'Broadway Nurse' puts a dramatic profession in the spotlight
Jun. 17—ROCHESTER — It's the nature of the job that nurses can get close to their patients. In 2016, LaSonya Natividad, a nurse practitioner at Mayo Clinic, sang at a funeral for a patient she met earlier that year.
The patient had heard Natividad sing.
"It was a very emotional situation," Natividad said. "The patient knew she was going to die and she asked me to sing at her funeral."
It's an experience that has stuck with Natividad and while not common, isn't unheard of.
In fact, it was a scenario Sam Buchl imagined when he wrote a musical, "Broadway Nurse."
The musical is about a musically talented nurse who works at a quality hospital in a mid-size Midwestern city.
A producer, seeking treatment where the nurse works, hears her sing and asks her to be in their final show.
When "Broadway Nurse" producer Michelle Partogi approached Natividad to play the lead character in a read-through and sing-through of the show, Natividad jumped at the chance.
"It spoke to me," she said. "It kinda hit home."
Natividad will be joined by fellow Soul Train vocalists Danielle Torkelson, and Quiashialyn Poindexter at the readings at Chateau Theater June 23 and 24.
Natividad said it's quite an effort for even a seasoned performer to carry a musical and perform so many songs in one sitting.
Torkelson,
who released a solo album last month,
said she was glad to join the project when Natividad suggested she join.
"It's a moving show," she said. "There won't be a dry eye in the house."
Natividad said she was glad to bring her bandmates to the project.
"I want more people of color to be involved in the arts scene all around this town," Natividad said. "Not just in music, but also in theater and other arts, there are people of color who can contribute and we're not really well represented and I want that to change."
The reading won't be a full performance with a set, blocking and choreography. However, it will be a chance for Buchl to introduce his work in a public space.
For Buchl it will be a one block off Broadway debut. Buchl has been playing piano since he was four years old, he said. This is the first musical he has written. The inspiration came from his mother who is a nurse. It's part tribute and part fiction to her, he said.
Funding from
the Rochester Downtown Alliance
and the Mayo Clinic Lavin Center for the Humanities in Medicine made the performance possible.
What: Broadway Nurse, a musical reading.
When: 7 p.m., June 23 and 24, 2023.
Where: Chateau Theater, 15 First St. SW, Peace Plaza.
How much: $10 — $15 available on
Eventbrite.
