A year ago, Broadway veteran Terri White was homeless and sleeping in New York City's Washington Square Park.
In 1980, White performed alongside Glenn Close in the Tony-nominated 'Barnum,' but her homeless friends had no idea about her former success.
More than 20 years later, her story of redemption is a true holiday miracle.
White, 61, is bringing down the house in the new Broadway revival of 'Finian's Rainbow.' She's found love and is hopeful about her future.
"I hadn't had a Broadway show in 20 years, and I felt like New York didn't want me," she told BV Newswire. "I stayed here hoping I would get another show, and after 20 years, your hope runs dry. Not only that, but a roof over my head and everything else dried up, too."
White's in-between gig of singing in local piano bars didn't work out after several legendary New York City clubs closed. When she was kicked out of a friend's house after few months of sleeping on the couch, she began sleeping on park benches.
"I learned so much when I was on the street," she revealed. "A lot of people had given up or lost jobs, and they have the strength to stay alive, and that's kind of what I learned from being there.
"I didn't go to a shelter because there was a certain pride in myself," she added. "I didn't want to take a pity home. I would rather live on my own and do whatever on my own with my time."
Thanks to a friendly neighborhood police officer named David Taylor, who admired her energy and high spirit, White got back on her feet. He set her up with a temporary apartment in New Jersey, and she took a gig in Florida.
There, she met her partner, 62-year-old Donna Barnett, who encouraged her to return to New York to audition for 'Finian's Rainbow.' Barnett even paid for the flight.
White not only landed the role, but her ensemble character, Dottie, has been upgraded to a primary character.
"Originally, I left Key West thinking I was in a chorus contract with a specialty number, 'Necessity,'" she explained. "Then the writer and director said they needed more substance for 'Necessity,' so they made me the unofficial mayor of Rainbow Valley, and they made Dottie a bigger role, from chorus to a principle contract, from sharecropper one to a main actor."
The musical, which ironically was the first production White performed at the age of 8 with her father, embodies her new found optimism.
"It's a show I have always believed in and loved as a child. The [message of] hopes and dreams and the inspiration to move on, and for that to be the show that I got after all that has transpired over the last year, it put the icing on the cake," said White, who recently married Barnett in a ceremony at St. James Theater. 
There have been talks of White penning her memoir -- something she says would be a difficult process, because "it's hard to just keep talking about it." But she remains positive.
"I married my lucky charm, Donna, and to be back on Broadway after 20 years is a blessing. 'Finian's Rainbow' is about community and family, and this year, I've acquired a family," she beamed.
This week, she's planning to do one of her favorite New York City holiday traditions.
"After I go see the Radio City Rockettes, I go to Rockefeller Center and get a cup of hot chocolate and watch the people fall ice skating," she laughed.
"I didn't dream I was going to be homeless, and a year ago, I didn't think that I was going to be back on Broadway, so I can't figure out what's happening after 'Finian's.'"
At this rate, it doesn't seem like she has to. Her talent doesn't seem to be running out anytime soon.
Black Stars on Broadway
Black Stars Light Up The Great White Way
On Nov. 17, Kerry Washington made her Broadway debut with David Mamet's newest play 'Race' at New York City's Ethel Barrymore Theatre. The acclaimed actress, who wowed mainstream movie audiences in the Academy Award winning 2005 Ray Charles biopic, said she is "thrilled" about this latest career move. The show also stars James Spader, David Alan Grier and Richard Thomas.
Robert J. Saferstein
Black Stars Light Up The Great White Way
Fans of the hit ABC medical drama 'Grey's Anatomy' know that Chandra Wilson has a knack for playing tough broads. This summer, the award-winning actress returns to her theater roots with a role in the legendary Broadway musical, 'Chicago.' From June 8 through July 5, the woman known to many as Dr. Miranda Bailey on the Shonda Rhimes-produced series will take on the celebrated role of reigning cellblock diva Matron "Mama" Morton at Broadway's Ambassador Theatre. The Houston native and three time Emmy Award nominated thespian's previous Broadway credits include 'Caroline, or Change,' 'Avenue Q' and 'On the Town.'
Joan Marcus
Black Stars Light Up the Great White Way
Phylicia Rashad, who warmed millions of TV viewers' hearts in the 1980s as Clair Huxtable on the groundbreaking NBC sitcom 'The Cosby Show,' has taken on a role like none other. Making a triumphant return to Broadway this spring, the Tony Award-winning star of plays such as 'A Raisin in the Sun,' 'Gem of the Ocean' and 'Cat on a Hot Tin Roof,' exposes an emotional depth and acting range that is unparalleled. In the Pulitzer prize-winning play 'August: Osage County,' Rashad portrays Violet Weston, the pill-popping, acid-tongued, no-holds-barred central figure of a dysfunctional clan experiencing the sudden loss of its patriarch.
Robert J. Saferstein/Jeffrey Richards Associates
Black Stars Light Up The Great White Way
After years of toiling on TV shows and films, acclaimed actors Ernie Hudson (of 'Oz' fame) and LaTanya Richardson Jackson (previously seen in 'The Fighting Temptations') made their Broadway debuts in the critically acclaimed revival of the August Wilson play 'Joe Turner's Come And Gone,' which opened at the Belasco Theatre on April 16, 2009. The story is set in a Pittsburgh boarding house circa 1911 and features a colorful cast of characters played by Chad L. Coleman, Roger Robinson, Aunjanue Ellis, Andre Holland, Marsha Stephanie Blake, Arliss Howard, Danai Gurira, Michael Cummings and Amari Rose Leigh.
Black Stars Light Up The Great White Way
Hollywood heavyweight Cedric The Entertainer joined Tony Award nominee John Leguizamo and Academy Award nominee Hayley Joel Osment in a November 2008 revival of David Mamet's classic play, 'American Buffalo,' which played a short riun at the Belasco Theatre on Broadway. Following three small-time crooks who wax philosophically about society while conspiring to steal a rare and valuable coin from a neighborhood collector, the Oscar Joyner produced production marked the funnyman's debut on The Great White Way.
Black Stars Light Up The Great White Way
'American Idol' Season 1 finalist Tamyra Gray blazed a new trail on Broadway when she revamped the look of lead character Mimi, a drug addicted HIV positive spitfire in the Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award winning musical 'Rent.' It wasn't the first time around the track for the former Georgia pageant queen; she previously starred in the Indian inspired outing, 'Bombay Dreams.'
Black Stars Light Up The Great White Way
Academy Award winning film veteran Morgan Freeman made a return to The Great White Way in April 2008. The last time the 'Million Dollar Baby' actor appeared on the Broadway stage before: 1988's 'The Gospel at Colonus.' As Frank Elgin, the Memphis native took on a roll traditionally played by a white actor in the Mike Nichols-directed revival.
Black Stars Light Up The Great White Way
Hip-hop superstar Sean "Diddy" Combs won rave reviews as Walter Lee Younger in the 2002 revival of the classic play 'A Raisin in the Sun.'
Black Stars Light Up The Great White Way
Sexy 'Soul Food' star Boris Kodjoe stepped up his acting game by filling in for Terrence Howard during a break in production of the sell-out, all-black version of Tennessee Williams' play 'Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.' Though it was only two weeks, the former fashion model turned pin-up hunk received high marks for taking on the lead role as sexually tormented jock, Brick. He held his own alongside Tony Award winning thespians James Earl Jones, Phylicia Rashad and Anika Noni Rose.
Black Stars Light Up The Great White Way
'Law & Order' powerhouse S. Epatha Merkerson returned to her theater roots with her critically acclaimed turn in 'Come Back, Little Sheba.'
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By: yurgurl on 12/24/2009 5:11PM
very inspirational story
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