A Heritage Woods secondary student known for her musical theatre chops will make her jazz debut Friday night.
Seventeen-year-old Julia MacLean will perform at a sold-out show at the Gallery Bistro in Port Moody with her piano and composition teacher Bill Sample, and Miles Hill on the bass.
The Grade 11 student turned to the music genre last year while studying with Sample and with the encouragement of her father, Dave MacLean. “My dad really loves it and he told me to try it out,” she told The Tri-City News on Monday.
For their June 7 show, the trio will play some jazz standards “that mean a lot to me or my family” as well as the re-arranged classics Here Comes the Sun and What a Wonderful World; MacLean will also sing an original tune.
MacLean got to know Sample when he was in the band for the 2017 production of 13: The Musical in Vancouver; Bring On Tomorrow Co. cast MacLean as Patrice.
Now, she meets with Sample twice a month for piano lessons “because I really wanted to learn how to accompany myself and feel more comfortable playing for smaller audiences,” she said.
This summer, MacLean — who starred as Annie for Royal City Musical Theatre’s 25th annual spectacle, in 2014 — returns to the Theatre Under the Stars where she plays a newsboy in Disney’s Newsies; it runs July 6 to Aug. 17 at the Malkin Bowl at Stanley Park.
And after graduation next year, MacLean said she plans to pursue musical theatre in Toronto “and do more jazz,” she said.
