Singer brings show to Wanganui
Songs For Nobodies Starring Ali Harper By Joanna Murray-Smith Whanganui Royal Opera House, September 2, 7.30pm
Award-winning NZ actress and singer Ali Harper is to perform the highly-acclaimed Court Theatre production of Songs for Nobodies in Whanganui.
Awarded Best Actress at the United Solo Festival in New York in 2014 with another of Joanna Murray-Smith’s one-woman plays Bombshells, Ali Harper has been invited back to the New York United Solo Festival this year as an Encore performer and is taking Songs for Nobodies to 42nd Street.
“In my 25-year career, there have been a handful of scripts that have come my way and have felt like a gift. Songs for Nobodies is one of those gifts. I love the way the show poignantly explores the uncanny influence that chance encounters, both directly and indirectly, play in our lives,” she says.
Featuring five life-changing encounters between legendary divas and the everyday women whose lives they touched, this wonderful production is interspersed with the songs that made Judy Garland, Patsy Cline, Edith Piaf, Billie Holliday and Maria Callas icons of our age. You won’t believe that one actress can play all these different women — that in itself is spellbinding.
The show includes songs such as Patsy Cline’s Crazy, Judy Garland’s Come Rain or Come Shine and Edith Piaf’s Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien, all well-loved pieces of music. There are also well-known songs from Billie Holiday and Maria Callas which are structured into the play delivering an incredible emotional pay-off.
“I have been so excited to be on this journey with Ali,” Director Ross Gumbley says. “Seeing the reaction that this exceptional play, performed by a truly gifted performer, draws from an audience is fantastic.”
Ali is currently touring Songs for Nobodies around New Zealand and looks forward to bringing the wonderful female characters to Whanganui.
“Songs for Nobodies boasts a stunning script which perfectly marries the incredible power of music.
It will reach out and grab your heart. It will hit you on a comedic level, an intellectual level and on a spiritual level,” she says.
■ Songs for Nobodies
A Court Theatre Production at Whanganui Royal Opera House Directed by: Ross Gumbley Musical Direction: by Richard Marrett Dates: Tuesday, September 4, 7.30pm
Running Times: Times are approx. and subject to change at any time. Doors Open: 20 mins prior to show Running Time: Approx. 90 mins Tickets: Whanganui Royal Opera House.