Melinda Schneider brings her acclaimed tribute to Doris Day to The Star.
Melbourne audiences have already been treated to a run of Melinda Schneider’s tribute to Doris Day and now it is Sydney’s turn to see this charismatic singer tread the boards as she reveals the life and loves of one of the entertainment world’s most beloved triple threats.
Schneider – probably best known to mainstream audiences for her country and western stylings really delivers in this show – proving she has the chops to tackle lounge songs, torchy ballads and even jazz standards as as she makes her way through a hit list of tracks that runs from ‘Embraceable You’ to ‘Que Cera Cera’.
Along the way Schneider reveals a little about herself and a lot about Doris.
Of course Schneider’s no actor – but the style of the show really doesn’t require her to pretend to be anything other than herself. She’s quick to tell the audience that she’s not there to impersonate Doris Day – the evening is more about her love for a singer that she first discovered as a child. A singer that she felt to be a kindred spirit, whose story she believes has parallels with her own.
Both Day and Schneider came from German descent.
But unlike America’s Sweetheart, Schneider returned to her roots abandoning her father’s surname of Bean to take up her mother’s maiden name. Interestingly Schneider’s mother, Mary, was also a famous singer –– on opening night when Schneider does a shout out to her mum – she replies from the audience with a yodel…
As Schneider runs her way through Doris ‘career highlights and love low lights her affection for the singer is clear. She also reveals an affinity for the music that is infectious.
Highlights’ are Schneider’s cheeky version of ‘Perhaps Perhaps’, the torchy ‘Fallen Leaves’ and the Pajama Game classic ‘There Once was a Man’.
As the evening draws to a close and Schneider encourages an entire theatre to sing along for her closing song, it’s apparent that while Doris may be America’s Sweetheart, Schneider is one step closer to becoming Australia’s…