Country singer makes another impact in acting

Published 9:00 pm Thursday, June 9, 2005

From the mid-1980s and well into the 1990s, Reba McEntire was the undisputed queen of country music, the first woman in the genre to consistently sell out arenas as she reeled off one platinum album after another.

She hasn’t lost much, if any, of the popularity that lifted her to that standing, although one could argue that other artists now hold the top place among women in country music.

But if McEntire has ceded some of her status in country music, she has more than made up by becoming a major presence in other fields.

Over the past decade and a half she has made a major impact in acting. This pursuit started in 1990 with roles in television movies and feature films, before taking to Broadway and an acclaimed run in “Annie Get Your Gun.” She currently stars in the WB Network sitcom, “Reba,” which is in its fourth season.

McEntire has little trouble explaining why acting became such a natural transition for her during a recent interview prior to the start of her current summer concert tour.

“Every song that I sing is like a mini-video in my mind,” McEntire said. “And I’m acting out the words in my mind. I can see it. So the acting was really a natural thing.”

A weekly television series is perfectly suited to her schedule, McEntire said.

“I’m on the TV show from August to March … then I’m through for all the summer months to be able to tour.”

McEntire is using her summer off this year heading up a bill that also features Brad Paisley and Terri Clark.

The concert dates are in support of her 29th album, “Room to Breathe,” which was released in 2003, but continues to garner sales behind a new single, “My Sister.”

McEntire’s past concerts have been known for elaborate staging, numerous costume changes and production numbers. She hinted that this summer’s tour won’t skimp on the visual entertainment.

“It is a lot bigger of a show than it was last year …,” McEntire said. “This year we’ve got a lot more lights and the staging is different.”

Her career began in 1978 when McEntire, a native of Chockie, Okla., released her self-titled debut CD on Mercury Records.

Success, though, was slow incoming, as McEntire and Mercury Records tinkered with her music over the course of six more albums, trying to find a sound that would catch on with radio.

After managing only modest success, McEntire moved over to MCA, where she was given more freedom to choose songs she wanted to sing and record them in instrumental settings with which she was more comfortable.

Immediately McEntire’s fortunes began to shift, as her 1984 debut on MCA, “My Kind of Country,” became a significant hit and set the stage for bigger things to come.

McEntire is particularly proud of “Room to Breathe,” saying it contains what she considers the fines collections of songs she’s had on any album.

“They’ve got a great variety to them,” she said. “… And every one of them, I could have had any of those songs out as a single and been very proud of them.”

Having recently turned 50, McEntire is the rare artist who has enjoyed sustained success in a music business that usually rewards the young and beautiful new star, while veterans often find themselves shut out from the mainstream.

McEntire said she doesn’t let her age become an issue.

“I try not to think about it, that’s one thing, just go ahead and continue to work it,” she said. “That’s just wasted time in my way of thinking, to worry about it. What’s going to happen is going to happen. …

“What I try to do are projects that I absolutely love, and I’m at a point in my life where if it’s not really a lot of fun to do, I just don’t want to do it.”

Associated Press

Reba McEntire performs tonight in Auburn.