Magee Hickey, a reporter for WCBS-TV in New York, was recently profiled by Woman Around Town where she talks about her career (she’s up by 2:30am!) and her new singing hobby:

When the conversation turns to singing, Magee explains that, despite her high-profile profession, her biggest fear is singing into a microphone in front of an audience. For this reason, she tells the group, she’s enrolled in an evening cabaret class. Not only does she want to conquer her fears and learn “how to sing,” but she hopes to perform a few songs at her father’s birthday party in the spring. She tells me, “My husband was confused, he says, ‘We’ve been married for 26 years. I know you’re scared of singing. I can’t believe you’re doing this!’”

Nonetheless, she’s committed to the course, and plans to sing three Cole Porter songs at her class’s live performance on January 16th at the Don’t Tell Mama cabaret club in Manhattan, alongside the eight other students in the course. “The other seven are singers,” she admits, “with big voices… and then there’s me, with a little voice.” She smiles.

Where is she taking this cabaret class? She reveals in a later question:

What You Love About New York: The people, our spirit, resilience and plucky personalities. Practically everyone’s a tough, independent character, tough on the outside but with a mushy heart on the inside. I also love going to movies in the daytime. The noon show at the Lincoln Plaza is always packed. I want to ask, who are these people, and how do they have time to go to movies in the middle of the day? I also love the courses at the 92nd Street Y. Right now, I am taking Cabaret and tap dancing. The teachers Collette Black and Norma Curley are fantastic and so are my classmates. I love that you can stumble your way into a class and find this wonderful community of soul mates.

Tap dancing too! She’s a triple-threat. Her story is a familiar one for so many class experiences at 92Y where you can find a genuinely supportive and fun community of people who share their passions and conquer fears. Explore our class offerings here. 

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