. >> reporter: it's a procedure many professional singers, like enkenje here are familiar with.g in "motown" the musical on broadway and she's been struggling with throat issues. >> what we see here first is what looks like an upper respiratory infection. understand that this is not terrible and the most important thing for me is your reflux isn't so bad. >> all right. >> reporter: as somebody who is starring in a broadway show, when you feel like your voice may be about to go, how stressful is that? >> very stressful. absolutely. because you're in the middle of a show. there's 1,500 people out there. if you are starting to feel it, then you have to sort of try and compensate differently in how you sing the rest of the show. in order to get through it. >> reporter: she will recover with some extra rest. in fact, dr. kaufman stresses that rest and eating healthy are the keeps to a healthy voice. is it simply the case that as we get older, our vocal chords wear out? >> if you sing hard, you tend to get some scarring. >> reporter: and mariah sings hard. >> chef doeshe does. >> repo