“HER name was Lola, she was a showgirl” and that was 140 years ago when she used to have a show. The genius of Boris Hunka (Music on the Glen, ICO) brings Lola Montez back to life in his world-class burlesque, Lola. Book early for the Dolan’s Warehouse experience on Saturday December 11 when master of ceremonies Myles Breen will unfold the life of Eliza Rosanna Gilbert, Countess of Landsfeld. This was Limerick a woman who brought down a king, and died cold and broken in New York, aged 40.
Lola the show is witty homage to the daughter born 1821 out of wedlock to Castle Oliver’s lord. Her 15yr old mother was already into her marriage to Gilbert, a soldier, and babe Eliza Rosanna grew up to make Australia’s Argus newspaper thunder she was “utterly subversive to all ideas of public morality”.
Myles Breen has great fun working through her itinerary, but no less than the resilient, charistmatic woman had herself. Hunka makes fine play of her skirt-hoicking, and of course, the men: Franz Liszt, Alexandre Dumas Snr, Alexandre Dujarier (killed in a duel over another broad) and of course, the cracked Ludwig 1 of Bavaria who made her countess.
There were bigamous marriages to convenient others, she took the whip hand to an editor, had a stroke and a dubious tour of Gold Rush territory. Her zest for life took her on to the US, through Australia and through Mitteleuropa courts in scandal-drenched style.
“For this production, we have three Lolas – Kathleen Turner, Aoife Doolin as the young Lola and burlesque professional Sapharia Swan does her Spider dance,” Hunka tells
Arts page. “We have a dance troupe of six plus two soloists, and have integreted a salsa segment. We increased the male representation on stage, eight musicians play and of course, there is Myles”.
Boris Hunka leads the costumed band on vibraphone, music moving from uilleann pipes to strings to piano, organ and percussion to Lola’s merry dance. Interestingly, for all fabulousness of her life, we sense her the fragility and the humiliation implicit in her public and private exploits.
Still, Lola in Dolan’s is a glorious frolic over 2hrs plus. €15 door.
