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Storm Large's Holiday Ordeal Part rock show, part stand-up comedy with a dash of self-actualization thrown in, Storm Large is truly a tour-de-force performer. [Photo by Laura Domela] Wednesday Dec 27, 2017 at 5:05 PM Dec 27, 2017 at 5:05 PM Storm Large: musician, actor, playwright, author, awesome. Born Susan Storm Large, the six-foot-tall singer shot to national prominence in 2006 as a finalist on CBS' "Rock Star: Supernova," where despite being eliminated in the week before the finale, she built a fan base that follows her around the world to this day. Large spent the '90s singing in clubs throughout San Francisco. Tiring of the club scene, she moved to Portland to pursue a new career as a chef, but a last-minute cancellation in 2002 at Portland club Dante’s turned into a standing Wednesday night engagement for Large and her new band, The Balls, singing lounge versions of punk and metal songs — but with Broadway-sized pipes. It wasn’t long before she had a cult-like following in Portland, and a renewed singing career that was soon to be launched onto the international stage. The rock singer turned chanteuse with debut performances in 2017 and 2018 with the San Francisco, Pittsburgh, Phoenix, Vancouver, Jacksonville and RTÉ National symphonies, as well as return engagements with the Houston, Toronto, and Toledo symphonies. Large and her band, Le Bonheur, continue to tour concert halls across the country. In 2016 and 2017, they debuted with the Atlanta, Baltimore and BBC symphony orchestras, and the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, as well as return engagements with National Symphony Orchestra and Detroit Symphony Orchestra. Newer highlights include engagements with the New York Pops, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Louisville Orchestra, Memphis Symphony and The Knights, as well as performances at the Grant Park Music Festival in Chicago. She joined Michael Feinstein as a guest singer at the Jazz at Lincoln Center Popular Song series, along with Liza Minnelli, Joel Grey and the Pasadena Pops. Large made her debut as guest vocalist with Portland band Pink Martini in April 2011, singing four sold-out concerts with the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. She continues to perform with the band, touring nationally and internationally, and she was featured on its 2015 CD, "Get Happy." Large also has sang with Grammy winner k.d. lang, pianist Kirill Gerstein, punk rocker John Doe, singer and songwriter Rufus Wainwright and Rock and Roll Hall of Famer George Clinton. She debuted with the Oregon Symphony in 2010, and has returned for sold out performances each year. Storm made her Carnegie Hall debut in 2013, singing Kurt Weill’s "Seven Deadly Sins" with the Detroit Symphony as part of the Spring for Music festival. The New York Times called her “sensational,” and the classical music world instantly had a new star.  Soprano Large reprised her singing role as Anna in Weill's satirical ballet chanté in 2014 at Britt's Classical Festival — the same year maestro Teddy Abrams stepped to the podium as artistic director of Britt Orchestra. In 2007, Large starred in Portland Center Stage’s production of "Cabaret" with Wade McCollum. The show was a smash hit, earning Large glowing reviews. Her next endeavor, the autobiographical musical memoir "Crazy Enough," played to packed houses in 2009 during its unprecedented 21-week sold out run in Portland. Large went on to perform a cabaret version of the show to critical acclaim at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Adelaide Festival in Australia and Joe’s Pub in New York City. Her written memoir, "Crazy Enough," was released by Simon and Schuster in 2012, named Oprah’s Book of the Week, and awarded the 2013 Oregon Book Award for Creative Nonfiction. Large is featured in "Rid of Me," a film by Portlander James Westby, starring Katie O’Grady and Theresa Russell. In 2010, she starred at the Mark Taper Forum with Katey Sagal and Michael McKean in Jerry Zak’s production of "Harps and Angels," a musical featuring the work of Randy Newman. In the fall of 2014, Large and her band Le Bonheur released a record designed to capture their sublime and subversive interpretations of the American Songbook. Titled simply "Le Bonheur" and ­released­ on­ Pink­ Martini’s­ Heinz­ Records,­ the recording is a collection of tortured and titillating love songs: beautiful, familiar, yet twisted … much like the lady herself.