
I have to be honest that as a 24-year-old "green theatre kid," I didn't really know who she was back then. And suddenly I was getting calls at the box office from Stevie Nicks, Jennifer Warnes, Janis Ian, Melissa Manchester, Olivia Newton John, Marilyn McCoo, Bette Midler, and others... all wanting tickets. It was very surreal (for this wide-eyed kid). They would call up themselves... not their agents or managers... saying how excited they were to see her. I spent 20 wonderful minutes on the phone with Jennifer Warnes, listening to her tell me how important this was for her. (I practically felt like a therapist!)
Well, being the box office manager has it's perks, so I set aside some nice house seats for me and a guest each night... I HAD to see what the fuss was about... and I fell in love with Laura Nyro for three nights in a row.
I know we joke about this a lot here on BWW, but she really WAS the "singer's singer." No joke.
I witnessed it with my own eyes... and I saw ALL of those legendary singers show up to be in that wonderful theatre and experience Laura's incredible gift.
Sadly, we lost her far too soon. But I will never forget those lucky nights... where I happened to be in just the right place, at just the right time.
"Jaws is the Citizen Kane of movies."
blocked: logan2, Diamonds3, Hamilton22
Updated On: 10/18/06 at 07:23 PM
