Cry Me A River – The World of Julie London

In Cry Me A River – The World of Julie London, Australian stage veteran Rhonda Burchmore teams up with Bold Jack Productions to tell the little-known story of Julie London – a staple of the America’s West Coast jazz scene in the 50s and 60s. At one point in this evening of songs and narration, Burchmore practically boasts that unlike the stories of Judy Garland or Dusty Springfield, London’s story isn’t particularly scandalous. Sadly, it isn’t particularly interesting either.

Bold Jack has staged productions like this one before to some acclaim (think The John Denver Story with Rick PriceThe Man in Black – The Johnny Cash Story). However, I can’t help but think the Brisbane Powerhouse is the wrong venue for this type of production. It’s a venue associated with a more edgy, modern brand of theatre, music and comedy. Though set up with tables like a smoky jazz club (is there anything that says ‘Old Hollywood Glamour’ more than two potted ferns on either side of a stage?), the main theatre still manages to dwarf Burchmore. That’s no easy task. The statuesque singer showcases those famously long legs in split, glittery gowns. “Yes, they really do go all the way up,” she laughs, before crooning, cross-legged atop a piano. Burchmore might have comic timing, but jokes and innuendo often fall flat. There is a confidence lacking in her storytelling, her teasing of the band and her awkward interactions with the crowd.

As an experienced actor of both the stage and screen, it’s an odd decision not to have Burchmore inhabit the role of Julie London. With such dry anecdotes on offer, having London as a character might’ve boosted the energy between tunes. Though this production boasts a bountiful set list of beloved favourites (Blue Moon, Let There Be Love and, of course, Cry Me A River), played in quick succession they all start to blend into one another. The show becomes a string of similar sounds from the accompanying LA Combo (led by the unflappable musical director Ray Alldridge) and Rhonda reaching for the same notes (and, to her credit, hitting them) over and over again.

An interval breaks up the monotony but it is not until late in the second act that we see Burchmore in a more sombre mood, speaking of London’s tragedy later in life. Though I’d long thought of Burchmore as a high-energy, high-kicks kind of act, there is a certain quality in her voice that suits London’s mournful cover of The End of the World. It is in this cover, and the desperately sad Guess Who I Saw Today?, that Burchmore hints at the more sophisticated tribute to London’s work that could’ve been.

I suspect Burchmore will eventually embrace a darker side to her stage persona, beyond the caricature – the toothy grin, the legs, the hair – but that time hasn’t come. Not yet. Instead of being thrust into the “world” of Julie London, the audience is given a mere peak, as if through a keyhole and the larger-than-life Burchmore just never quite gets around to opening the door.

Rating: 1.5 out of 5 stars

Cry Me A River – The World of Julie London
Written by Gary Young and Rhonda Burchmore
Directed by Gary Young

Performed by Rhonda Burchmore

Brisbane Powerhouse
1–5 February, 2012