Broad

Out of lockdown, back on the performing circuit, the feisty ginger-headed Geraldine Quinn begins her musical cabaret show paying homage to the wonderful “red headed” women who caught her imagination when growing up, such as Agnes Moorehead, Vivienne Westwood and Carol Burnett. Her new show Broad has been lurking about; having been put on hold for the obvious reasons yet again, it has finally hit the boards to an applauding audience.

It is the cruel slovenly drunkard Miss Harrigan (Carol Burnett) in feature film Annie (John Huston,1982) that gets her motor running. Yet the spectacularly bedraggled Quinn wears her heart on her sleeve - middle aged, depressed, broke and no future for any artist during the pandemic - she might be feeling more akin to Orphan Annie. A comedienne in her own right, she excels in the standard self-deprecating manner that female comics tend to be great at, obsessing with body image and styling.

Broad is nostalgic and reflective; Quinn’s love of vintage and shabby chic is self-evident. She writes her own material; her songs are rhythmic parodies of life - “Listening to Vegans” and “I am a Mess”. She fuses her story with song and burlesque routines along with side-kick Cameron Thomas on keys – cute, cool and sleuth-like in their duet “Getting on the Internet”.

Her material is wide and broad, always sharp tongued and witty; she readily points her polemical finger at women’s issues, ageism and the Covid setbacks. Her routine on sartorial adjustments after lockdown is hilarious.

She is a vivacious and captivating multi-talented performer who shakes the house and rocks the boat.

Flora Georgiou

Image credit: Geraldine Quinn