CHRISTINE MILD
Christine Mild, the Chicago based singer and actress and star of Maine State Music Theatre’s June show,”Always, Patsy Cline,” said although she grew up in what she calls a silent home, she and her mother, Theresa, would routinely belt out songs in the car.
“I know every Top 40 song from the 1980s and 1990s because that’s what I was exposed to,” she said.
At age seven, Mild was discovered by a talent recruiter at her church in Las Vegas, Nevada. Voice lessons were suggested by an agent, and shortly after, she entered a singing competition, and was selected as a finalist.
That led to performing show tunes and pop songs in casinos, dressed in sparkly numbers until she was in junior high school.
“Honestly, I always knew I could sing, and I always loved it,” she said in a telephone interview Thursday.
Mild said although her house rarely had a radio or a stereo playing, she remembers practicing Michael Jackson’s dance moves in the basement with her best friend, Julie.
“Sometimes I think I was switched at birth, although I look like my mom and have my dad’s nose,” she said of her more outgoing and performer personality as compared to her teacher mother and engineer father.
In high school, she bought her first albums, Dave Matthews Band and James Taylor. She said James Taylor remains her favorite artist.
Her parents, however, are very supportive of her career and will be driving from Indiana to Brunswick to watch her performance and tour the state.
When her family relocated to the suburbs of Chicago, she joined musicals and become involved in theatre, and eventually attended Northwestern University to study theater. After graduation, she headed to New York City, where she lived for seven years, until returning to Chicago.
“I missed it,” she said of the Windy city.
This will be Mild’s ninth performance of “Always, Pasty Cline.” She has toured with the show throughout the country and said her dream is to travel and sing with a band, but described life on the road as difficult. She said performing in this show gives her stability, as well as a touch of that dream, describing the show as a Patsy Cline concert. “It continues to be a gift in my career,” she said. “I love doing it.”
Her favorite Pasty Cline songs are, “You Belong to Me,” “She’s got You,” and the best Cline song, according to Mild is, “So Wrong.”
Mild was first in Brunswick performing as the star in Cats 12 years ago. She said since coming to Brunswick more than a decade ago, the town has developed, as well at Maine State Music Theatre’s place in it. “ It feels like the theatre is a centerpiece of the town in the summer. It’s very special, I feel very welcomed by the community and patrons. I’ve performed all over the country, and I feel so much warmth and genuine friendship from this community, “ she said of Brunswick.
The show runs from June 7 to 24 at the Pickard Theatre on the Bowdoin College campus.
jlaaka@timesrecord.com
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