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"There’s none of this competition about who sings better," Burns says. "We're all rooting for each other. People feel safe." And alumni of The Singing Experience say they take away from the spotlight something more important than pleasant memories of a warm ovation. "I can be myself without excuses," says Ivan Farkas, a computer consultant who has been through the workshop thirty-six or thirty-seven times - he can’t remember how many. "I spent the first fifty years of my life figuring I didn’t measure up to other people. I used to be always very conscious about what I lacked. Now I have the wonderful knowledge that this is what I am and this is what I want to do, and I don’t have to be afraid to show it." So would Farkas recommend storming the cabaret stage others? "I’ve gotten lots of people to do it. " he says, "because what you learn there applies to so many areas in life. The fear of singing in public is symbolic of other fears. It’s so horrendous that once you conquer it, the others seem like nothing."
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