#230 - I Prayed for a Radio City Moment… And This Happened

Salisha is officially a mother. Baby Ajax is here!

And somehow… seven days after giving birth, she stepped onto the stage at Radio City Music Hall to sing Never Enough in Hugh Jackman’s show From New York, With Love.

And yes… she made it.

In this episode, Salisha shares:
• What the week between labor and Radio City actually looked like
• The emotional reality of recovering postpartum while preparing for one of the biggest moments of her career
• The prayer she prayed years ago and how it manifested in a way she never expected
• Why this year completely changed her perspective on what is possible
• What she hopes her son will one day understand about this chapter of her life
• The reminder that your dreams do not have to disappear just because your life changes

This episode is about motherhood, resilience, trusting yourself, and allowing life to surprise you in ways bigger than you planned for.

CHAPTERS

[00:23] Salisha officially becomes a mother
[01:01] Did she actually make it to Radio City?
[03:11] Why this performance meant so much
[05:21] Walking into the theater one week postpartum
[06:33] The first rehearsal on the Radio City stage
[10:03] Preparing backstage for the show
[14:25] The prayer before stepping onto the stage
[17:02] The moment everything shifted during the song
[21:02] The standing ovation and what it meant
[23:32] What she hopes her son will one day understand
[25:11] Being pregnant in New York City
[29:34] Relentlessly pursuing your dreams

@salishathomas @thesalishashow, www.thesalishashow.com

Many thanks to Gotham Network in NYC, TyNia Brandon for writing and laying vocals down for the updated theme song and Big Red Studios for the intro video wherever you watch the latest season of The Salisha Show!

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:21

Hello, what's up? It's me, Salish, and welcome back to the Silicia Show. We have been through all of the things since the last time I recorded, even though this might be one of our kickoff episodes, y'all. I have officially become a mother. What? What? What? Who? What? Okay, so what's the Dilio Biglio? Did we make it to October 3rd at Radio City? What is the answer, folks? Does anybody know the answer? The answer is yes. It's not even just a yes. The answer is a hell yes. Oh my God. Okay, so I'll probably make the birth story a different episode. And uh before we even get there, I will tell you it is not a traumatizing birth story, which was my biggest fear. It is actually one of joy and triumph and all good news, which I am so relieved about. But let's start with the end first. I well, I gave birth in September. Like I had a show at Radio City September 19th and 20th. I gave birth September 26th. And the week leading up to October 3rd was a challenge. I stayed in the hospital for two days. And when I when the epidural wore off and I stood up for the first time, I was able to stand for maybe 20 seconds before I was completely out of breath. Like I was overwhelmed with, oh my God, I don't, I can't really breathe. Like I could breathe, but it was like this huge hollow feeling that I actually didn't know what to, like it was a very odd, I've never felt that before type of feeling. Throughout that week, I slowly healed and I thought, am I going to be able to make it to October 3rd? And for those of you who are just tuning in and have no idea why I keep talking about Mean Girls Day, October 3rd. We wear pink. That was the day I was scheduled to be the soloist at Radio City for Hugh Jackman's show from New York with love. And I'm his backup singer. Um, there's a couple of us. And that was the day I was gonna, I was scheduled to sing Never Enough ever since January 2025. I've been waiting all year and we have known all year that I've been very pregnant. Am I going to make it to this day? I have no idea. But I have a lot of family and friends flying in. They have their tickets, they've spent good money so that they could be in the orchestra, the center orchestra on that day. And I've told everybody, hey, I don't know if I'm actually gonna make it to this show. I might be in the hospital, I might have just given birth the day before, I might go into labor that day. I'm due on October 8th. I don't know what's going to happen. So that is what is surrounding this whole October 3rd experience. Okay, now that we're caught up, it was September 26th when I gave birth. I'll get to that later. And it all the way until like all my family flew in October 1st. Uh, that part is already a blur. I don't know if I was able to visit because I was very kind of like out of commission. I do I feel like we had to make it to the pediatrician. Oh yeah. We went to the pediatrician the day before October 3rd. That's a big deal because we have to walk to the pediatrician with our baby boy, Ajax. They say, don't move around, don't leave bed, don't do anything, but now I have to walk to the okay, anyway. So yeah, we had a 10 to 15 minute walk to the pediatrician. And I remember thinking on that walk, this is not the easiest walk of my life. Also, not the hardest. The hardest walk of my life was when I had to walk to the hospital in active labor. Again, we'll get to that later. But so I walked to the pediatrician and I was like, hmm. I'm very exhausted. I wonder if I can perform tomorrow. October 3rd came. And I hadn't put makeup on. I hadn't been dressed like all week. And I and the team asked me to get to the theater later. Like everyone was called around noon or 2 p.m. But they said you can get to the theater at four. And they're like, we don't want you to exhaust yourself before the show. Ugh. Thinking about this, I'm like literally lactating. Um, so I get to the theater, everyone's already been there, and now they're like, hey, you're here. We're not gonna actually rehearse you. Do you want to sound check or do you just want to wing it tonight? I think that's what they said. And I said, you know what? I'm here. I would love to do a sound check. They said, Great, we're gonna have you do that right now. So immediately, like within a couple minutes from being on stage at Radio City for rehearsal, I was now like rehearsal, rehearsal stopped. I was center stage. And I'm sorry, I'm overwhelmed thinking about this because it was a lot to take in at the same time, it was a lot. I hadn't sung all week. I had sung the day before I gave birth at Patrick's apartment. Jim was there, like the music team was there just to make sure I was in good shape, and I was. I felt fantastic. I sang it in a couple different keys, and it felt good. I remember sitting there in that apartment thinking, I feel good about this. My voice was in a great place, and um there was just nothing but joy. I had no idea I was gonna go into labor late, late, late that night. But when I opened my mouth for the first, like I wasn't able to sing all week. So now I'm on stage, and all of my cast, they're in the wings and the orchestra, like the whole team. Hugh is sitting in the audience um with our producer, and everyone's just kind of like, okay, are we gonna be able to do this? And I sang through it the first time, and it was the lights were so bright, I really could not see. I couldn't see anything. And the my in-ears felt weird, they sounded weird, so I took them out. Long story short, the my first time singing through it was um, it was not perfect, but it felt good. I don't know how else to describe that. Like, I if you were to watch me on mute, it was a very grounded performance of like that's how I always watch things first. When people send me their audition videos, I always watch them on mute first because you can tell a person's energy so much without the sound. And I felt very present and grounded and like I was supposed to be there. That is how I felt vocally. I was like, oh, there's a frog. Oh, what is that? Oh, that note, I'm not sure what that is. And so after I sang it, I was like, Patrick, can we try the other key? And he is like, absolutely. And God bless that orchestra. How many people do we have? We there's at least 20, there's at least 20 or 30 members of the orchestra, and they all switched the key in the moment and gave me a different key, and I sang through it again, and I thought to myself, okay, I can do this. That night, everybody was very supportive. They gave me my own dressing room so that I could um, what is it called? I keep thinking they so I could milk myself. What is it called? Oh yeah, pump. Oh my gosh. So I could pump and like not breastfeed because my baby was not with me in the building, which was also very odd and very weird. Um, but I was able to um pump in a separate room. And I got to the when I got to the theater later that evening, there were so many gifts from fans, from casts, from from the team, from Hugh. And it just felt like so much love. I couldn't believe it. It felt like, wow, this baby has come into the world with so much love coming at him. And I was able to pump before the show. I was able to change, and I was wearing, I know nobody asked. Nobody asked, but I care about this. I actually was thinking about this all year. I was wearing granny panties and nothing, nothing, not that other stuff. So that was really important to me. If you know, if you've given birth, you know what I'm talking about. But I was able to like really feel like a human and feel really good. In fact, I was able to feel like that the since day one of giving birth, which I know is not everybody's case. Um, so I'm very grateful for that. Um, but we got dressed, we were able to do the show, and I we circled up that night. I might be getting my days mixed up now. No. Yes. Okay. We circled up, we got down to the stage early. We always do a full orchestra, dancers, singers, Hugh Jackman, the music team, everybody. Circle up before the show, and we just like put our hands in. Hugh says something inspirational, and then we go to our show. And Ryan Reynolds was casually backstage that night, and it was really, he's really funny, and I can't believe how tall he is. And Hugh was like, hey guys, Ryan's gonna be on stage the whole show tonight. Oh, wait, this was Saturday. Shoot. It's okay. This was the day after, but Ryan's gonna be on stage the whole show tonight. He was sit hiding in the orchestra the entire, the entire show, pretending to play the trumpet. I'm like, this is hilarious. And it feels like very much an inside joke between the two of them because no one in the audience is going to know, like, they're not gonna see this. No one is gonna see this. And it wasn't until the end of the show that he was like, he was like, Ryan, is that you? Are you in the band? And he like, I'm like, you could have brought him out five minutes before this bit, but instead he was on stage for over an hour. That is so funny to me. But I am sorry, I got ahead of myself. That was Saturday, um, Saturday night, Friday night, Bradley Cooper was backstage. It was Bradley Cooper, Kate Hudson, and um and their like a couple of their friends and family, and we were all circled up, and I was thinking, wow, this is so, this feels like a fever dream. I cannot believe I'm here. Hugh said something kind to me and about me and um before we went out there, and they gave me the option: do you want to do the whole show or do you want to just sing the solo and call it a day? I was like, thank God. I think I have it in me to do the whole show. And so I did. I had to change what I was wearing because nobody wants to see like a see-through mesh shirt without a pregnant belly. Like, who wants to see stretch marks? So I changed up my wardrobe, but I was able to go out there with my peers and it felt so freaking good knowing my friend, my friends, my family were out there. They were all out there. I could feel the love. And when it was time for me to um sing, it was a very nice introduction that Hugh gave, and it's on my Instagram. And I remember walking out there, and I wasn't afraid. And that's what I prayed for. I prayed that I that I wouldn't be afraid, and that I wouldn't be nervous about what people thought, and that I wouldn't waste this moment, this miracle, if I was able to actually get there. I would I didn't want to waste it caring about what anybody else thought. And I remember walking out there, and I think Hugh and I hugged, and then I stood at the microphone and I looked back at Patrick, like, are we doing this thing? And I looked out at the audience and I couldn't see anybody. Like, I have been on stage with bright lights before, but the Radio City stage lights on on center stage, that's the brightest I've ever seen. Any stage lights. I truly could not see a single person. And my in-airs couldn't hear anything except for the music and my voice. That was it. And I started off singing. And I I'd practiced this so many times in the mirror, I immediately reached for my belly because every time I practiced it, I had a bigger belly than the time I practiced it before. And I remember reaching for my belly, and there was nobody in there. It was the first, it was the moment that I first realized this is the first time that I have ever been on stage at Radio City without my son. And so I was singing to him. And I wasn't afraid. And my voice, as much as I wish I had time to retrain my voice for what it would feel like postpartum, I didn't have time for that. But it was still, it was good enough for me to show up to work. And good enough for me to feel like I belonged to be there. I belonged there. And something happened. The beginning of the song felt very intimate, very like, I'm just thinking about my son and Andrew and the audience, and my dad and my mom who flew out to New York. And then something happened in the middle of the song where it went from, I can't believe we're here right now, to we are freaking at Radio City! Yes, we freaking did it. And it was, it went from like I remember like Tony Robbins being at the Tony Robbins conference last year, and how go like changing your mindset to like a yes, yes, yes, yes. And just really fear, just having no place there. And that is the zone that we went into, and it felt freaking good. Like I just had no doubts in my mind. And I get to the song, I hit the big note, all the things. And after I hit the big note, I still couldn't see anybody in the audience, and I couldn't hear them cheering. I just was so grateful. I was so full of gratitude, and I was able to see one person in the front row stand up before I finished the song. And I wasn't sure what was happening throughout the whole audience. I could only see like one person over in the corner of my eye, and a few phones flicker. Like I could see a few people filming. And I I in like I'm thinking about it with like, I was able to watch people's video, videos like after the whole thing, and I could hear them cheering and everything. I couldn't really hear that in the moment, and I wasn't doing it for anybody, but in and except in that moment, I just was thinking, Thank you, Jesus. I years ago, years ago, I prayed. Sorry. Years ago, I prayed to God that I would get a moment at Radio City. I prayed that I would get to be highly featured at Radio City. That was my prayer. And when I prayed that, I was thinking I was being clever to God, saying that really I was really thinking when I was saying that, I was thinking, I want to, you know, be at the Tony Awards and, you know, be in a new show and get to be featured. That's what I was thinking when I prayed that. And for it to have manifested like this is something beyond my wildest dreams. I had no idea that when I prayed to be highly featured at Radio City, it would just be me and this incredible orchestra behind me, led by Patrick Vacriello, and that I would be introduced by Hugh Jackman, and that my entire cast would be in the wings watching, and that my whole family would and friends would be in the audience, and my in-laws would be in the audience. What like I had no idea that it was going to manifest like this. And this are these are all the things that I felt and remembered in that in that small pause between the note that I held out at the end of the song and the actual end, the end beat of the song. Um, the final, like, for me at the end of the song. I had no idea that I was going to feel and think and remember all of these things. And I started crying on the stage, and later I could see that I had a full standing ovation at Radio City Music Hall. What a dream come true. If that is not a dream come true, I don't know what is. I had no idea that I would be able to hold a job while being pregnant in New York City. And this year has broken every stereotype in my mind. It has broken all the molds that I that I thought were there. The things that I thought were possible or impossible, all of those things got thrashed and The crazy part for me is that I didn't get to watch somebody else do it. It was, it was happening, like I was a passenger watching in my own life, taking it month by month. Like, can I show up to this month's shows? Can I do next month? How about next month? Okay, we're getting pretty big. I had no idea that it was going to transpire like this, that I would be able to do all nine months of shows from January to October. Not only did I do the October 3rd show, the entire show, I came back this Saturday, the next day, and did both shows. That was not on the bingo card, but they said I could if I wanted to, and I did. I just needed to make sure that I could go home and hug and hold and kiss my baby boy because I did not want to be at work for 12 hours away from him. But knowing it was just a couple hours, then I could go home for a couple hours and then come back and then go straight home, I'm like, I can do that. And that is what I did. I'm so happy. My maternity leave began October 5th the next day, and I've been able to rest since then. I still need more rest in me, but here we are. Here we are. And as soon as I'm done recording here, you better believe I'm going to run home and get to hold my baby boy, Ajax Anthony Weiss. Honey, I love you so much. I know you won't be able to watch this or know that any of this is happening, but I hope that you know, I hope when you get old enough that you can turn back and look at this and be so proud of your mama because it is important to me. It is so important to me that that as my son, and I'm talking to you guys, that as my son grows up, he's able to watch his mom and his dad achieve their dreams, go for their dreams, live their dreams, go for their goals, and not give everything up because, oh, now life has to stop. No, no. I want to be able to take my son with me when I am doing a gig. I want him to grow up seeing his mom and dad work really hard and to enjoy and love what they are doing. And for him to know that it is possible to have a life that you love, that you have manicured, that you have um actively chosen, that you're not living life by default, that it that if you are living a life that you don't like, that you remember that you can make another choice to change, that as long as you're alive, you can start over, you can start fresh, you can make different decisions, you can have different actions, and that you deserve to live a beautiful, happy life. Or maybe it's different for other people. Maybe they want to live a badass life, maybe they want to live a sexy life, whatever that is, you are the captain and you get to, you get to decide that. I really, that is, that is very important to me. And so even though I was tired from January, I was really tired. It's probably the most exhausted I've ever been. It was never on my bingo card to be pregnant in New York. That sounds awful. And let me tell you, it is. It is terrible. It was literally the hardest thing I've ever done. I thought the hardest thing that I had ever done was to run a 26.2, what is it, 0.4, 26, over 26 miles a marathon. I did a full, a full marathon at 4 or 5 a.m. And then I ran because nobody would pick me up. I ran to the theater. This was in, oh my god, Ohio. Oh my gosh, I can't even Cincinnati. This was in Cincinnati, the flying pig marathon. I ran to the theater and then I did a two-show day. That I thought, I thought that was the hardest thing I ever done. Especially since I didn't train for that marathon. I truly just paid for it and showed up and beat my body and forced it to do this thing. And at mile 19, when I was in the most pain, I told myself, after 18 miles, I'm allowed to call my dad. Sorry, after 18 miles, I'm allowed to call my dad and just say hi. And that's exactly what I did. And he was laughing because he knew I was in pain. I thought that was the hardest thing I ever did. Wrong. Being pregnant in New York City and taking the stage every single month, except for February and March, because we didn't have shows then, uh, all the way to my term, and then a seven days postpartum, that is a marathon on crack. That to me, walking the streets of New York City, still striving to get my 10,000 steps every single day, riding the subway, being stuck on the subway sometimes, being so pregnant, that hardest thing I've ever done. Um being exhausted, but knowing I still have a few errands to run while pregnant, wild. The day before I gave birth, I missed the bus. And so I missed the bus from my OBGYN appointment to rehearsal. And so I ended up walking from Lexington Avenue to 10th Avenue. For my New Yorkers, you can go ahead and do the math, but it that's a few miles. I walked all the way from Lexington to 10th down 42nd Street. That was hell. That was terrible. I was very, very heavy. That is truly the heaviest I had ever been. I'd gained 50 pounds, five zero pounds, and was waddling across New York City. Thought that was the hardest thing I ever did. But it but being pregnant in this city has been so gratifying. And I truly believe that if it wasn't for as many steps as I was forced to get in this city, I don't think I would have had as smooth of a birth as I did. I'm I'm think you can if you're watching this episode, you can see me thinking, because I'm like, being pregnant in the city was the hardest thing I ever did. Well, there is a a distant thought in the back of my mind, and that is being in labor and walking down a busy street while in active labor. That might have topped it all, but um. But yes, this I always planned to be in California for at least for my third trimester, getting fat, putting my feet up, living my life, having people just like give like help me out with whatever I need. And New York City is much more of an independent kind of place. And Andrew was there for me. He really was helping me out. Strangers on the subway were helping me out, but still it was a lot of like, I'm I'm doing I'm doing this thing. So the things that I thought were impossible. Once again, God has served me a silver platter saying, Gotcha, that's possible as well. Gotcha again, Salish. He has blown my mind again, and I just keep thinking, God, what else do you have up your sleeve? How? How do you possibly keep topping yourself? What a year. I am grateful. And for those of you who are watching this right now and you are on the precipice of something great, you are, if you're in on in a fork in the road and you're thinking, I don't know if I can do this, I don't know if this thing is possible, you it's a cliche. We've heard this now. Impossible literally spells out, I'm possible. This is not new news. Whatever it is that you're thinking that you really want to happen, your dreams are valid. They're real. Do not give up on them. The only person, well, there's a lot of things that were out of my control for the this weekend that I just explained to you about. But I could have been the one to completely put me out of commission. People around me were like, maybe you should be on bed rest, maybe you should be bedridden, maybe all of these things. But at the end of the day, I was the one who made the decision, should I keep going or should I throw in the towel? So when when it is up to you, I want to encourage you to relentlessly pursue your desires and your goals and your dreams and live to tell the story. That's all I got. Thank you so much for tuning in. Until next week, that's all I got. I'm Salicia Thomas Weiss. This is the Salicia Show. Until next time.