NR:  That’s great. I know you know nothing about computers or the Internet, but were you told that Talkin’ Broadway readers voted you onto the list of “Stars of the New Millenium?”

LB:  Yeah, they told me. That is so nice!

NR:  Hundreds of people took part in the voting.

LB:  I didn’t even know that anyone knew who I was at all.

NR:  Of course they do.

LB:  That’s constantly a surprise to me.

NR:  Well, these are people who are on the Internet and they’re very familiar with theater, probably more than you would think. They like it and they follow the different performers, not just the “stars.”

LB:  That’s excellent. That is so nice. It made me really kind of giggle, and smile. It was a very nice surprise, because like I said, the business aspect of it ... I don’t know why but that side of my brain just shuts off, and I kind of forget that this is Broadway sometimes.

NR:  (laughing) Oh, that’s a tough problem to have!

LB:  Isn’t that strange? I feel no different doing this than I did when I was on stage in high school, maybe because I deluded myself so much that I was on Broadway when I was in high school. But, I just get that same sense of excitement thinking, “This is so cool” and I forget that it’s high profile.

NR:  Maybe that’s why you can do it so well, because you’re not thinking about that?

LB:  Maybe. I don’t want to think about it and then start panicking.

NR:  No, you don’t want to do that. So, what’s the downside of this? Suppose your friends want to go out on a Friday night, and you can’t because you have two shows the next day?

LB:  I think the downside is not really being able to make friends my age. I have one friend, Michael Benjamin Washington, who is in Saturday Night. (not Saturday Night Fever, but Saturday Night) He’s my best friend in the entire world. We met at NYU when I was there for those two weeks.

NR:  (laughing) You did go to college ...

LB:  (laughing) ... for two weeks! I learned everything I needed to know and left! (seriously again) He’s my very best friend and besides the fact that he’s a wonderful, wonderful man, he understands that I do need to take care of myself better than most people do. I have a wonderful boyfriend, Erik, whom I love very much, and he understands that too because he’s also an actor. Then there’s my family and the cast and my friends from Sound of Music. Everyone I spend my time with, except for Michael and Erik, is older. There’s not that whole “Let’s go out and party” attitude because they understand. They’re doing the same thing as me. That was the thing that, interestingly enough, was frustrating in high school for me, because I always knew what I wanted to do and I always knew the discipline that it would take. So, I was very much of an outsider, which was very hard for me. It’s sad. It gets very lonely. I don’t really feel that as much now because people understand more. It’s actually easier now than it was when I was in high school and I wasn’t doing it professionally.

NR:  Have there been any surprises, or is this exactly what you expected it to be?

LB:  Oh, interesting ... I think people in general have a tendency to romanticize things. I know I do. I was thinking of everything I had seen in those 80's movies. Remember all of those Broadway 80's movies like Fame and a bunch that showed backstage life? And it is different. It’s not as catty. There’s not as much drama backstage as I thought there would be, which is very good, and that was nice. It’s more normal than I thought it would be. I feel like I do a job, which happens to be exciting and wonderful and fun, but it’s not as scary as I thought it would be. I came into it thinking, “Oh, gosh, this world ... everyone’s going to be scary and it’s going to be so scary to go out on stage. How am I going to be able to do eight shows a week? How’s it going to happen?” And, it just kind of fits into the rhythm of my life. It’s not easier, but it’s a lot more normal and “acceptable - conducive to mental health” than I thought it would be.

The cast of Swing!

NR: Suppose you get to perform on the Tony Awards? What do you think that would be like? It could happen.

LB:  That would be great.

NR:  Do you think that would be nerve-wracking?

LB:  YES. Oh, yes. When I did Royal Family, Bernadette Peters was literally right in front of me. It was so nerve-wracking because she is my idol. I think that she is just a brilliant, amazing, wonderfully talented, kind woman. I backed up and turned towards the audience to start singing and saw Bernadette Peters directly in front of me. Literally, at that moment, I thought, “OK. THIS is what I thought it would be.” You know what I mean? That’s the image - that glamour, that performing for such amazing people - that was the moment when I thought, “This is what I imagined when I was five years old - but keep going.” So, if I do get to perform on the Tony’s, (and who knows) that will be so nerve-wracking.

I get very nervous. Like yesterday, when we put on “Skylark” I was so nervous. I think it’s because (and Jerry gets mad at me for this), but I’m really insecure. I think it’s partially because I’m twenty, but I’m always thinking, “Am I doing OK?”

NR:  I don’t know if it’s just because you’re twenty. If that’s your personality, I don’t think that part of it gets easier. I really don’t. I’ve heard those same words from people who’ve been doing this a lot longer than you have.

LB:  I think that’s good in a way though, because that means you care.

NR: That’s true. I think what you have to do is feel the love that’s coming back to you. I have friends who have performed on the Tony’s and they told me that the applause came towards them like a huge wave. That’s because it’s not only icons in the audience, but it’s your peers too and they know how you feel. They want to give that back to you.

LB:  Totally. At some point, I would love to perform on the Tony’s, if not for this show then for something else. I think that would be exactly what I always thought it was. Ooh, it’s giving me chills just thinking about it.

NR:  So, where do you go from here?

LB:  I don’t know.

NR:  Where do you want to go?

Laura, Caitlin Carter, Geralyn Del Corso in Swing!

LB:  I would love to do a book musical. I would love to do another Broadway show. I’d love to do some plays and I’d love to do some good films, some independent, good, classy film. There’s so much teeny-bopper stuff going on right now that I’m just not into it at all. Everything from the music to the TV to film, we’re bombarded with these images of these sixteen year old girls and it leaves out almost the entire population. I’m twenty and I feel like I’m over the hill so I can’t imagine how everybody else feels and it makes me kind of angry. I think that I would love to do some really good independent film where women are portrayed as intelligent human beings with a sense of self as opposed to either little kids, or bimbos. It’s like the angel-whore thing. You’re either perfect or you’re some slut. I’d like to portray a real woman - a normal woman with a life and a brain, which I’m surrounded by every single day. I don’t understand why writers don’t write about them because you can walk down the street and find a woman whose life is more interesting than anything we’re seeing on TV right now. So, I would love to do a book musical, and then maybe if it was high profile enough, maybe get some great indy film or something.

NR:  How about L.A.? Does that interest you at all? Would you like to do TV?

LB:  So much of TV right now I just find repulsive - those “incredible shrinking women” and it’s frightening to me. I have a thirteen year old sister and when I turn on the TV, I really get sad. When I watch these award shows, these women are so tiny and so unhealthy and it saddens me what they portray to people and children. Men are taught that’s what’s attractive, and women are taught that’s what’s attractive. Then it becomes this whole thing that comes into our society and it’s like a cancer. So, I feel like right now the way L.A. is and the way TV is, I don’t want to have anything to do with it - unless I could go in and make a difference. Or, if there was an influx of real women with breasts and brains, who don’t look like twelve year old boys who are addicted to crack, then I would love to do that. It’s such an incredible medium that it reaches so many people. That would be a reason why I would like to do it. I think in my lifetime I’d like to make some sort of difference in how people are seen.

NR:  Let me ask you one more question. You mentioned to me before that you felt different in school because you weren’t interested in the same things the other kids were. You were listening to show music and they were watching MTV. I know girls who feel like that now. Do you have any advice for them?

LB:  They should keep in mind that the things that make you seemingly odd to your peers are the things that make you special when you get here. The things that people thought were really strange and that people didn’t like me for, they’re the reason that I’m on Broadway. I always felt I had little gems inside of me, and people looked at them and said, “Why are they so sparkly? They’re hurting my eyes! Why aren’t you normal like me?” Then you get here and people recognize your worth and they’re interested in your individuality. It’s hard, it’s so incredibly hard. I had so many nights of crying and being sad, and my mom hugging me and saying, “It’s OK. You’re special. You’re not weird.” The things that set you apart in a negative way in junior high and high school, set you apart in a fantastic way in the real world.

I don’t know exactly what I expected when I met Laura, but I have to admit that I thought of her as a twenty year old girl - someone with a lot of talent but minimal experience. I don’t think I anticipated meeting someone who was wise beyond her years, and that’s really the most accurate way to describe her. She impressed me greatly with her poise, her sense of self-awareness and direction, and the amazing way in which she has grounded herself in a profession that offers little stability. She speaks very highly of her parents and the way she was raised, and I can understand why. The next time I see her take a curtain call, I’m going to think back on that image of a high school girl crying because she was “different” and say to myself, “Bravo, Laura. You showed them!”

-- Photographer: Joan Marcus