INNcredible Mothers
How could I be anything less than INNcredible when this international bombshell has been like a second mother to me for nearly 30 years?
Elisa Stein escaped the Nazis in Romania, grew up in Ecuador, brought her castanets to college at Vassar and set the world on fire as a Parisian chanteuse, German movie star, Mexican TV star, Broadway sensation, and eventually a New York City therapist. I met her when showed up at her house at 11pm with my guitar and a slice of key lime pie. I had just started my summer job singing at the tony Palm restaurant in East Hampton NY, and my aunt’s rental where I would be staying didn’t begin till July 1st, the next day. Elisa’s daughter invited me to crash at her parents’ house — little did we know, I would never leave!
Elisa and her brilliant husband Joe Stein, who wrote the libretto to Fiddler on the Roof and so many other Broadway musicals, and I stayed up till the wee hours talking about Broadway and my escapades as a mini Elisa singing in Europe the year before. It was love at first sight. It is fitting that she was on the cover of Life magazine, because Elisa taught me how to live.
Here is a song I wrote about her when I was 24.
We are all INNdebted to the INNcredible women who have been our godmothers, aunties and INNspirations. They may not have birthed us through their loins, but they mothered us more tenaciously than any lioness or mama bear. They shared their recipes for chicken soup and for life itself. They show us daily by example how to hold on when it’s hard and release when it’s time, how to create, give, nurture, and love yet still remember that behind every great woman is herself.
Though I was in my early twenties when I met Elisa and these four other enormously important surrogate moms, I feel like I learned at their knee. Our talks took place in their high rise New York City apartments, yet it felt like we sat around an ancient the campfire. Births to deaths, marriage to divorce and everything in between, these women helped me come of age. I am INNcredible thanks to them.
This Mother’s Day I am driving 8 hours to pick Monty up at Georgetown after his freshman year at college. Then I will visit each one of these astonishing women and thank them chocolates from Paris!
When I was sad that my marriage wasn’t strong enough to have more children, my father, the wise psychiatrist, said Oprah didn’t have any children, yet she has mothered millions. So when I was Moey, a children’s rockstar, I felt connected to the thousands kids who came to my classes and concerts for a decade. Now with INNcredible, I hope to repay the lessons these women have shared with me and help other women feel INNcredible.
Who are the women who have mothered you, the teachers, coaches, colleagues, neighbors, aunties, friends who changed your life? I would love to hear the story of how these women INNspired you.
Give yourself the gift of time this Mother’s Day to call and catch up with each one.
Happy Mother’s Day to all. YOU are INNcredible!
This is my Elisa celebrating my 50th birthday.
Meet Margie and Arline, two titans in my life. I met Margie by fluke as my aunt, playwright Wendy Wasserstein’s understudy. Margie paid thousands at a UJA fundraiser to have Wendy speak at a dinner party in her home. But Wendy had to fly to LA for a rewrite on a Jennifer Aniston movie, so she sent me, the folk-singing niece, just back from Europe to entertain. That was the gift of a lifetime. A lifelong friendship began that night on 89th and Park. Margie wrote a song for my wedding and I wrote songs for her 60, 65, 70th, 80th birthdays, and so many custom songs for her friend’s celebrations. Margie helped me shop for my wedding registry and my maternity wardrobe. Arline found Monty the most gorgeous embroidered bumpers for his crib — and our NYC apartment! .Margie and Arline helped me raise $500,000 at backers auditions for my Off-Broadway musical. But most importantly they helped me raise myself from the ashes of divorce and raise my INNcredible son.
This is my aunt Chris Wasserstein. She has been my benefactor and friend since I graduated from college. My grandmother wouldn’t let me live with her when I moved to Manhattan to be an actress, but Aunt Chris welcomed me into her magnificent 5th Avenue home. I lived with her for many summers in the Hamptons when I was singing at The Palm. She let me be her plus one at fancy NYC fundraisers where I met so many friends. Karma paid her back in spades, because she met her husband Dan Ratiner (of Dan’s Paper fame) because he was in my band, Melissa & the Moguls! Here she is checking out Michel - of course he passed INNspection!
Meet Margie, the morning after her 80th birthday. Like Grandma Moses, she reINNvented her life as a professional photographer at 70! Now she’s launching a new line of pocket books with her photos. Her shirt says, “Dress like Coco. Live like Jackie. Act like Audrey and Laugh like Lucy.” Great advice. She is also the woman who has always reminded me Melissa smell the roses. And I do!
I love this photo from Arline’s glamorous 80th birthday (80 is the new 50!). Magnificent Anne Addison has her hands on Arline’s shoulders. It reminds me how we all stand on the shoulders of those who went before. Though a woman never tells her age, I fell in love with Anne 20 years ago when she invested in my Off Broadway musical, The Joys of Sex. I remember she wore a leopard dress to the opening. Can it be this glamorous, independent, curious, and vibrant beautiful woman is over 100??? I am so smitten by her! She is a shining example that curiosity, generosity and INNdependance is the fountain of youth!
