#whenithappenstoyou

A writer, an actress, and yes, a jazz musician, 48-year-old Molly Ringwald has shown that she is not just a portrait, a female inspiration of 1980’s films, but a true American artist.

It is so easy for fans to profile a famous human being, only seeing them in a single frame of mind rather than a transformative work of art as the rest of us. I won’t lie, when I saw Molly Ringwald was playing at The House of Independence in Asbury Park this Mother’s Day, May 8, I was stoked, thinking of how I’d known her: “The Breakfast Club,” “Sixteen Candles,” “Pretty in Pink,” and “The Pick-up Artist.”

It’s interesting… how the way we think we knew people in high school may bleed into how we see just about anybody, but in this case, celebrities; in this case, Molly Ringwald.

“You know for me it is something that I have always done because I have been singing since I was 3 ½-years-old. It’s what I’ve done before acting, it’s just people know about it now,” said Ringwald.

Up on stage, Ringwald truly seemed to be in her element. With a pink bombers jacket draped around her shoulders, she said, “You might be wondering as to why I have this bombers jacket around my shoulders—It was my Mother’s Day present.” And of course, Ringwald was surely pretty in pink.

Asking the mothers of the audience if they received breakfast in bed, Ringwald chuckled at the number of raised hands and began her set.

Singing classics like Billie Holiday and Arthur Herzog Jr.’s “Don’t Explain,” I was coated in goosebumps. If only Billie could hear her, I thought.

“Beyonce` is not the only one that sings about betrayal although she is very good at it,” said Ringwald before singing.

Although a very rude fella in the front right section of the audience spoke through the beauty—the entire set—I stayed absorb into the velvet renditions upon me, and anyway, that man was eventually asked to leave.

It’s amazing how seeing another human in person can shake the confining corners of a magazine cover or a headline—and this is something I thought as I watched her, behind the inspiration of Ringwald’s voice and her–her simple presence.

Finishing her set with “Don’t You (Forget About Me)” by the Simple Minds, “The Breakfast Club” star said she was a little biased, without a notion as to how, but in the name of John Hughes, sang a brilliant jazzy cover of the classic teen movie’s finale song.

Gathering a standing ovation by the audience, Ringwald made her way from the stage to meet fans for signings of her debut jazz record, Except Sometimes.  

“I’m still acting, and I’m writing, and I’m singing. It’s just all mixed together, and it’s fun, and I think out of everything I do, it’s the most fun,” said Ringwald.

For more on Molly Ringwald follow her on social media and make sure to purchase her jazz record, Except Sometimes, her New York Times reviewed novel When It Happens To You: A Novel in Stories, and of course watch every Molly Ringwald film one can.