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"Oh man, I bought the book in 1995," says the Calgary singer/songwriter, who performs The Vagina Monologues all this week at the Walker Theatre with actresses Sherri Parker Lee and Starla Benford.
"I was in L.A. and I saw it in a little bookstore, bought it, read it immediately and laughed my ass off all the way through it," Arden says of Eve Ensler's book of interviews with some 200 women about their vaginas, which was adapted into a three-actress series of dramatic readings by the author in 1997.
"So when I was asked to do this, I tried to figure out away that I could do it with my schedule. I really wanted to do this. It's a really interesting piece of writing, an interesting discourse on the nature of being a woman," Arden says, adding she liked the challenge the play presents.
"I think some people are intimidated by the title. For many, it's not an easy thing to say. But I think this is Eve's way of getting to the point. These are stories about women's vaginas, and they're very poignant."
Having done the play for a week in Toronto and a week in Vancouver, Arden says she thinks that, while she may have been the reason some people bought tickets, she's not the dominant presence onstage.
"People just get lost in the text. I think 80% of them show up very nervous, but they become as entranced by the stories, and certainly by Starla and Sherri, as they are by me."
Parker Lee agrees with Arden's assessment.
"I have to say they (singers) bring in a different audience than would normally come," says the New York actress. "If they're singer/songwriters, they bring to the work an appreciation for the writing and an understanding of a writer."
Arden adds that, with her boisterous stage persona and her natural sense of humour, there are a few of the monologues that would be perfect for her.
"But I really wanted to stretch myself out with this. There are stories that would relate to me but I want to do more than that. And the way the show is done is that each of us does different monologues. They change around, so I'm not even sure what I'm doing in the Winnipeg show," says Arden, who reconnects with Lee and Benford today at the Walker.
The singer says she's made "lifelong friends" in the two actresses but adds that she won't be doing any more Vagina Monologues shows in the near future. She embarks on a Canadian tour soon after this Winnipeg run ends and her latest album, Blood Red Cherry, is about to be released by Rounder Records in the U.S.
"So I'll be busy for a while," she sighs.
Winnipeg won't be a stop on her upcoming tour, though she will play Brandon. River City fans of Arden's music will next see her in February 2002, when she performs with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra. (More on Jann Arden)