DIVAS Comes to QPAC in July

Queensland Performing Arts Centre (QPAC) has announced the joyful and jubilant season of DIVAS from 20 to 23 July 2023 in the Playhouse.

Following the success of her previous sold-out, one-woman performances with Songs for Nobodies, Pennsylvania Avenue and The Show Goes On, Bernadette Robinson returns to QPAC with her new solo tour de force, DIVAS.

The magnetic and compelling show is an in-depth musical journey through the repertoire of ten of the greatest popular music divas: Edith Piaf, Amy Winehouse, Shirley Bassey, Barbra Streisand, Maria Callas, Kate Bush, Dolly Parton, Karen Carpenter, Miley Cyrus and Judy Garland. Robinson will inhabit their most famous songs, their musings on life, music, audiences and their individual challenges and triumphs.

"In DIVAS, I aspire to bring to life ten of the most wondrous voices of our time. Each singer is so utterly thrilling. To honour them through my own voice and heart is an enormous challenge and a privilege," says Bernadette.

"All of the ten singers I have chosen are magnificent, each with her own distinctive style and quality. So many of them shared the same fears and doubts about who they were and their relationship with their voice and audience. Performing was either exhilarating or terrifying, or both. But they all move us through their voices."

DIVAS is directed and co-devised by the internationally acclaimed Simon Phillips (Priscilla, Queen of The Desert, Love Never Dies, Muriel's Wedding The Musical). Phillips says Robinson's imagination and talent continues to surprise him on every new occasion.

"I've worked with Bernadette for over a decade and my awe at her talent remains undiminished. Every time she opens her mouth to 'become' a new singing legend, I shake my head in disbelief," he said.

"I should be used to it, but it never ceases to amaze and thrill me. And this new show adds several brand-new divas to her repertoire, making it extra exciting."

Robinson's critically acclaimed, rare vocal gifts (The Times called her "a jaw-dropping talent" and The Australian described her performance as "beyond virtuosity to the sublime") will detonate every single song in this emotion-fueled concert.

With the backing of a live on-stage band, Robinson's audacious and dramatic vocal evocations of each of the divas will dazzle and delight.

This thoughtful and powerful performance will take to QPAC's Playhouse stage from 20 to 23 July 2023. Tickets are on sale now via qpac.com.au or 136 246.

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