Feature: WE'VE ONLY JUST BEGUN: CARPENTERS REMEMBERED at Chastain Park Amphitheater

When we grow up, we are told we can be lawyers and doctors and police officers and reporters and actors. We have no idea about all the sub groups in these fields and all the other roles in those hospitals and law firms and theatres and news stations. That is the cool part of growing up; we get to discover what we want to do with our lives, on our own terms.

Michelle Berting Brett a similar experience when she went off to college at Dickinson State University in North Dakota when she got the musical theatre bug. After years of church choir and community theatre, Michelle knew that this was the next step. She later transferred to Sheridan College in Toronto in order to pursue a musical theatre degree. Michelle had no idea where it would take her but knew that she was inspired by pop music and theatrics.

With hard work and talent, Michelle began to tour the world via gigs with cruise ships, jazz clubs, hotels, you name it. And because she was in between shows a lot, Michelle started creating cabaret shows. They were eclectic, featuring show tunes, pop hits and, as you might have guessed, the Carpenters. After being told time after time that she sounded like Karen Carpenter countless times, something clicked.

In 2009, Michelle performed a trial run to a standing room only audience. The biggest issue of the night apparently was that there was not a dry eye in the house. With the help of her boyfriend Mark, Michelle added several musicians and ran with the concept, and WE'VE ONLY JUST BEGUN: CARPENTERS REMEMBERED was born.

Michelle and her Nashville-based band currently have been touring since the success of her trial runs. However, it would be important to note that the show is meant to pay tribute, rather than a show where Michelle impersonates Karen.

"For us, it's this emotional journey that the audience goes on with us with these tunes," states Michelle. "We have this wonderful flow through the show. One minute, the audience is clapping and then the audience is emotional. We really think of it as a theatrical experience."

And it is just that, a multi-faceted theatrical experience that pays tribute to the Carpenters and the music that they have left behind.

Michelle Berting Brett will perform in WE'VE ONLY JUST BEGUN: CARPENTERS REMEMBERED at Chastain Park Amphitheater on July 15 as part of the 2017 Delta Live Nation Concert Series. Tickets for the 8 p.m. show are available online.