Interview: Becca Brunelle of ACCIDENTALLY ON PURPOSE at The Green Room 42 on March 9th

There are those who believe that there are no accidents, that what happens to us happens because it was meant to be, and that, even if our circumstances were different, predestined events in our lives will occur. There can be no doubt that Becca Brunelle was destined to be a storyteller, and although her life has branched out, taking the singing actress down pathways additional to the road of a storyteller, Becca would still have landed on the stage of The Green Room 42 in a solo show. Whether predestined or designed by her own choices, Brunelle will, indeed, debut her first-ever solo show next week, and the theme of the evening is one very close to her heart: the seeking of one's purpose.

The founder of SEEKING PURPOSE, Becca Brunelle spends her time away from the limelight engaged in the act of service. Having discovered her own purpose and having honed her skills in the pursuit of purpose, Becca helps others by acting as guide, counselor, and mentor. With her work in the field of growing vitality, Brunelle has dedicated herself to the helping of others... but that need not negate her earlier vocation as a storyteller. It won't, either, for when Becca Brunelle takes the stage on March 9th, her two paths and two worlds will converge into one show: ACCIDENTALLY ON PURPOSE.

Before that happens, Becca took some time out of her schedule to chat with Broadway World Cabaret about the art of crafting a debut show, the importance of having guides and being a guide, and the place where excitement and terror meet and join hands.

This interview has been edited for space and content.

Becca Brunelle, welcome to Broadway World.

Thanks for having me.

We are here to talk about your show that's coming up on March 9th at the Green Room 42. On the website, it says Creator of Seeking Purpose - Becca Brunelle - Accidentally On Purpose. What is the difference in these two titles?

The title of my show is Accidentally On Purpose.

So, talk to me about "Creator of Seeking Purpose."

Seeking Purpose is my business - I coach people in finding their why, in finding purpose and direction in their lives.

How did you come to this vocation?

I'm also an actor, and an acting teacher of mine, Jen Waldman, introduced me to the work of Simon Sinek who wrote Start With WHY does a lot of work around purpose and having a purpose-driven career. I really latched onto that in my own life and, through a series of events, Jen pointed out to me that this might be something that I would excel at is helping other people to connect to a sense of purpose in their lives as well. And it was something that I felt really passionate about. So, I started exploring it and it turns out it all worked out.

So, when it comes to reading the room, Jen Waldman was right on the money with you.

(Laughing) She has this gift for seeing, in people, a spark and really bringing it out of them. It really is beautiful to see.

Do you ever get any pushback from people who would think that you are too young to be this kind of a guide?

That's a really interesting question. No, I never have; I'm a little older than I look and I think that when we're talking about looking for purpose and finding that thing that really drives us in our lives, it's a lifelong search. I think that it's something that, really, any age can connect to. When you're in a place where you're feeling like, "Oh man, I just need somebody to help guide me there, to help me with these blind spots that maybe I can't see," I think it becomes more about finding somebody that you trust more than somebody who may have, seemingly, more life experience than you. At least that's my take on it.

As a seeker of purpose and someone who guides people into their purpose, how do you balance out the pragmatic path of purpose seeker and the variable life of a creative?

It can be a really hard balance because I think that anybody who works in a profession where they are the facilitator or the guide for somebody, there's a lot of mental work that goes into that. And a lot of - I don't wanna use the words emotional labor (but those are the words that are coming to mind) because I don't want it to sound bad because it's wonderful - it's a lot of giving of yourself and your energy. So, I do have to be really aware of when I need to give back to myself, fill myself back up and allow myself to seek the purpose within my own life; I am really good at helping other people, and then conveniently forgetting about my own journey. I really need to be careful to take the time to meditate, spend time with friends, spend time with people. I love, spend time in nature, and do all of those things to fill myself back up, to allow myself to feed myself as an artist and sit down and write when I feel like I need to sit down and write or sing when I feel like I need to get something out of me emotionally.

So how did you come to the point where you were ready to take this part of your life and allow it to inform a solo nightclub act?

I love this question, and the real answer is I did not come to it myself. It took people within my life guiding me there. One of those people is Jen Waldman, another one of those people is my therapist. Also, my director, who's one of my best friends, Ari Axelrod had kind of been planting a seed... "Someday when you do your solo show..." And I thought for a while I was just humoring him, and then two people who are now my creativity coaches came into my life, Susan Blackwell and Laura Camien - and they, without any knowledge of already planting this seed, were like, "I think that you should do a solo show because this journey to you finding your own purpose in your life is really interesting - I think people would relate to it." So it was kind of a team effort between all of those people. And it was the right time for me to hear it and do something with it.

Have you done a lot of work as an ensemble soloist in group shows?

An ensemble soloist in group shows, like as an actor?

We get a lot of group shows and there are a lot of people who sort of specialize in being a member of the ensemble in the group shows - they come out and they sing their one song and then they leave, but then they never do a solo show.

I have a little bit of experience doing that. I've done a couple of those types of group shows in a cabaret setting, but most of my experience comes from musicals. I've done a lot of regional theater, I've worked on cruise ships - that's where most of my performing experience has come from.

How did you begin to embrace the newness of creating your own show?

Oh gosh. Honestly, I really had to give myself permission to say, "This is something new and I've never done this before. I'm gonna allow myself to not know anything, and ask questions and allow it to be okay that I don't have all the answers," which is hard for me because I am someone who likes to have the answers. It was good practice, and still is good practice in saying, "I don't know, let me find out," and allowing things to be messy.

When you're standing at the crossroad and you have the choice between being excited by all of this or terrified by all this, which path are you finding yourself leaning into?

Ooh, I have one foot on each path. It feels like they are parallel paths.

It's not a crossroad, it's an equal sign.

It feels that way. I think that I feel both excited and scared because I'm so used to getting on stage and playing somebody else - that is something that I've trained to do for many, many years and have done professionally for many years. But getting on stage and being yourself is a whole different ball game and it's so much more vulnerable and exposed. It feels a little bit like I'm holding out my heart and saying, "Please don't hurt me, please take care of me..." or not "Take care of me," but "Here's my heart, please don't hurt me." So it's scary, but it's also exciting.

Well, if I can give you one piece of advice...

Yes.

Remember that the audience is not out to get you.

Yeah.

They're not a firing squad. They want you to succeed. They're there for you.

Mm. I love that advice. Thank you.

That's the only thing you have to know... and also your lyrics.

I think we've done pretty well.

So tell me, what should we prepare ourselves for when you walk out on the stage on the ninth?

I think it's gonna be a fun night. It's gonna be a full spectrum of emotion. What I really wanted to put into this show was music that spoke to me - these are all songs that, through my entire life, have spoken to me, I have different emotional connections to each of them. And something that I really hope comes across is the celebration of not just the wonderful things about this purpose-seeking journey, but the full spectrum of emotion that you feel when you're on this kind of journey - I hope that that comes across. There's also gonna be a little bit of tap dancing, because I'm a tapper and I was like, "I WILL tap in this show." So there's gonna be a little bit of that, a little bit of silly fun, and then also some big heart numbers.

It's your first time out. How did you approach the writing of your script?

I started by taking some of these moments in my life that really informed who I am, or that I think informed who I am, and that sort of informed my story of how I became the person that I am, and am continuing to become. I really put it down messy. I wrote them out. I did a lot of journaling about it. And from there we took those really messy, probably too-detailed stories and distilled them down into the emotion that we wanted to get across so that it became (hopefully) something that people can relate to.

I'm a big believer in having good show art, and you have particularly good show art - this picture of you in the phone booth. Tell me the story behind this picture and the reason why you picked it to be your show art.

This is one of my favorite photo sessions I've ever done - this is a photo from a few years ago. Pre-pandemic, one of my very close friends is a photographer and one day was like, "Hey, put these clothes on, let's go to the library, and let's have a photoshoot." It was so freeing to just have fun with one of my very close friends and she just has this really incredible eye where she sees parts of people that are really imperfect, but also really beautiful. It was kind of the first time that I looked at a photoshoot and went, "Wow, I feel like I'm looking at myself."

This particular photo, in the phone booth... when I was thinking about purpose and my journey, and what I wanted this show to be, I was like, "This is me, looking for something, looking maybe for myself, kind of on the phone with (as cheesy as it sounds) a version of me that maybe I wanna become. Someone asked me, "Who do you think is on the other side of that phone?" And I said, "I think it's me."

You said that it sounds cheesy, but I want you to remember how much people love cheese.

I also love cheese.

On your food or in your club act, it doesn't really matter - people will love it. Now... I know that this is your business, and I don't want to ask you to just give it away... but if I were chatting with you at a party and I learned what you do for a living, and I said, "What's the first thing I need to do to find my purpose?" what would you say to me?

I would say, "Look around and see what types of things light you up. What gives you a visceral feeling of (and I don't mean just light you up, as in light you up happy - I mean, ignite something in you) what visceral reaction do I have to this thing? Does that make me really scared to walk towards that thing? Or does this interaction with this person make me feel so warm inside my belly, and feel loved in all of these things, and then investigate that. What's causing that visceral reaction inside of you?"

If I could turn the tables on you and ask you: Becca, what lights you up?

(Laughing) It's funny that you asked this. I'm sitting at my desk right now and I'm looking at photos of people that I love, that are above my desk: a few of those people are my nieces and my nephews, there are photos of friends, and it's really that connection that I feel when I'm with people that I love.

Becca Brunelle thank you for talking with Broadway World today.

Thank you so much for having me. This was really fun.

It was my pleasure. I can't wait to see the show.

Thanks, Stephen.

Becca Brunelle ACCIDENTALLY ON PURPOSE plays The Green Room 42 on March 9th at 7 pm. For information and tickets visit the Green Room 42 website HERE.

Becca Brunelle has a website HERE.

Drew Wutke is the Musical Director for ACCIDENTALLY ON PURPOSE

The Library Session photographs of Becca Brunelle are by Keisha Padello.

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