Following on from previous shows, Noël it All and Two Old Queens, both of which celebrated the music of theatrical legend, Noël Coward, this new show, Bitter Sweet & Twisted adds his alter egos, Cole Porter and Stephen Sondheim, all masters of lyric and music, to the heady concoction of sophisticated revelry, insight and flamboyance.
Complete with yummy sprinklings from other masters of the put-down and the heart-wrench, like Rogers and Hart or Ira Gershwin and Vernon Duke, Bitter Sweet & Twisted celebrates love in all its forms – unconditional, unrequited, even underwhelmed – whether stirred, shaken or on the rocks.
The show and its companion CD marks the long-time collaboration of the two Perth based performers, which has seen them perform throughout Australia and abroad, making their West End debut earlier at the Garrick Club for the Noël Coward Society.
“It was a delight to be taken along for the ride of Coward’s life through Swinbank’s eyes and ears, and I left feeling like I had returned from another time and perhaps another place, like Mandalay. It was a wonderful journey.” – Liz Sheild, ArtsHub.com.au, September 2008
Bitter Sweet & Twisted premiered at Chapel off Chapel, Melbourne, from October 14 to 18 2009.
