One- woman show

Orange County Performing Arts Center patrons packed into Segerstrom

Hall two weeks ago to hear center officials read progress reports on

the new arts complex scheduled to open next fall.

It was an informative yet unremarkable presentation, until Michele

Lee stepped on stage. The actress’ speech was anything but scripted,

and the audience roared at her personal anecdotes and self-effacing

humor.

“She is so warm,” said Aaron Egigian, senior director of music

programming at the performing arts center. “She throws her arms out

to the audience, welcomes them in, speaks to them, shares with them,

and they laugh together.”

Lee, known for her longtime role on the television show “Knots

Landing,” has returned to the arts center -- and this time to a more

intimate setting. Tuesday, she kicked off the fall cabaret series

inside Founders Hall. Her show continues through Saturday.

With roles in Broadway productions and in major motion pictures,

Lee is no stranger to the spotlight. She has also released albums on

the Columbia Records label.

“She’s very much a singing actress,” Egigian said. “Where she

really stands out is in her ability to deliver the emotional content

of a song.”

Her current performance is, in essence, a preview of a one-woman

show she will debut in coming months. It includes Broadway tunes and

pop standards, and leaves room for Lee’s trademark storytelling. She

weaves in stories from her life to create a framework for the songs.

“The audience feels what I’m saying,” Lee said. “I sing a song

that’s married to the concept I’ve introduced.”

If the topic happens to be performance, Lee certainly has a wealth

of stories from which to choose.

The daughter of a makeup artist, Lee was a semi-professional band

singer at the age of 16. By the time she left home, she was already

acting professionally.

Lee’s performance in the musical “Seesaw” led to her first Tony

Award nomination. In 2000, after a prolonged absence from Broadway,

she returned to act in the musical “The Tale of the Allergist’s

Wife.”

The noticeable gap in Lee’s Broadway career had nothing to do with

a sudden distaste for musicals. She simply had her hands full playing

Karen MacKenzie on “Knots Landing,” which is holding a reunion show

on CBS in November. Lee’s character appeared in all 344 episodes over

the show’s 14 years.

After the show ended production, Lee became the first woman to

produce, write, direct and star in an original motion picture for

television, called “Color Me Perfect.”

Still, she considers herself a live singer at heart.

“In my head I was a singer-performer, not an actress,” Lee said.

“I move very easily between my roles -- it’s been my good fortune.”

Lee said the cabaret show is another way for her to express

herself. It’s not a new career path, she said.

And as for her unofficial role as the arts center’s pitch woman?

Nothing more than good timing, she said. Lee happened to be in town

and was struck by the art center’s new and old venues.

“It’s so gorgeous,” Lee said of the campus. “The new building is

going to be worth it.”

IF YOU GO

* WHAT: Michele Lee cabaret performances

* WHEN: 7:30 p.m. tonight and Saturday

* WHERE: Orange County Performing Arts Center, 600 Town Center

Drive, Costa Mesa

* COST: $49

* INFO: (714) 556-2787 or o7www.ocpac.org

f7