Facing many stars

Bethany Owen puts on many faces during her stage show. The impersonator has a repertoire ranging from Britney Spears and Alanis Morissette to Sarah Palin and Hillary Clinton, and she’s constantly adding new impressions to her act.

When she takes the stage tonight at the Huntington Beach Elks Lodge, though, she’ll be evoking a part of herself as well.

Owen, who has toured internationally and headlined in Las Vegas, graduated from Edison High School in the early 1970s. She and her theater classmates were friends with the drama department at Fountain Valley High School, and often visited their rival high school to watch performances.

So this summer, when Fountain Valley High approached her about doing a benefit show for its theater program, she jumped at the chance to give others the opportunities she had.

“When I was in school, the drama department was my reason for getting up and going to school,” said Owen, a Huntington Beach resident. “So I take an earnest interest in this.”

Owen will bring her show, “One Voice,” to the Elks Lodge at 7 p.m. All proceeds from tickets will go toward Fountain Valley High’s drama department.

The department plans to put on “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” in January and the musical “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown” in April. Teacher Crystal Jerabek said she hopes to raise enough funds to pay for the musical and possibly a third production.

In June, Owen performed at Summerfest, an annual carnival put on by the city of Fountain Valley. Many drama students and booster parents were working at the carnival as well, and they approached Owen about doing a fundraiser. Having done school fundraisers in the past, the performer quickly signed on to help her home district.

As soon as Jerabek heard Owen’s name, she attended her show at the Balboa Bay Club & Resort in Newport Beach and knew she had a winner.

“She’s phenomenal,” Jerabek said. “The students are kind of pounding the pavement trying to get the tickets sold, and I’m telling them this is the real deal.”

The Elks Lodge, which donated its space for free, can hold 250 people. Owen has experience performing for diverse audiences and tries to include impressions that appeal to multiple generations.

A typical show, she said, features about 50 voices, most of them accompanied by costume and makeup changes.

Among the recent additions to her act: Sharon Osbourne, Ellen DeGeneres and Macy Gray, who join older staples like Diana Ross, Joan Rivers and Cher.

“I always say, if there’s something in the show that you don’t get or don’t know who it is, it’ll be over quickly and you might get the next one,” Owen said.

If You Go

Who: Bethany Owen in “One Voice”

When: 7 tonight

Where: Huntington Beach Elks Lodge, 7711 Talbert Ave.

Cost: $20; $15 with student ID

Contact: (714) 848-9440