15 Jun 2023

The Tempestuous collaborators

From Three to Seven, 4:00 pm on 15 June 2023
Robbie Ellis

Robbie Ellis Photo: Tyler Core

Penny Ashton

Penny Ashton Photo: Supplied


 

The actor / comedienne / singer Penny Ashton has a new one-person show.  

Having gone solo in tributes to (and satires of) Jane Austen and Charles Dickens, she’s now gone back to the Bard in a new production: The Tempestuous.  

And once again, even those these days he’s now based in Chicago, the man in charge of the music is fellow theatre wizard and former RNZ Concert producer, Robbie Ellis 

Penny writes the lyrics and Robbie finds the tunes – either tunes by someone else or from his own hand –  and arranges them. 

Bryan Crump caught up with the long-distance collaborators to find out how they make it work. 

 

The Tempestuous: A Shrew'd New Comedy by Will Shakespeare and Penny Ashton
Basement Theatre, Lower Greys Avenue, Auckland CBD, Auckland
8pm – 9pm, Tuesday 13 June 2023 – Saturday 17 June 2023

Music: 

Tchaikovsky, Pyotr Ilyich – Waltz of the Flowers, from The Nutcracker (excerpt) – Anima Eterna/Jos van Immerseel (ZigZag ZZT 2030 102)
Ellis, Robbie: Philip Glass – Robbie Ellis and friends (Robbie Ellis RE 002)