Today: Madeline Tea at the Carlyle Hotel Bemelmans Bar -- 11th Season begins!

At Madeline Tea today, in the early show, five families attended.  There were four, but I ran into a mom and her daughter in the ladies room.  The little girl, who must have been about 5, was completely bald.  And she had the look of a child undergoing treatment for an illness of some sort. I asked if they were coming to hear the music.  They had not planned to, but a few minutes later, the little girl and her Mom and Dad and little sister and aunt (nanny?) joined us.  And when two other girls stood at the piano, singing “Let It Go” at their highest volume, arms out , gesturing with abandon, this little girl sang with them.  You could feel in the room, all the moms and dads taking in the love and grace that permeated the family of this little girl. There we were, surrounded by the Bemelmans Murals, singing song after song.  Words pale.  But I wanted to try and share it with you.

The other high point:  all the Dads dancing with their daughters to “Shut Up and Dance!”  Making memories that will outlast even them. 

This is a gig.  It’s a Union gig.  And it is also magical, almost every time.  A privilege.

Oh  —  One more moment:  in the middle of “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious” one little girl looked at me, and asked: “Are you a Giants Fan?”

The Second Show:

One 11-year old girl, Angelina, was there for her sixth year in a row!  She started coming to Madeline Tea when she was five.

And a grandma who brought her granddaughter told me of her Madeline Tea “connect,” a friend and mother of three who had been to hear us often, who passed away last year, at age 46 from breast cancer.  The woman’s name was Noelle.  So we dedicated the afternoon show to Noelle.

November 7, 2015