chris wong in sync
I first heard about Vallance when she released a CD of mainly jazz standards, Practically Naked. The album revealed a decent voice, but her style was too show-tuney and precious for my liking. Practically Naked was also revealing in another way: it included a photo of Vallance that subtly reflected the CD title.
Then came Divas For Life, the benefit concert at the Vogue Theatre that happened exactly a year ago. Vallance conceived and produced the concert featuring six Vancouver jazz singers-Karin Plato, Kate Hammett-Vaughan, Dee Daniels, Tammy Weiss, Laura Crema and Vallance-as a fundraiser for the Vancouver Friends For Life Society. While Vallance was clearly the driving force behind the concert, I previewed the show by writing about Crema. The avoidance continued.
As it turned out, the concert was sold-out and raised approximately $30,000 for Friends For Life, which offers support for people with life-threatening illness. Next, during last year's jazz festival, Vallance organized six nights of trios featuring jazz vocalists at Zev's. That raised $8,000 for the organization. Finally, Vallance produced a CD, Divas For Life - Live At The Vogue, which has provided another $8,000 to Friends For Life.
Despite all of these accomplishments, something about Vallance's direct style made me wary. So I didn't pay too much attention to the numerous press releases she sent me via e-mail and snail mail. It wasn't until I learned of another Vallance-produced benefit concert-Divas For Love, Divas For Life: 02 on Feb. 14 at the Vogue-that I re-evaluated my wariness. I admitted to myself that regardless of (or maybe because of) her approach, Vallance has pulled off the Divas For Life projects and achieved admirable results. As for her media relations tactics, I concluded she's persistent but not pushy.
Anyway, that's how we ended up sitting in comfy chairs in a Main Street patisserie. I only had to ask one question-"How's it going?"-to prompt a breathless, running commentary about Divas For Life from Vallance. She said advance ticket sales for the Valentine's Day show have been strong. "I was scared to death last year and I'm not as scared this year," Vallance said. Plato, Hammett-Vaughan and Vallance along with three new singers-Lee Aaron, Christine Duncan and Angela Kelman-will perform with a sextet led by pianist Michael Creber.
Vallance went on to talk about how Divas For Life was born after she visited her best friend, who was dying of cancer in New York. Back in Vancouver, Vallance participated in a magazine photo shoot with the other singers who would end up performing in the benefit. She recalled the exhilaration of having a sold-out house. Reverend Gordon Turner of St. Andrew's Wesley Church, who runs the Jazz Vespers program, couldn't even get a ticket. "We had to turn God away."
Then the Montreal-born Vallance filled in details about her pre-Divas life as an actress in Los Angeles, where she went to acting school with Michelle Pfeiffer. Then known as Louise Vallance, she was a regular on Knots Landing and other TV series and appeared in feature films including Three Men and a Baby. Vallance eventually went into directing and providing voiceovers for animation. (There's even an "Official Stephanie Louise Vallance Fan Club" site on the web that documents all of this work in minute detail.)
Vallance was unfulfilled by life as an actress in LA. Moving to Vancouver and volunteering to produce the Divas For Life projects has "un-LAafied" her, said Vallance, who remains active in the animation world.
Only Steve Vallance could come up with a word like "Un-LAafied. And she's probably the only person with enough chutzpah to successfully produce the Divas benefit-an event well worth supporting.