* MELBOURNE * SYDNEY * ADELAIDE * NEW YORK *
"★★★★★"
"Dunham's voice is a KNOCKOUT!"
"The ULTIMATE interview - 5 STARS"
"Truly Sensational"
THE SHOW
Tormented by the lack of roles for her 'colour' and 'type' on the Melbourne stage, we began the journey of Oprahfication in 2012 by asking Rachel Dunham "If you could play ANY role... who would it be?" She replied, "Well, I've always been teased that I look a bit like Oprah..." Oprahfication first appeared as a 10-minute cabaret at Short+Sweet (2012), where it received two awards, the 'CABFringe Tour Ready Award' and the Melbourne Cabaret Festival’s 'Award for Excellence. After several months of development, this 10 min take on ‘what Oprah did next’ turned into an hour-long production that previewed to a full chanting house at The Butterfly Club. We've continued to build between our seasons at this year's Adelaide Fringe, Melbourne Cabaret Festival, and Ballarat Cabaret Fest.
Oprah is widely regarded as the richest African-American of the 20th century, the greatest black philanthropist in U.S. history and possibly the most influential woman in the world. Throughout her illustrious career as an actor, news anchor, and host of her "Own" TV talk show, Oprah has delivered to us the most interesting celebrities, politicians, royals, medical specialists, spiritualists and some of the greatest thinkers of our time – never shying away from the controversial topics or the tough questions, which is how the Wall St Journal came to coin the term ‘Oprahfication’ meaning a public confession used as a form of therapy. In 2011, Oprah closed the book on 25 years of global-dominating television to focus on building her new empire, the Oprah Winfrey Network. Still, it’s not been going so well, and now she’s back with a one-off retrospective episode to celebrate those years and to present to you the ultimate interview! Directed by Dirk Hoult, this side-splitting, multi-award winning cabaret is brought to you by Rachel Dunham (Rock of Ages), whose extraordinary portrayal of the fading talk-show queen, coupled with an unforgettable original score by Shanon Whitelock, guarantees to have you screaming for more.
From start to finish, people connect with Oprah (Rachel Dunham) as though they are a part of a live taping of the Oprah Winfrey Show. Laughs are constant. Oprah’s journey through the gospel, mo-town, doo-wop, rock ballads, love ballads and lullabies has the audience on the edge of their seats. Shanon Whitelock’s original compositions are affecting; his musical hooks are infectious, immediately singable and, simply-put, the perfect vehicle for Rachel Dunham’s exquisite voice. Rachel Dunham’s voice is massive, her comic timing perfect, and her portrayal of the fading talk show queen uncanny. This is by no means a show centred on a clever impersonation; A parody certainly, but done with great care and respect for the big ‘O’. Side by side, Rachel looks very little like Oprah, but when she sings... the energy and spirit of Oprah are unquestionable with us. It is a sight to behold.
WINNER
CABfringe Tour Ready AWARD
MCF - Award for Excellence
NYMF - Best Performance
and nominated
for the 2014 Green Room Awards for
BEST MUSICAL DIRECTION
THE CREATORS
OPRAH | Book & Lyrics | Rachel Dunham
With an extraordinary singing voice and stage presence, Rachel was in much demand as a jazz singer, touring as lead vocalist in the Queensland Youth Big Band, working in studios for EMI and BMG, singing in TV commercials, music videos and fronting 9-piece Sydney show band Cool Weazel. She studied with renowned voice coach Don Greydon who helped her expand her already formidable range and develop more power and control over her voice. Based in New Zealand for several years, Rachel devised and starred in a highly successful children’s theatre production Gypsy Gina. During her time in there, Rachel fronted sell-out jazz shows at the Wellington International Arts Festival, opened for Ray Charles during his tour and performed to 30,000 people at the Millennium Celebrations in Wellington. In 2011 Rachel was cast in the New Theatricals production of “Rock of Ages”, where she received a 5-star review in the Melbourne Age for her performance of “Justice Charlier”. Rachel continues to perform in stage musicals, most recently in Harvest Rain’s production of “Hairspray” as “Motormouth Maybelle”.
Composer | Shanon Whitelock
Shanon completed his first Solo Work for Piano at seven years old. By the age of 16, Shanon was ranked in the Top Ten of the Australian National Song-writing Competition and in 1999, at age 17, he placed in the Top Five of J Music’s National Song Competition. As a composer, Shanon has written for short film, animation, live theatre and aerial circus. In 2007, he was Associate Conductor for Twelfth Night Theatre's production of "Carousel". August of that same year saw the premiere concert performance of "ONE - A New Musical" at the Arts Centre, Gold Coast, co-written by Shanon. An experienced Musical Director and Arranger, Shanon has recently fulfilled these roles for a workshop performance of “Pink” (June 2010 - lead by Academy Award winner Stephen Schwartz, the cabaret show “Chelsea Gibb in Lucy & Jessie” (Butterfly Club, Melbourne). In 2009 Shanon was Musical Director for Queensland Performing Arts Centre's season of "Isn't It Romantic - The Songs of Rodgers & Hart" in the Cremorne Theatre and Associate Musical Director for Dianne Gough Productions' season of "Macbeth: the Contemporary Rock Opera", also at QPAC.
Director | Dirk Hoult
Dirk is described as enchanting, charismatic, rousing, transporting, and a limelight thief with a hilariously disturbed sense of humour. In 2011, Dirk joined Badass Productions as a performer, director and co-producer and has since produced and directed a number of burlesques, circus and variety events, including the Brass Bear Cabaret for the 2012 Melbourne Cabaret Festival and The Butcher Shop Revue for the Melbourne Fringe, which earned him and his company a monthly residency at Melbourne’s famous The Butterfly Club. Dirk has appeared in several films, theatre and musical theatre engagements across Australia. Highlights include; Road Movie (Midsumma / Adelaide Fringe Festival), Behind the Cane (The Queensland Music Festival), The Ugly One (23rd Productions), The Five-Ways Opera (Brisbane Festival), The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (Oscar Theatre Company) and the multi-award winning and Helpman nominated production of The Kursk (Matrix Theatre / Metro Arts) which toured nationally throughout 2009. He made his feature film debut in the ‘schoolie’ movie Blurred (2002). In 2010 Dirk accepted a four-month internship as the Assistant Producer for the Queer Up North International Arts Festival in Manchester. A graduate of the University of Southern Queensland’s acting strand in 2001, he has received numerous Matilda Award nominations for his performances in Queensland.
Lighting | Alexander Berlage
Recent design credits include The Old Maid and the Thief and The Impressario at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, Oprahfication for Sydney Mardi Gras/Adam Lowe Group, Hilt for Mirror Mirror/Old 505 Theatre and A Moment on the Lips for Mad March Hare Theatre/SITCO. For NIDA he has designed The Dissolving Self (with Brink Productions/Carriageworks), The Red Shoes, Klutz, Fewer Emergencies, The Witches, Caligula and Playhouse. For Cupboard Love/SITCO: Say Hello First. For The Oligarchs/SITCO: Circuit. For Unpathed Theatre: Blood Moon. For AADA: The Great. Alex has also completed internships on The Life and Death of Marina Abramovic at The Park Avenue Armory, The Bridges of Madison County at the Schoenfeld Theatre, Little Me at the New York City Center. Back in Australia he has completed internships on Peter Pan at Belvoir, The Cherry Orchard and Rupert at MTC and Synathesia at the Museum of Old and New Art in Hobart. Alex was the 2013 recipient of the Peter Baynes Memorial New York Scholarship and is the current recipient of the 2014 Leslie Walford AM Award and the Lee MacCormick Edwards Fellowship. Alex holds a Bachelor of Dramatic Art (Production) from the National Institute of Dramatic Art, Sydney, Australia.
REVIEW | The Sydney Morning Herald | Cameron Woodhead
Melbourne has hosted a number of popular and successful celebrity cabarets in recent years, from Dean Bryant's witty satires on Britney and Madonna, to Trevor Ashley's bold incarnations of Liza Minnelli and Shirley Bassey. In the latest, Rachel Dunham gives Oprah the treatment. Oprahfication sees the queen of daytime television take a break from her ailing network and return to the studio to broadcast one last episode of her ubiquitous talk show. Between peddling the false intimacy of confessional culture, the ersatz uplift, the inane self-help slogans, the vicariousness and the schadenfreude that made her fortune, Oprah struts and frets during ad breaks, her ultimate interview segment having gone awry. Dunham is a talented musical theatre performer. Her big, brassy voice alone is worth the price of a ticket, busting out glass-shattering big notes and stamping her vocal authority all over an eclectic score from Shanon D. Whitelock (played with relish by a live band). And seriously, Dunham must have watched The Oprah Winfrey Show until her eyes bled to get an impersonation this unnervingly accurate. The delivery of Oprah's diatribes and anecdotes, her every quirk and mannerism is spot on. The weakest link is the lyrics, and there's room to sharpen the satire. The biographical exposition, and Oprah's shift from Phil Donahue-style tabloid chat to her reinvention as an avatar of the middlebrow, could also be portrayed with more clarity. But the effect, weirdly, is not unlike that of watching Oprah itself. You have no idea where the show is going and much of what's said seems vapid, but it is delivered with such unshakeable confidence that you remain constantly entertained.
REVIEW | Stage Buddy | Jose Solis (NEW YORK)
“Was that me or was that Gandhi?” asks Oprah Winfrey (Rachel Dunham) immediately after delivering one of her well-known life-affirming statements, and the sentiment pretty much epitomizes the brilliance of Oprahfication, a one-woman show that takes place on the day of Winfrey’s last show as she prepares to conduct “the interview” with a mysterious guest. While we wait, she takes us down memory lane, reminiscing about some of her greatest moments, “I had so much fun that year making your wishes come true” she exclaims with a big toothy grin. As played by Dunham, Winfrey is a Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde figure completely unaware of the megalomania behind her intention of doing good. She speaks to us with such condescension that we can’t help but feel sorry for her in moments when she sings about her loneliness, “I’m standing here all alone, what I wouldn’t give for a microphone?” she sighs at one point. With an outrageous stage presence and pipes to match, Dunham’s performance achieves just the right balance between respect and parody. She aces the very Oprah long vowels and incorporates them beautifully into her numbers, her melisma in the phrase “I was born for greatness” is a hoot. Best of all is how she never seems like a performer interested in degrading her subject; while the show is highly critical of Winfrey’s love for stars and sensationalist journalism, it also can’t help but be in awe of her success, especially given she was “Fat, Black & Woman” as one of the songs explains. Oprahfication doesn’t diminish the hard work Winfrey put behind her show and her media empire, even if the latter part is dedicated to reminding us of the failure of her TV channel, to which she defiantly says “ I got my own network, do you?”. What remains essential past the surface and the larger than life character on display, are Ms. Dunham’s talents. She takes hold of the audience with such charming authority that you can’t help but fall for her, therefore she successfully makes us understand why the world became so obsessed with Oprah. “Don’t you know I’m the superstar in here?” asks Winfrey at one point, and Dunham might very well be talking about herself. Oprahfication is playing as part of the New York Musical Theatre Festival.
REVIEW | The Front Row Centre | Jessica N Mastronardi (NEW YORK)
Warning: the reader may be subject to see an absurd amount of elongated “caps locked” phrases. HELLOOOOOO READERSSS! For one night and one night only, Oprah Winfrey is back where she belongs. With a title like Oprahfication, one can pretty easily deduce that the show will, in some way, involve its namesake in the flesh. What’s less predictable, but nonetheless assured, is how COMPLETELY SPOT ON Rachel Dunham is in her portrayal of the most powerful woman to ever grace the small screen. Ready…and….action! With 25 years of training under her belt, Oprah Winfrey (Rachel Dunham) makes her grand entrance to the stage and lovingly greets her lively audience. Barely able to contain her EXCITEEEMENTTTT, Oprah promises to give the television special of a lifetime. Starting with the basics, she seamlessly maneuvers through highlights spanning from celebrities to book clubs to doctors turned celebrities. Using commercial breaks to simultaneously plan her next move and maintain her “zen”, Oprah is caught off guard when “the ultimate interview” guest cancels at the last minute. After hastily trying to find a replacement: President Obama…God…President Obama’s dogs…, she ultimately decides to place herself in the hot seat and ask the questions only she could get away with. Rachel Dunham is a force to be reckoned with. From the second she turned around, revealing herself to the audience, I knew this woman was the only woman for the job. It’s one thing to spoof a character; it’s another to completely embody her. The way she talked, YEEELLEDDDDD, moved and even looked, was so textbook Oprah it was actually scary. When the show began, I found myself wondering how she, alone, was going to sustain the attention of the audience. And then she sang. No genre or subject matter off limits; insert kudus to Dunham and Shanon D. Whitelock here. Dunham sang her heart out and truly left it all onstage. She then pushed past the easy jokes and tapped into a place of insecurity and heartbreak, and frustration. While the former genuinely had me laughing out loud, something rather difficult to do, it was her moments of struggle that left me overwhelmingly impressed. Oprahfication is the candid tale of a very famous woman who went from having nothing to having it all to having “nothing”. Fans of Oprah will love it for the intriguing biographical aspect and uncanny impersonation. Non-fans of Oprah will enjoy it for the music and uncanny impersonation. Everyone else should just see it because, as an audience member, you get A NEWWWW CARRRRR*. *Warning: Those who attend the performance will not actually get a new car. Oprahfication- Book and Lyrics by Rachel Dunham; Music by Shanon D. Whitelock; Directed by Dirk Hoult. WITH: Rachel Dunham (Oprah), Dirk Hoult (Off-Stage Voice), Shanon D. Whitelock (Keyboard 1), Yuval Semo (Keyboard 2), Steve Dawson (Lead Guitar), Daniel Asher (Bass Guitar), Keith Abrams (Drums). Lighting Design, Alex Berlage; General Manager, Sharon Fallon; Adam J. Lowe, Producer; At Ford Foundation Studio Theatre at The Pershing Square Signature Center, 480 West 42nd Street, 212-352-3101, Remaining Performance-Thursday, July 24 at 9:00 pm, Running Time: 1 hour 30 minutes with no intermission.
REVIEW | Theatre Reviews | David Roberts (NEW YORK)
Melbourne has hosted a number of popular and successful celebrity cabarets in recent years, from Dean Bryant's witty satires on Britney and Madonna, to Trevor Ashley's bold incarnations of Liza Minnelli and Shirley Bassey. In the latest, Rachel Dunham gives Oprah the treatment. Oprahfication sees the queen of daytime television take a break from her ailing network and return to the studio to broadcast one last episode of her ubiquitous talk show. Between peddling the false intimacy of confessional culture, the ersatz uplift, the inane self-help slogans, the vicariousness and the schadenfreude that made her fortune, Oprah struts and frets during ad breaks, her ultimate interview segment having gone awry. Dunham is a talented musical theatre performer. Her big, brassy voice alone is worth the price of a ticket, busting out glass-shattering big notes and stamping her vocal authority all over an eclectic score from Shanon D. Whitelock (played with relish by a live band). And seriously, Dunham must have watched The Oprah Winfrey Show until her eyes bled to get an impersonation this unnervingly accurate. The delivery of Oprah's diatribes and anecdotes, her every quirk and mannerism is spot on. The weakest link is the lyrics, and there's room to sharpen the satire. The biographical exposition, and Oprah's shift from Phil Donahue-style tabloid chat to her reinvention as an avatar of the middlebrow, could also be portrayed with more clarity. But the effect, weirdly, is not unlike that of watching Oprah itself. You have no idea where the show is going and much of what's said seems vapid, but it is delivered with such unshakeable confidence that you remain constantly entertained.
REVIEW | Theatre Press | Kate Boston Smith
Talk-show queen becomes cabaret goddess. Rachel Dunham is a powerhouse of the Melbourne musical theatre scene and her show Oprahfication, written and composed with the incredible Shanon Whitelock and directed by Dirk Hoult, showcases the extent of her unbridled talent. From the moment she takes the stage, accompanied by Whitelock on keys and a full band, Dunham has the audience in the palm of her hand. The atmosphere was electric and charged by Dunham’s impeccable transformation into America’s leading lady of the small screen, Oprah Winfrey. Dunham has Oprah’s mannerisms, quips and throwaway lines down pat and utilizes all possible impro moments with the audience without missing a beat. The story plays out like biography, so even the few who do not know much about America’s first black billionaire will leave with a firm understanding of how and why people adore this remarkable talk-show host. Touching on her relationship with her best friend Gale, her love for life partner Stedman and, of course her ever-expanding and contracting waistline, Whitelock and Dunham have created a show with monumental LOLs and genuine heartfelt moments. Having not had the pleasure of being in a recording studio audience with the tv queen herself, Oprahfication is the perfect artificial simulation. Complete with a faceless producer bringing us in and out of ad breaks, we see the change from on-camera Oprah to off-camera Oprah, and we are shown the vulnerability beneath her all-conquering façade. The show is all original music that evokes the drama, passion and hype one would associate with Oprah herself. Dunham heads fearlessly into the aisles, clapping and singing, with her adoring audience joining in whenever possible. A truly spectacular moment was during the huge closing number where, in a music break, the audience took over the show chanting in full voice, “Oprah! Oprah! Oprah!”. It took several moments before Dunham could take back the stage and close the show with one of the greatest numbers you could hope to hear in a cabaret show like this. Oprahfication is amazing: it left this reviewer literally weak at the knees. Get to this show as soon as you can. This season of Oprahfication took place on Saturday 29, and Sunday 30 June at 7 pm for the Melbourne Cabaret Festival 2013
REVIEW | STAR Observer | James Banham
TAKING on the biggest woman in the world is no easy feat. Despite that, what the Australian actress behind the Midsumma festival’s Oprahfication cabaret has done in measuring-up to the giant, is as grand an attempt as the woman herself. Rachel Dunham is the woman behind it all; an Australian singer and cabaret artist who for the past 12 months has been taking her inimitable recreation of television’s largest personality, Oprah Winfrey, to the Australian fringe movement. Touching on the lesbian rumours that have circled Oprah since day dot, the love affair she has with her partner Stedman and her rise to the top, Oprahfication is a stellar retrospective on the global phenomenon. Singing songs of joy and happiness, ballads about how fat, black and womanly she is as well as the ladylove she shares with her best friend Gayle, the show does a quick job of whisking the audience away into the realm of the mega star. Taking her talents in stage performance and cabaret that Dunham has been working on for years (she was a hit in Rock of Ages), the actress’ job of an almost draggy woman- playing-a-woman character is expert in telling the tumultuous story of the life and career of Oprah. Dunham’s as close to an Oprah lookalike as the best of them, but it’s her vocal work and almost perfectly on-point mimicry of the star’s body language and trademark interview quirks that strengthens the character. That, and the seamless use of her very own Oprah couch that doubled as a Tom Cruise jumping castle perfectly. Her skills work quickly and perfectly in situating the audience into a smile-inspiring performance. It makes you wonder, though, just how much Oprah did she actually have to watch? As the audience, we are part of the show: a make-believe live-recording of an Oprah 25th anniversary special television production, showcasing the ‘ultimate interview,’ which appropriately enough is with herself. Harking back in true Oprah style to her roots, relationships, self-affirmations and self-doubts, it’s easy to subdue and be taken on the ride that is an obviously flattering homage to the star. Pulling in her ties to the most global of influencers, Dunham portrays a character who is as lovable as she is in love with herself, claiming Gandhi's “be the change you want to see in the world” phrase as her own is disarmingly infectious and perfectly places the character as the gigantic presence she is today. Pleasantly peppered with ‘on-air’ ad breaks and an unexpectedly accurate voice-over, the Oprah-esque television façade is broken, and the audience is given a great insight. The character’s drive, determination and ruthlessness is stripped bare, making for a pleasant mix of highs and lows reflected in Dunham’s superb vocal work. Accompanied by scores from musical director Shanon Whitlock, the atmosphere of the show is a milky way of upbeat numbers and melancholy ballads. All the pieces are written by Dunham and music composed by Whitlock, which gives the pair an intensely alluring connection to each number. Backed by the band that easily transform the theatre into what sounds like the live set of a talk show, there are no holds barred in bringing the full Oprah experience. Though promises of a new car were made (and broken) and the scheduled lifespan of this show is fleeting, if what guests were saying about the show on their way out: “hilarious”, “so well-played” and “I didn’t expect it to be that great”; are anything to go by, you know it’ll be around for a while to come.