A Conversation with 'Unbeatable' author Laurie Frey

Laurie Frey is Unbeatable

Anyone who thinks breast cancer is no laughing matter has never met Laurie Frey. Laurie spent the past twenty years working in the entertainment industry. She tackled Broadway with such firms as Marvin Krauss & Associates and Pace Theatrical Group/SFX/Clear Channel before moving to Ohio to general manage and promote for Magic Arts and Entertainment where she currently is the Tour General Manager for illusionist David Copperfield and the Blue Man Group Megastar tour. Laurie seemed to have everything going for her, until a Stage 3 breast cancer diagnosis put her trademark sense of humor to the test.

Mike Parker – You’ve been heavily involved in the back-office side of the entertainment industry for a couple of decades. What sparked your interest in that part of the industry?

Laurie Frey – I have a master in theater directing. Once I got the degree I realized that after working with actors I was better at administration than I was in the directing aspect. I did box office jobs, pr jobs, and ended up in New York with Pace which became Clear Channel which became Live Nation.

Parker – Take me through a day in the life of a general manager for a tour of the scope of illusionist, David Copperfield.

Laurie – The tour general manager becomes Communications Central for the tour. You have to communicate with the people who are on the tour; make sure everyone involved gets paid; that the contracts are all handled correctly. You also must deal with the artist and the attorneys and make sure that all arrangements are checked and double checked. Then, of course, you work with the producers at each venue. You are responsible for making sure that every one knows what is going on all the time. Bottom line, the general manager has to get it done.

Parker – You’ve managed tours like David Copperfield and the Blue Man Group, which are huge, but you’ve also handled some shows that are a bit more, shall we say, esoteric, like VeggieTales Live. What kind of challenges did that show present?

Laurie – The biggest challenge were the inflatables for Bob the Tomato and Larry the Cucumber. They were amazing, but you have to think about things like entrances. For most shows you just don’t think, ‘I need a 5 feet width for an entrance.’ Another challenge was how big the set pieces were. One sofa for Larry the Cucumber was absolutely beautiful, but it took up half the truck when we went on tour. Sorry, it was cut from the show. It ended up in someone’s living room in Colorado, I think.

Parker – You had everything going for you – great job, great marriage, a new baby boy – then the bottom fell out. You were diagnosed with breast cancer, your brother received orders for Iraq, your little boy was diagnosed with autism, your husband began to pull away from you, and in the midst of all that you were trying to build a house. They say trouble comes in threes. It seems like trouble was coming by the truckloads to your home.

Laurie – The way things are going right now, a lot of Americans feel like trouble is coming in truckloads. For me it was about enjoying the ride. We are all faced with difficult and even disastrous things every day. You can either be optimistic and get through it, or you go down. Yes, there were crappy days, crappy moments like the time I was trying to figure out how to use an inhaler in the middle of the pharmacy. I just couldn’t do it and kind of flipped out. Then there was the time I got caught between a train track and the safety barrier arm that had lowered down onto my truck, in the rain, with no one helping me. I just thought, ‘Oh, well.’ But you can’t stay in those places. You can’t dwell there. It will kill you.

Parker – In your book, “Unbeatable,” you placed a strong emphasis on your faith to pull you through the ordeal. How important is faith in beating cancer?

Laurie – Medically, they say that optimism is huge. I didn’t believe it was my time to go. I believe God is a loving God. I know that a lot of things happen that we don’t understand, and I’m okay with that. I’m pretty straight forward with life, and my faith is the same way. I believed that even in the midst of cancer and all the other stuff I was going through, if I could encourage someone else, then that was a good thing. I think God is still God and I’m still not. Better Him to run the world than me.

Parker – You’ve written a book and a Broadway-style musical based on your experiences with cancer. Can you talk a little about that?

Laurie – Both the book and the musical take the roller coaster ride that is the cancer journey. Ultimately they are about hope. I conceived the musical, then collaborated with (VeggieTales Live director) Michael Bernard. I told him the story while I was in the midst of radiation therapy. I figured if this was just something to help me get through the day, that was fine. But Michael said he thought it could be an amazing show. We brought in Eric Coble to write the book for the musical, and Todd Schroeder and Kevin Fisher to compose the music and lyrics. We did a staged reading in Phoenix and even though it was in its very rough form and not exactly what we wanted it still worked and the audience was moved.

We premiered the show in Houston and Phoenix. We just released the Original Cast album. I definitely want the musical to play New York because it is the springboard for theatre, but it's important to me that people from all over the country, and eventually around the world, get to see it. I think it is great entertainment; clever, engaging, inspiring, thought provoking - it does was live theatre is supposed to do.

Parker – Last words?

Laurie – Both the book and the musical make a point about how integral people are in your journey. I was surrounded by amazing people – medical personnel, friends, church family. I’m a funny person, but I’m not funny alone. Me, in a room alone, is not funny.

I think both the book and the musical encourage people to get into the game, to not just think about ‘poor, pitiful me’ all the time. We make caring about people way too hard. How about picking up the phone and just saying ‘Hi’ to some one? There is no better time than the present to start.

The Seven Questions
1. What’s your favorite sound?
Laurie – The ocean.

2. What makes you happy?
Laurie – Friends.

3. What makes you angry?
Laurie – Lying.

4. What is the secret of success?
Laurie – Loving Jesus, and understanding what that means.

5. If you could have dinner with anyone in history, living or dead, who would it be?
Laurie – Abraham Lincoln.

6. What is the epitaph that is written on your tombstone?
Laurie – “She lived what she believed.”

7. When you get to heaven, what is the first thing you want to hear God say to you?
Laurie – I wouldn’t want to hear him say anything. I would just be in awe of His presence.

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