June Gemmell
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A sold out season, friendships sealed
Dusty The Original Pop Diva has finished its run. What a magnificent team achievement it was. I will post more later. Right now I am basking in the warmth of friendship, trust…and making music. Continue reading
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Dusty is 95% sold, opens this Friday!
Our director Leonie Walsh says: Nearly 95% of house sold. 10 left for this Friday night, matinee sold out and 4 singles left for Saturday night. Awesome! Continue reading
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Chookas! It’s an Aussie word!
Chookas! This is what Aussies say to each other before a performance, instead of: “Break a leg”. I don’t know what it means but they said it before “Breaking Up Is Hard To Do”, and before the QMF Under This Sky performances. For sure we will be yelling it from the rafters at the opening… Continue reading
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Repetiteur’s thoughts: love the incidental music
Opening night for Dusty The Original Pop Diva is this Friday. The band plays in the wings (part of the stage not seen by the audience), and this is the view from where Musical Director June Gemmell sits. Continue reading
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Alex Mackenzie, multi-instrumentalist
Alex Mackenzie is the last member to join our band in Dusty The Original Pop Diva, a musical about Dusty Springfield at Sunnybank Theatre which runs from Nov 13 to 28 2015. Alex plays tenor and alto sax, flute and clarinet. He also plays in the Kelvin Grove Wind Orchestra. Continue reading
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We Only Want To Be With Clare!
Clare Patrick is Dusty Springfield in our upcoming show Dusty The Original Pop Diva, which runs from November 13 to 28 at the Sunnybank Theatre. Clare is warm, energetic and she’s got her “Dusty hands” down to a tee. Continue reading
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Dusty: Band rehearsal!
Here’s a great picture taken by Clare Patrick, who plays Dusty in our upcoming musical Dusty The Original Pop Diva. This is the band rehearsing at Musical Director June Gemmell’s home. Starting from the bottom right corner is June. She’s got the conductor’s score and is directing us from there: “Try it again! Right. That’ll… Continue reading
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To the Boss! With love
June Gemmell is the musical director of Dusty The Original Pop Diva, and took me on in 2013 as pianist for another musical Breaking Up Is Hard To Do. June is bossy, precise, and quite magnificent. She can say all sorts of things to the singers (which I would have trouble saying) without offending anyone.… Continue reading
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Dusty The Original Pop Diva: Son Of A Preacher Man
The backing vocalists ran through their parts in Son Of A Preacher Man, from the album Dusty in Memphis. It was a hit for Dusty Springfield in the U.S., and UK in 1969, and a defining moment for the singer from North London. Continue reading
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Quiet please, there’s a lady on the stage
We are about half-way through the rehearsals for the musical Dusty, the Original Pop Diva, which will run for 3 weeks in November at the Sunnybank Theatre. Most of Act 1 is now complete, we’ve gotten a lot of the big numbers down now Continue reading
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My Generation! Working those bods in Dusty
I love this music from “Dusty The Original Pop Diva”, which will be running for three weeks at Sunnybank Theatre in November. I’ve been working with Choreographer Lynette Wockner on the big songs Continue reading
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Dusty The Original Pop Diva rehearsals start!
The cast of Dusty The Original Pop Diva gather at the Sunnybank Theatre. Continue reading
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Breaking Up Is Hard To Do – almost Opening Night
Tonight is preview night for Breaking Up Is Hard To Do. Opening Night is this Friday. All matinée performances are sold out, and over 80% of all tickets are sold. I can’t write a long post, I’ve got a few hours of piano practise to do before teaching. Continue reading
About Joanna
Joanna is British Australian. She worked mainly in financial news in London. In her forties she moved to her parents’ birthplace, Sabah, a Malaysian state on the island of Borneo. She became a pianist at the Jesselton Hotel in Kota Kinabalu and wrote a blog about musicians, which was popular among Sabahans at home and abroad. The blog was turned into a coffee table book when the Ministry of Tourism and Culture expressed interest. Joanna came to Australia in 2012. This is her second blog.
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