Tunnel Singer

Length 08:13
Licensor Catherine Girardeau
Producer(s) Catherine Girardeau, Earprint Productions
Formats Documentary, Soft Feature
Topics Music, Science, Women
Produced May, 2005
Added to PRX June 2, 2005
 

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Summary:

Profile of a singer who is losing her voice.

Website:

http://www.tunnelsinger.com/index.shtml

Timely on:

June: National Aphasia (Speech Impairment) Awareness Month

Tones:

Engaging

Language:

English

Description:

This story is a profile of Lee Ellen Shoemaker, a singer who is losing her voice to a rare neurological condition. The retired hospital adminstrator-turned performance artist is known as the Tunnel Singer, for her live vocal improvisations in the resonant darkness of tunnels and empty cisterns.

In this piece, Shoemaker tells the story, with what's left of her voice, of her journey into her singing career, and her recent struggle with spasmodic dysphonia. The reporter follows Shoemaker as she is treated with botox injections into her vocal cords, which can temporarily recover her singing voice. We hear her singing in a tunnel, before and after the treatment, and are left with the haunting notes of her lost voice.

Aired 5/21/05 on PRI's "Weekend America".
Licensed by WGCU, Colorado Springs, CO; aired
6/7/05.