This Mother’s Day, celebrate with a Carol Lawrence Broadway breakfast
Broadway legend Carol Lawrence, who will celebrate her 89th birthday in September, has a special Mother’s Day connection to Northwest Indiana.
In May 2001, she was here with her talented son Michael Goulet, who’s now 55, to headline with our own Northwest Indiana Symphony at Star Plaza Theatre for a special concert titled “A Mother’s Day Tribute” showcasing this first lady of stage, screen, and television, who is the ex-wife of the late Robert Goulet.
Lawrence originally hails from Melrose Park, Illinois, and is probably best known for her role on Broadway as Maria in “West Side Story”. Her career includes many other memorable Broadway roles, including “Kiss of the Spiderwoman” and she has starred in national tours of “Funny Girl,” “The Unsinkable Molly Brown,” “The Sound Of Music,” “Sweet Charity,” “No, No, Nanette,” “Woman Of The Year,” “Sugar Babies,” and as the title character in “Auntie Mame.”
It was Labor Day Weekend 2008 when I last crossed paths with her when she headlined at the beautiful landscape of the Ravinia Festival outdoor venue on the north side of Chicago in Highland Park, Illinois. More specifically, she was at the Martin Theatre on the Ravinia property for 2008s “Martinis at the Martin” for her one exclusive show before what was her 76th birthday on Sept. 5. She would often return to our area since her attorney brother lived in Wheaton, Illinois.
Lawrence’s roots are from a wonderful Italian family with treasured recipe and kitchen traditions, as explained in my 2004 first “From the Farm” published cookbook, which includes her grandmother’s old-fashioned Italian chicken soup. Lawrence shared her recipes and stories with myself and a ballroom filled with fans, including my own mom Peggy and her older sister Ruby, for a charity luncheon at the Center for Visual and Performing Arts in Munster in May 2001 to raise money for WANISS, Women’s Association Northwest Indiana Symphony Society.
She lovingly prepared and shared some of her favorite recipes from a family cookbook she had recently published, all of which were then served to eager guests. Lawrence sold her abode in Los Angeles in
2013 to return to the Big Apple to make her home in New York City, as was first reported by her gossip maven pal Cindy Adams (now 91!) in her New York Post column.
Lawrence is a great interview, and never afraid of any subject. In 1963, she found herself unexpectedly a most requested interview subject for a sad reason, because of her visit to the White House as the guest of Democratic National Committee Secretary Dorothy Vredenburgh Bush to meet with President John F. Kennedy on Nov. 20, 1963, which was just two days before his assassination.
Two decades later, memories of Lawrence and assorted “table talk” will again return to the CVPA ballroom. After a year of hiatus, because of the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, WANISS is once again returning to an in-person May charity wine luncheon gathering to raise funds for the NWI Symphony. Still hosted in the ballroom at the CVPA, the 49th Annual WANISS May Wine Charity Luncheon is May 26 and begins with shopping at vendor booths which will be set up in the art gallery. Guests are invited to wear their favorite hat, and in addition to the noon lunch, there will be a raffle, live entertainment and of course, the signature glasses of spring wine with floating strawberries. Tickets are $50 to attend in person and there is also a $25 “stay-at-home” ticket donation option. Reservation deadline is May 19. Tables can seat 6-8, which includes social distancing and a mask requirement when not seated at guest tables. Call 219-836-0525 for tickets.
Lawrence says a favorite tradition with her sons Michael and Christopher is homemade breakfast pancakes as their tasty preferred way to celebrate occasions like Mother’s Day and birthdays. Not only does she have her own easy pancake batter recipe, but also a simple and delicious at-home method to whip-up warm fresh blueberry syrup.