Skinny - Michelle Pearson

I have watched the career of Michelle Pearson with great interest and admiration. I have seen her in musical theatre and in her Comfort Food Cabaret shows and have always been totally blown away by her magnificent voice - a belt to die for and the ability to adapt across a wide range of genres.

Her latest venture Skinny is a culmination of many years of work and dreams for this stunning Adelaide performer. Funded by the Frank Ford Commission, Pearson is this time performing a very personal story where she looks at unhealthy body images, and the impact of our perceptions of beauty and weight. Directed by the inimitable Amelia Ryan and supported by a stunning four-piece band led by Aaron Nash, this is a powerful exposé.

The show is clever and whilst using a simple set, audiovisuals enhance the storytelling while Pearson pours her heart out about her struggles with weight and her journey to self-love.

We begin with her in an orange leotard attempting to keep up with a faceless dance instructor at an aerobics class who espouses the mantra “Nothing tastes better than skinny.” We immediately empathise with her as she struggles to ‘be’ what society expects- trim, taut and svelte.

We travel back in time as she recalls being called chubby at six and comments about her having ‘puppy fat’. She recalls at the time living in a household where diet products were the norm and television commercials encouraged women to join innumerable weight loss programmes. Her birthday party at Hungry Jacks complete with face painting was a turning point where she realised that perhaps she was ‘big’ or ‘different’ as she chose to be portrayed as Miss Piggy.

There are numerous stories, but one example was about her mother helping her to dress for a New Year’s gig in an A line dress to avoid emphasising her ‘child-bearing hips’. Beyoncé’s song “Pretty Hurts” is appropriate at this point as it quotes “Perfection is a disease of a nation.” How true this is! Pearson sells this song with great passion.

Her quest to diet to fit the pair of perfect jeans resonates with the crowd as she recounts all the time and money she continued to spend on diet drinks, shakes and programmes in her quest. It is poignant and sad, but at the same time infuriated me that women are made to feel that this is needed.

An interesting break to the storytelling and song was a journey in audiovisual form on body image from ancient Egyptian times to today. We are shocked at how it appears to cycle in what is acceptable and Pearson punctuates the images singing about how ‘history repeats itself.’ She jokingly shows us the chart for how male body image has evolved and an image of ‘file not found’ appears. Well said.

Another clever use of audiovisual was film of ‘real’ people discussing their weight-loss journeys, how much money they spent, what people said to them and what they would say to their younger selves. This broadened the show beautifully as we realise how many have been impacted by this search for perfection.

Pearson brilliantly sings many songs throughout the show - many are parodies. A highlight was a version of Les Misérables “Master of the House” where she visits ‘the best weight-loss surgeon in Adelaide’.

This was the start of a traumatic journey for Pearson in seeking to reduce her weight- forking out thousands of dollars for lap band surgery. Her parody of “Money” cleverly emphasises the waste.

She struggled through polycystic ovarian syndrome, hernias because of the failed lap band surgery and ongoing pain from then to this day. We really feel for her.

After a brief costume change, Pearson reappears resplendent in a glittery black outfit and we now feel her anger towards the weight-loss industry, which she tells us is worth 76 billion dollars. She shares other ridiculous costs- for example Ozempic costing $385 a week. We are in shock and likewise angered.

She speaks of her whole life having been mercilessly bullied for being overweight, powerfully singing “I lost myself’, which brought supportive cheering from the audience. She goes on to pointedly discuss the media’s fascination with weight – Rebel Wilson, Mama Cass are highlighted.

She takes us on her dating journeys where her self-image constantly affected how she connected with men and a demonstration of her “sex times” made us laugh but the awkwardness and discomfort really resonated. All she wanted was to be with someone who wanted her as she was.

Pearson seamlessly segues between this and various songs. “I wanna dance with somebody” perfectly embodied her feelings of hopelessness and she delivered it with passion!

The show becomes incredibly personal in its last section, and is real ‘tug at your heartstrings’ stuff. She tells of finally meeting her husband who has been fully ‘with’ her- accepting her as she is and being her biggest supporter.

She goes on to tell us about her autistic son and the love she has for him. The couple’s love for him, despite being told about all of the things he would not be able to do, galvanised them. Their pride and acceptance of him, has taught Pearson that acceptance is key. She realises that she doesn’t want him growing up in a word where ‘being different is less’. Likewise, she finally understands that she needs to embrace her own magnificence.

She says her son is “the brightest in her darkest hour” and the one hour and ten minutes we have spent learning and hearing Pearson’s journey was a lightning bolt in my own life as I and I am sure many others in the room felt heard and encouraged to ‘find our own magnificence’.

Shelley Hampton

Photorapher: Claudio Raschella.