With Grace @ Girls School
Tuesday, January 28, 2020
The scene is set. A simple red curtain caresses the back of the stage, a piano sits in the corner, and a table with a small portrait of Hollywood actress Grace Kelly sits in the centre. With a few simple set choices, we are transported into the world of 1950s Hollywood.
Girls School is housing a number of Fringe shows this year. With Grace took place upstairs in the Chemistry Room. The venue was intimate without being claustrophobic and was the perfect size for a cabaret-style show.
Pianist Steven Kreamer takes his seat, sharing a few quips with the audience, before Bronte Kellam-Pearson takes centre stage wearing an ensemble that pays obvious homage to Grace Kelly’s iconic white and black number that she wears in Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window.
The leading lady tells of how her and Grace Kelly’s lives have followed a similar pathway, with the only difference, perhaps, being the locations and a slightly lesser amount of controversy. Bronte Kellam-Pearson is an absolutely mesmerising and enigmatic performer, whose stunning vocals and stage presence not only draws an audience’s unrivalled attention, but demands it. She encompasses old-Hollywood beauty and could certainly play Grace Kelly herself in a biopic. Steven Kreamer was a delightful and talented accompanist, with an unspoken rapport and trust between the two performers.
The show itself was the perfect balance of comedy and grounding reality, recognising both the glamorous and dark sides of the life that the old-Hollywood starlets led. The script very cleverly included points in Kelly’s life that many audience members were not even aware of, which garnered a couple of very loud gasps.
Each song that was chosen fit perfectly into the point in the timeline of both Grace Kelly and Bronte Kellam-Pearson’s lives that they were being performed in. At times it felt as if their timelines even blended into one. There were a few moments of audience interaction, in particular when referring to Grace Kelly’s numerous conquests, with Bronte targeting a male audience member to direct her song to for each man.
With Grace is a show full of nostalgia, timeless beauty, scandal and classic musical numbers from Cole Porter, Rodgers & Heart plus many more – with producer Drew Bailey overseeing a visually and aurally stunning production. This one-woman sensation is a show to add immediately to your watch list. Book yourself a ticket and prepare for a journey to a golden era.
SAMANTHA FERGUSON
