DIVA FEVER HITS THE DON

Comic sopranos Penny Shaw and Fiona Cooper Smyth will compete for the affection of bass baritone Robert ‘The Phantom’ Hoffman on Friday, October 11.

A Finalist in the 2012 Australia’s Got Talent TV series, DivaLicious combines comedy, opera and pop to accompaniments by WA Opera pianist Tommaso Pollio.

Cooper Smyth and Shaw describe the show as the love child of two chorus girls irresistibly drawn to the spotlight, conceived in the women’s dressing room at His Majesty’s Theatre.

They eyed each other with suspicion for many years after meeting in the WA Opera chorus, both wondering ” modestly ” if Perth had room for two such beautiful, ambitious, talented singers.

Cooper Smyth found Shaw’s enthusiasm for having children (four) offensive, and Shaw thought the other’s blonde hair a confusing and tasteless contrast to her cutthroat business sense.

On discovering, however, that they shared the same unusual sense of humour, they realised collaboration was the only way forward.

After many glasses of champagne and a number of spectacular hissy fits, DivaLicious was brought screaming and kicking into the world.

As experienced baritone wranglers, the two women had no trouble landing Hofmann as guest star and, despite spending the rehearsal period looking slightly bewildered, he has now embraced all things DivaLicious.

He does draw the line at wearing the tights.

Older Women’s Network Theatre Group returns to DRPAC this month with Diva Delights, a show packed with songs from the likes of Doris Day, and Shirley Bassey. The show is part of the City of Gosnells Morning Melodies program.