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Stories of the Magic, Episode 18
Interview Guest: Jill Burke
Sponsored by Leaving Conformity Coaching.
On this show, I’m delighted to share with you part 1 of my interview with Jill Burke, and this was another one I got to do in person. In fact, at a few different times throughout the interview, you’ll hear some background noise. We were in a lobby area of the Grand Californian Hotel, so what you’ll be hearing is mainly guests going to and from their rooms. I’ve reduced it as much as I could, but there’s still some in there.
Jill’s work as a professional entertainer began at the Disneyland Resort, portraying such characters as Princess Jasmine, Ariel, and Pocahontas in stage shows. That’s not where she got her start at Disneyland, though, and you’ll hear more about that shortly. In fact, she has such a fantastic history with Disney that this is just about as far as we get in Part 1. I think you’ll be as fascinated as I was.
Her recent achievement was wrapping up post-production as Executive Producer and co-star on the short film “Huckleberry Dreams,” also starring the Emmy & Tony Award winning Robert Morse. She can still be heard screaming the popular “Priceline Negotiator!” jingle. She was thrilled to work closely with Stephen Schwartz in a workshop of his new musical Snapshots. Currently she performs in a variety of projects: she’s a proud company member of The Musical Theater Guild in Los Angeles, she stars in the cabaret revue entitled Hollywood Revisited, is a member of the a cappella band Vybration (which you may recognize from a previous episode as GROOVE 66), and she frequently belts out our National Anthem for the Anaheim Angels, Ducks and L.A. Lakers. On top of all that, she enjoys teaching private voice lessons at Vibe Performing Arts Studio in Santa Clarita, and you’ll get to hear about several of these in Part 2 next week.
Jill talks to us about:
- How she started working at Disneyland;
- Her time on the various Tomorrowland attractions before she moved into what she really wanted to do;
- Being Jasmine as a “newbie”, surrounded by an experienced cast–and some extra fun she had in her last show;
- Being Miss Anaheim 1991 while also being a Disneyland Cast Member;
- Her roles in Animazement;
- Performing at the El Capitan Theater;
- What it’s like to perform on a cruise ship;
- Performing as a caroler during the Christmas season;
- Her two shows at Disney California Adventure (Chance to Shine and Groove 66);
Also hear Jill sing What it Means to be a Friend, from the musical “13”.
Find Jill:
Podcasts Spotlighted in this Episode:
- Lost Flight 815
- Take Him With You
- Stories of the Magic episodes with Laura Dickinson (Part 1 and Part 2)
I want to hear from you, so please email me, leave a comment below, or call the Listener Feedback line at (734) 23-STORY.
If you call in, don’t worry about having to sound perfect. If you ask me to, I’ll edit out any mistakes so you sound as good as you possibly can. You’re even welcome to start your entire story over again and I’ll use the “take” you want!
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Thanks for listening!
Music and voiceovers provided by Rick Moyer.
