They say “imitation is the sincerest form of flattery” but who they are remains a mystery. The phrase is often attributed to Oscar Wilde with a more Wildean flourish – “imitation is the sincerest form of flattery that mediocrity can pay to greatness”. But he never said that, though he did write similarly cutting remarks about satire being an homage by the less talented.
The recent
trend of musical theatre celebrating rock-and-roll royalty is embodied by a “best
of” album on stage, tied together by some highlights and lowlights of the singer’s
life and career. Tina: The Tina Turner Musical tries to make a narrative
from her life, adding in songs that fit a moment as best it can. (“We Don’t Need
Another Hero” on the death of her mother is a choice.) MJ: The Musical
fixes itself in the early 90s and avoids all of his later career and the child
abuse allegations – he’s “The King of Pop” and the show never lets his star be tarnished.
Amplified, about the lead singer of the
Divinyls – Chrissy Amphlett, isn’t afraid to get into the muck and present Amphlett
as she was: brazen and angry, fighting the battles of being the front woman of a
heavy-rock band at a time when there was no one for her to look up to.
Rather than the slavish imitations of the big commercial musicals, co-creator and star of the show, Sheridan Harbridge, takes a completely different tack. She isn’t Chrissy and she wouldn’t pretend to be. Harbridge cheekily suggests she's just a Chrissy “pamphlet”, running through a list of her life, but it's soon apparent she's more than that.
Harbridge has benefitted from Amphlett’s time in the spotlight as a “difficult woman” – from getting a glimpse of the singer on RAGE when she was a teen (raised in the Evangelical Church) to later funnelling some of Chrissy’s energies into her own work.
Though
wildly different in tone, Amplified reminded me of Lady Day at
Emerson’s Bar & Grill – centring the dying days of Billie Holliday, or The
Nico Project, about multi-talented avant-garde performer, Nico. All three
are one-woman shows (with band) that are as inspired by these singer’s peculiar
personalities and artistic sensibilities much more than they are compelled to
recreate these women on stage.
Indeed, Harbridge is here to tell us about Chrissy throughout her life – from childhood to death, imparting trivia and devilish details in amongst the gorgeous renditions of Amphlett’s songs. She rocks the house with "Science Fiction" and "Boys in Town" and hurts us with "Good Die Young". Early on, she edges the audience with a taste of "I Touch Myself" before promising us a climax later.
Co-creator and director, Sarah Goodes, helps Harbridge to find a balance between the actor recounting tales of the star with glimpses of the spirit of “Chrissy, the crow” taking over. Co-creator and musical director, Glenn Moorhouse, has assembled a kick-arse supporting band – the show driving from blood-pumping concert dangerously close to “fucking cabaret”.
Paul Jackson (who recently received a Green Room award for
all the amazing work he did on Melbourne stages last year) gives us a lighting
design that ranges from the blinding light of rock and roll to a more
intimate, moody spot when Chrissy and Sheridan get reflective. The sound
design is full-bodied, capturing the heady blast of a band in a tiny venue –
even though this version of the show is playing at Melbourne’s Comedy Theatre.
Much like the phrase about imitation and flattery, the truths of Chrissy’s life get lost in the mists of time. Are the stories of Amphlett
pissing on stage a myth or the next-level transgression of an artist who was
crossing boundaries the moment she walked on stage? This is how lasting legends
and icons are forged, though; their reputations precede them and the stories –
real and unreal – live on long after they’ve gone.
Chrissie Amphlett died in 2013 at the age of 53. The
Divinyls had split nearly twenty years earlier, then reformed as their place in
Australian music history was being remembered and honoured. By the time of her
passing, Amphlett was living in New York with her husband, back to playing
basement clubs like she did at the start of her career in the early 1980s.
I didn’t know a lot about Amphlett’s life outside of the
classic songs the band released in my childhood, “I Touch Myself” burned into
the brain of teenage me the same year Madonna begged for us to “Justify My Love”.
1990 was hell of a year for the unvarnished sexuality of rock goddesses.
Amplified gives us a tight, eighty-minute show that
is fuelled by the energy of a woman described as difficult and angry – a beast
that excited and scared men in equal measure. But was she difficult, was she
angry or did she just have to defend herself in spaces that weren’t built for
her and her talent?
Harbridge captures the soul of Amphlett and gives us the
one-final-show that Chrissie was never able to perform. It’s a thrilling blend
of memoir and gossip and kick-ass renditions of songs that defined rock music
in this country for the last forty years.
Amplified is passionate and bold and an emotional hit to the heart.
Rock on, Chrissie, wherever you are. Sheridan Harbridge has got your back and your legacy is a rock solid as ever. And this work in your honour, that's the sincerest form of flattery.
- Keith Gow, Theatre First
The show is playing a very limited season at the Comedy Theatre until this Sunday, March 22
Photos: Brett Boardman
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