Yes. I was a part of the Kids Helping Kids Singers.
Let me explain a little bit what this was about. We were kids. We sang. And we raised money for kids with cancer.
See a theme in my life?
The first show I did with KHKS was a Beatles review. Yes. A Beatles review. We wore tie-dye vests with white shirts, shoes, GLOVES and pants. I was a brace faced bleach blonde who was super awkward. And I really wanted to sing "Let It Be." I got to sing Ticket to Ride instead. He's got a ticket to ride. Not she. Cause I'm a girl.
We toured through the county, playing at church fairs, old folks homes and non-profits all over. We had props. A yellow submarine. With portholes for our heads to fit through. Fish made of wood that would swim around the submarine. There were dancers...beautiful little girls who made me jealous cause I was uncoordinated and gawky. We did one show where we were supposed to meet Joe Namath. He bailed. I'm pretty sure that was the only KHKS show my dad came to see. He was lucky. My mom, not so much.
We were super dorks. I remember getting super excited about meeting my first celebs. The dude that played Peter Brady in the 90's film. The chick that played the middle sister on Step by Step...the ditzy one. You know the one. I got their autographs. No one was impressed.
Our next big blockbuster was our rendition of The Lion King. I should point out that the only color in our cast was a young Indian boy and girl. I sang Can You Feel The Love Tonight dressed like an angel while two young kids played Nala and Simba in front of me. It was lame, but it was at the Kravis, guys. The mother fronting Kravis!
It was awful in hindsight, but when I was doing it I felt like I was making a difference through song. We'd meet little kids with bald heads who were finishing treatments. We would perform and the older folks would tell us how cute we were and would give us standing ovations. It was the one place that this nerd felt comfortable and it has effected adult me in so many ways.
I then went on to do similar things with Up With People when I was 18, though that was on a much bigger and more professional level than anything I did in KHKS. It made me different. It made me the butt of a lot of jokes, especially when I was already ostracized for having braces, pimples, and glasses. It also made me who I am today, and I would never change it for the world.
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