Entertainment
25 October, 2024
Show shines light on Loretta’s life
A THEATRE show that will celebrate the life of the late great country singer, Loretta Lynn, is coming to Cairns this weekend.
Coal Miner’s Daughter tells the incredible life of Loretta Lynn, from her early days in the hills of Kentucky to her tempestuous marriage, tragic losses and enduring bonds with such luminaries as Patsy Cline, Conway Twitty, Tammy Wynette, Dolly Parton and Willie Nelson.
This inspiring theatre show was a smash hit at the 2023 and 2024 Tamworth Country Music Festival and played to packed theatres in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Victoria throughout 2022/2023. It is now back on the road to Queensland, South Australia and Tasmania.
On their return to touring after the Covid pandemic, Amber Joy Poulton, who stars as Loretta Lynn, and the cast of Coal Miner’s Daughter played to more than 10,000 people across Australia and in an eerie twist of fate, were performing opening night at the very moment of Loretta’s sad passing in Tennessee in October 2022.
Amber, Lizzie Moore (as Patsy Cline) and The Preacher Denis Surmon (as Conway Twitty and Willie Nelson) along with kickin’ band The Holy Men, will sing the story of a champion of women’s rights, a mother of six and a lifetime of chart-topping hits to the country music lovers of the Far North.
Loretta Lynn was arguably the most under rated country music star considering that at the start of her career, many female singers were given songs to record by the record label but Loretta managed to push the envelope and record mostly songs that she had written or co-written.
That was the birth of controversial songs like, You Ain’t Woman Enough To Take My Man, Don’t Come Home A’ Drinkin’ With Lovin’ On Your Mind, One’s On The Way, and The Pill.
When she wasn’t being controversial singing songs about her own life, she was part of some beautiful duets with Conway Twitty such as After The Fire Is Gone, and Lead Me On, and also some beautiful collaborations with powerhouse singers.
“Loretta paved the way, all those years ago, for women like me to have a place on the main stage,” Amber says.
“She showed us, in the most difficult of times, that women can have it all. We can have the home life, the kids, the husband, the friendships and the career but she also made it very clear we’d have to fight for it and we’d likely be exhausted at the end.
“I love portraying her life, her cheekiness, her sass and her heartbreak through the years until her very sad induction into Country Music Heaven in 2022.”
Coal Miner’s Daughter will be performed at the Cairns Performing Arts Centre on Saturday 26 October. Tickets and more information are available at www.coalminersdaughter.com.au
