For this performer, when all else fails? Reinvent yourself.
Christine Hudman Pardy had achieved the artist鈥檚 dream: a聽passion-filled career and聽financial stability. But when the pandemic hit and she lost it all, she turned inward to face her external circumstances. Episode 2 of our podcast 鈥淪tronger.鈥�
Las Vegas prides itself聽on聽being the entertainment capital of the world. For performer Christine Hudman Pardy, this was the type of place聽where聽she could embrace her dream. As the lead female vocalist聽for 鈥淟e Reve,鈥� a premier show at the Wynn Las Vegas, she provided an experience of escape and wonder to聽a聽global audience.听聽
鈥淵ou have these insane, chaotic days and then you come into the theater, and you鈥檙e still,鈥� Ms. Hudman Pardy says. 鈥淎nd we get to take you on this magical ride for a couple of hours. And you leave changed.鈥�
All that聽came to a halt in March 2020 when her show closed. Her husband, a drummer on Broadway, also lost his job. The two have been almost entirely without work for more than a year, surviving on savings and unemployment, trying to navigate pandemic life with their three teenagers.听For Ms. Hudman Pardy,聽losing her dream job was made even more painful because of what came with it: a loss聽of her sense of self and artistic expression.
And yet even as she wrestles with the challenges of the year, her drive to grow pushes her to reinvent herself聽yet again.
鈥溾�楲e Reve鈥� was such a highlight of my career. But what do you do when the show closes?鈥� she says. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a reckoning within you. There has to be. What is the next dream? It鈥檚 not done for me.鈥澛�
This is Episode 2 of our podcast 鈥淪tronger,鈥� which highlights what women have lost to this pandemic and how they鈥檙e winning it back. To learn more about the podcast and find other episodes,聽please聽visit our page.听
Episode transcript
Jessica Mendoza: This is Christine Hudman Pardy. She鈥檚 an actor, singer, performer. And until March 2020 she was the lead singer at 鈥淟e Reve,鈥� the signature theater production at the Wynn Las Vegas.听
Samantha Laine Perfas: The show was a big deal 鈥� it had a cast and crew of about 275 people, won a bunch of awards. It was the only show in Las Vegas that featured a theater in the round in water.听
[Music from聽]
Mendoza: We鈥檝e never seen the show live, but we found some videos online. And it鈥檚 pretty amazing. There鈥檚 people doing backflips and somersaults. Elaborate fountains and soaring music and fire exploding out of the water. It all feels like a really intense dream.
Laine Perfas: Which is kind of appropriate, because 鈥淟e Reve鈥� means 鈥渢he dream鈥� in French.听
Mendoza: The show ran for 15 years, more than 6,000 performances. Christine had been the main female vocalist since 2018 and loved it.听
Laine Perfas: And then .听
[Theme music]聽
Laine Perfas: I鈥檓 Samantha Laine Perfas.
Mendoza: And I鈥檓 Jessica Mendoza. This is 鈥淪tronger.鈥澛�
Laine Perfas: We hear from six women about what they鈥檝e lost to this long, painful pandemic 鈥� and how they鈥檙e winning it back.听
[Theme music]聽
Mendoza: Today鈥檚 episode: The Artist.
Laine Perfas: That鈥檚 Christine and her husband Mark at their home in Las Vegas. Mark also works in show biz, as a professional drummer.
Mendoza: We visited them at the end of April. And they showed us some souvenirs they kept from past shows.听
Mendoza: They鈥檙e raising three teenagers together: Jack, Harper, and Griffin.听
Laine Perfas: And also two dogs, Leo and Lizzie.听
Mendoza: Christine herself is very warm 鈥� and also blonde and fabulous and a little larger than life. Kind of what you鈥檇 expect from a performer.听
Laine Perfas: But the past year has taken its toll on her. We all know: live shows were some of the first things the pandemic took from us, in terms of shared experiences.听
Mendoza: Things are starting to look up for the industry now. But that doesn鈥檛 change the fact that Christine and Mark had basically no work for more than a year.听
Laine Perfas: We鈥檝e all said we miss going to concerts and shows and having all these shared experiences that we took for granted. But for Christine that sadness and empathy never seemed to extend to the people who bring those experiences to us. People like her and her husband, and their friends.听聽
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Mendoza: Before we hear more from Christine, a little of bit of context. We first started reporting this series because we wanted to look up close at the personal, real ways that this pandemic recession has affected women. We knew that the parts of the economy that were hit hardest were those that rely on in-person services and events. Those also happen to be industries where women are overrepresented.听
Laine Perfas: So we went to a place that depends a lot on those industries 鈥� a place with a lot of Christines.听
Mendoza: That鈥檚 Suzanne Chabr茅.听
Mendoza: Ms. Chabr茅 was also an executive in the gaming industry for many years. And she鈥檚 a Vegas native. So she gets entertainment and its role in the city.听聽
Laine Perfas: In 2019, 1 in every 4 employees in Nevada worked directly in leisure and hospitality. That鈥檚 to the Nevada Resort Association.听
Mendoza: A huge chunk of those workers are in Las Vegas. Especially on the Strip, which is the big center of hotels and casinos on Las Vegas Boulevard. Every year, the Strip by itself in revenue.
Laine Perfas: So when a pandemic hits and 鈥�
Laine Perfas: Last bit of data here, we promise. In February 2020, Nevada鈥檚 unemployment rate was at . Fairly normal. In March, when Christine Hudman Pardy lost her job, . By April of 2020, . The highest in the country at the time.听
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Mendoza: So that was Las Vegas. It wasn鈥檛 the only place in the country that struggled. It wasn鈥檛 even the only place in the country where artists struggled. But the city鈥檚 experience with the pandemic paints a pretty stark picture of how people like Christine were affected. When we first met her back in March 鈥撀�
Laine Perfas: 鈥� through Zoom, where else 鈥撀�
Mendoza: 鈥� it was right around the anniversary of when her show closed.听
Laine Perfas: The blow to the family finances was really hard. But the other, almost more painful part in some ways, was that 鈥淟e Reve鈥� was special to her. For a lot of reasons.听
Mendoza: For one thing, it let her be a mom in a way that was pretty rare in show business, especially live performances.听 聽
Laine Perfas: Although she was doing two shows a night, five nights a week 鈥撀�
Mendoza: Working for a company like the Wynn also had its benefits, literally.听
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Laine Perfas: There was one more thing that made Le Reve special. Although she loves Vegas, it took Christine years to figure out how she fit into the fabric of this very young, very hip town. As a woman and as an artist.
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Mendoza: To have achieved the artist鈥檚 dream and then lose it all in a pandemic was crushing. And she saw it happening to everyone around her.
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Laine Perfas: But in spite of that, Christine is determined to see the glass half full. She has this philosophy. A kind of guiding principle that she applies to her life and to her work and to being a woman. She said it a lot when we talked, which made it hard to forget:
Mendoza: 鈥淐onstant reinvention.鈥� It鈥檚 an idea that鈥檚 core to who Christine is. It鈥檚 the belief that even when seasons end, or life takes a wicked turn, it鈥檚 just a new beginning. A way to grow and to evolve.
Laine Perfas: You might be able to tell from her drawl, but Christine grew up in a small town in Texas 鈥�
Mendoza: In high school she auditioned for her first role at a professional theater, in Dallas.听
Laine Perfas: It鈥檚 kind of the quintessential small-town girl to big-star story: Christine went to New York, majored in theater, and eventually began touring in musicals. That was the first time Christine reinvented herself.
Mendoza: After she鈥檇 been performing professionally for a few years, she landed a role in 鈥淭he Full Monty.鈥� That鈥檚 a musical about, er, dancers at Chippendales.
Laine Perfas: After that show, Christine started to think about what was next.听
Mendoza: Her husband at the time had a promise from a friend of steady work in Las Vegas. So off they went 鈥撀�
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Laine Perfas: Christine realized she had to reinvent herself again: This time from full-time performer to (almost) full-time mom.听
Mendoza: That period had a lot of ups and downs. Christine loved being a mom. But then she and her first husband got divorced. She reconnected with Mark, whom she鈥檇 known a long time. Eventually they got married.听
Laine Perfas: But like a lot of women who take time away from work to focus on relationships and parenting, Christine struggled to find her groove again.听
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Laine Perfas: After years of short term gigs, Christine landed the role at 鈥淟e Reve鈥� in 2018. It was a turning point for her career, but also for her as a parent. By then her kids were in their teens. Mark was on tour a lot 鈥撀�
Mendoza: Like in the summer of 2019, for example 鈥�
Mendoza: So Christine had to reinvent herself one more time 鈥� this time as basically a single mom working full time.听
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Mendoza: In the afternoon, around 2, 2:30, she鈥檇 pick up the kids from school. She would take them home, show them where dinner was, make sure homework was getting done.
Laine Perfas: And this is not throwing on a sweater for a Zoom meeting 鈥�
Mendoza: 鈥� you know, like what we do 鈥�
Laine Perfas: 鈥� it鈥檚 full hair, full makeup, outfit for the stage. And once all that was done 鈥�
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Laine Perfas: So when the pandemic happened, Christine almost didn鈥檛 mind, at least at first. Suddenly her husband was home. She was spending actual quality time with her kids.
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Mendoza: But it got harder to laugh as the months went by. Shows stayed closed. Venues pushed back reopening again and again, even when other businesses 鈥� airlines, restaurants 鈥� began to slowly open back up. And unfortunately it鈥檚 easy to see why.听
Laine Perfas: 鈥淟e Reve鈥� had hundreds of cast and crew members, elaborate props, all kinds of things that need to be funded. Even the water costs money to maintain.听
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Mendoza: And that鈥檚 where Christine was a year into the pandemic. Asking herself questions that were difficult but also familiar: 鈥淎m I still an artist if I鈥檓 not performing? What happens next?鈥澛�
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Laine Perfas: That reckoning, for Christine and for her family, after the break.听
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Mendoza: When we left Christine, she was asking herself what happens next. How would she 鈥� and her family 鈥� deal with what the pandemic has done to their finances, to their careers, to their futures?聽
Laine Perfas: We caught up with her in real life a few weeks later, to see how she was doing, and to see if she鈥檇 been able to answer any of those questions yet.听
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Laine Perfas: And there are some bright spots ahead, even if they鈥檙e uncertain in the way that everything about pandemic life has been uncertain. Just before our trip to see her, Christine had told us that she and Mark had been offered jobs in a summer production of 鈥淢amma Mia!鈥�.
Mendoza: But thankful as she was to finally get to be onstage again, it turned out that the best thing about the job offer had nothing to do with the job itself.听
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Mendoza: You know, Sam, I鈥檓 not a mom but I don鈥檛 think you have to be to really get where Christine is coming from. She said this before, you know, that as a woman there鈥檚 always going to be someone smarter, younger, prettier, thinner 鈥� and even though you know better in your mind, right? You know that you are good at what you do. You know that you鈥檙e enough. You know that you鈥檙e allowed to evolve and to be more and to dream. Sometimes it can be so hard to believe that in your heart. Or your gut. And it just makes me feel so good inside to see someone like her, who鈥檚 been dealt such a rough hand this year, and she鈥檚 still fighting to make it work.听
Laine Perfas: I completely agree, Jess. And I know for me, I can definitely relate to this feeling of not being enough鈥� like all the blood, sweat, tears you put into everything that you do 鈥� and聽it just always feels like it falls a little short. So to hear her put that into words, that feeling that I think many women wrestle with鈥� uh. And then her son! Oh my gosh 鈥� dang. That even when you feel like your work and effort is invisible, the people around you see it and they love you for it. And it makes it all worth it.
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One thing I鈥檓 really hoping comes through in this series is that we鈥檙e all going through this together, you know?聽
Mendoza: Don鈥檛 cry, Sam.
Laine Perfas: You鈥檙e the one who cried!
Mendoza: Who, me? Crying鈥檚 for men! (Just kidding, I cried a lot working on this episode.)聽
Laine Perfas: I mean let鈥檚 be honest, we鈥檝e cried a lot this whole series. But I think that鈥檚 so great about hearing from real people 鈥� that stepping into each other鈥檚 stories can get us to that place of connection and moving forward.
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[Theme music]聽
Mendoza: Thanks for listening! Next time on 鈥淪tronger鈥�: we hear from Yarleny Roa-Dugan, a labor and delivery nurse whose year was filled with challenges.听
Laine Perfas: But her biggest challenge? A dilemma that faced many frontline workers.
Laine Perfas: We hope you鈥檒l join us. And if you enjoyed this episode, please rate and review us! You can find all our episodes by searching for 鈥淪tronger鈥� on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and Stitcher. Or visit csmonitor.com/stronger.听聽
Mendoza: This episode was reported and produced by me, Jessica Mendoza.听
Laine Perfas: And me, Samantha Laine Perfas.
Mendoza: Edited by Clay Collins and Trudy Palmer. Sound design by Morgan Anderson and Noel Flatt.听
Laine Perfas: Additional audio elements from 鈥淟e Reve鈥� by Franco Dragone; 鈥淭he Full Monty鈥� by David Yazbek and Sony Music Entertainment; and Expedia Local Expert.听
Mendoza: Brought to you by 海角大神, copyright 2021.
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