Getting “Behind” Our Artists

The cast and crew of the “Let’s Talk About Me!” show are all about music and comedy and having just postponed their stage show for the second time, they have found a way to turn that frown upside down with a “Postponement Song” for their ticketholders called “Bums on Seats”.

Link to the YouTube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G46esO97XpI

The Red Light 100 person limit on public gatherings has gigs, shows and events postponing or cancelling all over the country. For many, it’s the second postponement. Creatives, crews, and their venues are panting into paper bags as they try to calm panic attacks – the anxiety is high. For many, months or years of work have been put on hold. Potential income has been lost and expenditure leading up to gigs may have left some in debt. Everyone’s scrambling for the same alternate dates at their intended venue so artists end up in competition with each other for the next opportunity to realize their work and earn an income. Audiences too are disappointed. The creatives hope their audiences will come back.

The musical comedy written by one of New Zealand’s most licensed playwrights, April Phillips (“STiFF”, “Motel”) and featuring the original songs of popular singer/songwriter Andrew London (“Andrew London Trio”, “Hot Club Sandwich”) was originally due to premiere at the fabulous new 300+ seat Te Raukura Ki Kāpiti Coastlands Theatre in Paraparaumu in September 2021. After a year of pre-production, they were about to enter their rehearsal phase when a change to the alert level necessitated a postponement to March 2022.

“It was gut wrenchingly hard” says Phillips. “There had been months of intensive work and we were all fired up and ready to rehearse and then the rug was pulled from under us. We weren’t alone of course. We also knew our work wasn’t in vain as the show would still go on; just at a later date”.

But history has repeated itself as the cast, under director Fingal Pollock (“Femme Natale”) were a day away from starting their rehearsals when the country moved to the Red Light level.

“So this time we decided to post a video on our Facebook page for our precious audience conveying both our disappointment and our positivity, and also thanking them for hanging in there with us. And we topped it off with a light-hearted new song, written by London, about our gratitude for “Bums on Seats”.

Says Phillips: “Right now we need music and laughter in our lives.”

To quote one of their ticket-holders “The “Bums on Seats” song has captured the Zeitgeist of the times”. Certainly, the cast and crew of “Let’s Talk About Me!” will be very grateful when those bottoms return.

“Let’s Talk About Me!” now has its premiere season of 4 shows scheduled to take place at Te Raukura Ki Kāpiti Coastlands Theatre in Paraparaumu from 15 to 17 September 2022 and tickets can be purchased from the theatre or at www.eventfinda.co.nz. Existing ticket-holders will have their tickets transferred to the new respective date, or they can request a change of date or a refund.

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