Hey, Piano Bar Lady!
Musical comedy taking it back to 80s New York via New Zealand
This article is from 2012.
New Zealand singer Linn Lorkin is perched at her keyboard, tousled red hair, whimsical expression and billowing patchwork dress suggesting she’s quite the eccentric dame.
Now in its second year at the Fringe, her one-woman biographical show is a collage of songs and stories recounting bygone days in 80s New York. Delivered simply – half monologue, half musical – the absorbing tale begins with chivalrous companions, international sofa surfing and SoHo Sundays. Pausing to elaborate on each story Lorkin conjures up vibrant images of city life, peppered with personal anecdotes.
An imagined piano bar audience are put in place for the exquisitely delivered musical numbers, voice either colloquial Kiwi chatter or honeyed chords. She sings of scones and writing songs, the new pea-green down coat which kept her afloat and being a mole, in a hole. She jives through extending her musical repertoire – ‘caterwauling’ ‘Memories’ from Cats and learning languages - getting a green card, marriage, divorce and writing a musical.
A love letter to a life filled with adventure Hey, Piano Bar Lady! manages to be funny and poignant, Lorkin’s captivating performance exuding the timelessness of a brilliant performer.
Space Cabaret @54, 557 6309, until 25 Aug (not 20), 2pm, £6 (£5).
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