Lisa Gajda at Pal Joey’s Gypsy Robe ceremony
When
Eric Sciotto was announced as
Pal Joey’s Gypsy Robe recipient (see
archives) it was mentioned that
Lisa Gajda had previously won the honor three times. This made me wonder why it was Eric, and not Lisa, who received the honor for
Pal Joey. Well, a recent article on
Broadwayworld.com (
GYPSY OF THE MONTH: Lisa Gajda of ‘Pal Joey’, by Adrienne Onofri) not only answers that question, but makes it clear what a “Pal” Lisa truly is:
“‘Pal Joey’ would have been Gajda’s fourth time receiving the Gypsy Robe - presented on opening night to the ensemble member with the most Broadway credits - but she decided to forgo the honor so it could go to her friend Eric Sciotto, who’d never received it in his previous seven shows. Gajda received the robe for her last two shows, Cry-Baby (which Sciotto was also in) and The Times They Are A-Changin’, as well as for 2003’s Taboo.”
Lisa Gajda and Matthew Risch in Pal Joey’s opening number
Broadway was not always Gajda’s (pronounced Guy-da) life. When she was around 20, she and a friend took a road trip to California and she ended up staying for several years. She started getting work right away and danced in awards shows quite regularly. At the 2001 MTV Video Music Awards, she danced with Paula Abdul to “Vibeology”. She worked on videos, commercials, movies, AND the 1990 and 1991 Academy Awards. But New York is where she really wanted to be, and she moved back in the mid-90’s. Within six months, she was cast in the tour of
Tommy, playing the Nurse and other ensemble roles. In the spring of 1995, she made her Broadway debut as a swing in
Tommy (see
archives).
By the time she auditioned for Pal Joey, Lisa had learned how to make herself into whatever type was needed. “My look is pretty contemporary,” she says, “so I went to the audition with big fake boobs and tried to make myslef look soft.” She obviously did something right!
Lisa Gajda in Pal Joey - Flower Garden of My Heart
In
Pal Joey, Gajda is one of the two ladies who dance with Joey (
Matthew Risch) in the opening ballet, and she is the lilac in the comic Act 1 song “The Flower Garden of My Heart.” And although she understudies for
Martha Plimpton (Gladys Bumps), she isn’t yearning for speaking parts. “I’m a real dancer. It’s not very interesting to me to pursue doing roles. I grew up loving to dance, so that doesn’t mean that I wanted to act and sing.” And her sage advice for other gypsies? “If you’re dancing in the chorus, don’t spend you entire life waiting to do something else, because it’s an honor and a great gift to dance in the chorus.”
Click here to read Broadwayworld.com’s article.
Liz | Feb 3, 2009 | Reply
I love this article! Lisa sounds like she really has a great outlook on life, and loves what she’s doing, and has found a way to be the best she can be at it. A good lesson for all of us - be happy with who you are.
Ron | Feb 3, 2009 | Reply
Great piece, Catherine. Love those UNSUNG HEROES!
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Katherine | Nov 18, 2011 | Reply
@Catherine, Sometimes the ‘Award Winning’ is biased. I don’t know how they manage to judge or to say something about the winning criteria. So I think we have to accept all their decisions. Am I right?
Barry | Nov 21, 2011 | Reply
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Julian | Nov 21, 2011 | Reply
@Katherine: Your definitely right Kath. All we can do is to accept the judges decision.
Eric Harrison | Nov 21, 2011 | Reply
Yes, sometimes there is what we called technical error in the tabulation table too not just a word biased.
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Wanda C. Gonzales | Nov 22, 2011 | Reply
It sounds like she really has a great outlook on life, and loves what she�s doing, and has found a way to be the best she can be at it. A good lesson for all of us - be happy with who you are.
Rian | Nov 22, 2011 | Reply
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MariaRogers | Nov 23, 2011 | Reply
@Eric: I strongly agree with you Eric. Maybe it’s about the technical error and the judges didn’t notice about that.
Rose | Nov 29, 2011 | Reply
I think that is biased because if you say it’s technical error, expected to have a technical support who will fix that problem. In my opinion only.
JosephineOlson | Nov 30, 2011 | Reply
@Rose: I strongly agree Rose. Technical error is a common reason of judging and I’m so sick to hear that.
Katherine | Dec 1, 2011 | Reply
@Rose, don’t you really know what really means tabulation table? I guess you have to find out, okay? Do more research about being a judge.
Anyways, for bringing up this brainstorming.
@Barry, Thank you.
@Julian, Thank you.
@Eric, Thank you. ^_^
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