Eva Cassidy - How Can I Keep From Singing, May 22-24 at Kay Meek Centre Studio Theatre at 8 p.m. Tickets: $35 for Thursday and Friday shows and $40 for the Saturday performance, featuring a VIP wine & cheese mix and mingle with the cast and band. kaymeekcentre.com.
According to Cayla Brooke, when it comes to Eva Cassidy, to know her is to love her.
Brooke is the creator and star of Eva Cassidy - How Can I Keep From Singing, a hybrid concert performance and work of theatre dedicated to the American vocalist and guitarist who passed away at age 33 in 1996 following a melanoma diagnosis.
Telling people about her show, Brooke, a resident of West Vancouver's Brunswick Beach, says she typically runs into two types of people, those who say: "Eva Cassidy who?" and others who exclaim, "Oh my God, Eva Cassidy? You've got to be kidding me!" For those familiar with the late artist, Brooke is pleased with the opportunity to celebrate her life and work onstage. For those who've never heard of Cassidy, being able to continue to introduce her to new audiences is a joy.
"They will leave a fan," she says, explaining there was something magic about her that makes her easy to connect with. Brooke has heard from many people who, after taking in a performance, have gone out and bought all of Cassidy's albums, and others who at the very least make an effort to learn more about her and her music. "I swear there's got to be a spike in Google ... after we do a show," she says.
Eva Cassidy - How Can I Keep From Singing premiered in September 2013 at Kay Meek Centre and is being remounted next week for a three-night run in the West Vancouver venue's Studio Theatre, May 22-24. Joining Brooke for the production is co-star Tom Pickett and backing band, Bill Sample, Rene Worst, Buff Allen and Dave Ivaz.
The show endeavours to tell the story of Cassidy's life and features 25 songs ("Stormy Monday," "Over the Rainbow," "Wayfaring Stranger," "Fields of Gold" and "Danny Boy" among them) in a variety of musical genres - jazz, gospel, blues, country and folk included. The songs are interspersed with effective narration and theatrical elements thrown into the mix, offering audiences a few laughs, as well as a few tears.
Brooke says she first heard about Cassidy from her massage therapist. "(Cassidy) tends to be somebody that you hear about by word of mouth from somebody else telling you about her. And my massage therapist wouldn't let me go, she wouldn't let me not listen to (her). So I finally googled her and I was absolutely mesmerized when I heard her. I couldn't figure out why I'd never heard of her before. She just stuck with me, that's the only thing I can say is that she wouldn't leave me," she says.
Chatting with her guitarist (Ivaz) one sunny day over coffee in Caulfeild Village, they were discussing Brooke getting a new project going. She shared her interest in Cassidy and Ivaz revealed he was a huge fan.
"It was like a boulder after that, coming down like an avalanche," says Brooke, who started writing the script in May 2013.
Ivaz challenged her to think big when it came to her co-star, someone to tackle the role of Chuck Brown, the "godfather of gogo," an artist who performed with Cassidy in her native Washington, D.C. Brooke thought back to a recent performance by Pickett at Vancouver's Cellar Jazz Club.
"I just loved him instantly.
I knew at that moment when I was sitting there watching him with my daughter that I would sing with him one day, I just knew it," she says.
Hearing about the subject of her work, Pickett also didn't take much convincing.
"Turned out he was a huge fan of Eva Cassidy, and he said 'Yes, absolutely.' It was a dream happening, it just came together like a miracle."
Brooke and Pickett have formed a great professional relationship and have such great chemistry and fun on stage that, in addition to their work together on Eva Cassidy - How Can I Keep From Singing, they've recently formed a vocal duo they're calling Salt 'n Peppah.
Cassidy is a continued source of inspiration for Brooke, who plans to record her debut album next year.
"One of the things I loved about Eva Cassidy was that she sang anything and that is kind of like me. I don't like being pigeon-holed into something," she says.
Brooke's record could be a diverse array of covers or originals, only time will tell.
"I have a lot of music in me," she says.
Following its North Shore run, Eva Cassidy - How Can I Keep From Singing will be remounted on Gabriola Island in August and then in Coquitlam in September.
"This show right now has a bit of a life of its own. We call it 'the little show that could'" says Brooke, adding there's been interest in touring it in Northern B.C. In addition, as 2016 will mark the 20th anniversary of Cassidy's death, she's anticipating increased interest in bookings for that year.
Brooke has a couple of other performances coming up, including next month, she'll be a guest soloist at The Marcus Mosley Chorale's June 21 performance, SHOUT, June 21 at 7:30 p.m. at St. Andrew's Wesley United Church in Vancouver, and she is scheduled to perform at the Silk Purse as part of its Jazz Waves Festival on July 5. She is also working with her husband, local theatre veteran Warde Ashlie, on producing a play he's writing, Grandpa and Me, which the couples hopes to premiere early next year.
