Playwright April (STiFF, Death & Taxe$, Blind Eye, Motel) and Kāpiti-based singer-songwriter Andrew are old friends and have been collaborating at music festivals and on-stage shows for decades. In addition to her popular comedies, April’s been writing jukebox musicals and tribute shows using other people’s songs. Over coffee early in 2020, they had a lightbulb moment and realised that April should write a musical play using Andrew’s original songs, which are comedic, satirical, poignant, topical and uniquely reflective of Kiwi culture. They both agreed the songs lend themselves quite naturally to an engaging story and a range of comic characters.
When the 2020 Covid lockdown occurred and the entertainment industry ground to a halt literally overnight, the enforced downtime furnished an ideal opportunity for these two creative talents to collaborate and write that musical.
Let’s Talk About Me! had its premiere production at the stunning new Te Raukura ki Kāpiti Coastlands Theatre in September last year and it was a big hit in the region, with an almost sold-out season.
Andrew and April easily convinced the company of actors and musicians that Whanganui must be the next place to take the show.
April Phillips is one of New Zealand’s most licensed playwrights and her hit plays have been produced internationally. They’ve also been produced by both Amdram, Whanganui Repertory and The River City Players. She is also an actress and comedienne and has appeared in movies and television series, including being part of the core cast of the comedy TV shows McPhail & Gadsby and Girl vs Boy. She is a member of the female comedy troupe Hens’ Teeth and a founding member of the sketch comedy collective Femme Natale, which toured Whanganui with a show of the same name a couple of years ago. In addition to writing and performing on stage as an actress and singer, April is also a film-maker, and her films have garnered international awards and screenings. In 2020, she received the Best Shorts Outstanding Achievement Humanitarian Award for the disability themes in her film The Last Man on Earth. This year she is co-producing the feature film Blind Panic and is the co-writer and co-director of the film 1978, which should hit cinemas later this year.
Andrew London is well-known to music lovers all over New Zealand, having regularly toured the country for years with Hot Club Sandwich, The Retro Pack (with April) and The Andrew London Trio. He’s been a regular performer on Norfolk Island and in Australia and was also invited to play in Saudi Arabia. He’s performed many times on TV and radio and he also sang in the film Second-Hand Wedding. During the 2020 lockdown, Andrew and his bass-playing wife Kirsten entertained fans with new songs in their Live At The Londons’ broadcasts.
Based on the Kāpiti Coast, he’s a songwriter and satirist whose songs explore social and political themes, and although humour and satire is very much to the fore, poignancy and pathos are often not far away. His whimsical songs reflect the national psyche and playfully lampoon many of mainstream New Zealand society’s obsessions and taboos.
Andrew has released more than a dozen albums and in 2020, 70 of his best-loved hits were turned into a book of lyrics, with the foreword written by Sir Geoffrey Palmer. Andrew’s songs have been compared by music reviewers to Tim Minchin, John Clarke and Flight of the Conchords.
For more than 20 years, Andrew and April have been collaborating on musical shows on stages and at jazz festivals throughout the country celebrating legends of music with the Unforgettable show (Nat King Cole), the award-winning Blue Eyes show at Wellington’s Circa Theatre, The Glory of Gershwin and Jazz on Broadway, which had a sold-out season at Circa Theatre.
During the 2020 lockdown, April completed a project she and Andrew had been talking about for a year or two, and wrote a full-length stage musical using 26 of Andrew’s satirical and comic original songs. The show, entitled Let’s Talk About Me! after one of Andrew’s most-requested songs, stars Andrew and April centre-stage. They are joined by the cast of the hit sketch comedy show Femme Natale, with the group playing a multitude of mad-cap characters. The live band is led by musical director Nick Granville (Rodger Fox Big Band, Les Miserables, TV’s Dancing With The Stars) and the show is directed by Fingal Pollock (Femme Natale).
- Starring: Andrew London, April Phillips, Tracey Savage, Jeremy Nelson and Austin Harrison
- Directed by: Fingal Pollock
- Musical Director: Nick Granville
- Musicians: Nick Granville, Lance Philip, Kirsten London and Michael Crawford
The Details
What: Let’s Talk About Me!
When: Saturday, April 29, 2pm and 7pm
Where: Royal Whanganui Opera House, St Hill St
Tickets: https://preview.ticketek.co.nz/shows/show.aspx?sh=LETSTALK23
