Laraine

Last week I had the pleasure of reading a chapter from my book at Alicia Brandt's hilarious monthly series Women's Night Out. Her show is sort of a cabaret of ordinary female life. Professional women do a show-and-tell on their lives and careers. Guests have included a dermatologist, a sex therapist, a manager from the American Girl Store and an expert in self-defense. Every installment features "Ask A Man" where a man is brought on stage and the mostly female audience can ask him anything they want. The show is funny, sexy, loose and sometimes downright weird. Alicia is an engaging M.C. and The MBar is a cozy and welcoming venue, offering decent snacks and a full bar. It's a nice place to snicker while you get snockered.

Anyway, after I read my lap dance piece (sorry, more shameless plugging but hey -- I've got a book to publicize here, people!) Tracy Newman took the stage with her guitar. Tracy is the Emmy Award-winning co-writer of the "coming out" episode of Ellen. What does a successful television writer/producer do once she has made it? Go back to her first love of course, singing and songwriting, which according to Tracy's website, she has been doing since she was fourteen.

Tracy opened with a song for her little sister Laraine Newman, whom you will no doubt remember from those first, heady seasons of Saturday Night Live. The song is about sisterhood, motherhood, and life after fame. It just grabbed me with its sweetness, love, and 20/20 hindsight on a life once lived in the spotlight. In what I believe may be an LAO first, I am uploading the mp3 here for your listening pleasure.