Post by petrolino on Apr 13, 2019 14:29:02 GMT
'Drowning In Veronica Lake' is a play written by Phil Ormsby. The original casting was led by actress Alex Ellis filling multiple roles. Ormsby wote the one-woman show 'Biscuit & Coffee' for Ellis.
"The best thing about Veronica is for every story there seems to be a conflicting version. She published a biography in her later years rehashing some of the old magazine stories from her glory days with the benefit of hindsight and adding a bit of tell-all gossip. After her death her mother also published a biography which contradicted much of Veronica’s but with the passage of time neither is verifiable."
- Phil Ormsby
"Now almost forgotten, Veronica Lake was a 1940s movie star recognizable for her long blonde hair covering her right eye, giving her a sexy, sultry look. She worked with Alan Ladd a few times and did good work in ‘Sullivan’s Travels’ and ‘I Married A Witch’. By 1950 she was past her peak and it was all downhill from there.
‘Drowning In Veronica Lake’ takes us behind the glamorous image into the reality of being a sex symbol in Hollywood and what happens when your celebrity is finished. We’ve seen this kind of thing before but this one stands out as great theatre as well as an interesting story.
Actress, Alex Ellis, is onstage already when the audience enters the theatre. She’s dressed in a long gown that spreads out in an extraordinary wide circle around her on the stage. We quickly realize she can hardly move. She’s trapped in the gown and in her Hollywood image forever. It’s a clever concept and captures our interest immediately.
Phil Ormsby’s strong script moves us quickly through her Hollywood career and life beyond, giving us a detailed picture of this complex and troubled woman. Her grasping and unfeeling mother, also played by Alex Ellis, was a monster who just added to Veronica Lake’s troubles. Then there are the failed marriages, the alcoholism, the money that suddenly wasn’t there and the vanishing career.
Alex Ellis as Veronica Lake gives an intense one woman performance that is funny, chilling, moving and ultimately memorable. Switching suddenly from Veronica Lake to her mother and back again, Ellis never misses a beat in her strong characterizations and makes us sympathise with Veronica Lake and her problems."
Phil Ormsby’s strong script moves us quickly through her Hollywood career and life beyond, giving us a detailed picture of this complex and troubled woman. Her grasping and unfeeling mother, also played by Alex Ellis, was a monster who just added to Veronica Lake’s troubles. Then there are the failed marriages, the alcoholism, the money that suddenly wasn’t there and the vanishing career.
Alex Ellis as Veronica Lake gives an intense one woman performance that is funny, chilling, moving and ultimately memorable. Switching suddenly from Veronica Lake to her mother and back again, Ellis never misses a beat in her strong characterizations and makes us sympathise with Veronica Lake and her problems."
- Len Power, Canberra Critics Circle
"Alex Ellis has got the whole package – the petite frame, platinum blonde hair and Veronica Lake’s signature peek-a-boo bangs, which became a phenomenon in the 1940s. She may be a lot taller than Lake was in real life (5 ft 11 in instead of 5 ft 2 in) but that doesn’t detract from the image that we have of the big screen’s famous blonde bombshell. Ellis oozes sultriness, sex and seductiveness as soon as you walk into the theatre doors, greeting you with her back to the audience."
- Sharu Delilkan, 'Theatre Scenes : Auckland'
Alex Ellis
Veronica Lake
"I wasn't a sex symbol, I was a sex zombie."
- Veronica Lake
