If you had told Vancouver鈥檚 Bonnie Kilroe that she would grow up to become an award winning celebrity impersonator, she would have called you mad.
鈥淚t鈥檚 really weird. I didn鈥檛 grow up thinking that this is what I鈥檓 going to do with my life,鈥� Kilroe said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 just something that sort of happened by accident.鈥�
Even as a toddler Kilroe said she had a love for singing and acting and as she got older she knew a career in the arts was in store for her, but to just what extent she wasn鈥檛 sure.
After toying around with the odd dinner theatre gig and a country band or two, Kilroe finally found her true calling as a musical comedy celebrity impersonator.
鈥淚n 2001 when I was super broke and I was working in the film industry, I was waiting a long time for an agency to get me work and then one day I just said screw this and decided I would make my own show,鈥� Kilroe said. 鈥淚 decided I would do this show where I acted as a bunch of different country singers and that I would make it funny and dress up in costumes and wigs.
鈥淲hen I started it was awful, but I鈥檝e put a lot of work into and now I鈥檓 winning awards.鈥�
For the past decade Kilroe has taken her one-woman show鈥攖itled Country Queens鈥攁round the world to casinos in Las Vegas and private yacht performances in Monte Carlo to stages in Shanghai and Mexico.
鈥淎s a little girl I always hoped my career would bring me this far, but I never believed that it would actually happen and now it continues to happen every year,鈥� Kilroe said.
Now Kilroe is bringing her one-woman act to the stage of the Jasper Royal Canadian Legion, July 7. During the show, Kilroe will strut her stuff, impersonating the likes of Dolly Parton, Shania Twain, Patsy Cline and Reba McEntire.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a one-woman show but it might as well be a 12-woman show because I have all these props and I鈥檓 constantly changing costumes and wigs,鈥� said Kilroe adding that her favourite character to play is Patsy Cline. 鈥淚 just absolutely love singing her stuff, but I also love performing as Dolly because people just go nuts for Dolly.鈥�
Kilroe said half of the evening affair will have her belting out cover songs while the other half will be a theatrical experience filled with comedic skits.
鈥淭he show takes a look at artists from a long time ago and today. It鈥檚 just a really fun show and I try to incorporate the audience and occasionally bring people up on stage with me,鈥� Kilroe said. 鈥淧eople will come and find themselves having a laugh, singing along and dancing with the music.鈥�
Earlier this year, Kilroe won a comedy award for her Country Queens show at an international comedy impersonator convention in Las Vegas.
鈥淧eople just seem to love the show,鈥� she said.
Kilroe will be bringing her one-woman show to the Jasper Royal Canadian Legion, July 7 at 8 p.m. Tickets are $20 and can be picked up in advance at the legion or through www.ticketweb.ca. Tickets will also be available at the door.
Kayla Byrne [email protected]
