Book contains 80 years of Cape area entertainers

Cape Girardeau has produced its share of shining icons, but not every success story out of the area gets recognition.

Jerry Ford aims to change that. His new book, "Dreamers: Entertainers from Small Town to Big Time," will hit the shelves in February. This new book showcases those who have taken on the challenge of succeeding in the entertainment industry.

"We're looking for a pre-Valentine Day launch, hopefully," Ford said.

This isn't Ford's first foray into local color. His first book, "The Gordonville Grove," is in its third printing since debuting in September of 2010. The University Press at Southeast Missouri State University published both books.

"Dreamers" features stories on more than 100 musicians and entertainers from the area, as well as many pictures, spanning 80 years. The book includes some young artists who are just breaking out. It is a collection of colorful stories and interesting timelines of lives beyond Southeast Missouri.

Ford writes about Donna Smith, an opera singer who resides in New York City.

Smith was born in Cape Girardeau and sang in church. She started college at Southeast Missouri State University.

"I was studying here at SEMO, fully anticipating being a psychologist," Smith said.

Music was "just for fun," she said. She thought deep down she would rather pursue a career in music, but had no direction.

"At that time, I didn't know what genre; it seemed like an impossibility in a small town like Cape," Smith said.

She met Dr. Louisa Takahashi, a university vocal teacher at the time. Takahashi had worked in opera and introduced Smith to the artform.

"After that, within 6 to 9 months, she encouraged me to go and sing in this festival over in Italy," Smith said.

Smith fell in love with singing opera, and made the decision to make a career out of it. "It didn't hurt that I was in Rome," she said with a smile.

Opera is written in many different languages, and performing these pieces as written requires more than just learning your parts, Smith said.

"You have to know the language; you have to know the translation of everyone in the entire opera, otherwise you're just saying your lines and have no idea what they're saying back to you," Smith said.

She has performed throughout the world, but really enjoys living in New York.

"New York is a magnificent town; I certainly wouldn't trade the opportunities, in terms of not only performing, but seeing other performances," Smith said. "Having all-encompassing things in every art form ... I think that helps any performer in their own line of work."

Travel is a big part of life for another of Ford's subjects, David McFarland. McFarland entertained cruise ship passengers for 30 years.

McFarland learned proper chord progressions, timing and rhythm -- and most of the songs from the popular American songbook -- from his mother Anna Jane McFarland. He began his career by basically sticking his neck out. He knew he wanted to travel and figured that cruise ships were a good way to do it.

"I went down to Miami -- at that time, it was the main port for cruise ships -- went into the different offices and just played the piano for them," McFarland said. "I don't know if I was just lucky, or in the right place at the right time or what."

"It doesn't hurt that he's a hell of a player," Ford said.

After spending time on a cruise ship, McFarland docked in France, where he played in hotels for a while.

"After about three years, I met some people on the ship who had been in Paris," McFarland said. They gave him contact information for the place they had played. McFarland sent a cassette tape, and was hired for two months.

"When my first job there was over, I went to the Crillon [Hotel de Crillon Salon de Tea in Paris] for six months, and they kept renewing," McFarland said. "I was there almost six years."

He kept touch with the contacts with the cruise ships, and after his stint in Paris, he went back to playing on the ships again, which he continues to do today with Royal Carribean.

"It's a good gig," said McFarland, "but it is just a job. You sacrifice being able to jump in the car and go some place, you have to put up with the boat drills, and there are rules and regulations. Whether you're on a cruise or you're not, you're working. But you meet people from all over the world that you would never meet back home.

"I never dreamed that I'd end up doing this; end up doing it this long," McFarland said. "I was lucky; just lucky."

Smith and McFarland join dozens of individuals on the pages of "Dreamers: Entertainers from Small Town to Big Time."

Ford said one common theme among many of the artists he interviewed for the book is a strong work ethic.

"You gotta work at it," Ford said. "There's just story after story about people's perseverance, what they've been able to do."

"Dreamers: Entertainers from Small Town to Big Time" will be available on Amazon.com and through the University Press.