BILLY SUTER reviews A Star is Born: The Rise and Fall of Judy Garland and The Story of Eva Cassidy – two very different shows starring East London-based singer-musician Kerry Hiles. Both these productions are among four diverse shows being presented at Durban’s Rhumbelow Theatre in Umbilo this week as part of a countrywide tour by Hiles and fellow members of her Misery Loves Company band – with Kerry on bass and lead vocals, Kristo Zondagh on drums and vocals, and Rob Thompson on lead guitar. The Durban shows and times are as follows:
* The Story of Eva Cassidy (7.30pm Thursday, July 18, Nelson Mandela Day)
* Jou Ma se Platespelers (7.30pm on Friday, July 19)
* A Star is Born: The Rise and Fall of Judy Garland (2pm on Saturday, July 20)
* My Story with the Blues (7.30pm on Saturday, July 20)
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Tickets for each show cost R160 to R180 and booking is via Roland Stansell at roland@stansell.co.za or 082 499 8636.
JUDY Garland’s 45-year career began at the age of two-and-a-half. By the time the singer-actress-dancer was 13 she had signed her first movie contract. By the age of 17, the classic The Wizard of Oz had earned her an honorary Oscar.
By 47 the legendary star and mother of Liza Minnelli was found in a London bathroom, dead from an accidental overdose, having been through dramatic career highs and lows, five husbands and a long battle with booze, alcohol and depression.
How one of Hollywood’s treasures rose to stardom then started to lose her twinkle is the focus of A Star is Born: The Rise and Fall of Judy Garland, to be staged at the Rhumbelow Theatre in Umbilo at 2pm on Saturday, July 20. Do not miss it!
This show’s success stems from a selection of carefully considered songs and easy-flowing dialogue – interesting, informative and sometimes playful – that is delivered with much passion, power and panache by charming redhead Kerry Hiles, an East London-based singer-actress.
If the name rings a bell locally, if should. Kerry is the big sis of award-winning Durban actor Bryan Hiles; was a singer and bassist at the now-defunct Barnyard Theatre at Gateway; starred as teenager Jacqui Kruger on SABC3’s Isidingo from 2000 to 2002; and continues to play many corporate and public gigs.
More recently, Kerry performed at the Rhumbelow Theatre in tributes to both Eva Cassidy and Amy Winehouse – and she is now back in town as part of a countrywide tour with her Misery Loves Company band, which has her on bass alongside drummer Kristo Zondagh and ace blues guitarist Rob Thompson.
A Star is Born: The Rise and Fall of Judy Garland, which first had local performances pre-Covid at Tina’s Hotel in Kloof, has Kerry on vocals, her accompaniment coming from local pianist Luke Holder.
Kerry exudes great charisma and showcases a wonderful, versatile voice that breathes new life into forgotten favourites and lesser-known numbers associated with Garland, who appeared in more than two dozen films and, at the age of 39, became the youngest and first female recipient of the Cecil B DeMille Award for lifetime achievement in the film industry.
Eighteen songs, some in short form, feature in the show. It is an hour-long delight in which Kerry and pianist Luke are on a stage otherwise bare but for three easels – each with a blow-up, monochrome photo of Garland: as a teenager, in her prime and in later years.
There is never a lull as the production, under the direction of Amanda Bothma, moves at a breezy pace and has Kerry tackling songs seldom heard these days. They are songs cleverly chosen, in many cases, to add extra commentary to the dialogue.
Kerry handles it all with aplomb – morphing effortlessly from more emotive moments to the playfulness of such toe-tappers as the opening That’s Entertainment, The Trolley Song (from Easter Parade), I Got Rhythm (from Girl Crazy) and the lesser-known In Between (from Garland’s first appearance with Mickey Rooney in the Andy Hardy series, Love Finds Andy Hardy) and Hoe Down (from Babes on Broadway).
There is little wonder that A Star is Born: The Rise and Fall of Judy Garland received two Standard Bank Ovation Awards at the National Arts Festival. It is a real treat, a wonderful blast of nostalgia and a must for lovers of show tunes.
Among slower, heartfelt moments in the show are such classics as The Man That Got Away, A Foggy Day (in London Town), You Made Me Love You (the song a young Garland sang to screen idol Clark Gable at a big birthday bash). Also on the programme are Zing! Went The Strings of My Heart, How About You, Putting on the Ritz, Meet Me in St Louis, A Couple of Swells and If You Feel Like Singing, Sing. Of course, the song most associated with Garland, Over the Rainbow, is also here, closing the show.
A different arrangement of Over the Rainbow features in The Story of Eva Cassidy, which Hiles and her band are also presenting at the Rhumbelow Theatre in Umbilo this week – at 7.30pm on Thursday, July 18, Nelson Mandela Day.
In this show, Kerry dons jeans and a blouse, and takes up bass guitar alongside drummer Kristo Zondagh and blues guitarist Rob Thompson. They are a terrific, tight team in a show with Kerry on lead vocals and narration.
The spotlight is on the music and memories of versatile American soprano Eva Cassidy, who was mostly known in the Washington area for her interpretations of jazz, folk and blues before she found global fame with Songbird, a stunning compilation album of earlier cover recordings. This was released after her death from cancer in 1996, at the age of 33.
Two years later, Cassidy’s versions of Over the Rainbow and Sting’s Fields of Gold were played on the BBC and a camcorder video recording of Over the Rainbow, shakily recorded at a live performance by a friend of Cassidy, proved so popular when shown by the BBC that Songbird shot to the top of the UK Albums Chart, almost three years after its initial release.
The album has since sold well over 10 million copies and has reached the Top 10 in Australia, Germany, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland.
The Story of Eva Cassidy opens with Fields of Gold and goes on to cover favourites from the Songbird album and jazz-blues numbers associated with the star whose sparkle was erased far too soon. Expect 11 songs in this must-see, hour-long show, among them Let the Good Times Roll, Fever, Autumn Leaves, I Know You By Heart, Wayfaring Stranger, Wade in the Water and People Get Ready.
PS: Kerry Hiles also spends time producing yoghurt and cheese on her smallholding in East London, but that is another story. See my 2022 interview with her by clicking here: https://wp.me/p8dL0W-4Tz
.....SoSuterBill..... 