Sydney Reviews

Left – Gerard Carroll and Ben Gerrard. Cover – Lauren Clair. Photos – Jamie Williams

Hidden Sydney the Glittering Mile is poetically provocative and downright dirty. The show scratches at the underbelly of Kings Cross in the 1950s, 60s and 70s. It dips into the seedy world of gangsters and prostitutes. It slides into the weird and wonderful world of its most famous and infamous characters that were of an era rich in crooners and glamour and dodgy dealings. Hidden Sydney – The Glittering Mile has it all.

Ray Badran is the perfect introduction to the show. As you all huddle close together in the street waiting for the doors to open you hear him chatting away and it slowly dawns on you that the show has already begun. From there you are taken through the rooms of what used to be The Nevada, a bustling brothel that had haystacks or ‘Australia’s largest bed’ for you and your chosen lady to roll around in. The choice dependent on your budget. Today it is The World Bar but from the moment you enter the doors, today ceases to exist and you are transported back in time.

Each room holds a different story and the characters that you meet tell their tale in their own way. There is friendly banter and a direct dialogue that offer insight to individual characters. Another life is told through more physical means where bodies and rhythms convey the myth and mystery that surround a character’s past. The story telling is continuous. As you are led down corridors and up flights of stairs, from one story to another, dark shadows hold hooded secrets and spotlights shine glimpses of lives once lived.

Virginia Gay is marvellous. You won’t notice her at first but when she begins to sing and comes alive as the eccentric Bea Miles you will fall in love with her. She never falters and is so completely Bea that curiosity grows throughout the performance. The whole show plants these questions like seeds in the mind. What happened to Juanita Nielsen, who was Rosaleen Norton and what was life like in The Cross during that time?

The actors and characters are well crafted and talented. Finoa Jopp is strong and impassioned as Rosaleen Norton, Lauren Clair masters The Madam as she gives her ‘girls’ a pep talk and Rob Mills is the perfect crooner who draws you into the Chevron's Silver Spade.

The performance breaks many boundaries around the roles of audience and performer. You are not there just to watch. At a bare minimum you are there to listen and learn but whether you like it or not you are a part of every scene. You become the souls that lived through it all and it is this immersion that makes this performance so enjoyable.

Historically fascinating, mysterious and magnificent, Hidden Sydney – The Glittering Mile holds stories every Sydneysider should know and every outsider should seek out. A real glittering gem.


Live Ideas and Working Management with Art & About Sydney present
Hidden Sydney - The Glittering Mile

Venue: Rear Entrance of “The Nevada” at The World Bar | 1 Mansion Lane, Kings Cross NSW
Dates: 16 September – 9 October 2016
Times:
Monday 6:30pm, 7pm, 7:30pm, 8pm
Wednesday & Thursday 7pm, 7:30pm, 8pm, 8:30pm
Friday & Saturday 6:30pm, 7pm, 7:30pm, 8pm, 8:30pm
Sunday 4:30pm, 5pm, 7pm, 7:30pm, 8pm, 8:30pm
Tickets:  $35 (Mon – Thu) | $45 (Fri – Sun)
Bookings: 136 100 | ticketmaster.com.au
Visit: www.hiddensydney.com.au