Ever since I can remember, I always wanted to be in show business. I was always "hamming it up" so my mother took me to a local dancing school. My life became lessons, routines, and auditions for my entire childhood into early adulthood. I danced on Broadway in shows no one remembers, but I did land a touring company of A Chorus Line. I sang the What I Did For Love song. If you’d like to find out more me, log on to the A Chorus Line website. I contributed a few articles to the site.
After A Chorus Line, I tried making it as a New York actor. After years of off-off-off-off Broadway showcases, I realized that I had more gigs spraying perfume samples in department stores rather than my chosen profession. So one gloomy reality day, I decided to return to college and get some sort of degree. While in the Hunter College library, studying for a Spanish test, I had an epiphany. I had spent three hours totally immersed studying for the test. It occurred to me that I like language. I have always believed you can be good at something you like so I went with it. That’s when I started to inquire about teaching English as a second language. I also thought my dance training might make me a natural in non-verbal communication. Charades and Simon Says come in ever so handy, especially since I ended up teaching at Washington Elementary School in Edison, New Jersey. I'm also a natural improviser, a skill one needs in teaching ESL as skill levels vary drastically from student to student.
I hadn't actually given up all hope of a performing career. While making my way through college, I sang in wedding bands throughout the tri-state area. I thought I would stop singing once I started teaching full time, but when I had some money coming in, I studied voice again, and actually sang a role with ASOP (American Singers’ Opera Project). I'm definitely too late for that career, but it was fun having a diva moment or two. I left out that at one interval (no pun intended) I tried my hand at songwriting. However, not being the girl with the guitar, I found it difficult to make demos as hiring musicians and studio time were costly. But all that has changed since digital recording. On a whim, I decided to give songwriting another shot so I enrolled in classes at the Gotham School. Since I began there I have set up a small home studio, composed over fifteen tunes, and slowly, but surely I’m making my way into ciber tin pan alley.
As I said earlier, I believe you can be good at something you like, and I really like to write songs. "I tried to be a singer and failed. I tried to be an actor and failed. So I just naturally fell into songwriting." Those were Johnny Mercer's words, but they apply to me as well. Songwriting does feel natural to me. I don’t make any comparisons with myself to Johnny Mercer other than that quote, but writing songs feels like breathing and I hope to continue breathing for many more years.
regina@rsmolermusic.com