CARMEL — Michele McConnell doesn’t care for the word busy. She prefers big.
“Busy is negative and limiting, and people don’t want to touch that,” she said. “Big sounds inviting and like there’s room to grow.”
With that definition in mind, Michele McConnell, a Broadway star, has had a big life.
With 30 years of performance under her belt, McConnell, a Mt. Vernon High School graduate, is coming home for the holidays — and performing in the Festival of Carols with the Indianapolis Symphonic Choir and the Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra.
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McConnell has already performed once with the group at the Warren Performing Arts Center in early December. Additional performances of the Festival of Carols at the Palladium, 1 Center Green in Carmel, are at 8 p.m. Friday, 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Saturday, and 3 p.m. Sunday.
A long-time family friend, David Duncan — a pianist for the choir — connected her with the Symphonic Choir. McConnell, who hasn’t often performed in her home state, was thrilled with the opportunity — and the chance to spend Christmas with her family for the first time in 12 years.
After graduating from high school, McConnell studied music education at Butler University. But rather than immediately going into teaching, she was open to opportunities to see the world.
“I had far too much wanderlust to go into a school right away,” McConnell recalls. “I wanted to get out and see the world.”
Her first stop was as a performer at Busch Gardens-Williamsburg, a theme park in Virginia.
“I had all this classical training,” she said with a laugh, “but I had student loans to pay.”
One door opened another. The job at the theme park led to cruise ship work, where she was paid to perform, travel and see the world.
“It really broadened my horizons,” McConnell said.
Despite being in a field as inconsistent and unconventional as show business, McConnell’s philosophy of life carries her through.
“I’m a big advocate of when a beautiful opportunity is presented to you, go explore it! Why should you not?” she said.
Some of the best decisions she’s made, she asserted, came from things she never expected to do. McConnell spent time in San Diego before deciding to explore opportunities in New York, because — per her philosophy — “If you’re going to pursue this, think as big as possible.”
McConnell found steady work — off-Broadway, national tours — but it was 14 years before she landed a role in a Broadway production.
The picture of persistence, McConnell auditioned for “Phantom of the Opera” 12 times before being offered a role in the ensemble. She had her eye on the part of the lead, Christine Daae, but when she was bumped up from the chorus to Carlotta — the jealous and spoiled diva of the house opera company — she realized Carlotta was the best part for her.
McConnell donned the wigs and sparkling beaded gowns of Carlotta Giudicelli eight shows a week for 7 1/2 years — if you do the math, that’s 2,228 performances — before stepping down from the role. She was a part of the cast for such milestones as the 10,000th Broadway performance and the 10th anniversary of “Phantom of the Opera,” moments that she wouldn’t have missed for the world.
Following the Festival of Carols, McConnell’s next stop is a concert with the Utah Symphony in February.
“I know I had a wonderful career and experiences,” McConnell said, “and I’m excited to see where the next chapter leads me.”
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Festival of Carols
featuring the Indianapolis Symphonic Choir and the Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra
The Palladium at One Center Green, Carmel
8 p.m. Friday, 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Saturday, and 3 p.m. Sunday
Ticket prices range from $25 to $54
Visit thecenterpresents.org for more information
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