Her massage therapist was insistent.
And Cayla Brooke is now happy she was.
She wanted the well-known Vancouver performer to listen to the songs of the late Eva Cassidy, an American singer and guitarist who played a wide range of musical styles.
"I just kept rolling my eyes and thinking, 'What could my massage therapist know about good music?'" Brooke recalled. "I was being very snotty."
Finally, after some prodding, Brooke got on the computer and researched Cassidy's life. She was mesmerized with what she found.
Brooke was soon mulling a narrative that she could translate to the stage and, in May 2013, she sat down and wrote it in a week.
Four months later, it debuted at the Kay Meek Centre in West Vancouver, where Brooke lives, and again there in May of this year.
Last month, her tribute show that co-stars Tom Pickett won a standing ovation when it closed the Gabriola Theatre Festival.
Next week, Brooke will bring Eva Cassidy: How Can I Keep from Singing to theEvergreen Cultural Centre for six shows, including a matinee performance on Saturday.
Brooke promises the Coquitlam audience will be entranced with Cassidy's story, too.
"New fans are born when they come to the show," said Brooke, who was raised in Port Coquitlam. "They get a good taste of her and so many people have emailed me afterward saying 'Thank you so much for introducing me to her life.'"
Brooke, who last performed at Evergreen in 2011 as Peggy Lee in Unforgettable: The Music of Nat King Cole, said it's her "personal mission" to get the public acquainted with Cassidy's legacy.
A Washington D.C. native, Cassidy died in 1996 at 33 from melanoma, four years after she released her first album titled The Other Side, a set of duets with go-go musician Chuck Brown.
In 2000, Cassidy had posthumous recognition when her music became popular in Britain with renditions of Fields of Gold and Over the Rainbow.
Brooke believes her self-produced show, which was crowdfunded through Indegogo online campaigns, has also contributed to a spike in sales of Cassidy's CDs.
And she plans to take the touring production up north soon.
"There's a bit of a buzz about this show," she said. "It touches a lot of people in different ways. It's the kind of show for everybody. People laugh and cry. They don't cry just for the story but simply because the music is so beautiful."
Eva Cassidy: How Can I Keep from Singing runs Sept. 23 to 27 at the Evergreen Cultural Centre (1205 Pinetree Way, Coquitlam). A pre-show chat will be held on Sept. 23 at 7:15 p.m. with musical director and pianist Bill Sample. Call 604-927-6555 or visit evergreenculturalcentre.ca for tickets.
jwarren@tricitynews.com
