Lady Beatle love love love

Lady Beatle (The Little Red Company)

La Boite Theatre, Roundhouse Theatre

August 7 – 10

When The Little Red Theatre Company first bought “Lady Beatle” to La Boite, the show soon became one of my favourites of 2017. And from the moment Naomi Price bursts forth with the penultimate ‘Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band’ it is clear that the tradition is set to continue with the smash hit cabaret’s return to Brisbane. Her appropriate dress of military-style jacket, retro round John Lennon mirrored glasses and fabulous boots (Costume Designer Leigh Buchanan) simultaneously sets the tone of swinging sixties London, but also the everywhereness of Liverpoolean grey. With the brilliant, virtuosic lonely hearts club band in accompaniment, we are thrown straight into the show’s journey through the Beatles’ immortal catalogue. And with reimagined and reinterpreted songs featuring sparkling original arrangements, what a ride it is set to be, both over the course of the opening night performance and for the duration of the show’s Australian Magical Mystery Tour.

If great cabaret is about taking people on a journey and giving them an experience as opposed to just singing some songs, then “Lady Beatle” is cabaret at its greatest and all you need for a wonderful night out. The songs are threaded together by a story of sorts and knowing how they will eventually unite does not diminish the show in re-experience. While the aha moment of revelation of the identity of Price’s character is lost, in its stead is an appreciation of the clever craftedness of its story’s tapestry throughout the show’s duration.

Like the collection of music we are celebrating, “Lady Beatle” is far from being one-note in its approach. Reimagining of the Fab Four’s songs bring them to new life in accompaniment of its tender and personal story. The musicians work wonderfully together to realise the show’s bold and diverse soundtrack and are also fittingly given their own times to shine. Most notably, on guitar, Jason McGregor’s solo makes ‘Got To Get You Into My Life’ complete, while, on drums, Mik Easterman belts us into an upbeat, eclectic medley of ‘Love Me Do’, ‘Revolution’ and ‘Let It Be’.

Price’s voice is also as on-point as ever, ranging from rich reverberation in ‘Eleanor Rigby’ (also featuring a stunning string arrangement by Bass Guitarist Andrew Johnson) to the gentle emotion of a stripped-back ‘With a Little Help From My Friends” and the stirring strength of a poignantly heartfelt ‘Don’t Let Me Down’.

Jason Glenwright’s impressive lighting is as kaleidoscopic as the night’s soundtrack and represents a key component of the show’s experience, from its sparking accompaniment to ‘Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds’ to bathing the Roundhouse Theatre space in blue for later yearning. And while lighting band members in separate colours seems like such a simple idea, it works perfectly to invigorate peppy early-career numbers of the ‘Twist & Shout’ sort. Indeed, lighting is integral in emphasising the musical mood throughout the show to its ‘Here Comes The Sun’ concluding celebration.

The Little Red Theatre Company’s story of the Lady Beatle may not be the one you expect, but the show is all the better for this, especially given Price’s genuine charm as a performer. She is playful with the audience, often taking herself into the crowd, including to make a paired-back ‘Penny Lane’ an early highlight, and her energy is infectious. Even in the show’s emotional moments, in her hands, the experience still resonates with joy… because who doesn’t feel good in clap and sing-a-long to classics like ‘Yellow Submarine’ and ‘Hey Jude’.

It might be 50 years since The Beatles’ historic final rooftop concert, but with creators Adam Brunes and Naomi Price’s “Lady Beatle”, the band’s biggest chart toppers are able live on anew. As its yellow submarine-sized tour across the country is sure to be, its experience seems to be over all too soon, leaving audience members departing with smiles on their faces, warmth in their hearts and wish for a soundtrack release in order to keep relieving its joy.

Considerations of quality

A couple of months away travelling and a couple more laid up with pneumonia and I saw fewer shows in 2017 than in recent years (but still well into the double digits). Reflecting, it is clear that quality over quantity can be incredibly rewarding. And what quality there was on offer… so much so that my usual top five favourite, has been blown out to the following ten:

1. Torch Songs (Mama Alto, Brisbane Powerhouse, Wonderland Festival)
2. Lady Beatle (The Little Red Company, La Boite Theatre Company)
3. My Name is Jimi (Queensland Theatre)
4. Once in Royal David’s City (Queensland Theatre)
5. The Play that Goes Wrong (Lunchbox Theatrical Productions, QPAC)
6. Chef (Persona Inc & Atobiz Ltd, Brisbane Powerhouse, Brisbane Festival)
7. Nigel Kennedy: Vivaldi The New Four Seasons + Dedications (Nigel Kennedy, QPAC)
8. Kinky Boots (Michael Cassel in association with Cameron Mackintosh, QPAC)
9. Spectate (Counterpilot, Metro Arts)
10. Humans (Circa, QPAC)

And honourable mention to the UK’s National Theatre Stage to Screen show Yerma… Gut-wrenching, phenomenal theatre thanks to Billie Piper’s devastatingly powerful performance.

And mention also to the following highlights:

• Best performance:
  • Elaine Crombie as a hilarious house-slave in Queensland Theatre Company’s An Octoroon.
  • Merlynn Tong in her intimate and vulnerable one-woman work, Playlab’s Blue Bones
  • Cameron Hurry as badly behaved brother Valene in the darkly irreverent The Lonesome West by Troop Productions
• Best AV – Spectate (Counterpilot, Metro Arts)
• Most thought provoking –- Octoroon (Queensland Theatre, Brisbane Festival)
• Best new work – Merlyn Tong’s Blue Bones (Playlab, Brisbane Powerhouse)
• Best Reimagining – Signifying Nothing (Macbeth) (Hammond Fleet Productions, Brisbane Festival)
• Best musical – Kinky Boots (Michael Cassel in association with Cameron Mackintosh, QPAC)
• Best cabaret:
  • Torch Songs (Mama Alto, Brisbane Powerhouse, Wonderland Festival)
  • Lady Beatle (The Little Red Company, La Boite Theatre Company)
  • Song Lines (Michael Tuahine, Brisbane Powerhouse, Brisbane Cabaret Festival)
  • Alan Cumming Sings Sappy Songs (Alan Cumming, Brisbane Powerhouse, Brisbane Cabaret Festival)
• Best music – Nigel Kennedy: Vivaldi The New Four Seasons + Dedications (QPAC)
• Best opera – Mark Vincent Sings Mario Lanza and the Classics (Lunchbox Productions, QPAC)
• Funniest – The Play That Goes Wrong (Lunchbox Theatrical Productions, QPAC)
• Most fun – Let Them Eat Cake (Act/React, Anywhere Festival)
• Most madcap – Chef (Persona Inc & Atobiz Ltd, Brisbane Powerhouse, Brisbane Festival)
• Most immersive – Trainspotting Live (In Your Face Theatre, Brisbane Powerhouse)
• Most moving – Once in Royal David’s City (Queensland Theatre)

2018 looks set to continue to showcase both the wonderful work of this state’s creatives and innovative works from both here and further afield. Festivals will continue to punctuate the cultural calendar, serving to oscillate audiences between feast and famine like a cultural bulimic… although with Brisbane Powerhouse’s Melt Festival moving to May (maybe at the same time as Anywhere Festival) it may be a shower than usual start to the year.

Lady Beatle love

Lady Beatle (The Little Red Company)

La Boite Theatre, Roundhouse Theatre

May 25 – June 3

With a spotlight cabaret seating section and shadowed stage, the preshow aesthetic of “Lady Beatle” is of Liverpoolian grey, like through the eyes of a ladybird. This is the Lonely Hearts Club, soon to be coloured with the music of the Beatles as Naomi Price bursts forth with the penultimate ‘Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band’, and its hope that we will enjoy the show. It’s a particularly appropriate initial number given that opening night marks the 50^th anniversary of the band’s innovative, ground-breaking album Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.

Over the following 70 minutes, UK-born star Naomi Price proceeds to tell a story, but probably not the one you think you are going to hear, a story that includes tell of the lucky Lady Beetle and so much more, in nod to her personal Liverpoolian roots. Her assumed Scouse accent certainly adds to the authenticity of the experience, however, what makes the show truly engaging is her banter with the audience that is so central to a quality cabaret experience. There is a lot of comedy, much of it at George Harrison’s expense, but also surprising poignancy. However, it’s not Naomi guiding audiences through this Beatles story, but their number one fan, an ultimate outsider who loves the Beatles (even George) more than anyone.

The kaleidoscopic soundtrack is full of highlights, thanks to the show’s incredible live music and new song arrangements, like a stripped back and absolutely beautiful, nostalgic ‘Penny Lane’, allowing the song’s story of a street near John Lennon’s childhood home, to take centre stage. The comprehensive coverage of the group’s extensive catalogue ensures that the show is packed full of favourites and there is even a rocking medley to end the night on the highest of highs.

In support of Price, the virtuosic band is uniformly excellent, and it is wonderful to see drummer Mick Easterman, bass guitarist Andrew Johnson, pianist Michael Manikus and guitarist Jason McGregor given their own moments to shine, such when ‘the band begins to play’ in ‘Yellow Submarine’ and in a rocking medley mix of ‘Helter Skelter’ and ‘Revolution’ with ‘Love Me Do’, ‘She Loves You’ and ‘Let It Be’. On paper, mixes like this shouldn’t probably blend, but in this show’s hands they do, meaning that ‘Strawberry Fields’ sits comfortably alongside a clap-along ‘Hey Jude’. And the result is a superb soundtrack, befitting the dynamic performer leading the stage.

It is easy to appreciate why Brisbane loves Naomi Price. Like the fab four themselves, she is effortlessly cool and charismatic, and her voice has never been better, showing full technical and emotional range from a melodic, fantastical ‘Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds’ to the lyrical linger of the experimental ‘Eleanor Rigby’ and yearning plea of ‘Don’t Let Me Down’.

In its celebration of song nuance and detail, “Lady Beatle” also becomes so much more, in examination of the peace and harmony of the messages of numbers like ‘Come Together’, ‘Yellow Submarine’ (including an organic sing-along), a hauntingly honest ‘With a Little Help from my Friends’ and finally a hopeful ‘Here Comes the Sun’, which sees Price return to the stage in a rocking pants suit courtesy of costume designer Leigh Buchanan. Every aspect of the show is on-point in contribution to its overall message and appealing aesthetics. Jason Glenwright’s lighting design, for example, is everything it needs to be: bold, beautiful and perfect in accompaniment of the show’s changing musical moods.

“Lady Beatle” shows how, as a creatives, Adam Brunes and Naomi Price can do no wrong. Although unlike their earlier “Rumour Has It” and “Wrecking Ball”, this third and final show in their pop culture cabaret trilogy, isn’t a biopic, the modern memory play’s explosion of musical colours is just a rewarding. Given The Beatles’ recognition as the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed act in popular music history, audience members are sure to come with expectations, all of which will be exceeded in what will be an infectious rediscovery of the band’s iconic, diverse catalogue anew, channelled through a sole female voice. Indeed, its song curation and story craftedness combine to make “Lady Beatle” an example of cabaret at its very best, to make you laugh, cry and smile in hope for peace, equality and love.

Photos c/o – Dylan Evans