Sky City Theatre
Review: Graham Reid
By her own admission, when she first realised she wanted to be famous, Dusty Springfield went for the big eyes, big hair and "pan-sexual" look.
Like a drag queen, in fact.
And for much of Springfield's remarkable career, she delivered highly dramatic camp songs mixed with pure pop and sublime "blue-eyed soul," a label she grew to hate.
The Dusty Springfield Story tells the life of this exceptional singer through her music and a narration of her own words.
Out front of a Greek chorus trio of singers, a pianist and backing tapes, Australian singer Wendy Stapleton does a fine job as Dusty in a series of wigs and costumes that parallel the chronological account.
In the first half, a few of the 60s pop songs lacked urgency, and Stapleton pulled back on the power in the upper register (where Springfield was so distinctive and strong). In the second half, where she departed more from the Dusty style, she was more convincing as a performer.
Stapleton effectively delivers what her part requires: something that looks and sounds a lot like Dusty Springfield.
It's an uneven show, however; at times it seems like a particularly good Stars in Their Eyes, at others excellent cabaret (Stapleton really belts through Anyone Who Had a Heart) and at others like When the Cat's Away (the chorus trio's lacklustre Little by Little).
On a bare stage the show offers something less than the "theatrical extravaganza" promised (it's hard for one woman to be The Springfields trio) but it is an evening of enjoyable, undemanding entertainment.
The show runs again tonight and tomorrow.
<i>Performance:</i> The Dusty Springfield Story
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