Like Someone In Love

19 January 2007

MEDIA RELEASE

Ensign Toast Productions Presents

Like Someone In Love – the life and death of Chet Baker
February 21 – 24, 2007, 8pm
Happy, corner Vivian and Tory Streets
Tickets: Waged $15, Unwaged $12, Fringe Addict $10
TO BOOK ph. 04 382 9984

Did he jump or just fall that night in Amsterdam? The controversial end to a life both brilliant and tragic is explored as Chet Baker is brought back to life on the Wellington stage this Fringe.

David Goldthorpe’s new musical play premieres at Happy (on the corner of Vivian and Tory Streets) here in Wellington and runs for four nights only, from February 21st to 24th at 8pm as part of Fringe 07.

Legendary jazz musician Chet Baker had an extraordinary talent both with his trumpet and his spare and captivating vocal style. His life was the antithesis to his subdued and cool stage presence however, as he grappled with a lifelong drug addiction that eventually seemed to claim his life. But did he fall from an Amsterdam window in a drug-induced haze or did he throw himself out? David Goldthorpe explores the life that led Baker to that window, the haunting and unforgettable music that made him famous and the drugs and weaknesses that made him infamous.

“I first met Chet Baker in the film The Talented Mr. Ripley as he fell out of Tom Ripley’s satchel along with some fellow jazz albums,” David Goldthorpe says of his first encounter with Baker. That single moment launched a “long love affair with Chet’s music and style” and has culminated in this very jazz-infused and raw examination of Baker’s life and musical genius. Goldthorpe is freshly graduated from Wellington Performing Arts Centre with a Diploma in Performing Arts – Singing and made his professional theatre debut in Troy: the Musical in June 2006 as Hector. Goldthorpe will begin a nine month touring contract with Capital E Children’s Theatre this March but Chet Baker is never far from his mind. Baker was also the subject of his graduation show which was an abbreviated version of this production. Due to the facts behind Baker’s demise and his heroin addiction, the show is not necessarily suitable for all ages. Despite the warning of drug use and coarse language, however, Goldthorpe believes the story will appeal to a wide cross-section of theatre-goers.

Though yet in its infancy, Ensign Toast Productions has managed to harness a lot of established talent for this inaugural show. Aided onstage by a trio of live jazz musicians headed by Tim Solly, with lighting designed by Marcus McShane, and under the direction of David Lawrence, Like Someone In Love – the life and death of Chet Baker will appeal to jazz aficionados and lovers of a good dramatic story alike.

ENDS

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