“I kept nagging her to change her singing style, but Lu loved whipping off all those pretty high notes. When she finally gave in and let me teach her how to lower her voice, she cried. And the truth was, she never really did have a natural belt like Ethel Merman. But she developed a nice edge on her tone and it suited her acting. She began to work regularly. She got a few good reviews and a couple of small breaks, and then she finally made it big in a show called Time Out for Love. Lu was the second banana but she had this fabulous number in the second act and she stole the show. It was grand larceny, baby! After that, Lu was a star and she wasn't going to be doing any more legit singing because she was known as a funny girl who belted.

“But she was always afraid of hurting her voice. That's why as soon as she had enough juice she always insisted on my being her conductor. She knew I'd keep the orchestra under control and protect her vocal cords. And every day she did the singing exercises her old teacher in New Haven had taught her. When she warmed up before a performance—and this I never got—she sang church music.” George took a long swig of his beer. “Does that sound like a diva to you?” he demanded.

“No,” Carrie said.

But somehow she was a part of what happened to my mother—my mother, who couldn't go to Communion. Whatever happened to her, I know it started with Lu.

“I never saw Lu phone in a performance,” George continued. “Not even on Wednesday matinees in August when the theater didn't have air-conditioning. It would be a hundred and ten degrees under the lights and Lu would still be doing it full out. And she didn't miss performances. She worked when she was sick, she worked when she was exhausted …” He paused and looked at Carrie. “And she didn't stop working when her daughter came to live with her. Even though the kid had just lost her grandmother.” He took a swallow of beer. “You can judge her for that, if you want. I know Rose did. I was there when Rose came to live with Lu after Lu's mother died. It was 1957.”

Chapter 16 - New York 1957