John Thorn's Background Boy - The Butterfly Club

John Thorn's Background Boy - The Butterfly Club

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Posted 2015-11-02 by Tricia Ziemerfollow

Wed 28 Oct 2015 - Sun 08 Nov 2015



Well, having never been to "The Butterfly Club" before, I felt like I had fallen down the rabbit hole and entered my own version of "Alice in Wonderland".





It is a zany little club with a wonderful atmosphere and knick knack heaven.


The staff were very attentive and a glass of very nice sparkling was whisked into my hand, post hast, as we were ushered to our seats. It felt like one of those first dates, where you sneak to the back of the theatre for a bit of ….well, let's not go there. The intimate theatre was full to the brim and once John Thorn started, you understood why.



He started off with "1920's" cabaret melodies. And if Fred Astaire is known as the twinkle toes of tap, then John Thorn should be acclaimed the twinkle fingers of the ivory keys. His jingles were light, bright, quick and true. I was amazed as his musical history unfolded about how many songs he was famous for writing for other singers as the "Background Boy".

This wonderful hour long show was a shining testament
to his illustrious career spanning 30 years of working in the background of the finest Australian Cabarets. Remember those cabaret greats such as Meow Meow, Bob Downe, Spontaneous Broadway, Pastel Vespa, and Miss Dorothy, all showcasing, John Thorn's melody genius. This comic show was brought together by Director Sally Bourne, with words and music by John Thorn, and with additional Lyrics by Chris Keogh and Henry Lawson. John was accompanied by David Abiuso on Double Bass and his daughter Bonnie Thorn on Trumpet, Violin and Vocals.



I learned part of John's musical inspiration goes back a long way to when he did his "Honour Thesis" on George Gershwin. He was even able to travel to Washington to see Gershwin's original manuscripts and he was astounded to see they were all melodies. And this show brought together many of the his best comic pieces already staged in Dublin, Edinburgh, Paris, Cleveland, Toronto and Calgary. I think my favorite comic piece was "Lower your Expectations". Although I found I was chuckling all the time. The hidden gem of the show was Bonnie Thorn, John's daughter, who has a beautiful voice and I would hope goes on to try out for the X-Factor. It is sweet and breathy and unique to anything I have heard before. Apparently, she recently had a lead role in her school play "Guys and Dolls" which went on to tour and it was obvious why.

Part of the show contained musical ballads inspired by Henry Lawson's poems, put together in a cabaret show "Looking for Lawson" which recently was a huge hit at the Adelaide Cabaret Festival. And when John played his melody of the "Scots of Riverina" by Henry Lawson, I don't think there was a dry eye in the house.

In my interview with John after the event, I asked, "What was the inspiration behind this solo show Background Boy". He replied, "I have always wanted to sing some of my songs at some stage in my own voice and this was an wonderful opportunity … at the Butterfly Club … as I was already there with Michael Dalley's Show".

Then I asked, "Why songs of Henry Lawson's poems?"
John responded, "I took my father on a road trip called "Retracing the Steps of Henry Lawson". I knew nothing about Lawson … and there was a big debate among the traveling group about who was better Lawson or Patterson. So I thought I would set a few of Lawson's poems to music as my kind of offering for the trip."

Tess O'Loughlin of Tess O'Loughlin Publicity shared, "Composer, producer and musical director, John has won numerous awards for his work, including the 2006 Melbourne Green Room Award for Mark Trevorrow's show 'It's About Time' as the musical director and the 2011 Best Cabaret at Melbourne Fringe Tommy Bradson's show 'Pirate Rhapsody Mermaid Requiem' as composer."
"The great thing about John Thorn's lyrics is that you really feel he's lived them" Paul Kooperman, Australian Stage."Anybody looking for high-quality cabaret need look no further" Anthony Vawser, Stage Whispers

And even though "Background Boy" was a weekend event, and disappointingly too short of a stage run, John is still performing with with Michael Dalley as he brings his hits of the Adelaide and Melbourne Cabaret Festivals to The Butterfly Club, through till the 8th of November at 8:30 pm. Thorn also plans to enter "Background Boy" into the next Adelaide Cabaret Festival. And you have another chance to catch Maestro John Thorn at the Trades Hall in a show called "Spontaneous Broadway" where he and other greats improvise music on the spot starting Nov 18, 2015.

#attractions
#bucket_list
#cabaret
#comedy
#city
#music_venues
#theatre
#october
!date 28/10/2015 -- 08/11/2015
%wnmelbourne
121588 - 2023-06-12 23:13:39

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