Second Monday Music: Who Is Storm Large?

Photo by John Rudoff (2014-02-14)

She’s big

By Morris Dean

I had never heard of Storm Large until a friend in Oregon wrote me that she and her husband were going to a Storm Large concert for their wedding anniversary last week. It was performed with the Oregon Symphony in Portland on Friday, May 1, and was, my friend reported, heavily attended by people of all ages:

The young had LED-lighted fingertips, while people 50 to 70 swayed to the rhythm, their arms out-stretched and moving, some of them with lighted cell phones running an event app connected to the concert. An aged belle of the ball – must have been in her 80’s – moved from her walker. She didn't have any lights, however.

    My friend told me that Ms. Large usually sings jazz or rock, but on this occasion she rendered songs of Cole Porter, Frank Sinatra, and Billie Holiday. But, she reported, “the one number that had everyone dancing in the aisles was her own song, ‘My Vagina Is 8 Miles Wide’,” and she sent me a link to YouTube:

I think it’s clear from the performance that, as my friend said Ms. Large explained in Portland, the title is a metaphor for the singer’s love for all people, no matter whom they choose to love.
    The Oregon Symphony’s website has a short biography of the performer that says she “shot to national prominence in 2006 as a finalist on the CBS show Rock Star: Supernova,” which her entry on Wikipedia describes as “a reality TV show.” The Oregon Symphony's bio continues:

The following year she took a career departure and starred in Portland Center Stage’s production of Cabaret...a smash hit, earning Large glowing reviews. Her next endeavor, the autobiographical musical memoir Crazy Enough, played to packed houses in 2009 during its unprecedented 21-week sold-out run in Portland. Storm went on to perform the show to critical acclaim at the Edinburgh [Scotland] Fringe Festival, Adelaide Festival in Australia, and Joe's Pub in New York.

    Storm Large sounds big. And my friend reports that the concert was perfect for celebrating their wedding anniversary.

Copyright © 2015 by Morris Dean