When onetime opera singer Gail Whitmore moved to Prague, she wanted to find a way to continue singing. She was looking for something that would be fun both for her and the audience, and preferably combine her love of classical pieces with her penchant for quirky 80s songs or rap. Since her friends often took advantage of her voice in combination with her photographic memory for lyrics and asked her to sing a variety of songs that came to their minds at parties, Gail realised this might be the way to go.
She started performing at the café/bookshop Globe about five years ago and last year decided to take her show a step further and opened performances at the Na Zábradlí theatre.
Now, all this might sound rather ordinary, but it really isn’t. Gail Whitmore not only has an amazing voice but also takes advantage of her showmanship and bottomless sense of humour, which enables her to ridicule herself on stage, making her show exceptional and entertaining. I will never forget hearing the rap song “Baby Got Back” in her rendering. I didn’t know the song before and even after listening to the original I doubt I will ever get enough of requesting it from Gail. So, if you choose to come to the show, the person asking for the “big butt song” is going to be me.
Gail is half American and half Scottish, originally from New York City, and she has lived in Prague for the past 5 years. She studied singing at various institutions in the States and later sang with the New York Grand Opera Company for seven years at venues including the Lincoln Centre and Carnegie Hall. When the company performed all the operas ever written by Verdi in chronological order, they were included in the Guinness Book of World Records.
The way her show Human Jukebox show works is very easy: You take your friends, get the pre-show drinks at the theatre bar and discuss the songs you would like to hear. There is technically a list of some hundreds of songs but feel free to ask for anything that springs to mind because, as long as she knows it, she is sure to sing it. The only exception being songs of hate and racism.
The Human Jukebox is and is not a one woman show. You should not expect to be sitting down, leaning back and enjoying it. “There’s no programme or set list. The audience controls 100% of the show,” Gail explains. “For bolder people there are small instruments provided if they’d like to contribute rhythmically. And I’d love to hear more dialogue from people in regard to why they chose the song they did, and what it means to them,” she adds. So be ready to interact, you are unlikely to get what you don’t ask for. Sometimes you also need to be a bit pushy as many people want to hear their particular song to be sang and then another and then another. Therefore it’s good to have the name of the song ready and just shout it out the moment the applause subsides.
And don’t forget the medley at the end. During the intermission each member of the audience is required to write down a few songs on separate pieces of paper, and at the end of the show, Gail sings 10-30 seconds of each of the songs in a quick succession. Mozart is followed by Michael Jackson, then a little bit of Jingle Bells and November Rain by Guns’n’Roses.
I asked Gail what she thinks makes her show unique. ” I think it’s unique because it really does offer something for everyone. If you want legitimate singing – it’s there. If you want to see me make an idiot of myself in an evening gown – I’ll do it. And doing all of that back to back is just plain funny. Doing the show fulfils me in a way that surprised me at first. After abandoning the opera world I still have the opportunity to sing the pieces that I love so much. I also get to explore my inner rock star. And don’t get me started on rap.” So I did not ask her about rap. I’m saving that for Sunday.
The next performance of the Human Jukebox is this Sunday 15 February at Divadlo Na Zábradlí, Anenské náměstí 5 at 7pm. If you can’t make it there are shows on 22 March, 19 April and 2 May.
Tickets cost CZK 200.
For more information visit www.the-human-jukebox.com or www.lidskyjukebox.cz
