Perry Ehrlich, a Richmond-based lawyer, has found a creative way to pay tribute to Dr. Bonnie Henry.
Ehrlich has recorded two vocal tracks with his students and, to his surprise, B.C.'s top doctor even replied to his email.
"She said these two songs are so lovely. Isn't she so nice," said Ehrlich, who read her reply over and over again to the Richmond News.
A lawyer by day, Ehrlich also works as the director and creator of the Gotta Sing! Gotta Dance! Musical theatre summer camp over weekends.
Even during a pandemic, Ehrlich still hasn't stopped writing lyrics, recording songs and teaching young musical talents on Zoom.
This time, he recorded two songs with his fellow students and forwarded them to Henry, with one piece talking about Dr. Bonnie and the four shots and the second one is simply expressing how happy the kids are to be able to sing together online.
"We are trying to make lemonade out of lemons and give the kids a great experience this summer," said Ehrlich, adding that he feels glad that music has the power to keep everyone together.
Meanwhile, Ehrlich is also collaborating with Meghan Anderssen, who is a director, choreographer and videographer, to work on a music video with students, since live musical shows aren't possible due to the pandemic.
Ehrlich said this year's script, written by him, is called "Who is Zoomin who?" since they have spent more than a year having classes via Zoom.
In addition, the music video will feature a parody of the "12 days of Christmas"- in 2020, the pandemic gave to me: 12 first responders; 11 sanitizers; 10 mental breakdowns; nine tests for COVID-19' 8 curbside pickups; seven lost vacations; six feet between us; five quarantines; four face masks; three Zoom calls; two shots of Pfizer and a closet full of stylish personal protection equipment.
"I have spoken with psychiatrists and they told me basically it's really important for young adults to talk about the pandemic and those things instead of keeping those feelings to themselves," said Ehrlich.
