Artist:Terri White
Song:Thank God I'm Old
Album:Barnum: The New Musical
Thank God I'm Old was Terri White's big number in the 1980 Broadway show Barnum. Things didn't go well after that and she ended up homeless. But then she made a big comeback. Terri was born in 1948 in Palo Alto, CA. Her parents were vaudeville performers Bill White and Gertrude Hughes. So she grew up in show business. She was playing New York City clubs when she auditioned for and got the role of Joice Heth in the 1980 Broadway musical Barnum. Thank God I'm Old was her big number. Of course Barnum was about the showman P,T, Barnum. The music was written by Cy Coleman and Michael Stewart. Jim Dale starred as Barnum with Glenn Close playing his wife. The show was a big hit and it is probably Dale's signature role. The Original Cast album is available on CD. But after that things didn't go well for Terri. Before Barnum, she made her living playing piano bars. But when those bars closed in the 80s and she split up with her longtime partner, Terri lost her apartment. Too embarrassed to seek help from social services, she mostly slept on a park bench in Washington Square Park. One chilly night in Oct. 2008, NYPD officer David Taylor, who knew Terri from walking his beat, didn't like her appearance. He called a friend in Jersey City and had Terri stay there for a few days. He helped get her a job at a nightclub in Key West, FL. And that began Terri's comeback. She met her now partner Donna Barnett and they moved in together. Terri heard about a revival of the musical Finian's Rainbow. She got the job and she also appeared in a 2011 revival of Follies. After that she performed in local clubs until she retired in 2015 due to health problems. Here's Terri White with The Fred Barton Orchestra performing Thank God I'm Old in American Showstoppers: Cy Coleman at Michael Schimmel Center Oct. 18, 2014.
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