19 January 2007
MEDIA RELEASE
Ensign Toast Productions Presents
Like Someone In Love – the life and death of Chet Baker
February 21 – 24, 2007, 8pm
Happy, corner Vivian and Tory Streets
Tickets: Waged $15, Unwaged $12, Fringe Addict $10
TO BOOK ph. 04 382 9984
Did he jump or just fall that night in Amsterdam? The controversial end to a life both brilliant and tragic is explored
as Chet Baker is brought back to life on the Wellington stage this Fringe.
David Goldthorpe’s new musical play premieres at Happy (on the corner of Vivian and Tory Streets) here in Wellington and
runs for four nights only, from February 21st to 24th at 8pm as part of Fringe 07.
Legendary jazz musician Chet Baker had an extraordinary talent both with his trumpet and his spare and captivating vocal
style. His life was the antithesis to his subdued and cool stage presence however, as he grappled with a lifelong drug
addiction that eventually seemed to claim his life. But did he fall from an Amsterdam window in a drug-induced haze or
did he throw himself out? David Goldthorpe explores the life that led Baker to that window, the haunting and
unforgettable music that made him famous and the drugs and weaknesses that made him infamous.
“I first met Chet Baker in the film The Talented Mr. Ripley as he fell out of Tom Ripley’s satchel along with some
fellow jazz albums,” David Goldthorpe says of his first encounter with Baker. That single moment launched a “long love
affair with Chet’s music and style” and has culminated in this very jazz-infused and raw examination of Baker’s life and
musical genius. Goldthorpe is freshly graduated from Wellington Performing Arts Centre with a Diploma in Performing Arts
– Singing and made his professional theatre debut in Troy: the Musical in June 2006 as Hector. Goldthorpe will begin a
nine month touring contract with Capital E Children’s Theatre this March but Chet Baker is never far from his mind.
Baker was also the subject of his graduation show which was an abbreviated version of this production. Due to the facts
behind Baker’s demise and his heroin addiction, the show is not necessarily suitable for all ages. Despite the warning
of drug use and coarse language, however, Goldthorpe believes the story will appeal to a wide cross-section of
theatre-goers.
Though yet in its infancy, Ensign Toast Productions has managed to harness a lot of established talent for this
inaugural show. Aided onstage by a trio of live jazz musicians headed by Tim Solly, with lighting designed by Marcus
McShane, and under the direction of David Lawrence, Like Someone In Love – the life and death of Chet Baker will appeal
to jazz aficionados and lovers of a good dramatic story alike.
ENDS