A crowd of fans line up in front of a musical theatre for a big show. The star is Coast vocalist Sarah Loverock who is introduced in her dressing room. She sings a song as her make-up and wardrobe people ready her for the night's performance. The house lights go down and the stage lights turn on. The audience anxiously awaits her arrival. Loverock enters alone, her entourage in the wings, and walks to the curtain. It opens. She grips a microphone stand and sings the song, The Dreamer, in a voice packed with raw emotion.
But, alas, when the camera pulls away, the theatre is empty. There's no entourage. The microphone stand she holds is only an old broom on an empty stage. She is an aspiring singer working as a theatre cleaner and the dreams of fame have taken place in her imagination.
So goes the proposed story line for the new Loverock video that will soon be shot in B.C. and broadcast on MuchMusic.
At Sunnycrest Mall last weekend, a slow, steady stream of hopefuls auditioned for the parts of audience and entourage for the video which will be shot the first week of April. While their moms waited outside the specially-constructed booth, young talents Lauryn, 9, and Rayna, 5, auditioned together in front of Loverock and Gregory Charles Royal, the composer of the ballad that Loverock will sing.
"Imagine Sarah is up on stage there," Royal says to the two girls. "Look up, and imagine you're excited to see her. Show me what you'd do."
The two pantomime eager fan enthusiasm and Loverock and Royal smile.
"That was really good," he tells them.
Production plans are still tentative, but Royal, Loverock and her manager Russ Snitchuk are optimistic about this video.
Royal first came across Loverock when he was looking for a vocalist for a CD that would showcase instrumental finalists from America's Hot Musician, a reality TV talent show in the U.S.
Royal, who currently lives in Washington D.C., said he learned about Canadian content and MuchFact, referring to the grant funding program that will help produce The Dreamer, because he lived in Toronto years ago when he toured as part of a jazz band.
"I didn't know anything about Canadian Idol at first when I started looking for Can-adian vocalists," he said. "When I came across Sarah, her voice stood out."
Royal wrote the song nearly 24 years ago. He said it's a difficult one to sing, requiring a range of vocal skills. At a gala dinner last weekend to celebrate Loverock's gold recording, she performed the song smoothly to the admiration of fans.
Snitchuk said more auditions will likely take place two weeks before the video shoot when they will be looking for more couples to pose as the audience, and that most of the scenes will be shot on the Coast. Other production plans have yet to be firmed up.
For more information, stop by Video Etc. and pick up an audition registration form from Snitchuk. He can also be contacted at [email protected].
