"Kinky Boots" actress Blair Goldberg talks Plainview and more
As part of Kinky Boots on Broadway, Blair Goldberg currently performs shows six days a week at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre. Prior to landing in the Tony Award-winning Broadway production, she was part of the show's national touring company. Yet this isn't her first Broadway turn, as she appeared with Bernadette Peters and Tom Wopat in Annie Get Your Gun at the age of nine. Roles in the MCC Theater's off-Broadway run of Carrie, the national touring company of Sister Act, and the Nashville production of The Nutty Professor would follow.
Blair -- who won WOR Radio's 2007 Shining Star Competition and the 2010 Lotte Lenya Competition -- has Long Island roots, having grown up in Plainview, While currently residing in Manhattan, she often spends her off-time on the Island. Blair kindly tackled some Q&A for No Place Like Long Island between Kinky Boots performances. She can be followed directly via Twitter and her website.
You live and work in Manhattan, but grew up in Plainview. What sort of role does Long Island play in your daily life?
BG: Long Island plays a huge role in my life, still! My parents and my in-laws live there, and now that I have a new baby, my husband and I try and get out there as much as humanly possible. I also have a slew of friends who are still located out there, so on my days and nights off, we will often go out there for dinner dates. Long Island always has a big part of my heart -- for my birthday that just passed, my husband and I went out wine-tasting on the North Fork!
Have you encountered any other Long Islanders in any of the Broadway and national shows you've been a part of?
BG: Absolutely, one of my current Kinky Boots castmates is from Manhasset! As children, we Long Islanders were blessed to be so close to the city, that seeing Broadway shows was part of any theater-obsessed kid's life. Hence, a bunch have gone into it professionally, and I've certainly worked with a fair amount of them!
What's the best concert you ever saw on Long Island?
BG: I have to admit I'm not a huge concert goer, as I'm usually in a show and have a conflicting schedule. But I DID see the Spice Girls reunion concert at Nassau Coliseum, and it was, well, epic.
Do you have a favorite restaurant on the Island?
BG: My husband introduced me to Maroni, in Northport Village, and I have to say it truly lives up to the hype. It is a must-try for a special occasion!
Who was the last celebrity that you were shocked to learn was from Long Island?
BG: This shouldn't have surprised me as much as it did, but Amy Schumer being from the Island was a shock to me. I guess once I knew that information, it was so obvious to me every time I heard her talk after that. What got me even more was when I found out a friend of a friend was good buddies with her in high school and showed me some class photos. Pretty cool!
Where do you stand on the debate that the North Shore has better beaches than the South Shore?
BG: Oh, South Shore wins, hands down. Jones Beach is my JAM! Sorry, North Shore...
Finally, Blair, what do you wish more people knew about Long Island?
BG: I wish people knew how simple it is to get out there from New York City. Penn Station is right in Midtown and you can get to every town pretty easily. There are some pretty special towns out there -- Montauk, Huntington, Long Beach, the wineries, the shopping -- go explore!
