Lynda Rodolitz, the 2018 winner of Mama’s Next BIG Act, will reprise her new show Animal Magnetism at Don’t Tell Mama on Wednesday, November 6 at 7 PM and Sunday, November 10 at 4 PM. The performance on November 6 (her birthday!) will be a benefit for Singnasium, an organization founded by Lennie Watts as a place for artists and singers to fully explore their creative selves.
Animal Magnetism came about when Rodolitz grew frustrated with the dating advice she was getting. So. she turned to the animal kingdom to see what could be learned from animals about lasting happy relationships. The resulting show features fascinating facts, great songs and lots of laughs along the way.
NiteLife Exchange (NLE) celebrates Lynda Rodolitz (LE) with Six Questions:
NiteLife Exchange: When did you realize you have the gift of singing and what were your early influences?
Lynda Rodolitz: Oh dear, if only I could have thought about it that way growing up. I grew up in Brooklyn, and my parents took me and my brother to Broadway musicals all the time. It seems like it was a thing that upwardly mobile, first generation or immigrant Jews did in New York. And I‘m an old puppy, so I saw the original casts of the Golden Age musicals—Rogers and Hammerstein, etc. My parents would buy the program books and the cast albums, although I don’t recall ever seeing them sit down and listen to the music. I, on the other hand, spent most of my afternoons in the basement singing along with each album, relishing the ping of those high soprano notes and the sheer joy of singing this music. It never entered my mind that a little Jewish girl from Brooklyn could even consider being the one doing the singing, but it was my secret, escapist joy. I’m almost the same age as Queen Barbra so I didn‘t have her as a role model growing up. For me, it was pure Ethel Merman. That a woman who wasn’t an adorable, perky blond could walk out on stage, plant her feet and captivate that huge audience was miraculous!
NLE: Congratulations on becoming the 2018 winner of Mama’s Next BIG Act! You’re an actor and stand up comedian. How did you eventually get involved in cabaret?
LR: Thank you. I started performing in the late 1970s and had a great voice coach named Sande Campbell. She would have her students perform for each other at a bar on West 73rd Street so we could practice for auditions. Eventually other patrons started to enjoy the Tuesday night shows so it became a thing and Sande encouraged us to add patter to our songs. I found I loved writing funny stories that would have the song as a punchline and that led to my doing stand up (long story) and eventually my debut show called Songs and Snappy Patter at the Duplex in 1981. It was just kind of one thing after another, as was pretty usual for me, i.e. not great at long range planning. Even longer story, I left the business in the late 1980s, worked as a photographer and moved to Santa Fe. When I was thinking about moving back to NYC after 9 years, I saw a newspaper article about Helen Baldassare’s classes and signed up to do the class. It fit the “try it out” time period I was planning to stay in NYC for. I’d played Fraulein Schneider and Mrs. Brice in New Mexico productions of Cabaret and Funny Girl and envisioned a life playing those parts around the country into my dotage. After moving back to NYC and discovering that there wasn’t a tsunami of demand for a slightly older character type, I went back to Helen’s classes. She directed my show called Mature Love Songs with Paul Greenwood as musical director at the Duplex in 2014. One thing led to another, and then to Lennie Watts and here I am…
NLE: What has that experience of winning Mamas NEXT Big Act been like? Did it open any new doors?
LR: It’s hard to overstate what someone saying “I choose you” can do for your confidence and sense of self worth. I feel that people in the cabaret community, always a very supportive group, know me a little better and have been kind. New doors—I’ll wait and see. I’m never one to say no to new opportunities, so bring it on. I still have to fill seats for my two November shows, so…
NLE: Which is the most memorable experience you’ve had in your singing/acting career?
LR: Nothing beats that first laugh in a show, when you feel “yes, I’ve connected” and that things might turn out OK. Actually, my most momentous moments come in the rehearsal period, that amazing time of discovery and experimentation. I love to try new things, and with a great team I’m in heaven being pushed to see how much I‘m willing to try and reveal. Maybe this should be kept a secret, but when I’m in the middle of collaborating with Lennie and Steven on an arrangement and we’re figuring out an ending, a devilish glint comes into Lennie’s eye; he raises his hand pointing upward ever so slightly and I know it means not just take the high ending but find the highest note you can reach. And that soprano ping resonates again in my head and my memories…
NLE: Your last show Lynda Rodolitz is Off Her Rocker was nominated for a2017 MAC Award and you’re reprising Animal Magnetism after receiving rave reviews last year, How do you source material for your shows? Do you have anything in mind in regard to future shows?
LR: I have to admit that for …Rocker we just wanted to make the funniest show we could; it’s a collection of 11 o’clock songs that were so much fun to sing and got a great response. Many of the songs were created in Lennie’s Arrangement Experience classes, and we built the show around those gems. When I was at Heron’s Landing in 2017, the inaugural year of this wonderful singer’s retreat in the Adirondacks, Lennie said a composer friend of his, Beckie Menzie, had a great song but didn’t know who would sing it. Lennie told her “I know someone.” He gave me the song, “Don’t Bug Me,” and we worked on it there. I loved it and it led to Lennie saying you should do a show about animals—and off we went. The arc of the show changed many times and we went through stacks of songs until we pared the pile down to this group and found the storyline that resonated most. It’s a show about finding love, a category where I’ve won no awards.
What’s next ? I heard a great song in the opening number workshop at MAC to School called “Looks Like They’re in Love” (lyrics by Robert M. Levy; music by Alex Rybeck) and I thought that would be a great opening number for a show about the demands of the myths society holds out about love and beauty and how that can crush a young girl’s spirit. Not funny yet, but who knows. Or I’ll sit in my snazzy new recliner and watch TV. Right now, it’s 50-50.
NLE: What would you say is your current motivator?
LR: Curiosity. I honor that trait in me because I’m very aware that it has kept me going through many hard times. Something would catch my eye or pop into my mind at the lowest times and my mind would be off and running and busily occupied with wonder. My astrological sign should be a Blue Jay instead of Scorpio
NLE: What do you like to do in your spare time?
LR: I go to the theatre as much as I can. I love live performance. And I see many cabaret shows. I love a good meal with good friends and lots of laughter. Please note: a good meal often is a great burger! And then there’s that recliner! In my spare time I need to just sit down.
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