PRESENTS BERNADETTE ROBINSON IN
He pou atua, he pou whenua, he pou tangata.
Ko Waitematā te moana
Ko Waikōkota te whenua.
Ko Te Pou Whakamaharatanga mō
Māui Tikitiki a Tāranga te tohu o te kaha, o te kōrero, o te whakapapa o tēnei wāhi, o tēnei whare.
Nau mai e te tī, e te tā ki te whare kōrero, ki te whare whakaari o ASB ki te tahatika o te moana.
Mauri tau, mauri ora!
Pouwhakamaumāharatanga mō Māui Tikitiki a Tāranga
The Memorial Post of Māui the Topknot of Tāranga
Robert Jahnke ONZM (Ngāi Taharoa, Te Whānau a Iritekura, Te Whānau a Rākairo o Ngāti Porou) 2016
Laminated tōtara and Corten steel
Proudly commissioned by Auckland Theatre Company for ASB Waterfront Theatre
The symbols of support, of strength and of guardianship stand fast and proud.
The waters of Waitematā ebb and flow against the shores here at Waikōkota, the land upon which we stand.
The pou of remembrance to Māui Tikitiki a Tāranga stands tall as a beacon of courage, of stories passed down and of the history that connects us all to this place and to this space.
We welcome you all from near and far to this house of stories, to the ASB Waterfront Theatre.
Mauri tau, mauri ora!
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PRESENTS
BAND
Drums — Alistair Deverick
Guitar, Bass & Keys — Bray Jeffrey
Piano and Keys — Mark Jones
CREATIVE Director — Simon Phillips
Musical Director — Mark Jones
Sound Engineer — Nicholas Reich
Lighting Designer — Matt Cox
Producer (Duet Productions) — Harley Medcalf
PRODUCTION
Production/Technical Managers — Johnny Chen, Nathanael Bristow
Stage Manager (Pilot Productions) —
Annah Jacobs
Technical Operator — Ruby van Dorp
Publicity — Bridget de Launay
DIVAS starring Bernadette Robinson and directed by Simon Phillips received its world premiere at the Playhouse, Queensland Performing Arts Centre on Thursday 20 July 2023. This season at ASB Waterfront Theatre is its New Zealand premiere, opening on Wednesday 11 October 2023.
DIVAS is 1 hour 40 minutes long, no interval. Some coarse language. Please switch off all noise emitting devices.
11 - 22 OCT 2023
BERNADETTE ROBINSON IN
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SET LIST
1. Wow (Kate Bush)
2. Wuthering Heights (Kate Bush)
3. Running Up That Hill (Kate Bush)
4. Diamonds Are Forever (Shirley Bassey)
5. This Is My Life (Shirley Bassey)
6. We’ve Only Just Begun (Karen Carpenter)
7. Rainy Days And Mondays (Karen Carpenter)
8. Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien (Édith Piaf)
9. La Vie En Rose (Édith Piaf)
10. La Belle Histoire D’amour (Édith Piaf)
11. Jolene (Dolly Parton)
12. Dumb Blonde (Dolly Parton)
13. I Will Always Love You (Dolly Parton)
14. Wrecking Ball (Dolly Parton/Miley Cyrus)
15. We Can’t Stop X Where Is My Mind (Miley Cyrus)
16. Flowers (Miley Cyrus)
17. The Way We Were (Barbra Streisand)
18. I’m The Greatest Star (Barbra Streisand)
19. Being Alive (Barbra Streisand)
20. Una Voce Poco Fa (Maria Callas)
21. Vissi D’arte (Maria Callas)
22. Back To Black (Amy Winehouse)
23. Rehab (Amy Winehouse)
24. You Know I’m No Good (Amy Winehouse)
25. Over The Rainbow (Judy Garland)
26. The Man That Got Away (Judy Garland)
27. There’s No Business, Like Show Business (Judy Garland)
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Bernadette Robinson
Bernadette Robinson’s acclaimed performances in multiple sell-out seasons of the one-woman musical plays Songs For Nobodies and Pennsylvania Avenue have confirmed her standing as one of Australia’s leading singer/actresses.
Audiences and critics alike loved both shows: “The audience is on its feet with a standing ovation” (The Age), “Bernadette Robinson’s performance is theatrical alchemy” (Herald Sun), “Beyond virtuosity to the sublime” (The Australian). After he saw Songs For Nobodies for the second time, Barry Humphries announced that “Bernadette is a major talent and a spellbinder”.
Like Humphries, Australia’s general theatre-going public had discovered Bernadette’s virtuosic acting skills and her uncanny ability to inhabit the voices of famous singers such as Judy Garland, Patsy Cline, Billie Holiday, Edith Piaf and many others. Together with eventual winner Cate Blanchett, Bernadette was nominated for a Helpmann Award (Australia’s Olivier Awards) in 2012 as Best Female Actor In a Play.
Bernadette played the role of Beatrice in Nick Enright and Terry Clarke’s The Venetian Twins and has appeared in lead roles with Chamber Made Opera and Wellington City
Opera. She is a familiar figure on Australian concert stages, having given sell out concerts at the Sydney Opera House, Adelaide Festival Centre, the Melbourne Recital Centre and its neighbour, Hamer Hall, and the Queensland Performing Arts Centre.
In 2013, Bernadette recorded performances for a new cable TV show and CD called Studio At The Memo. Hosted by Australian rock star Tim Rogers, the series featured leading performers from Australia and overseas, including Rogers, Martha Wainwright, Tex Perkins and Kate Miller-Heidke.
Bernadette studied voice with the legendary Dame Joan Hammond at the Victorian College Of The Arts before embarking on her professional career in productions of The Pirates of Penzance and Cats. She presented her earlier solo shows You Might As Well Live, Calling All Angels and Patsy Cline: Her Songs, Her Story around Australia to critical and audience acclaim.
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Simon Phillips Director
Simon began his career in New Zealand before immigrating to Australia in 1984 to take up a position as lecturer and director at the West Australian Academy for Performing Arts. He was an associate director at the Melbourne Theatre Company from 1987 to 1989 before being appointed Artistic Director of the State Theatre Company of South Australia from 1990 to 1993. He returned to the Melbourne Theatre Company as Artistic Director from 2000 to 2011, overseeing the design and construction of the company’s new headquarters and the Southbank Theatre.
His directing credits range from new works to contemporary and Shakespearean classics to musicals to opera. He has directed works by most of the great contemporary writers, as well as the premieres of many works by leading Australian writers, including David Williamson, Hannie Rayson, Stephen Sewell, Matt Cameron and Joanna Murray-Smith.
Simon’s musical credits include Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (which has been performed internationally for the past 16 years including the West End and Broadway), a new Australasian version of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Love Never Dies (which was filmed by Universal, has had seasons in Tokyo and Hamburg, and the USA), Muriel’s Wedding, the Musical, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, The Drowsy Chaperone,
The Twenty-Fifth Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Urinetown the Musical, Company, Cabaret, and three adaptations by his wife, Carolyn Burns: High Society (which also toured the UK), Ladies in Black, which won the Helpmann for best new Australian work and Come Rain or Come Shine based on the short story by Kazuo Ishiguro.
Their adaptation of Hitchcock’s North By Northwest played at the ASB Waterfront Theatre last year. Most recently, his production of the new Australian musical Bananaland headlined the Brisbane Festival and his new version of Phantom of the Opera was performed on the Sydney Harbour Stage.
Simon’s opera credits include The Turk in Italy, L’Elisir d’Amore, Falstaff, La Bohème and Lulu for Opera
Australia, The Magic Flute and Don Giovanni for Opera New Zealand and A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Billy Budd for Hamburg State Opera. He has received seven Green Room Awards and six Helpmann Awards.
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2024 SEASON COMING SOON
17.10.2023
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