"My Life As a Bald Soprono" (the fabulous Margaret Baker on stage)

If you're reading this in New York -- or if you have a way to get there -- you've got to see actress/opera diva/model Margaret Baker in My Life as a Bald Soprano (book and lyrics by Margaret H. Baker, music by Clint J Borzoni) at the Midtown International Theatre Festival this summer. (Click here for dates and show times.) You've seen Baker before; you just don't know it. She's appeared in everything from Sex and the City to Vanity Fair and just shot a pilot for CBS. Her unique quality goes far beyond the bald, but she's managed to turn the alopecia that devastated her as a child into an asset that gets her noticed. In a good way.

Margaret's fabulous noggin first came to my attention when book cover genius Chip Kidd used her in his design for Bald in the Land of Big Hair. When people ask me how I ended up with a Chip Kidd cover, I say, "God pulled my name out of a hat that day." When people ask if the bald woman is me, I say, "I wish!" (Those are obviously the sculpted shoulders of a dancer.) Margaret read the book when it came out and wrote (real wrote, not email, which you gotta love) to let me know how happy she was to be involved in the project, and after hearing her story, I tried like hell to get my agent and the time to help me hook up a memoir with her. It's been sort of thrilling to see her developing this show over the last few years. (I still harbor a secret hope that the planets will someday align and I’ll be able to help her translate it to memoir form.)

Here’s what Margaret has to say about the show:

My hope in writing My Life as a Bald Soprano is to take its viewers on a theatrical journey that is entertaining yet profound, inviting them to reflect upon their own experiences with self acceptance.

Even in its earliest workshops, the musical and its protagonist seemed to have a strong appeal to a wide range of ages (from young children on up). On many occasions, I was approached by audience members who said that they could relate to the main character. Somehow Margaret's journey in My Life as a Bald Soprano had caused them to reflect upon their own experiences of trying to fit in as a child; whether they were victimized by bullying or acting as the bullies themselves...

My main purpose in writing this show is to share my story through an entertaining medium that will inspire audiences of all ages by showing that life's greatest gifts come from within.

Go here for more about the show. (And see it this summer if humanly possible!)