DIVAS

If you find it impossible to conceive of the idea of Miley Cyrus side by side on stage with opera’s Maria Callas, then you are clearly not a devotee of the amazing Bernadette Robinson. Ms Robinson launched her new show Divas in Brisbane prior to upcoming seasons at Sydney Opera House and Arts Centre Melbourne, and, as always, awed her audience with her astounding vocal talents.

This time round she and co-creator and director Simon Phillips have taken ten Divas of the music world and explored them not only vocally but through monologues that should give an insight into who these amazing women are/were. Though Robinson’s vocal skills are rarely in doubt, I was hoping for more character-revealing anecdotes or observations in the dialogue.

While Robinson finds the physical voice of each personna, she doesn’t manage to tap the internal voice of either the mind or the emotions of her characters. Judy Garland especially being a case in point (my mother was a friend of Judy’s and I spent many days with Judy when I was in my teens and she was in England - the real Judy was an even bigger hot mess in real life than the tabloids made her out to be - a walking tragedy).

And whilst I would totally agree that Callas, Piaf, Garland, Streisand, Bassey, and perhaps Dolly Parton, deserve a place on the list, it’s hard to justify the inclusion of some others (Miley Cyrus?). After all, the word diva is synonymous with Drama Queen.

Those problems aside, Robinson’s extraordinary incarnation of Edith Piaf remains a life affirming performance which is as emotionally gut wrenching as it is uplifting, and her Maria Callas left us all wondering what brilliant career Robinson might have had if she had pursued opera instead of impersonation. Her voice is a force to be reckoned with.

The three musicians who back Robinson are real pros who know their stuff, particularly Jonathan Skovron on bass, guitars and keyboards - plus they provide excellent back-up vocals.

Lighting by Matt Cox is excellent, though the pose in overhead spots at the end of each character’s piece was repetitious. Sound by Nick Reich is excellent apart from a couple of transitions from radio mic to hand-held.

Fans of Ms Robinson’s abundant talent will have a brilliant night, but I missed the dynamics of Garland’s much copied but never bettered strut across the front of the stage. And where was Bassey’s contemptuous spitting/spoken “damn” in “This is my life”. These are small quirks that are missing, but they, and the intensity of emotion they displayed, would truly have brought these divas to life.

Coral Drouyn