Blue Eyes

Levin Performing Arts presents - Blue Eyes written by April Phillips

Director - Alex Gilchrist

Musical Direction - Willis Beckett

Staged 1st - 23rd August 2008

This show premiered at Wellington’s Circa Theatre during the 2003 Arts Festival.  It was awarded the STELLAR AWARD for Best Music Production.

A young woman ‘Frances’ has returned to her late mother’s home to ‘go thru’ some of her mother’s things.  A hat box reveals sheet music, a sequined evening dress, a feather boa and a large bundle of letters bound together with ribbon.

The letters are form her mother to Frank Sinatra dated from April 1959 and span four decades.  The first letter opens with “Mr Sinatra, may I call you frank?  I’ve just been to your concert in Melbourne.  What a voyage!  All the way to Australia to see you.  You were so much more than I ever dreamed and I just had to put it down in words.  There you were in real life.  Your voice, so full of emotion.  It felt as if you were singing to me Frank.”

This cabaret style show, without interval showcases a selection of Frank Sinatra favourites.  These songs are linked by Frances’s discovery that she really didn’t know her mother at all.

I hope you find Blue Eyes as romantic and whimsical as I do.

Alex Gilchrist - Director