We Don’t Need Another Euro by Shortis & Simpson at Teatro Vivaldi. Wednesday February 13, Friday 15 and Saturday 16 at 7pm for 3 course dinner and show; Saturday February 16 at 2pm for show and high tea. Bookings 6257 2718.
John Shortis and Moya Simpson are icons of Canberra culture, and ditto for dinner at Teatro Vivaldi. This is an enjoyable night out aurally, visually, multiculturally and degustationally. That’s French for wine tasting (ask for the shiraz from Young), but my dictionary says “wine tasting etc”. Vivaldi’s Pacific nouveau cuisine was a lot more than etc and ought not to be missed. High tea on Saturday could be your high point of the week.
Talking of high points, I have to say Moya couldn’t quite match the piercing quality of Cilla Black, which was probably just as well in a small venue. But she captured Judith Durham in The Carnival is Over just right. If you are wondering what happened to the Shortis & Simpson political commentary, just relax. We Don’t Need Another Euro is a whimsical humorous history of European songs which became popular worldwide. You will be surprised, very surprised, at the origin of the Muppets singing Mahna Mahna, which you will enjoy singing yourself while watching Moya recreate a scene from an Italian film set in a Swedish sauna.
Two other high points are the inclusion in the show of special guests. Canbelto a cappella singers joined in for a wonderfully rhythmic and harmonic rendition of the eastern Mediterranean song which became the Australian surfing anthem Bombora. Louise Page, singing the original 17th Century Plaisir d’Amour, was just stunning, and what a beautiful contrast to Simpson’s Elvis Presley singing Can’t Help Falling in Love.
Simpson’s voice seems to me to range more widely as the years go on. Shortis’s research required her to sing in so many languages she became a feature of the Multicultural Festival in her own right. Her comic timing was just right, yet I think a highlight for me, immediately after a frantic New Yorker translating from the original French, was a genuinely affecting performance of Autumn Leaves, in Johnny Mercer’s English and the French of Jacques Prévert.
There’s far more I could tell you, but it would be better to see the show, and enjoy the meal, for yourself.
©Frank McKone, Canberra
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