Purple Puppets and Irish Leprechauns
Monday, August 22, 2011 at 12:54AM ;){kind=link}
Cabaret Confessional continues to follow adventures of UK re-pat, Sophie Walsh-Harrington. Sophie developed her award winning cabaret debut “The Damsel in Shining Armour” in Melbourne, with the team from The Jane Austen Argument and subsequently toured the show with great success around Australia. Having won the award “Best Cabaret” at the world’s second largest Fringe Festival in Adelaide, she is now tackling the Mt Everest of festivals, the Edinburgh Fringe.
In the second installment of her Damsel’s Diary, the Walsh-Harrington juggernaut engages an additional marketing team and perhaps a human resource director?
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Week two, or is it three (or five hundred)? The days are blurring into one and this is not even hangover induced. Indeed I have stayed mostly tee-total this fringe, though that all changed when my parents, my aunty and her boyfriend, my cousin and my brother arrived in town. They like a drink.
“That’s just the Irish in them, baby.”
The fam have been in tow for the last week and it seems that though they are mostly financial advisers and teachers by day, at Edinburgh Fringe they are world-class experts on cabaret, selling cabaret and the things that I should be wearing and eating as a cabaret performer. Amazing how one regresses into a helpless five year old in the company of one’s relatives. I think they forget that I went through puberty.
But the entourage have been a god send. The Walsh-Harringtons have been in full force, sticking stars on flyers, buying me food and persuading (mainly middle aged) people into coming to see their daughters’ show. Declaring of course, that Damsel is the best thing at the Fringe - and they are not biased at all. That was before seeing Sammy J and Randy, though, who seem to have stolen their hearts and pretty much trumped me. Watch out boys, the Walsh-Harringtons will be coming to sort you out.
On stage, the show has been going well. I had two nights where I felt everything clicked and I remembered why all the effort. In one of them, the fan didn’t work, which made for hilarious consequences. I’ve also quite enjoyed the flyering aspect, giving people spiel and trying to get them to come watch. I feel like I’m on The Apprentice and I have one hour left to sell 80 bruised bananas or Sir Alan will give me the finger. (Aussie readers if you haven’t heard of the British Apprentice…watch the series on Youtube. Your life will never be the same again once you have spent 40 hours watching Sir Alan fire people. Also, one word. Marge. Sweet, sweet Marge). In this scenario, my pianist Richard Anderson plays the God-like Sir Alan character. I just don’t want to let him down. He is passionate about making this show the best it can be and his on stage nodding and facial expressions have become infamous.
There hasn’t been any time to fall in love yet, disappointingly. It doesn’t help, probably, being literally surrounded at all times by the family. Though the Aunt has taken it on herself to flyer only potential husbands, declaring that
“Something needed to be done.”
I did meet my Festival Talent Crush, David O’Doherty, who is just as adorable off and on stage. I was in a musical comedy showcase with him, and after he saw me perform (surreal and amaze-balls) he gave me a double thumbs up and said “Well done, Sophie”. SWOON. I can just imagine us going around the world, him with his little keyboard, me with my Celine.
There are a lot of tourists here. I sort of find myself seeking out foreigners with the next instalment of Damsel in mind…
“So I’m moving to Copenhagen….Berlin….Papua New Guinea!”
Art imitating life….or is it the other way around?
Sophie Walsh-Harrington Aug 19, 2011
Book Tickets to see “The Damsel in Shining Armour” HERE
Related posts:
Best Audience Member Reaction of the Week : Part I
Adelaide Fringe 2011 Review: The Damsel in Shining Armour
Damsel’s Diary Pt I: Wolves and Coffee
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