Songs for Nobodies

Photo courtesy of Kevin G. Imper

Kevin and I intend to take advantage of the theater during our time here, and aided by a generous gift from our family, we will be able to see several first-rate London productions. 

We attended our initial performance during our first week, when we experienced the remarkable talent of Bernadette Robinson, an Australian singer and actor whose one-woman show, "Songs for Nobodies" amazed us. The show, which was written especially for her, featured vignettes of women in mundane jobs (a washroom attendant and usher among them), and how the encounters these "nobodies" had with famous singers affected them.

Robinson sings in the style of five famous singers--Judy Garland, Patsy Kline, Billie Holiday, Edith Piaf, and Maria Callas. Reviewers commented that she didn't just imitate those singers, at times she seemed to actually become those singers, as though she were channeling them from the beyond.

We had to agree that if we closed our eyes, we would have thought we were hearing the original, especially her versions of Edith Piaf, Patsy Kline, and Billie Holiday. I've seen other people "do" Judy Garland, so while Robinson was impressive, the other songs stirred me more. As for Maria Callas, I'm not familiar enough with her recordings to say, although others said she was credible as she sang one of Calla's most famous arias, Puccini's Vissi d'arte. Whether or not she matched the great Callas, it's indisputable that she provided us with an exceptional evening, and her Piaf is only matched by Piaf.