“2024 marks an eight year gap since I’ve been able to get here and I am absolutely delighted to be back.”
WHO: Melissa Western
WHAT: “It’s the year 1954. Ella Fitzgerald, Etta James and Eartha Kitt are all at the dizzy heights of their careers. With swinging jazz, powerful soul and cheeky kitsch, these women broke new ground for all who followed. Award-winning singer/actor Melissa Western and her musicians pay tribute to this magnificent era in music and inspiring trio of pioneering singers. 50s style abounds. ‘Western is a force of nature… Great storyteller, feisty, highly enjoyable’ ***** (BroadwayBaby.com). ‘Absolutely brilliant… Her aptitude for music is vast and versatile’ ***** (ThreeWeeks). ‘Western’s gorgeous singing voice serves her well’ (TheAustralian.com.au).”
WHERE: Paradise in Augustines – The Studio (Venue 152)
WHEN: 18:35 (45 min)
MORE: Click Here!
Is this your first time to Edinburgh?
No, I first came in 2007 with a one-woman show. I’d visited (from Australia) the year before to get a sense of the festival and was blown away and knew I needed to be part of this wild ride. My first festival was exhilarating, enchanting, exhausting and extreme! I fell deeply in love with the city of Edinburgh and the sense of “coming home” to my performing arts family. I came out of that year with an official Sell Out status, some amazing reviews and onward UK touring – it was a dream. Since then I’ve been back regularly – stopping only to have kids and do Covid! This year is the eighth time I’ve brought a show to the Fringe.
What are the big things you’ve learned since 2023 and have you absorbed any of the lessons yet?
I was booked to come to the Fringe in 2020 but then this little thing called Covid stopped the world and most certainly decimated any travel from Australia to the UK. 2024 marks an eight year gap since I’ve been able to get here and I am absolutely delighted to be back. We are on our way to having another sell out season and so far have 2 x 5 star reviews. I feel like the universe is telling me I made the right decision to come back!
Tell us about your show.
1954: Ella, Etta, Eartha is my love letter to three women who smashed barriers of race and gender, changing the world with music as their ammunition. The show is full of jazz, blues, cheeky kitsch and early rock n roll focussing on the year 1954 as Ella Fitzgerald, Eartha Kitt and Etta James are all at the dizzying heights of their careers. They all had to combat sanctioned racism throughout their careers and in 1954 at the very beginning of the civil rights movement in America it was singers, actors and entertainers who could push through the barriers. This show has toured Australia for the past two years and I’m really hoping to get some UK festival bookings after the Fringe.
What should your audience see at the festivals after they’ve seen your show?
One of my favourite things about coming to Edinburgh in August is that I get to catch up with some many wonderful performing arts friends from around the world.
I’m from Brisbane, Australia so my first shout outs are to my fellow BrisVegas friends. My astonishing friend Leah Shelton is absolutely smashing it with her show Batshit and just won a Fringe First award. Another Brisbane team, Swamplesque just increased their capacity from 500+ to 800+ per night and the crowds are loving it – as they should because it is ridiculously good fun! By far my favourite improv show at the Fringe is Showstopper, I can’t get enough of those outrageously talented folks. My final shout out is to Tim Benzie who I performed with a lifetime ago when at university – he now lives in London and his solve along Murder She Wrote is an absolute hoot!
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