A Toast to Melba (1986)

Directed by

Alan Burke

Country

Australia

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

This film adapts a play about the life of opera singer Dame Nellie Melba. It follows her from childhood in Australia through her international career and death in Egypt.

theatricalbiographicalepisodiclivelynostalgicmusical

What happens

A Toast to Melba is a 1976 Australian play by Jack Hibberd. A biography of Dame Nellie Melba, Hibberd described A Toast to Melba as: Another 'Popular Play' like The Les Darcy Show. Using the Epic Theatre techniques of Bertolt Brecht (without politics), the play encompasses the life of diva Nellie Melba from childhood in Melbourne to her death in Egypt (alleged dying words: "I never did like Aida.")... The actress who plays Melba must be able to sing a few arias and parlour songs. There is a selection of recorded music that is essential to the work. The play is one of Hibberd's personal favourites. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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