'Trouser-Wearing Characters': Musical Cabaret Show
ROSE COLLIS in ‘TROUSER-WEARING CHARACTERS’
Writer’s unique one-woman show
Acclaimed writer and performer Rose Collis unbuttons her Trouser-Wearing Characters, in what is possibly the first original, one-woman cabaret-style musical show ever performed by a British author.
This original entertainment, written and performed by one of Brighton’s favourite personalities, is a unique mixture of music, history and comedy. It combines stories, vignettes and songs (evergreens and originals) about some of her favourite, eclectic ‘trouser-wearing characters’, from Nancy Spain to Colonel Barker, Dougie Byng to the ‘f**king lady’ herself, Coral Browne, with cameo ‘appearances’ by the likes of Noel Coward, Marlene Dietrich and Vincent Price.
Trouser-Wearing Characters is a one-woman show, with a cast of many characters — including Rose’s veteran banjoleles, ‘Alvin’ and ‘Bud’.
‘Most people won’t know that, before I became an author and journalist, I was a performer and songwriter in fringe theatre, from 1979 until 1985’, reveals Rose. ‘The show’s origins began with an appearance I made last May at Polari on the Southbank and, though it was a short set, the combination of comedy, history and song was a hit with the audience — and it was one of the easiest and best ideas I’ve ever had to develop a full-length show for this year’s Fringe.’
‘Trouser-Wearing Characters brings together everything I’ve done in my careers, from singing and writing original songs, to researching and relating stories of fascinating and quirky figures. I think the show has something for everyone, whether they enjoy showbiz-type anecdotes, real-life scandals or even just songs performed with banjoleles! So, I hope audiences will not only think, “I really enjoyed that”, but also “I never knew that!”’
‘Trouser-Wearing Characters’ is now touring the UK and abroad. To book, or for more details, contact rose@rosecollis.com
FIVE-STARS, ‘OUTSTANDING SHOW’
‘Rose Collis has the air of someone moving to the next level: all the elements of her previous experience researching, writing and performing unite during this show in a natural and self-assured way. As an author of several books, this show is crammed full of facts and unexpected connections. It’s more than just a lecture, however: in a theatrical exploration of colourful characters who defied expectations in order to reinvent themselves, she also sings and presents the material with enough theatricality to bring her subjects to life.
Lucy Nordberg, Fringe Review
‘…spiced with witty asides, knowing looks and a bright selection of songs on the banjolele… Collis brought them to life colourfully and sympathetically.’
The Latest
This is a well-paced, fact filled one woman show about women who liked to wear trousers and men who did anyway… She has a charming voice and a delightful delivery…the show has just about all anyone can ask: interesting content, great energy and music that makes you beg for more.’
Lynn Ruth Miller, ‘Britain’s Got More Talent’
‘…Collis’s genuine affection for her cross-dressing eccentrics is the heart of this show. That makes it work, and creates something quirky and uplifting. The themes of the show stayed with me as I left the Marlborough.’
Mathilda Gregory, Fringe Guru
‘What a BRILLIANT show!’
Julie Burchill
OTHER REVIEWS/COVERAGE
http://www.mardigras.org.au/events/trouser-wearing-characters/
Read the new interview in Beige magazine: http://www.beigeuk.com/2012/12/interview-rose-collis/
Read the What’s On Stage interview: http://www.whatsonstage.com/features/theatre/brighton/E8831335852603/Brief+Encounter+with%85+Rose+Collis.htm
Rose talks about the show on thelatest.tv: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4DWF3GpeyDw&feature=youtu.be
Read the great review from The Latest: http://thelatest.co.uk/brighton/2012/05/05/trouser-wearing-characters/
http://www.eventfinder.co.nz/2013/trouser-wearing-characters/auckland/western-springs
‘Trouser-Wearing Characters’ – a hit in Auckland and NZWellington Fringe Festivals!
‘Collis has excelled in creating something that has moved beyond any general label. Although the show has a distinctly queer theme, the way in which Collis skilfully illuminates the lives of her trouser-wearing characters means that they each shine simply as interesting and outstanding human beings irrespective of any gender judgements – which was arguably what each of them was trying to achieve in life anyway. Trouser-Wearing Characters is a highly-entertaining and personal piece of cabaret theatre that will be appreciated by a broad audience.’
Theatre Review New Zealand
http://theatreview.org.nz/reviews/review.php?id=5475
http://www.fringe.co.nz/Trouser-Wearing-Characters
http://wellington.lesbian.net.nz/events.php
http://events.nzherald.co.nz/2013/trouser-wearing-characters/auckland/western-springs
The show was also critical hit at Adelaide Fringe – the world’s second biggest arts festival!
‘It’s a pleasure to spend an hour with Rose Collis and her tales of masculine women and feminine men, a look at the gay British sub culture of the last century’
Ewert Shaw, The Advertiser
‘Collis is interesting, entertaining and delightfully comical. Can an historian ever be entertaining? When the historian is Rose Collis and the subject is delightfully decadent and debauched, the answer is a big ‘over the top’ YES!’
Brian Godfrey, Adelaide Theatre Guide
http://www.ripitup.com.au/fix/article/fix-reviews-tue-mar-5
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