Eddie’s tribute to his Perfect home town

Comedian, actor, composer, performer and 2009 Helpmann Award winner, Eddie Perfect, will collaborate with the ever-innovative Brodsky Quartet and musicians from The Australian National Academy of Music to retrace his roots in a brand new show.

The show, Songs From The Middle, will play at the Sydney Opera House in August.

The same man who penned satirical songs on everything from politics, the media, capitalism and popular culture to an entire musical on the life of Shane Warne, has decided to get personal with a cycle of songs about his hometown.

Ranging from the historical to the intimate, the painfully factual to the patently fanciful, Songs From The Middle pays homage to a place where every third or fourth person knew your name.

Like a lot of other white people, Edmund Thomas Perfect was born and raised in suburbia. He had what you would call a “good childhood” in a good suburb called Mentone.

Mentone, with its long stretch of beach, its wide nature-strips, access to public transportation, high quality schools, ten-pin bowling alley, beautiful Catholic church and (much later) Bunnings Warehouse. There wasn’t much you could say was missing.

Still, Edmund couldn’t wait to leave and as soon as he could, he headed to the inner-city, and, as time passed, forgot all about Mentone.

Now, driven by a brand of nostalgia reserved only for new fathers, Edmund Thomas Perfect decided to return to Mentone in order to find inspiration for a new musical work.

What is it about a place that leaves a permanent print? Why is it so difficult to make peace with such a harmless, ultimately charming, seaside suburb?

Songs From The Middle is about the nature of belonging, the reason people live in the places they do and why those places matter. It’s about remembering and pretending to forget. It’s a show about Mentone.

The Brodsky Quartet is equally famous for their classical repertoire, alongside their very contemporary collaborations with major international artists including Elvis Costello, Sting and Bjork.

The show is at the Sydney Opera House Drama Theatre on Sunday, August 1.

For details and bookings, call (02) 9250 7777 or visit www.sydneyoperahouse.com