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Signs of a Diva

Published Friday 30 September 2005 at 10:45 by Paul Vale

In a quiet Northern town, undertaker Susan Graves contemplates the humour behind her name and explains how she created her alter-ego with the far more glamorous title of Tammy Frascati.

Caroline Parker as Susan/Tammy has a remarkably easy stage presence as she relates how a chance meeting led to her becoming a successful Northern diva. What lifts this tale out of the ordinary is that while Parker as Tammy lip-synchs her way through some of the cheesiest anthems ever to be seen outside a Vegas drag Lounge, she also signs them for the deaf.

The emotional power of the familiar numbers, coupled with the expression of this most physical of languages, adds a whole new level of interpretation. Parker has created a fairly conventional diva but fleshes out a perfectly three-dimensional character in the simple tragedy of her story. Nona Shepphard’s script contains some humour but the real fun is in watching Parker adding her hysterical touches to well-worn tunes, such as her rendition of Kirsty MacColl’s In These Shoes, or relishing a whole new level of caprice in Eartha Kitt’s Old Fashioned Millionaire.

It was also a delight to see the wholly expected I Will Survive given the Tammy magic, only to be trashed by Susan as ‘useless advice’ by this most pragmatic of divas. Jenny Sealey’s direction is relatively inconspicuous but little damage could ever be done to a performance such as Parker’s which, rather like Miss Frascati, has the potential to attract a huge following.

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