Bright ideas in the dark

>> Singer Ranee Lee dreams up a one-woman tribute to her inspirations

by GERARD DEE

"There's a history about this particular play," says local jazz singer Ranee Lee of her latest project, Dark Divas. "I wrote it and presented it to a number of people and everybody thought, 'Oh, that's nice.' There were a lot of 'I don't know' feelings. We had a great deal of interest but, for whatever reason, maybe it wasn't the time. It did not materialize. That was maybe two years ago. I was devastated. I almost tore up the last script that I owned. But I didn't, I put it aside."

 Good thing too, otherwise Lee's tribute to the musical legends who inspired her may never have come to light. Last year, when her record company suggested that it was time to put Dark Divas on the table again, Lee says, "It was like a revelation."

 Born and raised in Brooklyn, Lee has been a Montrealer and a staple on the national jazz scene for some 20 years. With six albums under her belt, including Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill, a musical portrayal of Billie Holiday, she was ready for something more challenging.

 Dark Divas, which Lee debuted during this year's Jazz Fest, is an ambitious one-woman show and double-CD package. On stage, Lee takes on the role of four legends--Josephine Baker, Billie Holiday, Lena Horne and Pearl Bailey--and then interprets songs from three others--Dinah Washington, Sarah Vaughan and Ella Fitzgerald.

 She says performing a one-woman musical is difficult, even for a seasoned artist like herself. "It is so much easier to stand on stage and do the concerts that I love to do, because I build a rapport with the audience as I perform. With this theatre piece, it has to be right, from the beginning. Because if you don't grab the audience at the beginning, there's a chance you might not grab them at all.

 "And of course, I was nervous before I tried it in front of an audience because what makes sense to me may not make sense to somebody else. I think that fear still exists. I'm hoping the audience will pick up something and walk away with some sort of feeling of entertainment and education."
 
 Post-Washington
 Lee says one of the most challenging parts of the show is getting into the psyche of each performer for 20 minutes and then switching to the next artist. "It must border on insanity," she says only half-jokingly. "It is extremely difficult, but not so difficult that I don't feel up to the challenge. I watched these women so much as a child. I admired them and was influenced so much by them that I probably took on various elements of their characters anyway."

 Although Lee is happy with the finished product, she says doing a musical about seven performers was far from her intention. "My original idea was to do one woman, and I was sort of taking the lead from what I had done with Billie Holiday. I didn't want to do the same thing, but I was looking for a project for so long. And then, because I couldn't find one, I said, 'Okay, I'm going to write something. How hard can it be?' Famous last words," she says, laughing.

 Though Lee says she admires all seven women, there is one that is particularly dear to her heart. "The person who most influenced me when I started my vocal career was Dinah Washington. At the very, very beginning of my own career I copied every note, sound, look, movement. I was the second incarnation of Dinah Washington, until I realized there's only one Dinah Washington.

 "She had a stage presence that was so electric. Just with the movement of her eyes or a gesture of her head and it was just so 'I've got it made and understood.' She really had a strong command, a very strong presence of 'I know who I am,' and I think that was infectious."

 Lee says she has felt the presence of each of these women in her life, and still feels their influence today.

 "I know it might sound a little weird, but I actually feel that these women gave me the idea for the show. I really do feel channelled. So many thoughts have come up, with the staging, and things to say and do, that are so impromptu that I don't really feel I thought of it. I wake up with ideas saying, 'Hey,' and wonder where they came from." :

Dark Divas runs Thursday to Sunday, Sept. 21-24 at Club Soda, 8pm, $25.50