It’s hardly surprising that Christina Bianco’s new show has the title “Me, Myself and Everyone Else.”
After all, this American singer, with an uncanny gift for vocal impersonation, has as many voices as Helen of Troy had ships.
And she will parade her multifarious talents when she arrives at Aberdeen’s Tivoli Theatre later this summer.
One moment, she is in pitch-perfect Barbra Streisand mood, emoting as if her very life depended on it.
Then, in the next breath, she has morphed into Shirley Bassey, booming out songs at a decibel level similar to Concorde.
She switches from Cher to Celine Dion, Meryl Streep to Julie Andrews, and Liza Minnelli to Madonna as if it was the easiest thing in the world.
And there is something infinitely funny about the wrong people hitching themselves to a particular tune, particularly when it is done with the sublime vocal dexterity of Bianco, one of a new generation of genuinely funny, feisty, fabulous American comic talents.
She has already wowed London and gained rave reviews for her Edinburgh Fringe show, as the prelude to starring in a new Broadway production “Application Pending” where – never one to tax herself – she played all 40 characters.
As you might have expected, that wasn’t a walk in Central Park. And heaven alone knows what would have happened if she had caught laryngitis!
She told me: “It has been a whirlwind period, but people seemed to like it [the show].
“You never know how these things will pan out, but Greg [Edwards] and Andy [Sandberg] have been fantastic in coming up with such a terrific script.
“At first, I wasn’t even sure I could do it. At times, I found a lot of it to be physically and vocally impossible.
“I was thinking: I’m only one person. I can only cut myself off so many times…I might actually hyperventilate! But it all came together and that was very rewarding.
“I’ve always been fascinated with switching between characters and you do pick up on how different people have different ways of speaking. Mind you, when you are doing all the voices, you can’t afford to relax.”
Or be stuck in a traffic jam a mile from the theatre, for that matter.
Bianco is as far from a diva as it would be possible to imagine. She’s funny, with an infectious throaty giggle, and clearly loves life.
As she said: “When I was growing up, I listened to everything I could, jazz, Broadway melodies, rock ‘n’ roll, pop, you name it.
And it really is true: the best way to learn is to listen to all these terrific singers and be caught up in their music.
“Shirley Bassey, for instance, has this big, resonant voice and not too many others can go where she goes. I don’t try it too often myself. But she is magnificent.”
Check her out for yourself at Aberdeen’s Tivoli Theatre on September 9.
