Stephanie J. Block shocked me last weekend!

Chelsea here!

I saw Stephanie J Block in concert last weekend here in Raleigh, North Carolina. What a voice, what a gift, what a DIVA!

And what a hilarious mishap she had onstage, that probably would have leveled me with embarrassment...!

One of the stories she shared (in addition to how she developed the role of Elphaba in Wicked before Idina Menzel was ever attached to the role!), was about how she was up for the role of Fanny Brice in a revival of Funny Girl many years ago. That production never materialized and she ended up losing out on the part to someone else, but that has not stopped her from singing "Don't Rain On My Parade" at every concert performance she's ever done. 😂

And lucky for us because did she TEAR THE HOUSE DOWN with this performance, or what. Full body chills.

But what took the number over the top, what had us on our feet and cheering by the end of the song, was the aforementioned embarrassing mishap.

Partway through the number, the sole of her high-heeled shoe broke off–the entire bottom half of her shoe.

There it was, lying limp onstage. I wasn't even sure what it was when I first noticed it.

Not long after, Stephanie saw it too. 😬

Instead of pretending that the elephant in the room wasn't there, she squatted down to pick it up–mid song, continuing to sing–and proceeded to make this broken sole the song's entire personality.

The sole was now a hat, now it was a puppet, now it was a magic wand, extending her already humongous gestures.

This poor broken shoe became the star of the show and we loved her for it.

We were on our feet before she finished singing and I knew, because I felt it all around me: we all fell a little bit (more) in love with Stephanie J Block.

I had a lot of takeaways from witnessing her onstage that night. She's truly a master at her craft and her warmth, care, and artistry shines through in everything she does.

But my takeaway from her broken shoe moment was this:

Things are going to go wrong. Don't pretend they didn't. We'll connect with you more because you showed us your humanity.

If I sound like a broken record, I DO NOT APOLOGIZE:

People don't connect with perfection! They connect with humanity.

Be kind to yourself, and the next time something goes wrong (and it will, so just plan for it ahead of time!), don't be afraid to acknowledge it or handle it with poise and gumption. You will get through it, and it might make for a hilarious thing to connect with someone about.