Show By ChCh Performer Accepted For NY Festival

Media Release 19 August 2014

One Woman Show By ChCh Performer Accepted For NY United Solo Festival

Bombshells starring Ali Harper is about to explode onto 42nd Street in New York.

The solo show by Australian playwright Joanna Murray-Smith has been accepted into the world renowned United Solo Festival in New York, and the Bombshells curtain goes up on October 17th

It’s a show Harper knows well. She toured it around New Zealand last October through to December, had hugely successful tours in 2007 and 2008, and was named the 2008 Chapman Tripp Actress of the Year for her Bombshells performance.

In the show, Ali Harper brings to life five very different women, ranging from a beleaguered mother to a 64 year old widow yearning for the unexpected.

“There’s so much that women (and men) can relate to in Bombshells,” she says. “The writing is wonderful and the characters are timeless. Women are complex and at the same time straightforward. Whether it’s in Christchurch or on 42nd street there is much we all have in common and that ultimately is the beauty of Bombshells,” she says.

While in the Big Apple, Harper will also perform her hugely successful show, Down Under Diva! at the Metropolitan Room.

“It’ll be marvellous to be together again with the same NY band I worked with when we did the show there in 2013,” she says. “These are top NY musicians, it’s such a buzz to be able to work with them, in their town. I will also sing at Birdland Jazz Club’s Cast Party while I am there which is a wonderful event full of Broadway’s musicians and performers.”

A pre-New York celebration An Evening with Ali Harper - A Down Under Diva! is being held at The Court Theatre in Christchurch on Sunday, 21st September, with tickets on sale now at The Court.

“It’ll be a fun concert featuring musical director Richard Marrett and band together with special guests Fiona Pears and Naomi Ferguson. There’ll be a few naughty and nice numbers I know audiences enjoy and we’ll also showcase some of the material from Down Under Diva!’ cabaret show,” she says.

Ali will also be doing two performances of Bombshells at Rangi Ruru Tuesday, 7th and Wednesday, 8th October in final readiness for New York the following week.

The bubbly and energetic Harper has had a non-stop year with a sell-out Dunedin season of Mamma Mia playing Donna, Blood Brothers at The Court Theatre, and is about to start the national tour of Oklahoma. Not bad for a mother of two young sons and a 14-year old daughter.

“I am dreading leaving the family but that’s part of my job and it’s what I do,” she says. “In that respect it’s similar to thousands of mums all around the country who have to work sometimes away from their families, but I guess this is a little different in so far as I am a “working mother on the road”, and next month, that’s 42nd Street in New York.”

http://www.aliharper.com/upcoming-events/bombshells-new-york-2014/

http://www.aliharper.com/

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An Evening with Ali Harper - Down Under Diva!:

Date: 21 Sep 2014 At: 7:30PM
Venue: The Tonkin & Taylor Stage, The Court Theatre, Bernard St, Addington
Prices: $37.60 to $42.60

Ali is returning to the Metropolitan Room in New York with her cabaret show Down Under Diva! in October. Come and spend a magical evening with her musical director Richard Marrett and band together with special guests Fiona Pears and Naomi Ferguson.

Bombshells:

Date: 7 Oct - 8 Oct 2014
Venue: Rangi Ruru Girls' School Theatre
Prices: $30.60

The highly entertaining one woman play Bombshells by Joanna Murray-Smith is heading to 42nd Street. Ali has been invited to perform this his Court Theatre production at the United Solo Festival in New York in October. See Ali before she sets sail.

Bombshells will be staged at the Rangi Ruru Girls School Theatre. Tickets will be available for collection from The Court Theatre until 5pm on the day of performance. After that time, tickets can be collected during the 30 minutes prior to performance at the Venue.

To book Bombshells and Down Under Diva! :

Phone the Court Theatre Booking office (03) 963 0870 or go on line
http://www.courttheatre.org.nz/ or https://www.patronbase.com/_CourtTheatre/Productions

United Solo Theatre Festival http://unitedsolo.org/us/2014-bombshells/

Bombshells
Performed by Ali Harper, NEW ZEALAND
Fri 10/17 9:00pm
drama, comedy, movement, music, 90 min.

Savvy, sexy and exquisitely crafted, this one-woman play humorously exposes five women balancing the demands of their inner and outer lives. In this funny and touching portrayal, Ali Harper takes audiences on a journey through 5 shades of the modern woman - in life and love. From a beleaguered mother, to a 64-year-old widow who reawakens an appetite for the unexpected, to an aging cabaret star. Clever writing strips away polite veneers to reveal social pressures and hidden desires. This internationally successful play earned Ali Harper the New Zealand Actress of the Year award in 2008. http://unitedsolo.org/us/2014-bombshells/

United Solo Theatre Festival: 2014 Fact and Figures
Name: United Solo Theatre Festival (first reference), United Solo Festival or United Solo
Dates: Thursday, September 18 through Sunday, November 23, 2014
Location: a resident company of Theatre Row, 410 West 42nd Street, New York City
About: Once again this year, United Solo, the world’s largest solo theatre festival, will present a selection of local and international productions including storytelling, puppetry, dance, multimedia, improv, stand-up, magic, musical, and drama. Since its inaugural year in 2010, United Solo featured more than 300 productions from all over the world.
2014 is the 5th anniversary

Website: http://www.unitedsolo.org/

ENDS

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