Steph Acraman Performs Nice Girls… Don’t Stay for Breakfast – Adelaide Fringe Review

Published ArtHouse, Thu Mar 12 Not being a Julie London aficionado, I wasn’t sure why this show was called Nice Girls... Don’t Stay for Breakfast, but after listening to tonight’s performance, I think, if I was able to continue listening to the performances of Julie London I, too, would say “Pass the jam”. It was so nice to sit at the back of this venue, in a seat made for two, and listen to the crooning that filled the room. Torch songs, songs of revenge, songs of happiness all made this evening quite enjoyable. Steph Acraman can fill Julie’s shoes vocally, as she can sing the songs in the same range and with the same subtleties required to make us feel like we truly are in a lounge bar, just a little off Sunset Strip. Dean Barcello on guitar and Peter Caputo on double bass played beautifully through the majority of all the songs heard this evening, as this was the ground breaking way Julie London introduced her songs to us on her first album Julie Is Her Name, a new way of presenting Jazz, way back in December 1955. Ben Adamson on drums and the ‘fill in piano player’ Tony Lillywhite, who just happened to be in the audience and invited to replace the normal piano player ‘for the night’ who hadn’t turned up, played some beautiful music together. Of course, this as well as Steph, introducing herself a ‘Stella’, a dear friend of Julie and her two husbands and seven children made for an interesting take on the presentation of Julie’s music and performances, and a little insight into how Julie was feeling when she recorded each of her songs. I would have liked to see the whole performance, but with the show starting late and a 30- minute break between sets, the show was meant to finish at 9.30pm but they were still only half-way through the second set at 9.45pm when we needed to leave. Charissa McCluskey-Garcia Nice Girls... Don’t Stay For Breakfast continues at Published ArtHouse until Sat Mar 14. Book at FringeTIX on 1300 621 255 or adelaidefringe.com.au/fringetix. Click HERE to purchase your tickets.