by AMY BARRATT

Barbara Lewis has lived several lives. A teacher, performer, writer and recording artist, she continues to grow and change in mid-life. Her latest project is an original one-woman show, Crossroads, which she will perform in the Montreal Fringe Festival this month.

Trained as a classical singer, she initially thought she would have a concert career. But her teachers had other ideas. “I have this big voice,” says Lewis. “And I’m tall, and they thought I should go into opera.” So she trained as an opera singer in her 20s, with a number of people investing a lot of time, effort and money in her.

“When I went out and started to audition, I discovered what a despicable world it was,” she says. “You are told what to do, how to move, how to think, who to sleep with... I realized it wasn’t for me. At 30, I let a lot of people down when I pulled myself out of the operatic life. I still loved the music, but I wanted to say what I wanted to say.”

A strong desire to tell her own stories as opposed to interpreting other people’s led Lewis to become a songwriter, releasing several jazz, new age and worldbeat-inspired albums in the 1990s. “When I made that break, I didn’t even know if I could write songs, but I was lucky to have people, including my husband, encouraging me to follow my dream.”

Another life-altering point for Lewis came in 2004 when her husband and soulmate, investigative journalist Nicholas Regush, had a massive heart attack and died at the age of 58.

“When Nick died he was in the middle of launching a Web site, Red Flags, about what’s really going on in medicine and health [www.redflagsweekly.com].” Lewis took the project on herself and remains the site’s publisher, but has recently been pulling herself out of the day-to-day running of Red Flags. “When Nick died, I didn’t know if I would sing again,” she confesses. “But eventually I realized what I’ve been about in my whole career is expressing emotions and truth as I see it.”

Lewis performed an earlier version of Crossroads at the Saidye Bronfman Centre’s Segal Theatre on September 11, 2004. Like the current version, it incorporated a song/story about being in Midtown Manhattan on that fateful day in 2001 and watching the Twin Towers fall. (Lewis and Regush, who worked for ABC News, lived in New York for much of the ’90s).

The new version of Crossroads is still a musical journey through some of life’s tough choices and unexpected curveballs, but this time it also deals with the loss of a loved one.

“I talk about and sing about Nick’s death in this piece, and it’s tough. But the song I wrote about it was a healing process.”

When she decided she’d like to try the Fringe festival, Lewis felt she needed a director. Playwright Anna Fuerstenberg came on board and “dramaturged it.” “It flows much better now,” says Lewis. “Before, I’d say it was music and storytelling. Now there are characters, and it’s much more theatrical.” Lewis will be accompanied by acclaimed jazz pianist Holly Arsenault.

Crossroads, at Club Lambi (4465 St-Laurent) June 9–18. Tickets $9. See Fringe schedule for times, www.montrealfringe.ca

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