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Everyday Elton: Your Song celebrates power of hits that defined lives

Your Song is a celebration of everyday experiences of joy, heartbreak, loss and gain through the songbook of Elton John, crowdsourcing Elton fans’ stories and memories as inspiration for the show.

Apr 20, 2021, updated Apr 20, 2021
Your Song by the Little Red Company 
(Image: Caitlin Boland)

Your Song by the Little Red Company (Image: Caitlin Boland)

The original production is a celebration of the songs that have dog-eared important chapters in people’s lives, reimagining the smash hits through the context of the fans whose lives have been changed by the music.

Your Song is the first major production shown at the Judith Wright Arts Centre since its refurbishment and closure three years ago and kicks off on April 22 with a limited run of nine performances, closing on May 1.

The show includes reimagined versions of Elton’s biggest hits, such as I’m Still Standing, Tiny Dancer, Candle in the Wind, Benny and the Jets, and Goodbye Yellow Brick Road.

Writers Adam Brunes and Naomi Price collected the untold stories and memories of Elton’s songs, some fond and some not, and used them to give the songs a fresh context for the upcoming production:

“I’m Still Standing was my mum’s divorce anthem. We had a divorce party when I was nine-years-old, with a frozen Black Forest gateau cake and she played it at top volume in the living room. The cake was supposed to serve 18 but it was only just enough for six.”

“We used to sing the chorus of Tiny Dancer when I was pregnant with my son – we would watch him wiggle and dance around the screen on the scan.”

“For decades, my heart stopped and my stomach did backflips when I heard Your Song. It instantly brought to mind my second great love in the seventies.”

“His music is like a hug from someone I’ve known forever, and when I hear it, I feel like I am home.”

Naomi Price, the Artistic Director and Co-Founder of the Little Red Theatre company, will make her directorial debut in Your Song.

“This is Elton John’s incredible back catalogue as it has never been heard before; his lyrics are given new meaning through the true accounts, stories, memories and experiences of everyday people,” Price said.

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“We asked strangers to share what Elton’s music meant to them and were overwhelmed with their generosity and candour.

“Every song in this show has been reimagined and recontextualised through their stories, infusing them with personal meaning and deeper significance.”

The Little Red Theatre company will welcome Andy Cook, known for productions of Chicago and Oklahoma, and Marcus Corowa, from Bran Nue Dae and Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, for their debut with the company.

The show will also include returning favourites from Little Red productions, Luke Kennedy and Irena Lysiuk.

From writing partners Adam Brunes and Naomi Price, Your Song continues the success of original songbook adaptations by Little Red Theatre Company, following Rumour Has It, Wrecking Ball, Lady Beatle, and Christmas Actually. 

Your Song kicks off its run on 22 April at the Judith Wright Arts Centre in Fortitude Valley and will run until 1 May. For more information, visit The Little Red Company’s website.

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