You may have recently read the New York Times story about Terri White and how her situational blues landed her on Broadway. And it's a great story!
What makes it amazing for me, are the people that gathered around her without even knowing her and helped Terri get where she is today. It's a sappy tale of someone just doing something nice for someone else. Terri's tenacity and spirit speak volumes and she is gifted with her voice. But it's people like Donna Barnett who saw Terri's potential and believed in her before having known her that strikes me. Donna was inspired by Terri and decided to put that inspiration into action. It was a natural move for Donna to do what she did and that's what makes it extraordinary. The decision didn't get presented to a committee for a vote, nor did she ask for a business plan or a portfolio of Terri's work. Donna believed in Terri and believed in herself enough to know that this was something she needed to do and that it would be good. She bought a plane ticket for Terri to go back to New York from Florida, where they met, and keep trying out for Broadway. And it was Officer David Taylor who saw Terri homeless in the park and went into action, when it would have been easier for him to just feel sorry for her. He called in a favor from his own friends to find her housing so she was no longer living in the park.
And when Terri got the part of Dotti in Finnean's Rainbow, Donna was there front and center, beaming from ear to ear, watching what she knew deep down all along ... that this is where Terri belonged and she was finally going to be heard and now it meant something. And I know this because I was sitting right behind Donna that night in October. So before the curtain comes down and the lights go out, I hope that the David Taylors and the Donna Barnetts take a bow knowing that they are gutsy and extraordinary and inspire us all.
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