Bringing smiles to young children and their families is the full-time job of performer Courtney Campbell.
Campbell brings her brand of entertainment to Valley Center Stage in North Bend with a matinee performance, 2 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 22, at the theater, located at 119 North Bend Way on the second floor of the Unity Masonic Lodge. (Click here for more information.)
Campbell, who lives in Langley, Wash., is a singer, songwriter and storyteller who has performed for young audiences around the world. She heads up a puppet family on the half-hour television series on the Ion network called “Mustard Pancakes.”
With a talent for mimicry and a strong voice, she introduces her listeners to songs about camels with runny noses, stories about red raincoats, a boy who loved Band-Aids and a girl who found dinosaurs in her garden.
Starting her career as a folk singer, Campbell’s path went in a new direction when she was living in Los Angeles and having a tough time finding steady work. One day, a friend asked her to do the music at her pre-school.
“I had no idea how to sing for children,” Campbell said. On the way to school, she wrote her first song for children. After a few performances, her friend called to say the students were demanding that she come back, and the parents were wanting to know about the woman performing for their children, and asking for cassettes.
Campbell was down to her last $5 and considering a job in a punk clothing store — a job that would have meant less time with her son on weekends. So a small voice inside told her to try the children’s entertainment gig. A friend loaned money for stationery and stamps, and Campbell mailed a program proposal to several pre-schools. Within a couple of months, she was working in different schools every day.
“It was amazing,” Campbell said.
Her work has evolved to singing for children all over the world. She’s become a keynote speaker, giving workshops for teachers, and teaching storytelling.
“Children are the real crown jewels, and I am blessed to be able to perform for them, to sing with them and make them laugh,” she said. “It’s a joy.”
Campbell said that performers in her field don’t always get the respect they deserve.
“There are many talented storytellers and performers for children who are at the top of their game, great musicians and singers and songwriters,” she said. “They just happen to work for children.
“Adults are always surprised when they discover they like listening to my music, too,” she added. “They really don’t expect to, because it’s ‘children’s music.’ We need to respect this genre.
“Seems to me it would be great to go to a theater as a family and have the whole family be entertained by a marvelous storyteller or musician or puppeteer,” Campbell said.
CDs of Campbell’s music and DVDs of her television shows will be available at the show. Autographs are free.
Admission to the Saturday matinee is $5 for children age 9 and under, and $7.50 for adults. For more information, call (425) 831-5667.
Tickets are available online at www.valleycenterstage.org.
