Adelaide Fringe 2015
Only The Good Die Young
Jessica Papst
Genre: Musical Theatre
Venue: La Boheme 36 Grote St, Adelaide
Festival: Adelaide Fringe
Low Down
This was a night of wonderful cabaret of songs from “The 27 Club” and other singers who died way too young, combined with anecdotal stories of those famous people. Some of the myths about them are dispelled, while other snippets had me hearing the “Twilight Zone” theme in my head.
Review
A packed audience in the bar at La Boheme were treated to great vocals by Jessica Papst and very good keyboard skills of Shannon Whitelock on piano, both dressed in sombre black to set the mood. Jess is a confident singer with a beautiful voice whose personality shone throughout the show and Shannon showed what a wonderfully versatile talent he is sharing a duet for one song and as backing singer in another.
Jess engaged the audience very well encouraging them to join in, flirting with some as she moved among them and sharing the mic with one lucky woman who joined her for a chorus. Everyone had a good time often singing along with several of the songs, laughing at some of the anecdotal stories Jess shared and she even busted a couple of myths along the way (Mama Cass did not choke to death on a ham sandwich) and let us in on some events I hadn’t heard before (Janis Joplin got a fur coat from Southern Comfort for increasing their sales so much?!).
There’s more, but I don’t want to give too much away. Go and hear the show to find out. Jess covered about a dozen very popular and well-known songs from “The 27 Club” including, Janis, Jim Morrison and Amy Winehouse along with others who died before their time, her great vocal range doing them all justice.
It was a very entertaining evening and I highly recommend this show to those who enjoy a beautiful voice backed by a very good pianist covering classic hits from the 60s onward mixed with a bit of juicy storytelling.
