By Karu F. Daniels, BlackVoices.com

Talk about a blast from the past.

With a slew of new projects, Nona Hendryx is busier than ever.

The veteran singer-songwriter (most notably known as one of three powerful voices who made up the legendary rock & soul trio Labelle) is currently in Hollywood starring in a revival of the classic Broadway rock opera, 'The Who's Tommy.'

Playing at the Ricardo Montalban Theatre until July 6, the show stars original cast member Alice Ripley in a story about a deaf, dumb, and blind boy who becomes a pinball champion and cult guru.

Hendryx plays The Acid Queen – a role that Tina Turner took on in the 1975 film version, which also starred The Who's Pete Townshend, Elton John, Eric Clapton, Ann Margaret and Jack Nicholson.

It's the role of a hooker who deals in hallucinogenic substances and attempts to heal the lead character.

For Hendryx, the "wonderful" role fits her life "like a glove" -- very like the costume, her very own contribution to the production, she wears.

"Rock music always felt a natural music for me to explore, an extension of Rhythm & Blues incorporating the energy and driving power of Funk with a large variety of stories," she told BlackVoices.com earlier this week.

"'Tommy' was born out of all of those idioms and out of the personal and creative mind of Pete Townshend, The Who and brought to Broadway by Pete & Des McAnuff," she explained.

Being a member of the 'Lady Marmalade' singing group makes the Trenton, New Jersey native no stranger to full-on theatrics – with their colorful costumes and music to match, they made history as an internationally renowned glam-rock trio.

Theatrically, the prolific songwriter actually scripted the music for the critically acclaimed Off-Broadway play 'Blue,' which starred Phylicia Rashad, Hill Harper and Michael McElroy.

Before hitting the stage in La La Land as The Acid Queen, Hendryx wrapped up recording on a reunion album with her former group members Patti LaBelle and Sarah Dash -- for a Lenny Kravitz-produced opus expected to hit stores, via Verve Records, this fall.

She said the much ballyhooed LaBelle "reunion" is more like a "reigniting."

"[It] has been everything you would expect," she furthered, "a youthful infatuation that became a musical love affair and turned into a long time marriage with an all-of-a-sudden divorce would be; cautious, heartwarming, passionate, nerve wracking and exhilarating, all at once! "

"[It's] a personal and a musical homecoming!"

Before the "reigniting" gets underway whole-heartedly, the 'Why Should I Cry?' singer will get her dancing feet wet as a performer during Cyndi Lauper's groundbreaking 'True Colors' music festival.

To benefit the Human Rights Campaign and other non-profit groups through the True Colors Fund, this year's line-up boasts The B-52s, tour host Carson Kressley and special guests in select cities including Rosie O'Donnell, Indigo Girls, Wanda Sykes, Deborah Cox, Joan Jett and The Blackhearts, Joan Armatrading, and The Cliks among others.

"I have always lived in the present with passion, joy and enthusiasm for life and discovering music, a destiny I didn't seek has made living with constant change an adventure," Hendryx enthused.

In closing,she said that doing all of this all at the same time "feels completely 'normal' whatever that is!"

But as many who have heard her vocal bravado and read her provocative lyricism, nothing she does is "normal."