Playing favourites, for Ken Lavigne, is as much about show location as song selection.
Understandably, since he’s from Chemainus, Sunday’s concert at the Chemainus United Church had to qualify as his favourite of a six-performance tour.
The famous Chemainus tenor performed a selection of favourite songs in a variety-packed program sure to appeal to all tastes.
The tour also included stops on Salt Spring Island, and at Sidney, Mill Bay, Victoria and Comox.
“A giant thank you to everyone who came to hear Playing Favourites this past week,” Lavigne posted on his website. “It was fun and you were great audiences, Makes my heart happy.”
Lavigne’s great backing band included: Robert Holliston (piano); Casey Ryder (bass); Danielle Lebeau-Peterson (guitar) and Cameron Boyce (violin).
Lavigne displayed his great rapport with the audience and sense of humour throughout the program.
He said singing developed at a very early age for him, something his parents didn’t necessarily understand.
“They put me into hockey,” he pointed out. “It just didn’t ‘stick’, though.”
At eight years old, Lavigne said he played the lead in a production of Oliver.
“There was all of these interesting folks. I looked around and said this is where I belong. I’ve always had a love affair with musical theatre.”
He performed in Joseph and The Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat during its run of 106 shows at the Chemainus Theatre.
“I think it cured me of my love affair of musical theatre,” he quipped.
Lavigne did a selection of musical theatre tunes in the show - Till There Was You from The Music Man, Edelweiss from The Sound Of Music and Maria from West Side Story.
The hometown crowd applauded enthusiastically after every selection throughout the afternoon.
“I’ve had the incredible luxury of being able to perform here and have people show up at my shows,” Lavigne remarked.
