Alison Holman discusses Nobody's Child & being capable of way more than you can imagine!
I would like you to meet the amazing and oh-so-talented Alison Holman. Alison is the Co-Writer (Book, Music & Lyrics) along with Lawrence A. Neals Jr, of the brand-new Broadway-bound musical, Nobody's Child. Born in Layton, Utah, Alison Holman began classical piano lessons at the age of 6 on a cow farm in southern Idaho. Music has been Alison's passion since a young age singing in every choir and theatre group she could and playing piano for many of the same including local orchestras. She wrote the first drafts of her original musical, Nobody’s Child, before graduating high school.
After graduating, she moved to Branson, Missouri there singing and dancing for theme parks and variety shows and choreographing, musical directing, writing, and directing for local theatre. Her piano skills took her abroad aboard Carnival Cruise Lines for five years as a classical pianist and the place where she met not only her amazing husband Chris, but her creative partner Lawrence Neals. Relocating to New York City, she has worked as a pianist in many capacities from music directing for her other writing partner, Matthew Martin’s musical, ‘Ghostlight’, to accompanying Broadway artists around the city. She has played with Broadway Pops, Playbill, Lincoln Center Local, 54 Below, Birdland, The Growing Studio, and The Stella Adler School. Her original musical, Nobody’s Child has had three successful staged readings in New York City and is now in development with Mills Theatrical. She’s also a skilled artist, sculptor and rescues all the cats in her Brooklyn neighborhood. Alison is a true gem that deserves all the amazing things coming her way. I am so thankful to have the chance to feature Alison!
How old were you when you knew you wanted to go into the arts?
I knew very early on that I wanted to do what I’m doing but I didn’t know how to conceptualize it! I remember being probably around 6 or 7 years old, around the time I started piano lessons, sitting in front of the family stereo system (you know the old tower ones with a CD player, cassette deck, radio and record player…caveman kind of technology) with my mom’s old collection of Broadway vinyls listening to them and being completely entranced. I came from a really sheltered home where we weren’t allowed much in the way of mainstream pop culture and those records were my lifeline to music and an understanding of the larger world and cultures outside my own.
I was enamored from the start and I wanted to create that same thing that made me so incredibly excited and happy and thought how cool it would be to create my own songs and characters and stories that some other kid could sit and listen to and learn from someday. I didn’t understand what that ‘job’ was, but I knew it was what I wanted to do. That or be an animator for Disney…we see what won out!
When did writing and composing come into the picture?
I started very young with that too. I was writing really goofy skits and songs and putting on little performances for my family in the backyard or making my poor siblings participate or watch. I started my lifelong project (Nobody’s Child) when I was around 16 while participating in a local production of Into the Woods and wondered if it was actually possible to make something of that magnitude myself. (To be clear, no one makes shows the magnitude of Sondheim...but bless my teenage heart for taking up the challenge!) I started working on it with an old friend and got the first very rough version done by my senior year in high school and put it up in a concert reading back in the 90s.
The community came out to see it I think out of pure curiosity as to what some teenagers were doing and it was actually received pretty well even with all its glaring faults back then. But it made me realize that even with the limited resources and training I had growing up in a tiny town in southern Idaho, I could accomplish large creative goals just by putting in the hard work and it laid the path for pretty much every professional thing I’ve done in music and theatre in my life. I put that show on a shelf for a decade or so, but it gave me the confidence to actually pursue a career in the arts and now I’ve come back around to it in this weird full-circle way.
Are there any mentors or figures in your life that helped make you the amazing artist you are today?
Oh goodness, there are so many. I think one of my biggest growing up was my voice teacher who also had experience in the NY theatre community and saw the spark and drive in me and encouraged my growth and ambitions even when pursuing this life was not something that was widely encouraged where I lived. I had a great drama teacher, wonderful choir directors, and band teachers, all in public school. Kids from small towns understand the importance of those programs. And my piano teacher who taught from a cow farm in the middle of nowhere definitely laid the technical groundwork that has brought me many wonderful gigs as a musician in my life when I wasn’t doing the writing or creating thing.
Since then, I would say that any professional who has worked with me, sang my songs, performed in my readings, recorded demos for me, or given their time in any way in the world of theatre has been an inspiration and motivation to keep doing this and getting better. A few notable names who’ve been exceptionally important in teaching me tons about this business and art form in NYC would be Matthew Martin, my talented friend who has lent his skills on additional music and lyrics and also gave me one of my first big gigs in NYC. Wayne Kirkpatrick, the Broadway composer/lyricist who has so graciously taken me under his wing and mentored me in this crazy business. My wonderful dramaturg for the show, Anne Bobby. And of course, my creative partner and one of my besties, Lawrence Neals who I love having on this adventure. I have been very lucky to have found people I look up to who believe in me and what I do. And it goes without saying that having a producer in Michael Mills who is willing to throw his weight behind a new name in writing with a completely original piece and pursue its development because of his belief in it has been an overwhelming gift. More commercial producers should take risks with new voices and new works like he is. I am very grateful. Is this also where I thank my husband for just being supportive on what has been an unconventionally bizarre ride? Haha.
Are there any moments in your career (writing or performing) that stick out and will always be near and dear to your heart?
It’s so weird the things that jump out at me at first glance of this question. And they’re all very personal and perhaps might sound silly or trivial in a business where Broadway debuts and awards are such huge markers of ‘successes. But mine include things such as the first call where ‘I got the gig’ as a professional performer. I still remember sitting in my car crying in happiness…Traveling as a pianist on cruise ships and seeing parts of the world I never dreamed I’d get to see and get paid for it.
As much as cruise ships get made fun of in the industry, it can be a blast. I highly recommend it to anyone with wanderlust and a high tolerance for insanity. Getting my show into its first NYC new musical festival and putting it up with NYC talent. What a high. Truly. Music directing a show where some of my big Broadway heroes performed in it and getting to work one on one with them and playing ‘bow music’ during a performance and watching those heroes applaud me as their pianist. Thrilling beyond words. Arranging and filming Playbill video medleys with amazing Broadway stars. Music directing 54 Below concerts. Signing my first option contract for the show. So many moments I honestly did not imagine for myself coming from my background and am so incredibly grateful for.
What advice would you give any young artist who would like a career in the arts?
I did a drama camp when I was in high school. It was small and taught by one woman who had done quite a bit for that rural area and she sat us all down one day and told us to close our eyes and answer a question by quietly raising our hand. The question she asked was this: ‘If you can see yourself doing something besides theatre and being fulfilled, anything at all, whether it be another job, raising a family or whatever that may be and just letting the arts be something you do for fun, would you be happy with that? If so, raise your hand.’ The point of the exercise was to respond without judgment and feel safe if the response was being happy on a different path. Me being me, I did not raise my hand but I snuck a peek and realized I was the only one in the class that did not raise their hand. And that stuck with me as I understood the difficulties of this industry and what I was getting into. But I still made the decision to commit and I actually still 'check in' to see if I'd like to raise my hand and do something else! This business in every way and every form of it, will at some point make you feel incredibly small and defeated. More often than not. It's so difficult and has so many unknown outcomes and little to no promises. It makes the alternative routes look extremely appealing and those routes are totally valid and completely fine and have no shame involved whatsoever!
But the more I live life in the world of entertainment, I am thoroughly convinced that it’s the people who commit to themselves and their artistic dreams and never give up who get places. You may not get exactly what you wanted at first or maybe even ever completely, but I’ve done things like I said that I never even considered for myself realistically. Because I just kept chasing it, the doors opened and I’ve had more magical experiences than I thought I could ever have even if my show never makes it to Broadway after all this, the fact that I got this far has been huge for me. If this is genuinely the only thing you can imagine doing with your life that would bring you the most joy, be realistic about what you are up against, buckle down, do the work and chase that dream with all your heart and keep your eye on the goal! Don't let the many obstacles, unfairness, and unkindness you will inevitably experience deter you!
Own your dreams and go after them regardless of what anyone in your peripherals may say or think. To me, there is nothing scarier than the thought of getting to the end of my life with big 'what ifs' hanging over my head. Just always remember to do everything with kindness and integrity as much as you possibly can. You won’t always get that part right, no one does with as many good intentions as we have, but also be kind to yourself. You’re human. And art is an expression of our humanity. You are capable of way more than you could imagine.
This will be the first of a couple of features I have planned for this amazing and very important musical. For more information please visit - https://www.nobodyschildthemusical.com
Nobody's Child the Musical Promo Video -https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8CcAdbHi_Dw