ENTERTAINMENT
'WHO SAYS SHOWBIZ
IS A HEARTBREAKER?
Special to The Jewish News
I
t is the stuff of legend
that people have a tough
time breaking into show
business; that the road is
paved with self-deprivation,
rejection and broken egos;
and that Broadway crushes
hundrgels, perhaps thous-
ands of hopefuls for every
one it allows to work on
stage.
And then, every so often,
the exception surfaces to en-
courage aspiring perform-
ers. Atlanta-raised Pamela
Gold is only two years out of
the Yale Drama School and
already she's touring with a
national road show.
Young, bright, perky,
bubbly, brunette and an at-
tractive five foot five, Ms.
Gold sings and dances her
way through 10 costume
changes and is understudy-
ing the female lead in Ziegf-
eld- A Night At The Follies.
The play is a tribute to
theatrical impresario Florenz
Ziegfeld.
Actually, the 23-year-old
daughter of Georgia textile
manufacturer Burton Gold
and his wife, Lenore, is not
the youngest member of the
musical's cast. One of the
ensemble recently celebrat-
ed her 21st birthday.
But Ms. Gold does have
the distinction of being the
only Jewish member of the
cast. And it is also the first
time she has performed in a
long-running show on na-
tional tour.
Ziegfeld started rehearsals
last August, opened in Atlan-
tic City in October and is
scheduled to play to au-
Sherwood Kohn is associate
editor of the Baltimore
Jewish Times.
diences from Lake Tahoe to
possibly Hawaii.
"It's fun to be with a
young, vibrant, enthusiastic
company," said Ms. Gold.
"This tour allows us to be in
a city long enough to enjoy
it."
In her home town, Ms.
Gold started ballet lessons
at five, apprenticed with the
Atlanta Ballet at 14 and de-
cided on Yale so she could
combine dance studies with
a college education.
In New Haven, she danced
with the Yale Dancers and
started singing with the
school's a cappella group,
Proof of the Pudding.
"I got interested in ex-
pressing myself on stage
through more than dance,"
she said, and signed up for
Yale's mainstage production
of Guys and Dolls. She
played the part of Mimi.
In 1987, she worked in the
rock opera, Tommy at
Atlanta's Collective Theater
and was in Chorus Line for a
summer at the Hilton Head
Playhouse in South
Carolina. Back at school, she
acted in Moliere's Misan-
thrope and Hot L Baltimore.
Her commencement role was
Lola in Can Can.
After a turn at Yale sum-
mer stock and theater in the
Poconos, Ms. Gold moved to
New York and "started
auditioning like mad." She
tried out for literally hun-
dreds of shows, and in con-
trast to her apparently un-
broken employment record,
she was often discouraged.
"I was on an emotional
roller coaster," she said.
"There were many days
when I felt miserable. But
you can't ever doubt your
own talent or ability. You
have to remember that pro-
ducers are looking for some-
thing very specific that has
very little to do with your
ability. Someone once said,
`Luck is chance meeting
with preparation.' And I
keep that in mind."
Ms. Gold's combination of
pluck, persistence and talent
paid off. She was cast in an
off-Broadway production of
West Side Story, played
Sandy in Grease and Cin-
derella, one of her favorite
roles, in Into The Woods.
And like all of the shows
she's been in so far, Ziegfeld
is a learning experience.
During its run, she has met
and spoken with women who
appeared in Ziegfeld's
shows, some of whom are in
their 80s and 90s. "I some-
times feel as if I've been
transported back into the
'20s," Ms. Gold said.
And of course, the year
has given her a clearer per-
zwAommi 61ei3 A9 olo ild
SHERWOOD D. KOHN
LiNIT r DTA INT N A r NT 'T
Only two years out of Yale, Pamela Gold is playing the
nation's biggest and best theaters in Ziegfeld.
a
Pamela Gold: Enjoying the road.
spective. She is certain now
she would like eventually to
star on Broadway as• a
singer, dancer and actor,
and wants to break into
television, primarily because
it's steadier work than the
legitimate theater.
But it hasn't been, as she
said, "all beer and pretzels."
Sometimes it's exhausting
and discouraging. For all
that, she wouldn't do any-
thing else, and she advises
other aspiring performers
not to "let any of the obvi-
ous obstacles deter you.
Don't have any reservations
or inhibitions. Just go for
it."
Sometimes, however,
events that have nothing to
do with one's career manage
to interrupt it. Like recently
when Ms. Gold went home for
Passover, not only for the
seders, but because she had
chickenpox.
"I was out for two and a
half weeks," she sighed. "It
felt like forever." ❑
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
67