Ella takes Pittsburgh by storm

Pittsburgh Public Theater Presents:

“Ella”

Oct. 1 through Nov. 1

O’Reilly… Pittsburgh Public Theater Presents:

“Ella”

Oct. 1 through Nov. 1

O’Reilly Theater

Student tickets: $15

Visit www.ppt.org or call 412.316.1600

Did you know that Ella Fitzgerald sang the “Reading Rainbow” theme song?

Well, not the Fitzgerald you’re thinking of, but Tina Fabrique, the actress who plays the soulful singer in the traveling tour of “Ella.”

The show, performed by now running at the O’Reilly Theater, showcases the career of Fitzgerald.

Set in a 1966 rehearsal and concert in Nice, France, Fitzgerald struggles to come to grips with the death of her half-sister Francis. Her manager, Norman Granz (Harold Dixon), believes she’s better off working than moping. So, that’s exactly what she does.

“Each song has been chosen to move the story line ahead,” Fabrique said. “She addresses the audience like they are one person that she can talk to, like a really dear old friend. Then, she begins to go back and reminisce about how she got to where she is.”

Fabrique, who was chosen for the role years ago while working on a show in Connecticut, had to do extensive research on Fitzgerald to prepare.

“No one knew about her personally,” she said. “They knew about her as a wonderful singer, so I had to research to find that stuff out. I read a biography on her and continued to actively study her. I got a DVD called ‘Ella Fitzgerald: Something to Live For.’ Gene Davis, who passed away about two years ago, did a biography on Ella that always plays on A&E.”

There are 23 songs performed in “Ella,” so embodying the jazz queen is no easy task for Fabrique.

“I’m involved in her persona and how she feels about music. She was very shy but very courageous musically, so I have to do certain things so that I can be just as courageous,” Fabrique said. “I take very good care of my voice and body. I do seven shows a week, so I live like a monk. I don’t socialize a lot. I sleep in late. I eat really well ­— no junk food.”

While Fabrique has had extensive experience in a wide variety of music genres, it was her natural inclination toward jazz that got her the part.

“They said to me, ‘You’re a good actress, a good singer, and you have the look. If you can scat, you’ve got the job,’”Fabrique said. “And that’s how it happened.”

Fabrique started singing when she was just 3 years old.

“My mom would take me to birthday parties and say, ‘Oh put Tina up there and let her sing ‘Happy Birthday.’”

But she struggled with accepting it as her career for a long time.

“I knew I wanted to sing and be on stage, but my father wasn’t very supportive of that. He was Caribbean and felt that just because you could sing and dance didn’t mean you could earn a living,” Fabrique said. “He said I needed to go to school so I could put a roof over my head. But music always seemed to find me. I always got called upon to do some kind of entertainment work, so I finally realized — this is what I was going to do.”

While she never went to school for formal training, award-winning Fabrique has performed on Broadway, episodes of “Law & Order,” and, yes, sang the theme song for the beloved “Reading Rainbow.”

Fabrique said this show is a great opportunity to gain insight about Fitzgerald as a person.

“I think people are going to be surprised to find out that Ella Fitzgerald was not originally going to be a singer. She started as a dancer to make money, because she came from a very humbled youth.”

Fitzgerald was unique in her will of character. She was one of few jazz singers considered to live a very straight-edged life.

“She sold a lot of records without taking that bad rap that a lot of jazz singers do — they drink, do drugs, are publicly unhappy — but she didn’t have any of that,” Fabrique said. “She lost her mother at a very young age, she lived on the street, she was put in an orphanage, she was beaten by male staff. There were a lot of sad things in her life, but she never turned to those bad things. She put them behind her and moved forward.

“As a voice of American pop music, she was considered the very best,” Fabrique said. “But, because no one knew about her life, this show is like opening up a brand new page. She was very courageous.”