Las Vegas performer teaches aspiring singers to find their voice
By OTS Staff
If you’ve heard Lisa Marie Smith sing, it’s hard to imagine she could ever have trouble finding her voice.
As one of the lead vocalists for The Mayfair Supper Club, the Las Vegas native has become a staple performer for award-winning Strip productions dazzling audiences with her powerhouse voice. Yet, when the COVID-19 pandemic sent live entertainment to a screeching halt in March, Lisa Marie began to experience a crisis of identity.
“Growing up in Las Vegas, I always wanted to see my name on a billboard,” says Lisa Marie. “I worked so hard for two decades to achieve that dream. With the pandemic, the entire entertainment world just collapsed. The career I had prepared for my entire life was in peril.”
A Challenging Time for Artists
Like so many artists, Lisa Marie found it challenging to find the motivation to keep going. With stages closed around the world, her live entertainment dreams appeared to be dashed. Luckily, prior to the pandemic, Lisa Marie had established a vocal studio for students as a means of supplementing her performances at Mayfair and gigs with her successful corporate band, LMS.
“For more than two months, I just didn’t have the emotional desire to sing,” she recalls. “Then, I heard one of my students singing one of my favorite songs and I thought to myself, ‘Hey, I want to sing that, too!’”
Back Behind the Mic
Lisa Marie says she found her voice again by giving her love of music to others. LMS Studios now boasts dozens of students, many of whom Lisa Marie engages with via Zoom to ensure appropriate following of social distancing guidelines. And, the Berklee College of Music graduate has begun taking additional classes to further advance her education in vocology.
“I have always believed, if you wait for others to give you permission to succeed you will always be waiting,” she says. “With the pandemic, I steeled myself to the conviction not to ‘wait for others to employ you if you can find ways to make it happen yourself.’ The fact that I’m helping others, teaching and bettering lives in the meantime…Isn’t that what life is about?”
Mayfair Supper Club Reopens
As one of the first four vocalists to return to the Las Vegas Strip when The Mayfair Supper Club reopened in June, Lisa Marie is happy to share her voice once again.
While she knows the road ahead for the Las Vegas entertainment community is likely to be fraught with challenges, she says she now has “the sparks needed to light that fire” and continue on.
LISA MARIE’S STATS
- Costar and headlining singer for award-winning production show PIN UP
- Original cast of BAZ: Star Crossed Love at The Palazzo
- Degree in Musical Theater from The Boston Conservatory at Berklee School of Music
- Signed with the Indie Record Label, “FERVOR RECORDS”
- Released self-titled EP in 2018
- Spokesperson of Positively Arts, a Las Vegas-based nonprofit that connects young people to the arts
“For more than two months, I just didn’t have the emotional desire to sing,” she recalls. “Then, I heard one of my students singing one of my favorite songs and I thought to myself, ‘Hey, I want to sing that, too!’”
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