Featuring Annaliesa Rose on Vocals, Musical Director & Pianist Daryl Wallis and the compositions by Peter Allen. 🌹🎵🎶🎵♥
Between Daryl Wallis’ and Annaliesa Rose’s creative ideas, a show was born out of Peter Allen’s music, from the perspective of looking at Peter Allen and his works as a composer, rather than focusing on the hype of how he performed on stage. As magnificent as it would have been to see Peter Allen performing live, I wanted to peel back the layers and explore his compositions and what inspired them. To tell the story of Peter Allen the composer, the songwriter. I also wanted to explore the music that was not so well known, some of his songs I have never heard anyone else sing them. With such a breathtaking ability to write songs in various styles and genres, I also wanted the opportunity to dabble in changing them up a little, whether it be changing the time signature or the style or feel of the music, as well as the key of the songs to suit my vocal range. These ideas, developed by us in rehearsals after exploring the options that each song had to offer, led to this show being born. While I only had the opportunity to perform a few shows at the 2019 Sydney Fringe Festival at the Sydney Tattersalls Club, I recently embarked on a journey where I revisited this show and Peter Allen’s music. I went to the Edinburgh Jazz Festival for 2 shows, one being a jazz show and the other being this show. I absolutely had a ball at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival this year and it was a huge learning experience and just the medicine for my soul that I needed. I received a 4 star review for this Peter Allen show which I’ll include here.
So I didn’t realise when I created the show back in 2019 with musical director and accompanist Daryl Wallis, that Peter Allen was not someone many Scottish, English or Europeans knew about. He was so well known amongst Australians and in USA that you just assumed everyone knew who he was. In doing this show in the future in the UK, I feel it deserves a bit more of a reintroduction so that I can share who he was to those who didn’t know and include some more of Peter Allen’s more well-known songs as well. I am looking to extend the show also, so I have a workable model for gigs. As at present it is a 50 min show designed specifically for fringe festival format.
If you have stumbled across this page, you are probably going to ask – who am I? (if you don’t already know me personally).
My name is Annaliesa Rose, I am a singer and composer and have been involved in many different areas of the arts my whole life. Always being surrounded by music, there was never a time I wasn’t singing and making up songs at an early age and then started learning musical instruments, dancing, acting classes and doing gymnastics. I have always been very theatrical and born for the stage. As I got older and was developing my skills, I was accepted as an alto saxophonist in the Millennium Marching Band (the NSW part of the Olympic Marching Band) where we performed at many events including the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games in Homebush. We rehearsed a lot for that and had many other performances before and after it. Such a wonderful group to be a part of and such a wonderful experience. I later went on to be so lucky to learn from Kerrie Biddell (Australia’s greatest singer in my mind, who performed solo in Las Vegas with the Rat Pack watching her night after night) in 2001 onwards and understand the workings of jazz and contemporary singing more, as I had previously been learning from my mum Marjorie Shepheard (who still helps me to this day). In 2004, moving to Canberra to study at the Australian National University, as I was lucky enough to get into their Bachelor of Music program in the jazz school. After graduating from there I did further study of a Graduate Diploma of Education and then later a Masters of Arts Management and also trained as a yoga teacher.
Throughout my life, performing has been my main focus, even when I had down time where I was doing other things, music was always there, keeping me steady. I love jazz music and also love a lot of other styles of music that have subsequently come out of jazz. My passions in life remain composing music, singing, playing the piano and other instruments I play for personal enjoyment, listening to great music, connecting with likeminded people, yoga, fitness and being in nature.
So, who was Peter Allen and why the interest in his music?
Peter Allen was one of Australia’s greatest songwriters and performers. With songs he wrote and co-wrote specifically for artists including Olivia Newton-John, Melissa Manchester, Christopher Cross (for the film Arthur) and Frank Sinatra. He then became known in his own right as a performer singing his own songs, making a name for himself and later being known as The Boy from Oz. A musical of that title was later created originally in Sydney and later re-created by Hugh Jackman on Broadway. Since then a lot of shows about him have been performed from the perspective of his greatest hits and his performing style. Before he passed away in 1992, he recorded and released one last album with some of the most beautiful yet relatively unknown songs on it. This album out of all the music, grabbed my attention even more so.
Growing up surrounded by music, when I was a little girl, I was always going walk abouts and doing my own thing. I was very independent like that. I still am. At my Dad’s family home, upstairs, I found an LP record of Peter Allen’s greatest hits, it was the late 80’s and Peter Allen would still have been alive. I would have loved as a kid to have seen him perform live. I would dance and listen to this record and then managed to get all of Peter Allen’s music on CD and later digital format. I love the energy in Peter Allen’s songs overall. He was a born storyteller and this came through in his lyrics and music.
I truly hope that you enjoy my take on Peter Allen’s music and are able to get something out of it, even if it is just having the ability to relax and enjoy an afternoon out.
All the best, Love & Hugs 🌹🎵🎶🎵🎶