ArtCee | Featured | Coco-Lane-Rigbye

Coco Lane Rigbye

I watched some of your Instagram videos. What a beautiful song on your latest post.

Aw, thank you.

What are you currently working on? What is exciting at the moment?

Well actually I just finished up a residency here in Las Vegas at Alexis Park, a musical parody of Sex and the City. I was the female swing, meaning I play all of the female roles, a super understudy, so they can call me in for any of the roles. And that is super exciting! We closed the residency because we are gonna be going on tour. YES! It’s not my first national tour because we did a trial run a couple of months ago. Did a couple of shows in New Jersey and another state… Baltimore MD? I am really excited to be traveling with the show.

What you know of ArtCee so far, how do you think you’ll be able to use the platform?

I’m really excited to have it connect people I don’t know, and to find things, people and resources that I may not have access to. I think it’s going to be a great resource for anyone starting a new project or for emerging artists who want to start something but don’t know where to start or have the right people around them.

Looking at your journey, is there a piece of art that impacts you today?

I think it’s such a hard question because I’m surrounded by so many amazing people that I had so many different answers, especially with Olivia Newton John’s recent passing. She’s an Australian actress and I grew up watching her and being inspired by her. So I feel like I want her to be my answer.

I think that’s a great answer! What about her rings true for you?

Of course, it’s her talent. From when she was young, she’s had such a long and incredible career. But I also think it’s her as a human being and how kind she’d been. That’s what I aspire to be. You can see her heart and soul in everything. That is so much more important than anything they did on paper. The people they touched, the people they inspired. The way she spoke to people. I think that’s part of the reason why she got some of the roles that she did.

In your career, apart from your performing, what is it in your “person” that you want to bring to this world?

Kindness and warmth. If we’re lucky, we have a really long life and you can do anything you want to with that life. To be that kind of person that encourages a person to just say “Yes”. So I just want to be the person that says “YES, you can do whatever the heck you want to in this life.” You deserve it to live the kind of life you never dreamed you could have.

I think that’s really the philosophy for your own life. You’re doing what you love.

And you can surprise yourself, too. When I was younger I always loved theater and performing arts. I was lucky. I grew up in a family where my dad was a singer and he’s been singing for 35 years professionally. My mother was a dancer when she was younger, and my brother was the reason I got into theater in the first place.

Even so, When I was getting out of high school and was trying to pick what I wanted to do, I thought well I shouldn’t pick performing. That’s crazy. So I went to school for science and mathematics, and I loved it. But when it was time to pick a job, I knew I didn’t want to do this every day. It’s not what I want to do everyday. The only thing that I know that I like to spend my time on and that I put my heart and soul into, and that I work at whether I have a project or not, is performance and singing. So I thought, why not? Why not?

So even if you don’t end up being a Broadway star or on TV, you can still spend your time doing what you love and that brings you joy. It doesn’t matter what it is, you never know who you’re going to influence or inspire, or even just surprising yourself. I honestly never thought I would be doing what I‘m doing today.

Interviewed by: Christopher Aguilar, chris@artcee.co

Other than that, I’m doing a lot of singing in Las Vegas, which I’m really proud of. I’m a singer at a bar called Cheap Shot. It’s a really great music venue and a small theater in downtown Fremont Street. So we do a bunch of stuff. We do a variety show a few times a week, and a piano bar a few times a week. I’m a featured singer there.

You work a lot in the city. What keeps you motivated to keep doing what you're doing?

Honestly, the community in Las Vegas is so supportive. What I love about Vegas is it’s a hotspot for talent. There is so much talent. It’s hard not to feel inspired by all of these incredible people out here trying to do what you’re doing

Where are you from originally and what piece of your hometown are you bringing here?

I was born and raised in Australia, in Queensland. But I actually moved to Las Vegas when I was twelve. I was so young, I think of Vegas as my home. I grew up and matured here. I think what I’m bringing back from home is just a love of life and a bit of diversity. My family back home is the most supportive people ever, and they look at what I’m doing and think it’s amazing. Being really proud of where I’m from and what I’m doing here.