IN EVERY PERSON'S journey through life there are experiences that seem to be explained as bad luck, bad day or bad clams. These are the times when we look at ourselves in the mirror and proclaim…what the hell am I doing wrong here??

It is at these times when we would do well by looking deeper and beyond our own image and see what, in the long run, we are learning from the experience we perceive as negative. For even the darkest storm clouds have a bright and shiny inside. The silver lining.

My last 2 columns told a story of a guy who has tried his best to "make it" in various corners of the show business world. He's gone from rock star to wedding singer to composer to celebrity impersonator to Hollywood actor to Las Vegas headliner. The story is familiar to most artists, but so dark and foreign to the pedestrian reader, the civilians, the audience.

I worked with the legendary Dick Capri who was a mainstay in the Catskills in the day and appeared in the highly acclaimed Catskills on Broadway. I was talking to audience members that had just seen our show in Hawaii and he called me over in a huff.

"Don't talk to the civilians," he said, "they don't get us, we're circus, carnival, show folk. They are the enemy." I looked at his wonderfully expressive and slightly weathered mug and asked, "why are they the enemy and why call them civilians?"

He climbed up on a coffee table and proclaimed in a loud, Shakespearean belt "If you've never bombed on stage then you are a civilian!!"

He was right, you can't understand the logic of the actor, painter, singer or artist. It does not compute to…uh…civilians.

He was also the one who beautifully referred to the little beads of sweat that collect on your forehead when you are nervous or things are not going well in a presentation as…Bomb sweats! A great observation and definition that should be included in Mr. Webster's book.

Why would anyone go to work (an audition) and be told 98 out of 100 days to "go home, you're not right for the job"? No one in the real world would, yet actors audition for dozens if not hundreds of parts for stage and screen and land only a few. Civilians go to school, learn a trade and are promised with no uncertain terms a base salary perimeter and at least a raise of 3% every year. The more education you have the better the salary and your chances.

To the artist there is no promise, no base salary and no security at all. Some actors can go a year without a part and some dancers will never get to the Las Vegas strip, Broadway or even steady work. A musician has little chance of getting big money or job security unless you play keys, guitar, bass or drums and happen to become a pop star.

However…

There is nothing more exciting than learning a craft in the arts, becoming good at it and sharing it with the world. Landing a part in a show as an actor is the greatest feeling in the universe. Leaving the stage as a comedian or musician and hearing the audience roar on and on until you appear again for an encore is a true gift from God.

We artists leave something on the stage, on recordings, canvas or on paper that moves a person's soul, change their hearts, transport them to another place or time or bring a much needed smile to a saddened face. There is no civilian job that can do that. The artist, if lucky, can live on long after they leave the earth and continue to touch the hearts of millions. Look at a painting by Van Gogh, watch a play by Shakespeare, go to the Nutcracker, listen to Beethoven, or watch Chaplin or Skelton at work on film. See and hear what art has created and what it keeps giving every day.

No accountant's work, no plumber, electrician, legal professional or stock broker will ever be remembered for more time than it takes to change their name on the side of a work truck or on an office door. These are "safe jobs" or as my father would say, "something to fall back on." If you have something to fall back on as an artist, you will fall back. If you have no where else to go but your art, the art will come through in some way, shape or form…it will. Every bad experience in my last column had a silver lining…every one. I can now look back to see the following:

Pop Star Days: I learned tenacity, music composition, worked my voice until it was what I and many record company executive felt was as good as the artist that were famous at the time. I learned the recording process and became a producer, learned mixing, blending back-up vocals and found my way around concert light and sound systems which has become incredibly valuable to me ever since.

Song Writer Days: I learned the beauty of poetry, writing, the basics of harmony and melody. I know what it feels like to write a song that touches someone or a group of individuals. I wrote a tune, a year or so ago, and performed it in Atlantic City. The song was entitled, "Let Me Be Me." Some audience members who worked with special needs children have now adapted the song and want it as their theme. I had no idea that the song could mean something totally different to others. What a great gift to get an e-mail asking if they can download or get a copy to play at an event or fundraiser.

Wedding Singer Days: I learned how to change my voice to match the original artists, to increase my range, because we did a variety of songs and didn't have a female vocalist in our group for a long time, so either Bruce, the bass player, or I would have to be the "chic" in many a duet. Journey, Chicago, Brian Adams, Rod Stewart and Foreigner were the popular bands as were the Pointer Sisters, The Go-Go's, Tina Turner and even Aretha Franklin. To get the audience to dance you had to sound like the originals. I also got comfortable with my personality and being in front of an intimate to large audience and to think on my feet and improvise.

Five weddings per weekend at 4 hours per party for the better part of 13 years will give you practical "stage time" that is and has been incredibly valuable.

People say you look at home in front of an audience…I am.

Celebrity Impressionist Days: I got to feel what it was like to walk on a stage before a large audience and to be recognized and be loved and admired from the second they saw you. Dressed as Elton John before 15,000 people and hearing the audience roar from the moment they saw the familiar trademarks, was a total trip…a dream. The glasses, costumes, the hats, shoes and even the gap between the front teeth would instantly spark the audiences' personal relationship with decades of personal memories and favorite hits. I saw this as a treat to a young musician who wanted desperately to feel that and for an hour, once in a while, I did.

I remembered, however, that this was not me that they were reacting to, but Elton John himself. I gladly drank in the love that flowed over the front of stage and dowsed any career shortcomings, costume malfunctions or "foggy glasses" moments, but always remembered that it was for Elton, and I was but the able actor playing that role for the evening. Those experiences in 20 countries around the world and God knows how many cool clubs, fairs, festivals, cruise ships, Disney stages, Legends in Concert theaters, charity concerts, children's hospitals, AIDS wards and other places can never be duplicated. I learned how much music and memories mean to so many beautiful people on this planet.

Opening Act Days: When I looked at my set list on my first opening act gig at the Primm Arena in Nevada, I saw next to it the headliner's set list that included 25 or 6 to 4, Color My World, and Saturday in the Park. How could this be? Little Stevie listening to the Chicago double album over and over, learning to love music, production, performance and lyric? Seeing them as a child in 1971 with my mom and now performing on their stage, with their mic's, singing through the same speakers? Could it be? Am I good enough? How could little Stevie be playing with the big boys? Was this real? I got through it and got a standing ovation from nearly 3/4 of the 5000 people who packed in to see them.

Two months later opening for Patti LaBelle self-doubt crept in 20 minutes before show time. Backstage Miss Patti was doing an interview. As I walked past her dressing room she said, "Have fun baby!" I looked at the mic behind the curtain. This is the future scene of the accident, the murder, my Waterloo. What happens if the audience doesn't like me? They are here to see one of the great voices in American history…and I'm going out there! I liken it to trying to fly a better kite in a thunderstorm in front of all of America next to Ben Franklin. I then thought, wait, that is a microphone, I know that. That is my humor and music, I know that as well. That is an audience of people…just people, I know people. Just do it.

That was one of the most important things that I have ever realized. Know your stuff and just DO IT!

Las Vegas Headliner Days: I learned that audiences like me. They enjoy my music, my humor and my talents. I am good enough to play to big audiences, to have my face on the billboard and to "receive" applause when I walk out on that stage. Me, the pop star, singer, wedding guy, celebrity impersonator, impressionist, songwriter, actor, composer, stand-up comedian and performer. I accept all that has been given to me and taught by these experiences and gladly look toward tomorrow to bigger, better and even more ways to bring a smile or touch a heart.

I have learned to see that silver lining…