Our mentors start forcing us to commit to songs and storylines. There are only two days left in the program; then we perform on Sunday night.
The James Bond idea has solved my problem. I really did want to sing my Brazilian music, but the lyrics tend to be a bit bland and don't suggest any sort of story. The Brazilian theme will have to wait.
I come up with a title - "Confessions of a Wannabe Bond Girl". It will be about my lifelong quest to be a "Bond girl" - an international woman of mystery. Truth is, when I was young, I was going to be a foreign diplomat, living on the Champs-Elysee in Paris. It was a Bond-girl aspiration of sorts. Very different from the life I have actually led, as a commercial litigation lawyer in Adelaide, South Australia.
The group brainstorms ideas for me. There is the seed of an "epic theme" - most people can identify with the idea of a "quest". We map out the elements of a James Bond film - martinis, casinos, glamorous locations, guns, diamonds, villains and handsome men. The story needs to have a "dip" - a low point at which things couldn't get much worse - and an uplifting ending.
A journalist and a photographer from our daily newspaper arrive to report on what we've been doing this week. This is the inaugural Australian Cabaret Summer School, so we're newsworthy. We pose for a group photo around the piano. Then Patrick, the entertainment reporter, wants to interview several of the participants. I see him walking across the room straight towards me. I'm guessing he wants to interview the oldest person in the room. Sure enough, he asks my age, then goes on to ask how I came to be here. I'm happy with my response, which I feel was succinct and to the point.
Next day, the article appears in the paper. Patrick quotes me, accurately and at some length - and he doesn't mention my age.
Read the newspaper report here
Patrick (himself an entertainer) stays for our discussion about how we might publicize our own future shows, if we choose to have them. Also advising us is Sidonie Henbest, Director of the Cabaret Fringe Festival (which was initiated by La Boheme).
Key messages are that we must have an eye-catching photo and an intriguing "elevator pitch". I feel a bit overwhelmed by all the information but I write it all down anyway for future reference. No way am I ready to have my own solo show. It's enough of a challenge to put together a ten minute segment for our show on Sunday night.
That's me, second from the left.
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