At
Capers Restaurant
More of a Little: Wed-Sat October 7-17,
Marlene: October 11 &12
Reviewer: Kate Herbert
Jeanne
Little has broad vowels that go on forever daaaaarling - and she's
faaaaabulous! This reviewer did not expect to be so genuinely entertained by
the mouth with the eyelashes who won a Gold Logie by wearing gladbags on Midday
television with Mike Walsh and John Michael Howson.
Little is a
truly warm and engaging cabaret performer and she can sing! Really! Who'd have
expected such a rich controlled lower register to come from that rasping
shrillness and nasal twang?
Her often
hilarious narrative about her rise from poverty to Superstardom is intercut
tastefully with familiar tunes: I get a Kick Out Of You, I Get Along Without
You Very Well, You're The Cream in My Coffee. Some are comic, such as The Worst
Pies in Sydney and Put It Back On, about the tubby stripper and Facelift, about
a nip and tuck gone wrong.
Others
touch a more serious note. I'll Be Here Tomorrow from Jerry Girls, which she
performed for three years in Sydney with Judie Connelly and Marcia Hines, is a
song with poignant lyrics which became the theme of the battle against AIDS.
Her version
of Piaf's La Vie En Rose is also a part of her Marlene show which is showing
the weekend of October 11 and 12. Evidently it is well worth a visit having
been a hit in Sydney, the San Francisco cabaret festival and - well, all over
really.
Jeanne's
life story becomes a litany of shriekingly funny muddles, disasters and
surprise successes. Her exploding pies at the Easter show, J.M Howson flying
through the air in a pink suit, her fried permed hair, her first see-through
plastic dress: all are hilarious. She even managed the biggest hoots from a gag
about being near death. That's comic class!
Her second
calling as a fashion design guru is evident on stage. Her outfits range from
the elegant to the grotesque: a glorious silver lame gown follows a bizarre fat
stripper costume.
Her
miraculous survivor mother had a favourite expression. "It's not failure
that's the problem. It's low ambition." Here is a very talented comic
cabaret artist a la Carole Channing who has not been taken seriously here in
Melbourne since she did that dreadful Sleeman-Ford commercial. It's time to
forgive and forget. Jeanne Little rules! And the food is faaaabulous!
Kate
Herbert
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