Kelli O'Hara: After Babe, a Baby?

About the author:
Consecutive Tony nominations are a rare honor—and in Kelli O'Hara's case, the two roles she was recognized for could not be more different. In 2005, O'Hara achieved breakout success as the innocent, mentally challenged ingénue in The Light in the Piazza. Less than a year later, she stunned critics with her sexy, grown-up performance as Babe in The Pajama Game. Coming off two award-worthy seasons, O'Hara shares her thoughts on goals achieved and dreams for the future.

Once upon a time...wait, no one's life is a fairy tale.

I'm sitting down to write an essay about how it feels to be a Tony nominee for a second year in a row. Of course it feels wonderful...as if all the distance I put between my family back in Oklahoma and myself has been worth it. But did I expect this again? I couldn't have. There are too many talented people in this city reaching for the same ending...which then just becomes another beginning. So, no, I never assumed it, and now I am surprised, thrilled and overwhelmed. But I also feel a lump in my throat. Gulp. What will I do next? Are the folks who flock to the theater going to tire of seeing my face? Should I try something new? Why haven't I been on Law & Order like everyone else? I need to set some goals for myself.

When I left Oklahoma, I gave myself two years to get a Broadway show. That's what you do when you are naive and have never even visited New York City before. I told myself I would go right back home and teach voice lessons if it didn't happen. But, somehow, I knew it was possible. So I packed my bags, and, seven years later, I'm still here. So, what happens when you set a goal for yourself and you reach it? Well, you set another and another and another.

Almost every day, I go running in the park. It's been my source of physical and mental exercise since I was a teenager. On these runs, I have little daydreams. I must have daydreamed a thousand times about being a Tony nominee. So, in a way, I was setting that goal for myself. When it happened, the whole experience was so magical. A great mentor of mine and my co-star in The Light in the Piazza, Vicki Clark, was nominated and favored to win a Tony for what I still believe is one of the most brilliant performances by an actor in theater history. My friends Celia Keenan-Bolger and Erin Dilly were there. Sherie Rene Scott who, with the help of her husband, Kurt, introduced me to my future husband, Greg Naughton, more than three years ago was there, too. It was like we belonged to some repertory theater company, a family of performers, and we were all being honored for it. It was unbelievable to look across the orchestra section of Radio City Music Hall and see this family and realize I was a part of them. It was truly a feeling of "I'm just honored to be nominated." So, another goal had been reached.

But then something changed. I remember standing with Erin Dilly at one of the Tony parties. We looked at each other and said, "OK, now we can start having babies." It seemed like a fantasy at the time, but not for long. Erin just gave birth to a beautiful baby girl this spring, and, even throughout all this year's excitement with The Pajama Game, I still can't get the patter of little feet out of my head. I will be married next year, and we will be anxious to start a family. I think I have realized above everything Tony nominations, wonderful new parts in new shows with neat people, good and bad press, life must go on...beyond "this life." There should be many facets to one's life, and putting all my eggs into the Tony/business basket would not be the smart thing to do. From this, I guess I have set my next goal.

This year's Tony nomination is amazing. I am so incredibly grateful just to be in the game, but where I might not know the outcome of the Tonys or when and if I will ever be on Law & Order, I do know I can enjoy my show each night with the best cast in the world. I can enjoy my fiancé and all the ways we plan to spend our life together. I can fix up my apartment a little, plant some flowers upstate and keep auditioning for new and different parts. I can be multi-faceted.

Is this a fairy tale? No. Life is never a fairy tale, but I'm setting a goal to read some with my children one day.