Friend a Day – Susanne Becker

Photo by Peter Verrant

I’ve known Suze since she was in Renaissance Festival academy and I was one of her instructors.  For over ten years, the two of us have been in The Dregs together.  We are the only two original members of the band left.

The first thing that anyone notices about her is her signing voice because it is amazing.  She has a natural sense of pitch and tempo and nails every song the first time she sings it.  It’s no wonder our audience requests her songs so frequently.

When Suze says she is going to do something for you, she will do it in a surprisingly creative way.  Just recently I was looking for some feather fans to use in a performance bit.  I wasn’t having any luck finding them so she just decided she was going to make them.  And she did.  And they were amazing.

I think that she’s at her finest when she is really excited about something.  She brings all of her considerable energy to a project and makes it something special.

For someone who has a lot of fears, I give her a lot of credit for facing them.  She hates puppets and still deals with a bunch of people waving them in her face.  She allows those fears to be subservient to entertaining the audience and that takes a lot of courage.

When she is in top form, she is the best vilifier I’ve ever seen.  She simply rules the stage.  Nothing can stop her.  At the top of her game, she has more stage presence than anyone I know.

She’s also been part of some other shows I’ve put together and she always shines when given the chance.  She has a magnetism to her stage persona that makes her a worthwhile addition to anything I do.  If I could use her in productions more often, I would.

As a friend, she is fiercely loyal and will stick up for a friend or a friendship with all of her considerable might.

I’ve spent a lot of time getting to know Suze over the years and I’m glad that she’s a part of The Dregs and of my life.