HERE
IS NOTHING like a crisis to separate the wheat from the chaff in
any profession, and for a performer it doesn't come much worse than
having to find a new venue two days before you open in a strange
city, and then perform your opening night to an audience of four
people.
Under
these trying circumstances, Movin' Melvin Brown proved himself the
very definition of professional by turning on an exuberate, uninhibited,
entertaining performance.
Brown
is an accomplished song-and-dance man, and his show is essentially
old-style vaudeville reworked to include his life story.
A
black American born in Ohio in 1945, Brown is a stylish tap-dancer,
lap-dancer, soul singer and story teller. He tells of his early
love of dancing, black music, living with racism, national service,
marriage, dancing in a male revue
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and helping
poor, and illustrates everything with songs from the era such as
Unchained Melody, Twisting the Night Away, It's Been a Long Time
Coming, and Your Love Keeps Lifting Me Higher.
. . . . . . . . . . .
"Let
me tell you, he's fit."
. . . . . . . . . . .
Then
he throws in a bit of preachin', some excellent loose-jointed tap,
a James Brown impersonation, and a strip. Let me tell you, he's
fit.
A
Man, A Magic, A Music is a rare treat; to have an all-round
performer of Brown's calibre, vintage, background, and experience
up the road doing 90 minutes of material, is an opportunity that
doesn't come to Melbourne every day. Make the most of it.
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