Friends I Admire (and Why) - Part 3

Frances Thorburn

• Just the most creative, deeply feeling, and beautiful soul I've ever met.
• Frances Thorburn has THE BEST LAUGH I've ever heard.
• She is self-proclaimed to be "delightfully bizare."
• She writes stunningly beautiful music and poetry. 
• When she is proud of you--you feel it in your cells.  
• Did you tune in for "Dum Dee Tweedle?" Well... she is the direct inspiration for Tweedle Dee. As in: ...I basically copied her voice. Her adorable self, with her Glaswegian brogue and signature enthusiasm for mischief. 
• One time, we discovered that strawberries look like tongues!
• She has endured, without question, the most senseless, profoundly difficult circumstances and still managed to soar. 
• She loves her food. Particularly blueberries! And "quiche for one!"
• Psssst.... Franny's a bit of a Scottish celebrity doncha know. Well... at least she is to me. What do I mean by that? When I was a still a student in Glasgow I attended the theatre all the time, and Frances Thorburn ALWAYS. MANAGED. to be in the cast. I am not exaggerating! That lassie was everywhere! "Frances Thorburn" became synonymous with "Scottish Theatre Actress." So when I saw her on the first day of rehearsals for Fiddler on the Roof, I freaked! I knew so much about her work. I tried to play it cool (but we all know how that goes for Al Silber...) Thus began the Tevye's Daughters' catchphrase: Frances Throburn: Scottish Celebrity.
• When Franny and I first met, we were both in the throws of a great deal of personal "shrapnel--" by which I mean, in recent years we had both dealt with extremities of human experience. We were both raw and quite tender. And even though we had a lot in common, we also handled and viewed life with a lot of outward differences. We both worked quite hard to overcome our natural social tendencies, cultural differences, as well as a strength-and-sensitivity balance to forge one of the most successful, fruitful and important friendships in our both of our lives. Franny is one of my best friends on earth. I have never felt far from her-- no matter how much time passes, no matter how far away we are geographically. She is truly a sister--and I am certain it was because of the efforts we made all those years ago.

Nick Westrate

• He is the Lenin to my Trotsky. (Meaning: we are partners in 'crime'-- prescribing to the same artistic philosophy, but we go about it in different ways. I wanna talk it all out and feel my feelings, and Nick likes to do all that plus blow up the building...)
• My true “teaching partner.”
• He is the friend who tells you the truth even when it may be hard to say and hear. 
• He is one of those friends you learn from all the time. Nick Westrate is the friend that 'makes me better.' 
• He supports the artistic endeavors of his friends at every level, in the most gracious manner possible. (He gives you that standing ovation [if you deserve it], and has applauded me both in the West End and waaaaaaaay downtown...)
• He took a bus to come to my father's funeral....so... 'Nuff said.
• He has a cat named Jane. Her full name is Queen Elizabeth Nancy Pelosi Pussy Jones. Jane for short... Of course.  
• Believes there is nothing a good dirty martini can't cure.
• He fights with all his soul for causes he believes in. Fights to the death.
• He is from Southwest Lower Michigan... which means he knows the 'Glove Love...' WORD.
• Without a doubt, the peer artist I probably revere and look up to more than any other.

Alley Scott

• ALWAYS 'there' (at both, say “the hospital” as well as at, you know: Carnegie Hall)
• World class snuggler. 
• We are Team AMS! We are both "Alexandras" with middle names beginning with M, and surnames beginning with S... thus, we are "Team AMS!" Our motto? GO TEAM! 
• She is THE BEST HIGH-FIVER I have ever seem in my life. She High Fives with more enthusiasm then a head-cheerleader on a caffeine trip. 
• Throws one helluva party. 
• Enjoys a Christmas Tree ornament collection (that is, for the record, mighty impressive.)
• She is 1/3 of "The Alexandra Sisters."
• One helluva cook. (Her philosophy is "Fat. Salt. Sugar. Done.") 
• In fact, she is that friend you call 24 hours before a party you are throwing for waaaay too many guests and emit your emergency cry for help of "MUSKRAT!" Then, instead of just talking you off a ledge? She offers to COOK ALL THE FOOD FOR YOU...  
• She is the most extraordinarily gifted visual artist.
• ...as well as insanely photogenic.
• She is that friend you can call upon to 

1. drive you to the airport at 6am on a Thursday
2. or last-minute read with you at an audition 
3. or pick up your mail from the hateful Queens post office 
4. or drink a bottle of tequila with... ya know--BECAUSE, 
5. or cry andcryandcryandcry and then laugh with, because if she has driven you to the airport at 6am on a Thursday there is nothing left to hold back.

• She is my emergency contact. That sh** is real.
• She is both left-handed AND a red-head... and you know how I feel about aaaaall of that...

More friends I admire:

Part 1
Part 2