"It's never too late to be what you
might have been."

Few phrases ring truer to Pat Whiteman's heart than 19th century poet George Elliot's. Through life's bumps, curves and struggles, the words have inspired her to return to the path she should have traveled all along.

Originally from Pittsburgh, PA, Pat danced around the living room as a little girl singing and making up lyrics while her concert pianist father accompanied her.

In 8th grade, an encouraging teacher discovered Pat's vocal ability and by high school, she began writing her own songs, winning local and regional talent contests and headlining as the lead singer of two bands. Her early college career found her in another band and performing solo coffeehouse gigs on campus and in the local community.

Pressured to choose a traditional career path, Pat reluctantly entered the corporate world but fell musically silent and rarely sang or performed. Eager to fulfill her creative desires, she began taking voice lessons and soon landed parts in such theatrical productions as Into the Woods and Do Black Patent Leather Shoes Really Reflect Up?. Pat went on to have starring roles in Pump Boys & Dinettes, Smoke On The Mountain, Nunsense II and Godspell. She also began teaching and coaching other singers, doing voice-overs and caught the eye of a Chicago-based producer who used her as lead vocalist on a variety of national and regional jingles.

Supportive friends encouraged Pat to take her talents to the next level and helped her make a major decision. She sold nearly everything she owned and journeyed to California.

Overwhelmed and in culture shock, Pat didn't know where to start. But after seeing Carolyn Mignini's name three times in industry publications, she took it as a sign and made a call. It would prove a fateful choice. She began studying voice with Mignini and taking her musical performance classes. In October 2003, Pat performed for an enthusiastic group of LA-based actors, singers and guests at Pacific Resident Theater in Venice, CA. It had been seven years since she sang in public.

After a stint at the Vermont Restaurant in Hollywood in July 2004, and a mini-cabaret performance in November that year, she made her cabaret debut with, "The Music of Your Life" at the famed Gardenia Supperclub in Hollywood on May 19, 2005.

On the heels of her successful debut, Pat became an instructor in the Department of Entertainment Studies at UCLA Extension teaching its Finding Your Voice Workshop and began building a thriving private voice studio.

In April 2008 composer/lyricist Carol Hall (Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, Free To Be...You and Me) heard Pat in an intimate studio performance and immediately called Erv Raible, cabaret coach, director, publicist and Executive/Artistic Director of the Cabaret Conference at Yale University. Pat was accepted based on Carol's recommendation and attended the nine-day conference. There, she met and worked with such luminaries of the cabaret world as Julie Wilson, Jason Graae, Sharon McNight, Alex Rybeck and Sally Mayes.

Upon returning from the Conference, Pat did a workshop of her next show but needed some help to take it to the next level. Having had a great learning experience with Jason Graae at the Cabaret Conference she emailed him to see if he would meet to discuss the show. After a two-hour meeting he was moved by Pat's ability and promise as a performer and agreed to direct her show. It would be his first directing stint.

Graae paired Pat with Michele Brourman, singer/songwriter, winner of the Johnny Mercer songwriting award and frequent collaborator with Amanda McBroom. The trio worked to create Pat's second show, "The Mood I'm In," showcasing Pat's vocal and emotional range, which debuted May 7 & 8, 2010 at the Gardenia Supperclub in Hollywood to sold out houses and received excellent reviews. Pat played to an enthusiastic audience in Palm Springs in October 2010 and is extremely excited to be making her New York debut at the Metropolitan Room in 2011.