Hannah Brackenbury will resume her on-stage tribute to the late Victoria Woods in early 2021.
Brighton-based comedy songwriter and performer Hannah Brackenbury is coming to Salford on April 10th to perform her musical ‘Victorious’ at the Salford Arts Theatre, in memory of comedian Victoria Woods, who sadly passed away in 2016.
Brackenbury commented, “Victorious is a one-woman show celebrating Victoria Woods’ hilarious comedy songs and exploring the influence she had on me as a songwriter and performer.
“It’s a joyful and poignant hour of songs, poems, and monologues in which I perform a mix of her original material, as well as some of my own songs which are very much inspired by her style.
“It’s a warm and very personal show which means a lot to me.”
Brackenbury grew up a huge fan of Woods and mentioned how she had influenced her own work, “Sadly I never got the chance to meet her, although I would have loved to.
“I grew up watching her on TV and listening to her songs, with parents who were both big comedy fans, so she was well-loved in our household.
“As I grew up and began writing songs of my own, I couldn’t help but lean towards the comedy genre, it just came naturally, and I have always been compared to her as a songwriter, which of course is an enormous honour.
“When she sadly died in 2016 I wanted to find a way of paying tribute to her in a tasteful way, without trying to imitate or impersonate her, just keeping her material alive and sharing my love for her with fellow fans.”
Brackenbury debuted the show at the Brighton Fringe in 2018 and has done quite a few one-off performances since then. A scheduled tour of the show was planned to take place between January and October 2020 but was cancelled due to Covid-19.
The show has received great reviews from critics;
“Wow! What a fantastically brilliant, beautifully crafted show. It made me shed a few tears remembering how fabulous Victoria Woods was and this was a very respectful tribute and celebration of her work. Hannah Brackenbury is packed with talent and this is the perfect showcase to show it all off.” – Jo Jepson-Davies, Scilly Laughs Festival
“Hannah not only sings catchy and witty songs of her own, she also gives Victoria Woods’ catalogue the performance it deserves” – Richard Vranch, The Comedy Store Players
“We were just blown away by the simplicity of Hannah’s show. She didn’t need any adornments, there was just real, raw talent there. It was beautiful!” – Melanie Chisholm, Broadway Baby (Brighton Fringe awards ceremony).
Brackenbury is delighted that tour dates have been rescheduled in 2021 and looks forward to getting back on stage, “It feels like a real honour to be able to perform her material and pay tribute to her in this way.
“The best thing about performing Victorious is that I always get so many lovely comments from audiences afterwards. People want to share their memories of her and talk about their favourite songs and sketches, which as a big fan I’m always happy to do.”
“Performing her songs comes very naturally to me, even the most difficult ones like ‘The Ballad of Barry & Freda’ which has about 14 verses in total!”
It will not be the first time Brackenury has performed in Salford, as she recalls, “Yes, back in 2014 I performed at the Kings Arms as part of the Women in Comedy Festival.
“It was fantastic and a really lovely atmosphere. I did a solo show and was also involved with The Short & Girlie Show improv troupe and we played to a packed house that night which was great to be a part of.
“I’m really looking forward to performing in Salford again!”
Tickets for ‘Victorious’ can be purchased at the Salford Arts Theatre website.
Recent Comments