Melinda Does Doris

Doris – So Much More Than the Girl Next Door is heart-felt homage to the American chanteuse Doris Day, co-written by Melinda Schneider and David Mitchell (Dusty, Shout!). The Melbourne premiere will take place at Her Majesty’s Theatre for a limited 2 week season beginning Tuesday 23 August, 2011.

Hailed as one of Australia’s ‘truly important artists’ for her songwriting ability, her music has been recorded by artists as diverse as John Farnham, Paul Kelly, Jimmy Little and Olivia Newton- John. But this August Melinda Schneider, fresh from a stint on Dancing with the Stars, will be ditching her country twang and donning the shoes of American musical theatre icon in a show set to take Melbourne by storm.

Doris – So Much More Than the Girl Next Door is heart-felt homage to the American chanteuse Doris Day, co-written by Schneider and David Mitchell (Dusty, Shout!). The Melbourne premiere will take place at Her Majesty’s Theatre for a limited 2 week season beginning Tuesday 23rd August.

Featuring little known fact about Doris’ journey from small-town Ohio to the heights of Hollywood, the show traces her turbulent marriages rife with abuse and catastrophic financial ruin while re-imagining a host of Day’s most memorable songs.

“She was such a huge talent” Melinda relates, “a triple threat as they say – she could sing, dance and act. I thought then she was the best of everything a woman can be and when I grew up I wanted to be just like her.”

“The more I’ve found out about Doris, the more I’ve discovered that our lives have run a parallel course’, says Schneider. “We’re both born into German Catholic families, we both love our doggies and both have been through messy relationships and divorce.”

Schneider describes the show as “the universal story of women set to music of the forties, fifties and sixties”, and is a visually stunning spectacular, with Melinda’s on-stage wardrobe a virtual runway of high fashion trends which Doris showcased in her thirty nine Hollywood movies.

Doris – Not Just The Girl Next Door is a big production, about a big personality, performed by a big talent. Also featuring two of Australia’s hottest young performers Rohan Browne (West Side Story) & Sam Ludeman (Fame!), and The Her Majesty’s Theatre Showband – a swingin’ fourteen piece orchestra, the show is a must see for Melbourne audiences.  Doris –  So Much More Than the Girl Next Door is proudly produced by Bold Jack & Mike Walsh.

Website: www.dorisday.com.au

Her Majesty’s Theatre – 219 Exhibition St, Melbourne
Tuesday 23rd August – Sunday 4th September 2011

Bookings: Ticketek 132 849 / www.ticketek.com.au