Seeing Stars: The Backstory

I have Stargardts - inherited late childhood onset macular degeneration. I got it when I was fifteen and I’m one of the lucky ones – it’s usually progressive. My 20/200 vision has remained relatively stable for most of my life. But it did create many challenges for me as a budding singer and actress. I moved to New York City to start my career over 30 years ago. There were no technologies to instantly blow up script fonts and little concern for disability issues. I had to hide the fact that I was visually impaired or else I’d hear, “You have a problem? Okay… NEXT!” 

Taking My Career Into My Own Hands

After ten years of struggle, I decided to try writing shows that I could perform myself. That way, I figured, I wouldn’t have to audition anymore and could create the kind of roles I wanted to play! 

 As luck would have it, I had an opportunity to perform my first piece for a Benefit event held at The Public Theater and a producer was in the audience! He opened Bubbe Meises, Bubbe Stories Off-Broadway the following year. The show later aired on PBS and I received two Emmy Awards: one for acting, one for writing.

 Now, after two decades of writing and performing my own solo musicals, I am about to launch the most personal of them all. As I prepare for the first public performances of Seeing Stars, I feel a mix of trepidation and joy – like the character that begins with, “Just call me THE WRITER, because I’m finally writing about the thing I’ve tried so hard to hide… that I don’t see the way most other people see.”

Seeing Stars Music Samples