Paula, who is one of three children (in da middle), started studying piano at the age of 5. She hails from a musically talented family. Her mother is an accomplished opera singer, and her father was a church organist and choir director. So you can see, she got her talent honestly.
She always knew that she wanted to sing…just didn’t know what to sing. The only thing she knew was church music, operas and “easy listening music”…which were basically the “standards” without the words.
She then decided to study acting at the Freedom Theatre, and after singing in a few choruses, decided to go to Temple University and find a voice coach.
Her parents never knew she wanted to sing, and when asked why she never sang under her Mom and Dad’s roof, her answer was not surprising: “I was too shy to sing at home. My parents loved classical music and I didn’t think classical music was the way I wanted to go.”
She started going to jazz clubs and bars on open mike nights, and the rest, as they say, is history!