For the young Jessica Biel, taking voice lessons was like trying on her mother's high heels. One day Jessica's mother needed to go to a voice lesson, but couldn't get a baby-sitter. So she took 8-year-old Jessica along. Jessica wanted a crack at it too, so her mother gave her the appointment. And so Biel's love of singing was born.
Now, 19 years, 18 films and a decade as a regular on the hit TV show "7th Heaven" later, the member in good standing of young Hollywood is finally making her professional singing debut on stage Friday in the Frank Loesser musical classic, "Guys and Dolls in Concert at the Hollywood Bowl." Biel, 27, said it took her all that time to summon the courage to take her singing beyond the shower stall. "I've struggled a lot in the last five years or so with my own insecurities, having done some film," she said recently. "Will I be accepted? Is my voice good enough? I think I finally feel confident enough to do it."
If Biel's newfound confidence tipped the scales for her, she's certainly going to need it. She's making her debut as the pious Save-a-Soul Mission Sgt. Sarah Brown opposite one of Broadway's biggest stars, Brian Stokes Mitchell, who stars as her love interest, Sky Masterson. And she's doing it in front of the Bowl's substantial audience of about 17,000 people.
"Hopefully faceless people," she said with a laugh. "17,000 faceless people."
And then, of course, there's the pressure of singing opposite Mitchell "because he's such a talent and his voice is strong," Biel said. "I definitely know I have to match him and not get swallowed up by his incredible sound. It is kind of a daunting idea. But working with that caliber of people, you have no choice but to take your game up to the next level and just bring it. I know that sounds dorky, but you really do."
Broadway veterans
Biel, who played a magician's love interest in the 2006 period film "The Illusionist," discussed her latest venture during a break in rehearsals at the Hollywood United Methodist Church gym. The fresh-faced actress, her hair pulled back into a messy ponytail, was relaxed and eager to talk about her surprising incarnation. The rehearsal set-up was a far cry from a cushy big-budget film set, which may offer stars such amenities as 45-foot trailers, Diptyque candles and the like.
