Friedman is back

Developed in Dallas back in 2001, David Friedman’s musical show Listen To My Heart comes to Sydney tonight in the form of a musical revue opening at the Cabaret Lounge downstairs from the State Theatre.

Directed by Neil Gooding and Bev Kennedy, this unique show aims to capture the passions and dreams of society all over the world using no dialogue at all, just David Friedman’s songs. The theme is that there are voices inside our head and heart that tell us what to do and guide us, if we will only listen to them.

Lead actor and former Eurobeat gay cowboy Tyran Parke says the show was inspired by David Friedman’s production at Studio 54. Friedman was an AIDS activist who wrote many pieces during the 1980s AIDS movement including the hit Help Is On The Way.

Friedman is one of the world’s biggest cabaret writers and I was lucky to meet him in New York, Parke told Sydney Star Observer.

He is a big inspiration and has raised lots of money for the AIDS Foundation, with most of his album sales going to HIV/AIDS charities in America.

The cast of Listen To My Heart features some of Australia’s biggest divas, including Margi de Ferranti and Saskia Smith. It was Friedman’s deepest hope that the audience takes away whatever they might need to feel better, get in touch with their emotions and heal their hearts.

It’s an exploration of the matters of the heart, Parke said. The cast sings about all types of love including romantic love. It’s five people looking at different angles of many matters of the heart.

It’s going to be very classy and exciting for the cast, as we’re heading into a new direction, and branching out onto a stage of our own. It’s not a theatre piece or a cabaret performance. It’s much more unique.

Listen To My Heart plays 26 April to 5 May at the Cabaret Lounge underneath the Sydney State Theatre. Bookings on 136 100 or www.ticketmaster.com.au.