Hopelessly Devoted @ Adelaide Festival Centre, Adelaide15/6/2024
The life and music of a true Aussie Legend was superbly celebrated by four exceptional musical talents and the, as always, outstanding Adelaide Symphony Orchestra (ASO) conducted by Jessica Gethin.
Hopelessly Devoted started with the ASO presenting a mesmerisingly beautiful medley of snippets of some of Olivia Newton-John’s greatest hits. David Campbell and Christie Whelan Browne then appeared at the back of the orchestra with a spine-tingling rendition of Dare To Win – joined mid-way by Jess Hitchcock and Georgina Hopson.
Our host, Olivia’s niece Tottie Goldsmith, told us that the opening song had been performed by Olivia and John Farnham at the opening ceremony of the 2000 Olympic Games to an estimated worldwide audience of four billion people!
One of Olivia’s first hits, ironically a murder ballad, The Banks Of The Ohio was performed by Jess Hitchcock. I wasn’t familiar with her music so was pleasantly captivated by her angelic voice. Georgina followed up with a beautiful version of Please Mister Please. The one and only fault for the entire show occurred in Let Me Be There when Jess’ microphone wasn’t switched on for the first verse – but she redeemed herself!
David and Christie did a beautiful duet of I Will Be Right Here, which David then told us he recorded with Olivia and learnt so much from her about pitch and microphone technique. He revealed growing up in Ingle Farm , watching Solid Gold on his tiny TV and being besotted with this “goddess” called Olivia Newton-John. One of her most iconic songs that he performed throughout his tour in the USA in the 1990s, he hadn’t performed since – until tonight. It was one of the best and most haunting covers of I Honestly Love You that I’ve ever heard, just David and the piano.
There were great personal stories from the singers and their experiences with Olivia. For example, Christie relating being selected for the lead role in Xanadu, meeting Olivia and saying it was Magic – then launching into the song. She apparently performed it on stage in roller skates, but for the next duet with David we had to use our imagination. However, they both went through the comical motions of being on roller skates to the delight of the audience!
I could go on here at length, as there were so many memorable moments. Perhaps a few highlights though – a couple of tracks, in costume, from her award-winning album Physical. They all went through the moves from the video clip of Let’s Get Physical, which was hilarious. David’s solo of Eric Carmen’s Boats Against The Current was spellbinding. Another light-hearted moment was when they all donned cowboy hats for John Denver’s Take Me Home, Country Road – which included a couple of “hee-haws” from David!
After a tribute to the creative director Mark Sutcliffe and the sensational orchestra, the main set appropriately finished with its title song Hopelessly Devoted by Georgina Hopson. But, of course, they couldn’t finish there – they had to give us the Grease classic You’re The One That I Want and the title song from Xanadu – both to a standing ovation from the packed house.
What stood out for me throughout the show were the impeccable harmonies between all the singers – none were trying to outdo the other – and their respect for the expertise and professionalism of the Orchestra. Hopelessly Devoted – A Celebration of Olivia Newton-John was a simply outstanding evening!
Adelaide Cabaret Festival Review by John Glennie