You are listening to Debbie singing "Sous le Ciel de Paris/La Goualante de Pauvre Jean" from her CD "A French Collection".

A fter four years playing cabarets in Paris and London, Debbie returned home to the U.S. in Fall of 1998. She immediately picked up where she left off and got back on the boards. She got rave notices for her lead role in Theater LaB Houston's production of BLOOD BROTHERS. The Houston Chronicle called her "a first-rate chanteuse with a heart-catching flair" for her solo cabaret show, OUT ON A LIMB. The summer ended with Debbie receiving the 1999 Houston Press award for "Best Comeback" to town. What a welcome home! Debbie's "singing approach is somehow both theatrical and intimate. . ., like someone you'd love to get to know." (Time Out, New York) Debbie says, "I see every song as a monologue where the character needs to express what she feels. My hope in being that character for "3 minutes" is that the audience will say 'Yeah! I get it!' or better yet, 'Yes, I feel that same way!'. A connection is made from song to singer to audience. There are two kinds of singers," she says. "A singer who believes the words and music are the star where the singer is the messenger, and a singer who believes the words and music are there merely as a vehicle allowing the singer to show off." Debbie always lets the song be the star, even though she has a marvelously powerful vocal instrument. "In my mind, it's all about telling the story," she adds. Debbie expanded her work in theater and musicals in the late 1980's when she found her way into Cabaret. From performances in revues, she developed her own French shows: From Piaf to Brel and Beyond and Ce Soir Cabaret.  ... the music from both were later compiled into her CD "The French Collection."  But why so much French music? Debbie is an admitted francophile. This was shaped in part by a childhood spent in the French Quarter of New Orleans with a painter father who served in France in World War II and a mother of French descent who continually exclaimed "How wonderful to be French!" She initially built her show and reputation in Houston around French songs, often performing at clubs like Ovations and then taking them to the Fringe Festivals in Canada and to Eighty-Eight's in New York. She sang the songs of Jacques Brel, Charles Aznavour, Michel Legrand and of course Edith Piaf, to whom she is often compared because of her petite stature, but intensely emotional vocal interpretations. At the same time she sang the songs of French composers less well known to American audiences, but beloved by the French, such as Gilbert Becaud, Michel Jonasz, and Serge Lama. "I always wanted to be French," she says, so in May of 1994 she went out on a limb (hence the title of her show) and moved to Paris to sing. But the French did not want to hear her French songs as much as they wanted to hear her selections from the great American Songbook. So, she expanded her repertoire. Now, her performances offer a blend of French songs, classic American popular music (Gershwin, Rodgers and Hart, for example), and wonderful new "standards of the future" as Debbie calls them, by writers not yet household names. "What is so ironic," Debbie chuckles, "is that once I got to France, I rekindled my interest in singing in my own language, and have been doing so almost exclusively these last few years. But I do still perform my French songs when requested and am even learning a few new ones.  In fact, there is a wonderful French medley in my new show and CD." (Debbie's recently released "Thank You for the Music") After a couple of years in Paris she moved on to acclaim in London, performing at some of its most important cabaret venues, such as Pizza on the Park, The Green Room and the Jermyn Street Theater. She was part of a revue of songs by new composers called People in the Park, part of the Mercury Project, sponsored by Stephen Sondheim.   Since back in the states Deborah has continued to work on cruise ships and on land with her one-woman shows. In December of 2000, she performed to glowing reviews, in the world premiere of Piaf in Vienna, a play written for her by Brad Korbesmeyer. The story is of a woman named Vienna who “believes” she is Edith Piaf . The play delves into the mind of a mentally ill woman who tries to make sense of her mother's death, hoping to recapture a loving connection with her by walking in Piaf’s (one of her mother's favorite singers) shoes. Korbesmeyer explores not just the story of Piaf’s life and songs, but fills the play with rich layers addressing the subjects as mental illness, father-daughter relationships and the need for personal expression. The show had a very successful Southwest premiere February of 2001 at Riverside Theater in Vero Beach, Florida. Other productions are planned for the future. Currently, Debbie has just spent 2 years developing and performing her latest Cabaret show, a celebration of the standards called Thank You for the Music. It was recorded LIVE in June 2003 and has just been released on CD. The show has received acclaim in New York, Houston, and London. It will return to London in May with other performances in Paris and Wales. Future goals include performances in Los Angeles, New York, and of course on the high seas. Maybe guest appearances with symphony orchestras, a platinum CD, and ongoing recognition for the music she sings. Debbie is a member of Actors' Equity.