Mike SciaccaTo pin down who the real...

Mike Sciacca

To pin down who the real Bethany Owen is would be a tough job for

anybody.

By her own admission, the gregarious and lively Huntington Beach

resident is “complex.”

She’s right, but her complexity is mesmerizing and leaves one

wanting to see and hear more of her, and them.

Owen, who first attended Huntington Beach High School before

spending her last three years at Edison, is the star of a one-woman

show titled, “One Voice.”

The cabaret, Las Vegas-style production has traveled throughout

the country, from New York to Las Vegas, and has landed in the

Caribbean and Aruba. It is built around the multi-talented Owen, a

celebrity voice impressionist and singer who has become known in show

business as the “woman of 1,001 voices and faces.”

“I’m honored by that,” said Owen, who had just returned Monday

from an engagement in Houston, Texas where she appeared as Joan

Rivers.

On Oct. 22, she appeared as Liza Minnelli in a live performance on

the nationally broadcast, late night Jimmy Kimmel Show.

She will take on the persona of Halloween haughty, Elvira, at Park

La Brea in Hollywood on Halloween night.

On the evening of Nov. 9, she will give one of her few, local

performances with an appearance at The West End Dinner Theater in Los

Alamitos.

Owen performs more than 300 different celebrity voices and 50

celebrity make-over look-alike personas.

Her 90-minute show uses comedic parody and vocal tributes to some

of the world’s most famous female superstars of recent time.

Offerings from her repertoire on any given night may be Minnelli,

Cher, Madonna, Marilyn Monroe, Barbra Streisand, Judy Garland, Patsy

Cline, Minnie Pearl, Tammy Wynette, Dolly Parton, Reba McEntire,

Shania Twain and Carmen Miranda.

She has drawn rave applause for her turn as Tina Turner.

Owen also takes on the persona of “Auntie Sphinx,” a children’s

animated character whose voice she has done for the an independent

feature film titled, “The Adventures of Scooter McDoogal.”

Jim Whirlow, the director and producer of “One Voice,” was looking

for a talent 2 1/2 years ago when Owen was recommended to him.

“I was told that she could do all of these different characters

and voices, which I didn’t believe,” he said. “But I was blown away

by her during our first meeting.

“What makes Bethany really stand out is her attention to detail.

She’s a perfectionist when it comes to her characters. She just takes

everything to the next level. She’s the only female in this country,

that I know of, who is doing this in such depth. We’re always

laughing, too. One day, it’s Marilyn Monroe sitting next to me. Next,

it’s Joan Rivers. We have a unique relationship.”

Currently, she is worked on adding impressions of Sharon Osbourne

and Roseanne to her stable. She is also working on an impression of

actress Fran Drescher. She can do a dead-on impression of Drescher’s

famous nasal, sheep-like laugh.

Owen also took on the voice of Edith Bunker with similar ease, a

voice that was the “birth of my doing impressions,” she said.

“I don’t have a favorite, it just changes with who’s hot and who

I’m suddenly crazy about,” said Owen. She worked on her Cher voice

until “it nearly wore me out.”

“I have so many costumes in my closet that it recently collapsed

and broke,” Owen said. “I have more than 100 people stored in it, but

not a ‘me’ thing in the whole closet. I guess you could say that

nothing in my life is normal.”

Owen was “enamored” with dance early on.

She studied ballet as a youngster and was in the Orange County

Ballet Theater company at age 15. She studied several types of dance,

including flamenco, and studied with famed choreographer Jose Greco.

Owen went on to take drama classes at Huntington Beach High School

and Edison, and was cast as Mary Poppins in the Disneyland Christmas

Parade for two years.

She recalls, from high school, one drama teacher repeatedly using

her as a face model as the teacher demonstrated to the class on how

to apply makeup.

“She would use me because she said I had a face she could do

anything with,” Owen said. “And here I am, all these years later,

still painting my face and creating all these characters. I’m having

tremendous fun with it all.”

* MIKE SCIACCA covers sports and features. He can be reached at

(714) 965-7171 or by e-mail at michael.sciacca@

latimes.com.