The full story of Gina Feliccia
Mine is a story of voices. From my earliest memories, I sang. The more I sang,
the more I wanted to sing. And the moment I finished high school (and the
countless hours of training I’d had in voice, dance, and acting) I left my home in
San Diego to follow a Broadway dream. 5 years later—after New York City had
schooled me in survival and the industry had schooled me in the profession of
performance—I looked out at the audience from my first Broadway stage. I was
23.
It had been seven years of strive-and-grind when I realized I could no longer
ignore the persistent voice that rose from deep within me: the voice of my soul
(touched with a Sicilian accent) calling out for me to begin a family of my own. I
followed it back to San Diego, and within a few years I was married with two
daughters. I satisfied my singing voice with a new kind of creative endeavor: I
founded a non-profit. Big City Broadway was designed to connect professional
performers with students hungry to learn the ins and outs of the industry. The
voices were in harmony, and my life felt blissfully on track.
Until 2011. When the voice of ugly rumors whispered that my husband had been
unfaithful. And—just weeks later—the voice of a Neurologist formed a word I
could barely comprehend: “Mengianoma.” The infidelity was far too large for our
marriage to bear. The brain tumor, too large for any doctor in the San Diego area
to remove. My daughters were 4 and 5.
The raucous voices of my Big Fat Italian family and a tight-knight group of
dedicated friends rallied around me with love and support… as the still small
voice within guided me to assemble two thick binders: a black one labeled
“Divorce” and a white one, labeled “Brain Tumor.” It was the voice of God that
guided me to a Neurosurgeon who was up to the task.
Three brain surgeries, radiation, and one divorce later, the voices of gratitude
and grace guide my daily life. I am healthy and strong. I am married to a
wonderful, kind, resourceful man who loves and supports me, my daughters, and
my career. We live in Wyoming where the sky goes on forever, and life is
blissfully back on track.
Mine is a story of voices. And I’m blessed to be living life right out loud.