Picture a little girl rifling through her mother’s dresser drawers, pulling out all the brightly colored sheer scarves. She ties them together around her waist to make a “ballet skirt”, then puts on her black patent leather shoes and heads for a hard surface where she can “tap dance”. A Wham cassette blasts out tunes (she knows all the words) as she makes a somersault entrance into a Saturday Night Fever disco pose. The show has begun.
That little girl was Maureen Russell. She grew up creating musical performances in her living room, and not much has changed since then. Maureen’s house is noisy; at any given time of day you will hear her belting out notes as she demonstrates songs for her voice students or works on writing a new song. Or you might hear the click click click of tap shoes as she works on choreography for the musical she is also directing. Don’t be alarmed by the cartoon voices coming from her closet recording studio-she is probably creating characters for a new animated series. Piano chords are pounded out, guitars are strummed, show tunes are played on repeat. Maybe she is prepping for a big audition, or a new role, or a one-woman show. It’s a joyful noise.
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