Two fresh faces with pitch-perfect voices: Life Could be a Dream for Next toNormal theater duo

Wandering through the halls where Houston Arts Alliance meets Stages Repertory Theatre, I heard the voices of angels. OK, so maybe they were actors. Angels, actors — does it really matter when they sound that good?

The cast of Life Could be a Dream was rehearsing their pitch-perfect crooning from the musical review factory of Roger Bean, who gave us the long running The Marvelous Wonderettes. When I found out that Mark Ivy and Rebekah Stevens were in the show, the very couple who blew me away in Stages' recent production of Next to Normal, I thought it might be time to sit down with these up and coming actors, who have been wowing me and Houston audiences for over a year now.

Oh to be young, good looking, talented and able to belt out "Rama Lama Ding Dong" with oodles of finesse.

Young actors staying in Houston is always a favorite subject; two uber strong performers, even more reason to get excited. Many leave, and for good reasons. New York does look fun, until you get there.

After graduating with her musical theater degree from the University of Northern Colorado, Stevens did head to New York, where she discovered waitressing and not enough auditions. Since being in Houston, she's been on stage nonstop.

"It's the best move I've ever made," Stevens says. "You can really build your resume in a city like Houston, which has a terrific regional theater scene."

And build she did, making a name for herself in such standout plays as The Little Dog Laughed and Reasons To be Pretty at Theatre Lab Houston, followed by Ether Dome and The Seagull at the Alley Theatre. Then came her knockout performance as Natalie in the Pulitzer Prize-winning Next to Normal, where she made her Stages debut, and I discovered that she also has a lovely singing voice.

Ivy grew up in Houston, studied at the TUTS' Humphreys School of Musical Theatre and was as a regular audience member at Stages.

"I take pride in the fact that I'm cultivating my career here and building a nice resume in the fourth largest city in America," he says. "I don't think it's necessarily a bad thing to have worked with a few reputable theaters before going off to the big city if that's what I choose to do."

Ivy made a stunning professional debut at Stages in the Pulitzer Prize-winning play Rabbit Hole as Jason, the teen who accidentally kills a tiny boy running out from behind a car. The TUTS alum performed in Stages' Panto holiday productions and other shows before he graduated from Sam Houston State University.

"I was already in working at TUTS in Little Shop of Horrors," says Ivy, about his seamless transition from school to the professional stage.

Ivy and Stevens have survived a whirlwind couple of months, which included rehearsing their current show, while still performing the gut-wrenching emotional roller coaster of a musical Next to Normal. Their lives were day and night sing-a-thons. The two bonded early on in the rehearsal process.

"I'm here for you, you are here for me, let's do it," says Stevens, about her working relationship with Ivy. "We had to give it everything we had every single night."

The transition from super serious Normal to Bean's lighthearted review wasn't as easy as it looked. Life Could be a Dream may have a scant plot, but it's a non-stop song extravaganza, featuring a collection of best loved songs from the 1960s.

"It's vocal Olympics for me," says Ivy, who is a tenor by training. "It's really challenging in terms of the range of vocal styles."

Stevens, an oldies fan, sounds just like Anita Humes of The Essex when she spills her heart out in "Easier Said than Done." Ivy, who is also a dancer, gets to play the klutsy comic role of Eugene, where he really had to work on not being his coordinated self. "It's been fun to leave the audience laughing instead of sobbing," Ivy quips.

The rest of the Dream cast, Cameron Bautsch, Adam Gibbs and Dylan Godwin also deserve a shout out of their terrific performances.

Life Could be a Dream keeps a dreamin' until Sep. 2. After that, Stevens can be seen at the Alley Theatre in Death of a Salesman, and Ivy will be taking his first break in a year in a half. As with all artists, futures are uncertain. Ivy and Stevens may leave for other theater pastures. For now, you still have plenty of time to catch two of Houston's freshest faces doo wopping their hearts out and sounding great in the process. "Sh-Boom" rarely sounds this good. Don't miss out.