Janice Gabriel definitely sees the silver lining in clouds. In her case, the cloud is the 140-mile roundtrip commute she makes daily from her home in Brewster, N.Y. to East Hartford and back. The silver lining is it gives the mezzo-soprano time to sing the Broadway music that she loves so much.
Gabriel recently joined Avid Marketing Group, an East Hartford-based marketing agency, as account manager. This newly created position is a result of a rise in business for the group, now entering its 23rd year of operation. Gabriel will be working on the Diageo account, as well as assisting with several other clients.
Gabriel is a member of AWNY (Advertising Women of New York) and is involved in musical theatre. She is currently serving as the vice president on the board of directors for Musicals at Richter in Danbury. In the last five years she has performed in five musicals: Fiddler on the Roof, Oklahoma!, Victor/Victoria, Wonderful Town and Music Man.
Bubbling below the surface is a dream to appear in a Broadway musical, but Gabriel knows a paycheck has to come before her aspirations.
“I’m pretty realistic and I know it’s a tough business,” she said, hesitantly adding, “There would be no time for tryouts. I love working with my community theater.”
Music was her original pursuit in college, until she found out her college didn’t offer it. “I wound up falling into an advertising class and loved it because it uses my creativity and English [major] background,” she said. “If I didn’t like it, I wouldn’t be making the long commute.”
She used to live in Georgia, which she praises for being family friendly but not conducive to building a career in advertising. “It’s a great place to raise a family, but in my field of work, it doesn’t have the best opportunities. Being around New York is the best thing for me,” said Gabriel, who added that her prior commute from Brewster to Wilton was shorter in distance, but not in time. “I’m becoming the pro at commuting,” she said.
