Local singer in the limelight in Vaudeville: the Musical

By Martha Tanner/The Villager - Wednesday, October 15, 2003

Anyone who has ever heard Leah Cogan sing knows that this wisp of a young woman with the meltingly beautiful voice is destined for bigger things than the family stage at the Russell Fair.

So it’s hardly surprising that award-winning director Gordon Carruth has cast her in one of the lead roles in Vaudeville: The Musical, which opens tomorrow at Centrepointe Theatre in Nepean.

Nor is it surprising that the songbird, who turned 16 on October 9, is taking to the big stage like a duck to water.

Set in the late 1920s, Vaudeville is the story of B.J. Gallagher and Sam Goldstein who want to bring back one last vaudeville show.

Leah plays Ruby Harrigan, a young woman who auditions for a role in Vaudeville. The ingénue finds herself pitted against a headlining diva.

In the first act, Gallagher and Goldstein audition acts for their show in a run-down old Vaudeville house in Buffalo. Gallagher is primarily concerned with the talent; Goldstein is concerned with the budget. Some acts that audition are good, some are awful (but funny). The act ends with Gallagher and Goldstein trying to decide what and whom they will choose for their show.

In the second act, Centrepointe is transformed into the Adelphi Theatre. The audience is transported back to the twenties to enjoy one last run of Vaudeville: eight acts based on the traditional structure of a typical big-time Vaudeville show, but…with a surprise ending.

Leah auditioned in June at the urging of a friend and says she was "really excited" when she got the call saying she had won the part.

Rehearsals were sporadic in August but have intensified over the last month and a half.

"It’s exciting," says Leah, "but it has been a lot of work. It’s such a big show, such a professional show.

"To be in a big show in Ottawa with all these people who have been doing theatre for such a long time and who have so much talent is just amazing.

"It’s a whole different world. It’s neat to be in that world, and to be a different character, but it’s intimidating too."

Leah had her first singing lesson when she was about five, along with her older sisters, Sarah and Jessica and took singing lessons with Russell’s Tara Shannon when she was 11. But it wasn’t until a few years ago that she decided to give up figure skating to concentrate on singing. She has been taking voice lessons from Juliette Kirk at Artista School of Music for four years and jazz dance for two years at Leeming Danceworks.

Both came in handy during her audition when she had to perform a dance routine and sing a song of her choosing. Leah performed Can’t Help Loving That Man, "a neat tune, with lots of character because they really look for stage presence".

"I’ve been singing that kind of music (musical theatre, Broadway) for a long time now," she says. "And I love dancing."

Leah is in Grade 11 in the vocal program at De LaSalle High School in Ottawa. She is planning to take a conservatory exam in voice but beyond that, says she is torn between post-secondary studies in science or music. If she chooses the latter, she might "go the classical route" and study opera, or enroll in a musical theatre program.

"Being in Vaudeville gives me a taste of what it would be like and I’m liking it a lot," she says.

On Saturday, the cast and crew had their first rehearsal on stage at Centrepointe Theatre. "It was exciting to be on stage," said Leah, who admits she was a little nervous. "Just being behind the curtains was thrilling."

"Last Christmas I went see the Rankin Sisters and now I’m on the same stage!"

Dress rehearsals were carried out Tuesday and Wednesday, and the show opens tomorrow, October 16. Leah can’t wait.

"It’s so much fun to get the costumes, the hair – it’s beautiful. It’s such a colourful play and there is such a big contrast in costumes between the first act, which is the auditions for Vaudeville, and the second, which is the vaudeville show.

"There is a big cast and crew, and a band of talented musicians."

"It’s fun to get to know these people. They’re regular people, but they have so much talent."

Leah says the huge cast and crew has become like family and that she will miss them when the play ends on October 25.

"I would love to do something else with this company. It’s great."