Written by
Courtney Act, Brad Loekle & Jackie Beat.
Musical
Direction and Piano by Daniel Edmonds.
Costumes by
Marco Marco
Hair by Wigs
By Vanity
Magic
Mirrors Spiegeltent. 16th June 2017
Reviewed by
Bill Stephens OAM.
Courtney Act
is the creation of clever female-impersonator, Shane Jenek, who attracted
attention as the world’ first gender diverse contestant on a reality television
talent show competing successfully in “Australian Idol” in 2003.
As Courtney
Act, Jenek harkens back to the 1960’s when Carlotta was Queen of the Cross at
Les Girls and female impersonators strove to be the most beautiful woman in the
room. The difference with Courtney Act however is that she has a fine singing
voice, whereas the drag queens of the Les Girls era relied on often-brilliant
lip-syncing to recordings of the reigning pop divas of the day especially
Shirley Bassey.
Courtney Act’s
success on “Australian Idol” led to recording contracts. Capitalising on her
success in Australia, she moved to America, where she again achieved television
success as runner-up in the 6th season of “RuPaul’s Drag Show”. This
led to a string of impressive engagements across the US and Europe.
Returning to
Australia with her stylish new show, “The Girl From Oz”, Act pays tribute to
her Australian background, cleverly re-interpreting a repertoire of Australia
songs in a polished, professional performance which would be the envy of any
contemporary pop princess.
Featuring excellent
costumes, an intelligent script and inventive musical arrangements superbly
played by a trio of top-line musicians led from the piano by Daniel Edmonds,
Act makes her entrance on ruby-red
sequinned roller skates singing not “Over the Rainbow” but “Xanadu”. After
establishing that the Oz in the title of her show refers to Australia, she
doffed the roller skates for glamorous ruby-red sequinned high heels.
Clever
versions of Men at Work’s “Down Under”, and
Peter Allen’s “Arthur’s Theme”
preceded a moving arrangement of the Bee Gees “Stayin’ Alive”, which revealed a
surprisingly different resonance in the familiar lyrics.
Surprise
continued to be the defining ingredient of Act’s performance with unexpected
repertoire choices including superbly sung interpretations Natalie Imbruglia’s
“Torn”, Air Supply’s “Without You”, Peter Allen’s “Don’t Cry Out Loud” and
Sia’s “Diamonds in the Sky”.
 |
| Courtney Act Photo by Jason Matz |
Her
connecting dialogue was tightly scripted interesting and funny. Several film
clips, used to cover costume changes, revealed her more serious side,
particularly the excerpts of her work as the Australian correspondent of the
Australian news website Junkee.com, capturing her undertaking risky live
interviews as she toured the U.S. including one in which she interviews Trump
supporters at a Donald Trump rally.
Even her
“naughty section” surprised, as she took the stage in a costume featuring
thigh-high red boots to belt out terrific versions of Olivia Newton-John’s
“Physical”, Chrissie Amphlett’s “I Touch Myself”, and ACDC’s “You Shook Me All
Night Long”, before, looking more Kylie than Kylie, rounding out her show with
Minogue’s “Can’t Get You Out Of My Head” and “Locomotion”.
Courtney Act
is a star on her own terms, with the looks and talent to reach audiences beyond
the drag show genre.
“The Girl From Oz”
provides her with an excellent vehicle to reach that audience. If you get the
opportunity to catch this show, don’t miss it.
This review first published in Australian Arts Review. www.artsreview.com.au
