BUGLE BOYS
Bugle Boys … A salute to The Andrews Sisters
Chapel Off Chapel October 27th to November 1st 2015
Before The Spice Girls, before The Supremes…there was The Andrews Sisters. During the late 1930’s and 1940’s the original girl group were a global sensation, their records sold in the millions and their music still resonates to this day.
Starring the sensational Michael Dalton, the fabulous Jon Jackson and the adorable Andrew Dessmann, Bugle Boys frock up for this comedy-cabaret omage to dance their shapely legs off and sing (not lip synch) some of Patty, Maxene and LaVerne’s most beloved songs including Rum And Coca Cola, Pistol Packin’ Mama, Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy and more. Between numbers they bitch and squabble and deliver a hilarious tale of their life and career.
This show is a brand new Australian production conceived and written in Melbourne and will have it’s debut season at Chapel Off Chapel from October 27th to November 1st 2015.
“I’m very excited to join the cast of Bugle Boys. Three blokes in frocks singing Andrews Sisters songs and a brilliant script… what’s not to laugh at? Beards off, tits out, it’s Showtime!”
Andrew Dessmann – LaVerne
THE CAST
© Patty – Michael Dalton
The undisputed leader of the group. An energetic, enthusiastic unnatural blonde, she holds the show together and delivers the majority of the dialogue.
Michael Dalton (creator of Dolly Diamond)
A consummate performer Michael was born in the UK and began his theatrical career in London’s West End when, as a 10 year old he landed the title role in the hit musical Oliver!
In the eighties he migrated to Australia with his family where he attended drama school and joined acappella group The Phones. Performing across the country for the next four years the group featured several times on Hey Hey It’s Saturday and as weekly regulars on The Bert
Newton Show.
The nineties saw Michael begin his relationship with The Rocky Horror Show, touring Australia and New Zealand before relocating back to the UK where he appeared in productions throughout Europe, playing the role of Rocky.
For three years Michael was backing singer with Julian Clary and also toured with Richard O’Brian in Disgracefully Yours, which saw seasons in London’s West End, The Edinburgh Festival and The Bottom Line in New York. Returning once more to The West End Michael played The Naked Maid in Naked Boys Singing.
Between all this Michael has worked steadily as a solo singer/performer and in the late nineties created the character, Dolly Diamond. A crowd favourite, Dolly has performed across the UK as well as seasons at Chapel Off Chapel, The Sydney Mardi Gras, The Adelaide Feast Festival and The Chill Out Festival.
Michael performed his one-man show You’ve Got Male – an autobiographical story, as part of the 2013 Midsumma Festival. He has appeared as a series regular on the children’s TV show Dick and Dom for the BBC and also presents on Studio Q (Ch31) and various shopping channels in the UK including: Bid TV, Price Drop TV and Speed Auction TV.
Along with Luke Gallagher and Rachel Dunham, Michael was part of the cast of The Three Of Us, which in 2014 sold out in it’s run at Fortyfivedownstairs
© Maxene – Jon Jackson
A brunette, she’s a bit bored with the whole thing, is acerbic, morbidly cynical and her makeup could do with some attention. She’s also a dead set lush and becomes increasingly inebriated as the show progresses.
Jon Jackson
Jon is a multi-skilled performer with exceptional and diverse talents as an opera singer, cabaret artist and comic raconteur. As an actor he has an uncanny ability to mimic specific accents, and a multitude of voice types. As an operatic counter-tenor and concert artist he exhibits equal versatility.
Born in the country town of Warwick Queensland, Jon studied voice and piano with Colleen Bloomfield (a one-time pupil of Dame Nellie Melba) and went on to graduate from The Darling Downs Institute of Advanced Education with a degree in theatre production and stage management.
Moving to Melbourne to work backstage at the Melbourne Theatre Company and later at the legendary Last Laugh Jon began performing regularly at Jazz after Dark in the Victorian Arts Centre.
In 1984 Jon teamed with accompanist Allan Walker to form The Great Big Opera Company and for the next ten years he was lead singer and front man for the internationally acclaimed ensemble. Creating shows including A Desert Chanson With Tangos, Absolutely Well, Basically Brecht and A Dangerous Hour the company crossed every genre from sixties girl-group pop, to opera, country and rock n’ roll.
In the nineties the group toured extensively throughout Australia and across the world. From The Adelaide Fringe Festival to The Edinburgh Festival, The Great Big Opera Company enjoyed rave reviews and sell-out seasons with Stand Up At The Opera, Santa Babies, Taking It Up The Octave and A Great Big Soap Opera.
Performing regularly at The Victorian Arts Centre and numerous festivals across the country the company also performed at The Singapore Festival, The Wellington and Auckland Festivals, concerts in Jakarta, hotel residencies in Bali, The Raffles Hotel in Singapore and, with The Adelaide Symphony Orchestra and The St Petersburg State Symphony Orchestra in Russia.
Jon has played roles for Opera Australia and Chamber Made Opera as well as writing a libretto for Melbourne’s Oz Opera. His solo work has seen him perform several one-man shows including Moonlighting, Don’t Ask Me Not To Sing, What The World Needs Now and Walk On The Wild Side.
In 2011 Jon performed as a soloist in a series of concerts with The New Zealand Symphony Orchestra and took the part of Mr. President in The Magnormos production of Jerry Herman’s Dear World.
More recently Jon has enjoyed two successful Melbourne seasons with new cabaret shows, It’s My Party and Brinkering On The Teet.
© LaVerne – Andrew Dessmann
A redhead, an airhead, she’s impeccably groomed and a bit of a slut!
Andrew Dessmann
Andrew is an experienced comedy performer and has toured both locally and internationally in countless sell-out shows at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, Melbourne Fringe, Adelaide Fringe and the world renowned Edinburgh Fringe Festival. He has also performed in Melbourne’s Midsumma Festival, G-Fest in WA and has numerous film and television credits under his belt.
With a busy schedule including regular performances for live musical theatre, corporate events and Charity Fundraisers, Andrew also hosts a weekly comedy cabaret in Fitzroy.
His recent credits include guest appearances on the Stephen K Amos Talk Show and playing the role of Riff in North Side Story – both as part of the 2015 Melbourne International Comedy Festival. Working alongside comedy legends such as Stephen K Amos, Julia Morris, Joel Creasey, Rhys Nicholson and Susie Youssef, Andrew continues to hone his natural comedic timing and razor sharp wit.
John Livings – Writer / Director
John was born in the UK but for the past twenty-something years has called Australia home. Having trod the well-worn path of the writer John has notched up an eclectic array of day jobs from the advertising industry to kitchen hand, landscape gardener, laborer, yacht delivery crew plus umpteen other misadventures best left unsaid.
An avid traveller John lived and worked in the Middle East for a couple of years and spent a further four years working at sea as a cruise ship entertainer. Throughout all this he moonlights as a stand-up comedian and has performed in the UK, the USA and all the major (and not so major) comedy venues across Australia.
His critically acclaimed debut novel Pommy Bastard was unleashed in 2007 and, giving JK Rowling a scare has gone on to sell a whopping nine-hundred copies in just eight years (apologies if you received one as a gift).
On a brighter note John’s theatre credits include writing the smash-hit shows At Last – The Etta James Story and Let’s Get It On – The Life And Music Of Marvin Gaye.
“I am immensely proud of Bugle Boys and the amazing cast that we have been blessed with. If you only see one show this year…then you really should get out more”. Said John Livings
SEASON DETAILS
Venue Chapel Off Chapel
Dates: Tuesday 27 October to Sunday 1 November
Tickets: Box office 03 8290 7000
Price: From $38
Website http://chapeloffchapel.com.au
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