Tokheim brings one-woman show, 'Stella by Starlight' to Bay Area

The Almanac

Arts & Entertainment - Wednesday, March 5, 2008

by Jane Knoerle

Her brothers, sister, uncle, aunts and, of course, her parents, Diane and Bob Tokheim of Menlo Park, will be in the audience when Heidi Tokheim presents her solo jazz comedy, "Stella by Starlight," on Friday, March 14, at the Sunnyvale Community Center Theatre.

The play is the fictional story of Stella, an aspiring jazz piano player who is female and white, and unfortunately, can't swing. One night she meets jazz great Herbie Hancock, who teaches her how to groove — and that changes everything. Ms. Tokheim plays all the roles and the music, as well.

Ms. Tokheim wrote "Stella" before she actually met Mr. Hancock, a pianist and composer whose album, "River: The Joni Letters," was named Album of the Year at the recent Grammy awards.

The play's title refers to the classic tune by Ned Washington and Victor Young, first recorded by Frank Sinatra and Dick Haymes in 1947, long before 33-year-old Heidi Tokheim was born.

Ms. Tokheim has performed the play in several venues in New York City, where she now lives. The Sunnyvale performance will be the show's West Coast premiere. For the Friday performance, her husband, Glenn Kalison, also an actor, will be stage manager.

Ms. Tokheim grew up in Sharon Heights and attended La Entrada and Menlo-Atherton High schools. She began piano lessons when she was 4 or 5, says her mother, Diane.

Trained as a classical pianist, she changed her focus to jazz piano at age 12. Both her brothers, David and Bill, were in the M-A Jazz Band, and she followed in their footsteps.

"Stella by Starlight" is being presented by the California Theatre Center, where Heidi first took part in theater productions, beginning in the sixth grade.

Her interest in the theater led her to major in theater arts at Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington. She also studied at the Pacific Conservatory of the Performing Arts for two years, performing in Santa Maria and Solvang.

Ms. Tokheim has toured in theater productions throughout the United States and internationally. Five years ago, she moved to New York City, where she is a founding member of New York's Coyote REP Theatre Company.