Promising a night full of tinseltown tattle, BAFTA Award-winner Miriam Margolyes transforms into legendary Hollywood agent Sue Mengers in the wickedly hilarious one-woman show, I’ll Eat You Last by renowned playwright John Logan at Arts Centre Melbourne from 6 November.
Welcome to the glamorous home of talent agent Sue Mengers. It is 1981 and if an actor isn’t represented by the formidable Sue, they’re a nobody. She has the entire Hollywood A-list on her books: Barbra Streisand, Gene Hackman, Faye Dunaway, Cher – you name it.
As she waits for a call from Streisand, names will be dropped, secrets divulged, and dirt dished as this powerful and determined ball of chutzpah reveals how she went from plain, plump Jewish immigrant to a film industry powerbroker. It was a fabulous career – while it lasted.
Sue Mengers was the first female power player in the male-dominated world of Hollywood agents. By the early seventies she had worked her way up the show business ladder and ruled the film industry with her no-nonsense style. When Mengers retired in the eighties, she became famous for hosting star-studded dinner parties at her house in Beverly Hills. In 2011 she died after a series of small strokes and long-term illnesses.
Miriam Margolyes’ distinguished acting career spans stage, film and television, and in 2001 she received an OBE for Services to Drama. Her one-woman show, Dickens’ Women, successfully toured the world to great acclaim and her many theatre credits include Gertrude Stein and a Companion and Wicked (London and Broadway).
She last appeared for MTC in Realism (2009) and Blithe Spirit (2003), and is well known to audiences as Professor Sprout in the Harry Potter films as well as for her roles in the BBC series Blackadder, where she first came to prominence.
John Logan is an award-winning American playwright, film producer and screenwriter. His plays include Red – for which he won Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle and Drama League Awards, Peter and Alice, Never the Sinner, Hauptmann and The View.
As a screenwriter Logan has written Skyfall, Any Given Sunday, the television movie RKO 281, Star Trek: Nemesis, The Time Machine, The Last Samurai, Rango, Coriolanus and Tim Burton’s Sweeney Todd: The Demon of Fleet Street – for which he received a Golden Globe Award. He earned three Academy Award nominations for Gladiator, The Aviator and most recently for Hugo. He is currently writing the next two James Bond films.
When Miriam Margolyes steps on stage as the outrageous showbiz legend Sue Mengers, you’ll be wondering why you’ve never heard of this Hollywood superagent – afterwards, you’ll wonder if you could ever forget her!
“Buoyant, witty writing. A delectable soufflé of a solo show.” – The New York Times
Director: Dean Bryant Starring: Miriam Margolyes Set & Costume Designer: Owen Phillips Lighting Designer: Ross Graham Sound Designer: Russell Goldsmith Voice & Dialect Coach: Leith McPherson
I’ll Eat You Last
Fairfax Studio – Arts Centre Melbourne, 100 St. Kilda Road, Melbourne
Season: 6 November – 20 December 2014
Bookings: 1300 182 183 or online at: www.artscentremelbourne.com.au
For more information, visit: www.mtc.com.au for details.
Image: Miriam Margolyes as Sue Mengers in I’ll Eat You Last – photo by Jo Duck