Squamish-based actress and musical performer Heather Feeney has appeared on Broadway and in Hollywood films and television, and on Saturday and Sunday (Nov. 24 and 25) you get to watch her age from a 10-year-old girl into an adult at the Brackendale Art Gallery (BAG).
Feeney, who starred as Annie in Canada's first-ever stage production of the Broadway hit, performs a musical theatre cabaret piece featuring 18 songs from a variety of different musicals that - when artfully stitched together - tell the story of a lifetime.
"I start as a 10-year-old girl and morph through my teens to my 20s," Feeney said. "In the second act, we go through relationships and adulthood."
The two-person collaboration between Feeney and piano accompanist Scott Knight is called Kiss the Air, and was many years in the making, according to Feeney.
"It really started when I was living in New York," she said. "Working on Broadway, I started following the work of certain composers, which led me to discover other composers working in similar styles."
While doing research for her debut musical theatre piece at BAG in April, Feeney discovered she had a wealth of songs already stashed away.
"I have about 10 shows' worth of songs," she said. "But there were some songs I knew I wanted to sing, so it was a matter of figuring out how to write them all into one story. After that, it was finding other songs to fill in the gaps and move me through the years."
For Feeney, who put a steady career on hold for the past five years and has only dabbled in TV and film while raising her two children, aged 5 and 2, it's all about her passion for musical theatre.
"I just love to tell a story through songs," she said.
Be warned, though. This isn't a Disney-esque story with songs.
"It's definitely for adults," she said. "Some songs do have naughty words and I do drop F-bombs."
Although acting and musical theatre are still her life's passion, Feeney said her kids are still her No. 1 priority - at least until she gets them both into school.
"I enjoy doing a couple shows a year with Scott and I convinced him to sing this time, too, and I enjoy auditioning for a role when asked," she said. "But until my kids are in school and don't need me so much, they are the top of my list. Long-term? We'll see after they are in school."
Catch Feeney cover a lifetime in song at BAG on Nov. 24 and 25.
Tickets are $20 at Xocolatl and the BAG.
