FESTIVAL TIME

Going on holidays in February means that you miss some of the Perth Festival but we've still managed to squeeze in half a dozen shows plus a number of films at the wonderful Somerville Auditorium that I posted about this time last year.

This year it turns out that the majority of our experiences have been in the Perth Town Hall in what is called the Embassy. We've seen:

  • Marney McQueen, a music theatre performer, with a great band. She's probably best known for over 600 performances in Simon Philiips' production of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert: The Musical where she played the owner of a country pub - and now, with her husband, she owns a country pub in Wyong
  • Emily Lubitz, started in an indi-folk band called Tinpan Orange, and  produced her first solo album at 42 last year which has a country feel with songs about her family. A stunning voice and great original music. Check out the album: Two Black Horses 

  • The final show was Le Gateau Chocolat - an English/Nigerian drag queen with the most extradinary voice - from bass onwards and upwards. Whether he was booming out Old Man River or gently reading/singing a children's book, it was magic to listen to. Just a pity that the show itself needed the hand of a good director. 


Other performances have included:
  • Chunky Move's U>N>I>T>E>D - a work with dancers connected to insect-like structures moving alone or connected which was interesting to see but I sometimes felt the technology distracted from the choreography. I confess that I tend to agree with this review from Arts Hub
  • A return season of The Great Last Hunt's Le Nor (the rain). They are a Perth company and I'd heard about their work when they were nominated for a Helpmann Award in 2019. They perform to camera so you are seeing a live show on a large screen. The particular magic about this particular show is that they created a completely original language for this tale about the impact of climate change with English surtitles
  • The wonderful Meow Meow's Red Shoes. She's always such a thrilling performer and although not all elements of this show worked, it was still an entertaining night in the theatre, surrounded as she was by a multi-talented group of musicians/singers. 

 

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