There's No Business Like It!

Show business is like a drug.

There is an emotional and chemical high that happens during a performance. When the performance is done, you either descend into a low state (Post-Show Depression) or you find another show to work on.

Personally, I find it easier to just keep a constant arsenal of shows in progress. Over the past decade, I have managed to maneuver my work and my life so that everything revolves around the shows.

Teaching voice lessons facilitates my addiction to show biz quite nicely. The focus of my teaching is to train performers, so I provide my students with many opportunities to perform in a variety of environments.

We just finished our fifth annual year end showcase, which we call Bouquet, at the Prince George Playhouse. Having an afternoon as well as an evening performance was pretty cool, although an exhausting day for everyone involved. The showcase wound up my 2008-09 season of teaching and zapped my energy.

Still, what a rush!

Now I am producing a show for one of my talented students, Isaac Smeele. He is a songwriter and skilled musician. I love his music and he always puts on a great performance.

The show is this coming Sunday at ArtSpace above Books & Co. It's going to be great!

The rest of my time is going into rehearsals for The Who's Tommy with Judy Russell. This rock opera will run July 21 - August 1, 2009. The people in this cast are not only terrific singers and performers, but are just really fun, down-to-earth humans. I know I am going to be sad when this show is over.

Fortunately, a dozen of my students will be performing daily at the PGX from August 12-16, so that should keep the show biz buzz going.

Then we are into another season of Dawn Boudreau Music with more organization of performances, including a weekend in October with 3 or 4 performances at The Twisted Cork in their banquet room. (Formerly The Waddling Duck, under new ownership.)

Always looking forward to the next production with anticipation. If I get tired of it, I'll take a break. Don't worry, Mom!

Hockey Player Good Luck Charm

Jean has been my hair stylist for over 10 years now. I can't remember exactly when I started visiting her, but it was well before the birth of her daughter who is now almost 8 years old.

When I recorded my first CD, Tinge of Tangerine, Jean and her friend Laurie came to the live recording show where it all began. Laurie came as Jean's date, because Jean's husband was "not really interested in jazz (or anything that doesn't involve ice and a puck)."

Of course, I made sure Jean had a copy of the CD when it was released in 2006. She told me it was nice mellow music to unwind to. I appreciated that comment and I believe I even used it as a quote in my promotion.

In the middle of this last haircut, Jean told me a story that made my year.

Her little girl was singing, as she often does, but she was singing one of the songs from my CD. Jean asked her where she had heard that, then realizing that she had not seen my CD for a while.

"Daddy plays it in the van all the time," her little girl answered.

Being that Jean has never been able to convince her husband to come to any of my performances, she was surprised by this. So she asked him about it.

His answer, after some digging on her part, was this:

He used to listen to Johnny Cash while on his way to play hockey, but his luck in the games had not been so good. So one night, he thought it was time for a change. He plugged Tinge of Tangerine into the CD player on his way to the game, and he had a good game! So he kept listening to it.

He then went on to list some of his favorites and said the music was relaxing on his way home from the game as well.

I figure, however I can win them over, even if it's superstition, one fan at a time.