Menard prepared for whatever future has to offer

Page 9

Since she first burst upon Saskatchewan's entertainment scene, Andrea Menard has proven herself to be a woman of many talents. But whether she's singing, acting on stage, in movies or for television, or writing songs or plays, she is first and foremost a storyteller.

Menard has appeared in a number of movies and has spent the last three seasons portraying Const. Amanda Strongeagle on Moccasin Flats, but the story whose telling she is most closely associated with is that of Velvet Laurent, a character created by Menard for her critically-acclaimed one-woman stage play The Velvet Devil.

When we first meet Velvet it is the 1940s and she is a successful singer, wowing audiences in Toronto. Then she receives the news that her mother has died and we follow her on her journey back to her childhood home in Batoche and to the life she had fled from in pursuit of her dreams.

The play debuted at the Globe Theatre in Regina during the 2000-2001 and was an instant hit. Following the success of the stage play, Menard released The Velvet Devil CD featuring songs from the play, and performed the story on CBC Radio One.

The latest incarnation of Velvet came in the form of a television movie that debuted April 6 on the CBC series Opening Night. Menard starred in the movie and co-wrote the screenplay.

Menard said the wheels were set in motion to turn the play into a movie the night The Velvet Devil premiered six years ago. Writer, producer and director Larry Bauman was in the audience and sought Menard out following the performance.

"He was completely moved by the show and said 'I'd like to option this play.' And I went, 'What is an option?' I didn't even know what that meant. So from there we sort of just stayed in each other's lives," she said. "After the play and the radio play and the CD, it took all those years to sort of finally be prepared to even think of it being a film. And that's when he seemed to be ready and Westwind Pictures seemed to be ready and CBC, so it all worked out perfect."

The basic story remains relatively unchanged in the transition from stage to screen, but the movie allowed Velvet to inhabit a larger world, populated by other characters.

"It's not her just on stage ... You get to meet her when she was back in Batoche as a little girl. It's a whole different world. It's such a bigger world than the play can represent," she said.

Co-writing and starring in The Velvet Devil movie isn't the only thing that's been occupying Menard's time as of late. In 2005 she co-hosted the National Aboriginal Achievement Awards and played a major role as Saskatchewan celebrated its 100th birthday-she lent her voice to the province's centennial song and performed during the Lieutenant-Governor's Celebration of the Arts. She also released her second CD, Simple Steps, a collection of a dozen original songs strongly influenced by Menard's Metis heritage.

Some of her fans prefer the new CD because the country-influenced style of the songs is something they can relate to, while others prefer the Andrea Menard they were introduced to through The Velvet Devil. "But I have a group of people and what I've heard so far is people are saying, 'Well, of course she's both. I hear her storytelling ... I love them both. I like the fact that she surprises me,'" she said.

Menard has recently completed work on another movie, The Windigo Tale, written and directed by Armand Ruffo, and now she is hoping to turn her attention away from acting for a while to focus on her music. During the production of Simple Steps, she and her musical collaborator Robert Walsh worked with bass player Dave Chobot and something clicked, she explained.

"We have found our trio and we're a beautiful trio together ... I think we've been waiting for this dynamic."

Menard is hoping to take the newly formed trio out on the road for a concert tour. She'd also like to do a big band album in the future, but she is ready for whatever comes hr way.

"I will follow where I'm supposed to go. You know, I do feel like I'm led to these things. And that pressure that's in your belly that sort of inspired you to do the next thing, I follow that, and I never know where it's going to take me next. I really don't."