Life stories of two idols

TODAY’S modern pop stars get pilloried for it. But drag fabulist Dickie Beau, pictured, made a career on the cabaret circuit out of lip-synching to pre-recorded tapes.

Blackouts: Twilight Of The Idols, his first full-length theatre show, sees him use the playback technique to explore the real life stories behind two of the greatest icons of the 20th century – Judy Garland and Marilyn Monroe.

He adopts both personas using recordings from Garland’s never-published autobiography, and tapes from Monroe’s last interview for Life Magazine conducted by journalist Richard Meryman.

It was meeting Meryman, who gave Beau exclusive access to the Monroe tapes, which inspired the show’s structure.

“I realised I was about the same age as Meryman was when he met Monroe,” says Beau fresh from the press night of his third full-length show Camera Lucida.

“She gave him a chance by giving him an interview – and I think he saw something of his younger self in me.”

The first monologue Beau created was for Garland – piecing together a 12-minute piece from the memoirs tapes he discovered.

Meeting Meryman to talk about Monroe Beau saw another parallel between himself and the older journalist.

“For his article he manipulated what Monroe said so it became a monologue – it was the first example of the first person style of journalism,” says Beau, pointing to the form now popular in real-life stories in magazines.

“I realised it was what I had been doing with the Garland tapes to present them theatrically. The interviewer became the main character – the key to the piece.”

For the show Beau has adopted a third character based around Meryman’s voice, designed to be an older version of himself in 50 years time listening to a tape – “like a Krapp’s Last Tape in reverse” to sit alongside his personas of Monroe and Garland.

He performs each tale using fantasy costumes inspired by the stars’ most iconic film appearances in The Seven Year Itch and The Wizard Of Oz.

When he originally conceived of a piece exploring the true life stories of some of the 20th century’s greatest icons Beau did consider extending the show to include other big names, including Marlene Dietrich and Michael Jackson. But Garland and Monroe seemed to work together.

“Neither had a childhood to speak of, for different reasons,” he says. “Both were actors, but neither were afforded the luxury of performing under their own name.

“The show is about the impression that they left behind, so however much or little you know about them is palpable within the piece. There are few other figures who have had the same effect on popular culture.”

Adding the likes of Jackson and Dietrich might have made the final result too complicated.

“Jackson didn’t have a childhood, and he didn’t have his own voice,” says Beau. “But his status as an icon didn’t have the same quality.

“There’s something about Garland and Monroe’s relationship to their audience – both had a very deep impact, their audience felt they knew them. There was an intimate relationship. Jackson was a mystery – I don’t think he knew himself at all.”

The show also touches on a change in society – as today’s music and Hollywood machines lose their power under the relentless progress of the internet.

“The industries can’t survive in the same way,” says Beau. “There isn’t the money to throw around.”

Beau is looking forward to returning to his debut show with this Brighton performance – which was postponed from last year following an attack of appendicitis.

His third show Camera Lucida, which finished its premiere run at London’s Barbican Pit last week, was his first directing other performers.

“I had done two full-length solo shows with Blackouts and Lost In Trans,” he says. “It was time to see if I could get other people to do what I can do. It has been a very experimental way of working, building a performance around a simple poem in motion. It is scarily difficult for some people. I have an idea for another live show which would be different again from Camera Lucida – it all depends on the support we get. It’s really hard work when you’re on your own trying to put a show on – I’m one of the lucky ones.”

Essential information: Starts 7.30pm, tickets £14/£12. Call 01273 709709