“It’s very different,” says Fitzgibbon. “It covers that kind of era when people were used to being entertained. There’s some full on colour and movement. It’s sort of like a play within a play; we’re having a rehearsal and you’re seeing inside of the rehearsal and the storyline relates to our past.”
The show, entitled That’s Showbiz, is not actually a play, but rather an old fashioned song and dance spectacle. However, the songs were carefully selected to help portray the relationships between the three main protagonists. Fitzgibbon plays a character named Dee Dee Delore, who, along with her husband (played by Mark Cutler), plans a stage production to resuscitate her waning career as a singer and actress. Doc White, Delore’s former flame, is brought along to make the jazz diva’s husband jealous, leading to all sorts of romantic and melodic calamities.
“There’s not a lot of dialogue really,” says Fitzgibbon. “The majority of it is music and there’s just a couple of little conversations in between that explain what’s going on. Because the storyline is about putting on a show and we’re rehearsing that show, you’re just like a fly on the wall watching what’s going on.”
The narrative is given further breadth by the inclusion of two burlesque performers – Bella du Jac and Lyra la Belle – whose intermittent routines reinforce the salacious and comedic nature of the music. “Doc had a vision through selecting some of the songs,” says Fitzgibbon. “It’s a collaboration, but it was his initiative to put it together. He’s taken songs from The Asylum Street Spankers and added a few of their songs, and a couple of old blues tunes that really work well within the storyline. The music is a combination of rootsy rhythm and blues with a touch of jazz. Doc’s a blues singer and that’s his thing, and I bring my own thing to the show. It’s entertaining and very Australian in a way as well.”
Fitzgibbon normally operates in the world of jazz and big band swing, but she’s relished the chance to sing hokum blues, which by definition relies upon euphemisms and sexual innuendo. “I jumped at this opportunity because it stretched me as a performer to get more into the humour and the timing,” she says. “I think burlesque dancers mostly have a sense of humour about themselves and it really works hand in glove; it’s a beautiful combination.”
Having debuted the production last year, Lowdown Hokum are gearing up for a busy few months. September and October will see the troupe perform at Sydney’s Reginald Theatre and Melbourne’s Melba Spiegeltent. But before all of that, they’re holding a special one-off show in celebration of the production’s music. Backed by a band featuring several big names from the Australian blues and roots scene – such as Andy Baylor on fiddle and Paul Williamson on saxophone – they recently created a soundtrack album, which will be launched at The Flying Saucer Club on Friday July 17.
Those who head along to the gig will be treated to the unedited version of That’s Showbiz, where, unlike the truncated single set used for their festival commitments, the Orchestra will present the story in two parts. “The first half will be the rehearsal and the second half will be the show, the glamorous half,” says Fitzgibbon. “That will be our first time doing it in a staged venue as opposed to in the round, which is great.”
BY ALEX WATTS
