[Sprawl of Sound] Bethany Owen's Vocal Impressions Will Flip Your (and Her) Wig

Another huge motivator for Owen was the dearth of females in the field. "I don't know why boys are more inclined to do impressions and mimicry than females, but that was a challenge for me. I did comedy rooms for a while, which was very male-dominated. I want to challenge myself to be able to do as many voices as the guys can do and to be as good at them as the guys are. Nobody's telling me how to do it. You're just figuring it out on your own. It's like your own school."

Owen's methods for learning how to emulate voices involve rigorous viewing and listening sessions, bolstered by tricks she learned while studying the Strasberg way of acting with Salome Jens. (Owen is currently working on Ellen DeGeneres and several other TV personalities.)

When asked if she ever longs to simply focus on developing her own singing voice, Owen replies, "I have way too much fun doing all these voices; [they're] much more fun than my voice."

Whirlow, who's worked with Owen for five years, proudly asserts, "What [Bethany] does makes her unique to the world. If she uses her own voice, she's just another singer, one of a million across the country. People don't quite know how to categorize what ["One Voice"] is because it's such a mix of things. It's such a unique and original . . . presentation. When you walk away from the show, you're going to believe that you saw those people she did impressions of."

Especially (shudder) Edith Bunker . . .

For more information, visit www.bethanyowen.net.

DSEGAL@OCWEEKLY.COM