British actress and singer Sarah Tullamore, 47, is set to perform her one-woman musical show London-Paris-Roam! at Alexander Bar in the city centre this weekend.
Tullamore, who is presently working between Paris and London and has never been to the Mother City before, says she is “delighted” to be performing in the city.
She says audiences can look forward to laughs, tears, nostalgia, warmth, and hopefully identify with what she talks about in her show.
She will perform on Thursday, Friday and Saturday March 16, 17 and 18, at 7pm, at the upstairs theatre of Alexander Bar and Cafe in Strand Street.
The show will also include 12 original songs written especially for the show by London composer James Burn.
“I wrote my first one-woman show, Estelle Bright, in 2004 and performed it on and off until 2013, first in French in France and Luxembourg, and then in English in England. It was a challenge to see if I could do it. I also created two jazzy groups in Paris called The Jazzberries and Le Cinq’tet. However, with Estelle Bright the music wasn’t original; so the challenge this time around was to write original music for London-Paris-Roam,” she explained.
Tullamore says she has always loved singing. “It’s how I naturally seem to express my emotions on and off the stage – and acting was an extension of that. You can have a great voice but it doesn’t mean very much if you can’t tell a story and touch the audience.
“So I trained and did a lot of good amateur shows, tours and even programmes for BBC Radio when I was young in England.
“It wasn’t until I was living in Tokyo, in my very early 20s, that I realised I just had to sing and act professionally. And that continued; after I moved to Paris,” she says.
Originally from Surrey, Tullamore describes how her career has evolved: “I would say my career over the last 10 years has been a mixture of personal creations and big musical productions. On the one hand: Estelle Bright, Le Cinq’tet and now London-Paris-Roam! and on the other: La Vie Parisienne, Sister Act and Singin’ in the Rain.
“I have also done lots of small shows, gala events, teaching and voice-over work.”
Tullamore says her decision to perform in South Africa was catalysed after meeting South African performers Este and Lourens Rabe of the Bottomless Coffee band and singer Niel Rademan at the Edinburgh Music Festival last year.
“They loved the idea for the show and over drinks they said it would go down very well in Cape Town and said that if I wanted to come and perform in the country they would help me organise some gigs. They suggested Alexander Bar and Cafe, and so I contacted the bar and they agreed. I am also scheduled to perform in Paarl on Wednesday March 22 and Heidelburg on Friday March 24. I love it when life, spontaneity and faith in others come together,” she says.
She cites Singin’ in the Rain, Mary Poppins, The Sound of Music, The Three Amigos, Sweet Charity, Gran Torino, Brief Encounter and The Godfather 1 as some of her favourite movies.
Her favourite plays include: anything by Alan Ayckbourn, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Beyond Therapy, An Inspector Calls and a new play titled Ensemble by Fabio Marra which she recently saw in Paris.
One of her favourite things about performing is sharing a story with the audience and hoping they will “get it”.
“I also enjoy the adrenalin rush, five minutes before I go on stage, of being exhilarated and absolutely petrified at the same time. The challenge of every performance always being the ‘first time’ for the audience and so keeping it fresh,” she says.
Call the Alexander Bar and Cafe on 021 300 1088
