tape, and a third describing the video projections and visual stage actions. "I see the work being about a woman trying to understand her own sexuality, sensuality and creativity," says Krucker. Thus, the piece begins with a female character dominated by patriarchy -- specifically, Carson's description of 19th-century poet Emily Dickinson's one-sided relationship with her publisher, Thomas Higginson -- and ends with the female character discovering her independent voice, one that does not have to be legitimized by male authority. Incidentally, the title The Girl With No Door on Her Mouth comes from Sophocles's description of the nymph Echo.
Now 41, Krucker can look back at her life, and point to the signposts that led to her unique career. Born in Montreal of Swiss/Scottish background, Krucker was raised in North Bay, ON. Her father was a baker who ultimately moved his business to Burlington, ON. After reading an article on the Lester B. Pearson College of the Pacific on Vancouver Island, Krucker applied to go to the prestigious academy for Grades 12 and 13. "The school was built around the concept of international understanding," she recalls. "It was an extraordinary experience because it exposed me to different cultures, and made me think in a future-looking way. I believe this is where I became curious to search out the new and the different." After a stint at the University of Toronto studying linguistics, Krucker ran her father's business for a year, which exposed her to the many immigrant cultures who work in the food industry and the ethnic music they listened to in the factory. Krucker had been a pianist, and only turned to singing when piano elbow curtailed her playing. In Burlington, she joined a choir and the Opera Hamilton Chorus, and took private singing lessons with Wayne Strongman and Maria Pellegrini. Hearing about the programs at Banff Centre for the Arts, she began with the opera course, but then found her true love -- contemporary music theatre. When Italian composer Lucio Berio came to Banff and heard the young singer perform his Folk Songs, he recommended her name to orchestras in Europe who wanted to present the work.
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