Ladies in Black
Image: Trisha Noble
It is being heralded as the best new Australian musical since Priscilla Queen of the Desert dazzled the world, and now the Ladies in Black is ready to paint the town.
Ladies in Black is set in a Sydney on the cusp of becoming cosmopolitan, as the glorious liberation of the ‘60’s comes to sweep away the stuffy repression of the ‘50’s. School leaver Lisa joins the ranks at the city’s most prestigious department store. Over a summer of discovery Lisa is introduced to a whole new world of possibilities and lessons in love, life and longing. In the end, the fashions aren’t the only thing forever altered.
Award winning singer and actor Trisha Noble (Shout! The Legend of the Wild One, Dusty – The Original Pop Diva) is delighted to be joining the cast for the Sydney debut:
“I just think it’s a gorgeous Australian musical… there’s so much pathos in it and so much humour, and it captures perfectly the era in the ‘50’s where this is set… It’s totally Aussie and I just think it’s going to be an enormous success,” she told City Hub.
Noble will be personifying the dual roles of Miss Jacobs and Mrs Crown, and according to her “they’re 180 degrees apart”. Commencing service in the glove department for 40 years, Miss Jacobs is “a real lady, she’s elegant and dignified, and kind” with a tragedy in her past. Whereas Mrs Crown, the mother of three adult daughters (one of whom works at the store), is “a really down-to-earth, no-nonsense woman, a bit rough around the edges…”.
As Mrs Crown, Noble will be performing a comedic song which, out of the score of 20 original numbers, is guaranteed to hit cult status: ‘The Bastard Song’. “It’s wonderful and fun and the audience just absolutely adores this song, there’s big belly laughs,” she added.
Noble believes that Ladies In Black will win fans for the way it slides seamlessly between song and dialogue, with the music from Tim Finn (Split Endz, Crowded House) advancing the story forward with direction from Simon Phillips (Love Never Dies, Priscilla Queen of the Desert).
“[The characters] work through their problems in the show so beautifully and with such humour… There’s nothing about it that’s objectionable…it just flows so beautifully you couldn’t take umbrage at any of it!” (AM)
Until Jan 22, performance times vary. Sydney Lyric Theatre (at The Star), 80 Pyrmont St, Pyrmont. $68-$125. Tickets & info: www.sydneyfestival.org.au
