I am so excited to be catching up with Bistro-Award winning Singer & Actress Wendy-Lane Bailey who is getting ready to debut her new show, celebrating the music of award-winning songwriter Michele Brourman, at the Spring 2026 United Solo Festival in NYC.

I always love chatting with Wendy-Lane because she is one of the premier interpreters of Michele's music & gives such great insight into the meaning behind Michele's songs.

In this interview, Wendy-Lane once again answered my call, but this time around, she shares:

• The evolution from She Has Wings to Remembering My Dreams: The Michele Brourman Songbook & what makes this new show distinct
• Why Michele Brourman's songs speak to her & why they land so powerfully with audiences
• The creative heart of the new show & what she wants audiences to take away
• Capturing the material in two forms (live show & new album) & how her interpretations & emotional impact differ on stage vs in the studio
• Dreams she's still chasing & the one she's proud of achieving
• So much more

Connect with Wendy-Lane: Website, Facebook, Instagram

In Remembering My Dreams - The Michele Brourman Songbook, Bistro Award–winning actor and singer Wendy-Lane Bailey takes a deep dive into composer Michele Brourman’s catalog. The result is an evening of songs that brings the audience into the heart and soul of a writer who illuminates the human condition in all its complex glory.

Working with Brourman herself as arranger and adviser, along with director Omar Sangare, the song cycle presents a musical universe in which dreams are lost, found, and reinvented.

With Music Director Beth Falcone and Ritt Henn on bass.

Award-winning composer Michele Brourman’s songs have been recorded by musical legends including Reba McEntire, Olivia Newton-John, Corbin Bleu, Donny Osmond, Dame Cleo Laine, Michael Feinstein, and countless others. Her work for film, television, and theatre—often created in collaboration with longtime partner Amanda McBroom—includes music for HBO’s The Great Lillian Hall, starring Jessica Lange and Kathy Bates, as well as the beloved animated classics The Land Before Time series, Balto, and Curious George, among many other notable productions.

Wendy-Lane Bailey will be performing Remembering My Dreams - The Michele Brourman Songbook for 4 shows only: March 17, March 31, April 3, April 9, 2026 all shows at 7pm at Theatre Row in NYC. Click Here for tickets!

Connect with United Solo Festival: Website, Facebook, Instagram

1. This March & April you are performing your show, Remembering My Dreams: The Michele Brourman Songbook as part of the Spring United Solo Festival. How does this show differ from your previous production, She Has Wings, which also celebrated the music of Michele Brourman? Remembering My Dreams evolved from She Has Wings. The wonderful thing about running a theatre festival is that you have a place to develop a show from the ground up.

Omar Sangare (United Solo’s Founder/Artistic Director & the director of this show) and I took full advantage of that. We started with just a handful of songs, and over the past few seasons we’ve added more, fine-tuned the arrangements, the staging and the visuals until it felt exactly right to us.

2. What was the first song you knew had to be in this show? I’ve always had a running list of Michele’s song on my “To Do” list, but if there was one that was a jumping off point for this piece, I think I would have to say it was “She Has Wings".

3. Why did that song kick things off for you? It’s transcendent. Michele’s music and Adryan Russ’ lyrics encapsulate the joy and terror of casting off expectations and become the person you were meant to be.

In order to soar you have to trust your inner voice and get rid of all that weighs you down. To capture that in a few bars of music is nothing short of a miracle.

Wendy-Lane Bailey Performing
Photo Credit: John Osborne

4. As one of the premiere interpreters of Michele's music, what do you feel is the reason her music resonates with so many people? Michele has a ferocious intellect, passion for craft, and deep emotional connection to people combined with being a superlative musical story teller which makes for an irresistible combination.

We love her songs because we can see ourselves in them. To hear her songs is to feel seen and understood. Plus, they are some of the lushest melodies you’ll ever experience.

5. What do you hope audiences come away with after seeing you perform this show? I certainly hope they walk away with as much love for Michele’s music as I have.

But beyond that - we are in uncertain times, I want to present them with a world in which, even though things can be hard and sometimes we abandon our dreams or vice versa, we can reinvent them and ourselves.

I want people to leave feeling there is hope even when things seem their very darkest.

Wendy-Lane Bailey Performing 2025 United Solo Festival
Photo Credit: Dan Lane Williams

6. In addition to performing this show live on stage, you are going to be heading into the recording studio to make an album of these songs. Why is now the right time to make a new album? I say in the show that “Songs are funny things, they don’t change but we do”. The first time you sing a song is very different from the fifteenth or five hundredth time.

When you are working with marvelous material there is always more to learn and discover. I like to live with a song a bit before I record it.

I have lived in these tunes for a while now, and I feel the time is right. Also, I love this show so much I want to have a permanent record of it.

7. How do you feel your interpretation of these songs will be felt differently between your live shows & recording sessions? As I said, songs are constantly changing as I change, I don’t think anyone ever learns all a song’s secrets.

Recording is an intimate process. It is akin to performing for an audience of one. Going from a theatre full of people to a vocal booth with just me and my microphone I discover the song in new ways.

I still bring all the things I’ve learned in performing it for an audience, but it gives me the chance to go even deeper.

Wendy-Lane Bailey
Photo Courtesy of Wendy-Lane Bailey's Social Media

8. Since the show is called, Remembering Your Dreams, what is one dream you have had that you still want to fulfill? Ooooohhh! Tough One! Since I am a Solo Theatre Addict I would love to create a solo show that runs at the Public Theatre. And there may be one or two people on my dream list of collaborators that I’ve yet to work with.

9. What is one dream you had, that you think about everyday, grateful & thrilled, you achieved? I am enormously grateful to be doing what I love in the city that I love with people I love and adore. In his song “Grateful” John Bucchino says, “In a City of Strangers, I have a family of friends”, and I do. That is everything to me.

Wendy-Lane Bailey, Theatre Row in NYC
Photo Credit: Juliet Morrison

10. What is something we didn't get to talk about in this interview that you'd like my audience to know about you? How much time do you have? 😂

In all seriousness. Omar named United Solo because while we may be alone on stage it takes a community to create. Before I go, I want to acknowledge all the people who have helped me put this show together.

First and foremost, Michele Brourman and her collaborators Amanda McBroom, Adryan Russ, Hillary Rollins, and Karen Gottleib. They have created music that brings peace to my soul, joy to my heart and excitement to my vocal cords.

Omar Sangare, my director, who encourages me to step out into the unknown, and take risks at every turn, and who celebrates my every win.

Musical Director/Vocal Coach/pianist extraordinaire Beth Falcone and Bassist Ritt Henn, you are my favorite orchestra.

Our United Solo team, especially Emily Wong and Crys Pascale who I couldn’t live without.

The team at Theatre Row.

And finally my spouse, Ross Bailey, who has been a bastion of love, support and baked goods.

Next time you see a solo performer (and I do hope it’s me) think of all the people who have made that show happen. I do every time I step on stage and I am forever grateful.

More Wendy-Lane Bailey Interviews:

2022 (Read Here): Flying Solo with Great Collaborators

Wendy-Lane Bailey, Photo Credit: Bill Westmoreland

More on Wendy-Lane Bailey:

Wendy-Lane Bailey is a singer, actor, and storyteller whose work lives at the intersection of music and theatre.

Trained as an actor at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and HB Studios in New York City, Wendy-Lane brings a strong narrative and character-driven approach to every performance, treating each song as a short play with its own plot and emotional arc.

Wendy-Lane's original one-woman theatrical piece with music, Hot Coffee, Mississippi, created in collaboration with Michele Brourman and Gretchen Cryer, draws on the vivid Southern stories she grew up with.

Wendy-Lane has performed in major venues across the country, including The Kennedy Center, Blues Alley, and Signature Theatre in Washington, DC; Town Hall, Symphony Space, and The Metropolitan Room in New York City; The Gardenia in Los Angeles; The Blue Room in New Orleans; Odette’s in New Hope, PA; as well as numerous house concerts and private engagements.

Wendy-Lane is also a frequent collaborator with Jason Graae, proudly appearing as one of his “Foie Graaes.”

In addition to live performance, Wendy-Lane has been featured as a guest vocalist on several recordings, including Susan Egan’s Winter Tracks and Lesley Gore’s track on Carol Hall’s Hallways.

Her own debut EP, Breathing, was produced with arranger, accompanist, and co-producer Michele Brourman, alongside Stephan Oberhoff.

Beyond the stage and studio, Wendy-Lane has contributed to the cabaret and music community as founder of a regional networking organization for musicians in Washington, DC, and as Associate Director of the Cabaret Conference at Yale University for six years, supporting artists in developing and refining their work.