Review - Lady Beatle: Naomi Price, a superb entertainer
Lady Beatle
Created by Adam Brunes and Naomi Price
Presented by La Boite and The Little Red Company
La Boite Theatre
Kelvin Grove
Brisbane
Brisbane season August 7-10. Duration 80 minutes without interval. Bookings: https://laboite.com.au/
Eastern Australia is in for a rare treat as Naomi Price (pictured) sets off on a 32-stop tour with her one-woman show, Lady Beatle. Her opening performance at La Boite was simply superb as she gave us 80 non-stop-minutes of Lennon and McCartney like you never heard before. As well as having a fantastic voice Naomi Price must be one of the best lyric interpreters in the country. Her considerable acting talents were also very much on show.
She created a character for each song; she bounced and rocked in a vivid swirl of light for Sgt Pepper and then channelled that wild energy into heart-breaking darkness in the softer, more poignant numbers like Eleanor Rigby and The Fool on the Hill.
Iconic songs included Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds, Eleanor Rigby, Yellow Submarine, Here Comes the Sun and Penny Lane with a fantastic finale where, as she put it: “we’ll sing as many Beatle songs as we can in ten minutes.”
She got a wild standing ovation at the end and she damn well deserved it.
The show was presented in cabaret mode and Naomi worked the room like a Las Vegan night club as she chatted with the patrons, gently picked on a few and successfully urged the audience to join in popular choruses.
All this is performed in an excellent Liverpool accent to a clever, often poignant script crafted by her and The Little Red Company collaborator Adam Brunes. It really was excellent piece of script-writing that let Naomi tell her story as a close friend of the Beatles. “You are probably wondering who I am,” she said, and kept us wondering right through her dynamic performance until at the end she told us in a surprise reveal
I have to add that the four-piece backing band, Mik Easterman (drums), Andrew Johnson (bass), Michael Manikus (piano) and Jason McGregor (guitars), was just as superb.
She show was presented by The Little Red Company which created successful shows like Rumour Has It; Christmas Actually, which will be back at La Boite after this huge tour, and Critical Stages. Naomi Price’s acting and vocal credits include Beautiful: The Carole King Musical; Ladies in Black and The Voice Australia.
It beats me why there isn’t a sound recording of this marvellous piece of entertainment.
Tour details:
7 – 10 AUG La Boite Theatre Company 14 AUG HOTA Gold Coast 20 AUG Pilbeam Theatre Rockhampton 22 AUG Redland Performing Arts Centre 24 AUG Ipswich Civic Centre 31 AUG The Glasshouse, Port Macquarie 5 SEP Orange Civic Theatre 7 SEP Riverside Theatre, Parramatta 10 SEP Wyndham Cultural Centre 11 SEP The Clocktower Centre, Melbourne 12 SEP Frankston Arts Centre 14 SEP Colac Otway Performing Arts & Cultural Centre 18 – 19 SEP Geelong Performing Arts Centre 20 – 21 SEP Whitehorse Centre, Nunawading 24- 25 SEP SunPAC 27 SEPT Gladstone Entertainment Centre 29 SEPT Logan Entertainment Centre 2 OCT Latrobe Performing Arts Centre 5 OCT West Gippsland Arts Centre 8 OCT Ulumbarra Theatre, Bendigo 10 OCT The Wedge Sale 12 OCT Karralyka Centre 15 – 17 OCT Glen Street Theatre 18 – 19 OCT The Joan, Penrith 22 OCT Bathurst Memorial Entertainment Centre 24 OCT Shoalhaven Entertainment Centre 26 OCT Wangaratta Performing Arts Centre 31 OCT Riverlinks Eastbank 2 NOV Hamilton Performing Arts Centre 7 NOV Mildura Arts Centre 9 NOV Horsham Town Hall Theatre