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The 'Voice of Juilliard' Gets a Surprise Coronation By NORA KROLL-ROSENBAUM
In the late 1950s a game show aired across America that gave housewives the chance to broadcast their stories and, in a great sob spectacle, compete to be crowned Queen for a Day. Flash forward to the fall of 2004. As usual, awake at my computer sometime in the productive middle of the night, I was sorting through stray e-mails and trying to finish parts on a new piece. A forwarded e-mail caught my attention. It announced: "The remake of an old game show requests nominations for a person who deserves to be 'Queen for a Day.'" Typically I ignore messages like this, but somehow this message was different, though. It seemed worthy of a response, and immediately my candidate leapt into an e-mail reply.
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| Margo Lamb at the Juilliard switchboard. (Photo by Nora Kroll-Rosenbaum) |
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Margo. Margo Lamb. Margo the telephone operator—the "Voice of Juilliard." What else does she go by? Everyone with any affiliation with Juilliard knows Margo. There are some people whom you pass, day in and day out, with an occasional smile or nod but very little connection. Margo is different. At a deep level, she is real, and everyone knows it. She exudes love and humanity toward the community around her, an attitude toward life that values people. "This woman in the booth," I would later describe to the producers of the show, "is authentic and interesting and compassionate and deserves recognition." Weeks went by without a word from the network (and without me revealing the secret nomination). One winter afternoon, that all changed, when the phone rang with the announcement that Margo had been chosen as a contestant on the show. The producers devised a plan to surprise Margo with the news. While a group of eccentrically-costumed students paraded by Margo (all this caught on camera, of course), another group of us huddled around cell phones, flooding the switchboard and asking for this or that from our unsuspecting queen. Finally, on the phone I revealed to Margo that indeed there was something up our communal sleeve—and momentarily she would discover what it was.As our giggling swarm of co-conspirers descended on Margo's turf, surrounded by cameras and lights, I drew Margo out of her booth to reveal that she had been chosen as a finalist for Queen for a Day. For the rest of the day, the crew filmed co-workers, numerous students, and faculty, who offered their greatest stories about their friend and colleague. The camera crew interviewed Margo as she described growing up in Detroit, auditioning as a young actor, dancing her way across New York City, singing in cabarets, and becoming "the voice of Juilliard." It was a terrific moment—especially because, up until this time, I really knew very little about Margo, except for her kindness and spunk.But the real spectacle was still ahead. Whisked away into glossy, sparkly game-show-land, we arrived in Hollywood to film the remake of Queen for a Day. Mo'nique (of The Parkers), serving as the comedian host, introduced each contestant team. There was David, who nominated his wife, Jihun; Tom, who nominated his friend, Denise; Sarah, who nominated her mother, Chaye; and Margo and me. It seemed absurd to be competing at all; we were all so different. But there we were, with the lights up and the audience applauding.
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| Margo Lamb, Juilliard's telephone operator, was the winner on Lifetime TV’s game show Queen for a Day. |
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Margo was so graceful throughout the taping. She answered rounds of questions honestly and strolled across the red carpet with great ease. Then, with a sigh of relief that the spotlight was off us, we stepped back. The audience and celebrity judges had yet to cast their votes, but in our minds, we assumed it was over. We watched the rest of it unfold, feeling more like spectators than participants now, when suddenly there was a lot of applause and pointing, accompanied by the announcement: "The new Queen for a Day is…" Margo had won!Bestowed with a crown, robe, and roses, Margo seemed to be floating. Meanwhile, I was whisked away into one of the prizes—a huge S.U.V.—and seated next to Bernie Kopell from The Love Boat. (Just to fill in this story a bit, sometime between the airing of the original Queen for a Day and Margo's coronation, I was a kid who loved to watch the famous cruise ship as it sailed into the high soap-opera seas of the 1980s.) Were we dreaming? Margo was now Queen and I was afloat in an enormous vehicle being wheeled onstage next to the doctor from my childhood ship.Definitely awake now, we were back at Juilliard. We got a quick education in game-show prizes that week; as with most things, they are not all they appear to be. (All the thousands of dollars in prizes required thousands of dollars in taxes, which was never the point of this game.) So we were back in the city—Margo, somewhat empty-handed from the illusion of momentary fleeting wealth; me, still looking to see if our feet were back on the ground. But the prizes didn't really matter. (Who could fit a jumbo, football-field-size fridge in a miniature-golf-size, New York apartment?) All of that glitz was just a metaphor for celebration. Who and how, and the importance of honoring—this is what was essential.Back in New York after the filming, we were sworn to a month of enforced silence. We couldn't speak a word of any of this merriment to a soul, until after the show had aired in late May. We just grinned. It seemed like a wonderful little dream we had both imagined.Finally the show aired and the secret was out. Margo Lamb—our Margo, the telephone operator—Queen for a Day! You may not know it, but within that booth, off to the side, is a small, golden crown—a token from this spectacle. Margo, we honor you—for your charisma and your caretaking, your wisdom, dedication, and laughter. You may be the only one who knows every single three- and four-digit extension that magically connects people near and far with our little community. But much, much more than that, you are a significant person here, someone who keeps us real, together, and connected. The power of connection is what drives the creative spirit, and we are lucky to have you among us.Nora Kroll-Rosenbaum is director of the Composers' Forum at Juilliard, where she received her B.M. ('01) and M.M. ('03) in composition.
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