Valarie Pettiford: Is A Tease (and she can sing too)!

Valarie Pettiford is that rare breed, a triple threat. From the stages of Broadway to the sound stages of Hollywood, she has charmed audiences with her performances. A Fosse-trained dancer, Pettiford was Tony nominated for her work in the musical revue, “Fosse”, which paid homage to her mentor.

As an actor, she is most recognized as Big Dee Dee Thorne on the hit sitcom, “Half and Half”, and Aunt Geneva, whose rehearsal dinner musical number in “Jumping the Broom” pretty much stole the show from her Co-Stars.

Valarie has released her second solo album, “Velvet Sky”, a collection of original lullabies.. This new album, all of which were written especially for her by two legendary writing teams – Ron Abel (music)/Chuck Steffan (lyrics) and Michael Orland (music)/Jamie Wooten (lyrics).

Here to sing you a soothing lullaby as only she can is Ms. Valarie Pettiford...!

VP: Hey, it's Valarie Pettiford.

MS: Hey, how are you?

VP: I'm awesome how are you?

MS: Great! I was giving “Velvet Sky” a listen before you called, it's very nice, did your Mom sing you lullabies when you were a kid?

VP: She did. She has a beautiful voice, it's so nice to see her now with singing to her Great Grandchildren, she has always sang, and so does my sister. Lullabies have always been a part of my life.

MS: I always wondered if people really sang lullabies to their kids. (laughs)

VP: They do, they actually do. (laughs)

MS: There was something I read that stated you thought your voice was well suited to them, I agree with that.

VP: Thank you, thank you. People always ask me: “Valarie what do you usually sing”? Of course I do Jazz and Musical Theatre, but my heart is in Rock-N-Roll. But I just don't have a Rock-N-Roll voice, so I have thought about where my vocal sensibilities lie. I think they do lie in this particular vein.

MS: Interesting, because I wouldn't know by hearing you sing that you didn't have a Rock-N-Roll voice. Because as we all know Pat Benatar was trained as an opera singer and she has a Rock-N-Roll voice...so someone listening to you would not necessarily know you didn't have that type of voice.

VP: You're right, I mean I could do it, but it's not the way I want to do it. I would want to sound like Pat Benatar or Tina Turner, but I don't.

MS: Rumor has it you pretty much stole “Jumping The Broom”.

VP: (laughs) Somebody said that, not me. My role was very delicious, it was amazing to, I was surrounded by the best cast and had the best director. It was a wonderful experience.

MS: I heard you had an off color musical number in it.

VP: I did. (laughs) The movie is about a wedding and I did a song during the rehearsal dinner, that was inappropriate but, funny as Hell.

MS: Since I haven't seen it, can you tell me what it was?

VP: Well....the movie has been out for a while so it won't spoil it for anyone. But sometimes I hate saying it, because it will spoil it for people who have not seen the movie and still want to see it.

MS: Valarie you are a tease. (laughs)

VP: It's inappropriate, but funny as Hell.

MS: Now you are going to have to make me rent it.

VP: You can find it on DVD and on On Demand.

MS:Gee, thanks a lot Valarie! (laughs)

VP: You're welcome. (laughs)

Let Valarie sing you a lullaby at: http://www.officialvalariepettiford.com/