With very special guests Bob Downe, Trevor Ashley, Mary Schneider and the Gay & Lesbian Choir.
After forging a dazzling country music career that has won her 6 Golden Guitars, and stunning audiences on Dancing with the Stars, Australian singer/songwriter, Melinda Schneider steps back in time to pay homage to one of her musical heroes, Doris Day in one specially created show on March 2017 in partnership with the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras.
Hosted on the eve of one of the world’s most celebrated parades, at the Paddington Town Hall in the center of Oxford Street’s Mardi Gras hub on Friday March 3, 2017, Melinda will perform the songs that audiences loved so much from the hugely successful capital city seasons of her theatre show DORIS, in a concert format called Melinda Does Doris: A Tribute to Doris Day…Does Mardi Gras.
Melinda’s love affair with Doris began when, in childhood, Melinda laid eyes on Calamity Jane, Doris Day’s 1953 film tour de force and was smitten by all she saw.
‘She was such a huge talent” she enthuses now, “a triple threat as they say – she could sing, dance and act. I thought then she was the best of everything a woman can be and when I grew up I wanted to be just like her’.
This nostalgic celebration includes such timeless hits as “Pillow Talk”, “Que Sera, Sera”, “Everybody Loves a Lover”, “Secret Love” and a whole slew of songs from “Calamity Jane”, “Love Me or Leave Me” and “The Pajama Game”.
For the first time, the show will feature several special guests iconic to the Gay community including Bob Downe, Trevor Ashley and Australia’s Queen of Yodelling, Melinda’s mother, Mary Schneider.
No stranger to the Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras having previously hosted it for a total of nine times, BOB DOWNE is one of Australia's most loved and enduring comedy characters, the creation of journalist, comedian, actor and broadcaster MARK TREVORROW. Mark created BOB DOWNE in September 1984 and has toured the world as the award winning ‘Prince of Polyester’ ever since.
TREVOR ASHLEY is often described as ‘the busiest man in Australian show-business’. Whether it be as a writer, musical director, performer, director or producer – there truly is no end to his talents. Trevor made his big-budget musical theatre debut creating the role of ‘Miss Understanding’ in the world premiere production of Priscilla Queen of The Desert – The Musical, playing over 600 performances in Sydney and Melbourne. Trevor won accolades, and was nominated for Best Actor in a Musical at the Sydney Theatre Awards, for his portrayal of Edna Turnblad in David Atkins’ production of Hairspray and for his coveted role of Monsieur Thenadier in the Australian production
of Les Miserables, Trevor was nominated for Best Supporting Actor in a Musical at the Helpmann Awards. His career in cabaret has led him to perform in New York, London and across Asia, in shows both as himself and in a dazzling array of characters and impersonations. In 2011, he was named one of the 25 most influential Gay and Lesbian Australians.
MARY SCHNEIDER is a singer/songwriter/performer, and Mother of Melinda. She is also best known as Australia’s Queen of yodeling. Having caught the yodeling bug at six years of age, Mary is internationally renowned as a yodeler of world class and was considered to trigger a yodeling revival. A 5-time winner of the prestigious MO Award, Mary has gone on to sell over 250,000 albums in Australia and the release of her "Yodeling The Classics" albums have made her a cult figure throughout the World. Mary's Albums have earned her gold and platinum status and she has been featured in the prestigious Guinness Encylopedia of Popular Music.