JANE CLIFTON: ANY PLACE I HANG MY HAT IS HOME

Review by Patrick Moore

Born on the windswept vistas of Gibraltar to parents in the British army, singer/actress Jane Clifton has lived in many houses.  Due to her upbringing she eventually resided in thirty-two of them and such a life formed the basis of her show ‘Any Place I Hang My Hat Is Home’.  Drawing from her recent memoirs ‘The Address Book’, it promised a journey of her life and of the homes that have shaped her musical influences. Gaining her greatest fame was the TV series ‘Prisoner: Cell Block H’ and her recurring role as inmate Margo Gaffney. Her show would reveal a side to her little seen beyond Prisoner’s steel bars. 

Being a fan of the series and having long admired her musical talents via songs such as ‘Taxi Mary’ and ‘Girl on the Wall’, I booked a ticket to see her on Wednesday 22 June at 7.30pm as part of the Adelaide Cabaret Festival.  Situated in the Banquet Room this spacious abode housed 50 tables scattered around in baroque ‘cabaret style’.  Seated at Table 9, I saw it eventually become half full - what was lacking in numbers was more than made up of an enthusiastic audience waiting to see Jane strut her stuff.   Advertised as the ‘World Premiere’ performance, it was interesting being at the beginning of a potentially long running production.

On stage a pianist was situated on the left, a cellist in the middle and a guitarist on the right who would effectively contribute to her act.  To show how musically diverse it would be, the guitarist would alternate between guitar and ukulele at various points to bring a unique twist to old standards.  Entering the stage wearing a dynamic red dress, Jane began with the song ‘Any Place I Hang My Hat Is Home’.  Immediately one could hear how powerfully arresting her voice was and why it has served her well.  After receiving a round of applause she explained the show would work around a song/story-telling format with each house representing a significant point in her life journey.  Having been bought up by parents initially unable to afford TV, entertainment was provided by radio and records – with both embedding the musical passions she still harbours. 

On the left and right sides of the stage were two screens from which photo slides were shown of various photos of her life.  From a young girl to adulthood, this pictorial transformation aided in the understanding of why certain songs remain close to her and why some were chosen for this piece.  Displaying her keen sense of humour, she sang ‘How much is that doggie in the window’ and got the audience to do various dog growls in appropriate moments!  Everyone was happy to join in and she seemed delighted the audience responded that way.  Another song people joined in for was the Elvis Presley number ‘All Shook Up’ where everyone was encouraged to do a very manly ‘ugh’ at the right moment!  It was obvious being on stage is her true love and she clearly enjoyed signing songs still meaning something to her. 

Jane Clifton in Neighbours

Between each number she moved to the right of the stage and sat down to provide another snippet of her personal travels.  Earlier on she commented on how rare it was for her to meet anyone in Australia that was born in Gibraltar, with one of the two she knew being her Optometrist!  From that auspicious beginning her family moved to Germany where her British Officer father was stationed for a time.  It seemed her family, which also includes 3 sisters, only stayed in one house for a year or so at a time.  One would have thought she would have disliked being moved around so much, but she said she revelled in the adventure of new horizons and what came next.  Switzerland and England were other places she stayed at before eventually immigrating to Australia in 1960.  Upon arrival she lived in Perth for about 3 years where the surfing culture grabbed her attention with the new style of pop from The Beatles and Rolling Stones a youthful cornerstone.  She said she regretted that aspect of missing  out on the ‘Swinging 60’s’ in England as they had just landed in Australia when it all started over there.  After this her father was given a job promotion and settled to Melbourne which she found to be vastly different musically to Perth.  More of a jazz influenced city, this would again add another element to her musical passions and where she has since based herself.

All throughout telling these stories she read from a scrapbook which presumably contained notes on what to say.  In this regard she did falter as by reading directly from it her delivery seemed a bit too stilted.  This affected the natural flow of the piece and made the show a little too overly rehearsed in tone. More ‘off the cuff’ style banter would have helped – which she did do whilst singing some of the songs.  She also seemed quite nervous and stumbled a few times - it was as if she felt the material wasn’t strong enough for a show.  She needn’t have worried as it was certainly very engaging and informative.  The only aspect in this regard that would have made it even better was if it had run longer.  One hour didn’t really do it justice and she appeared to skip over certain moments.  In fairness all of this is given much more detail in the book – which was for sale in the foyer – and this show generally provided a fine appetiser to it.  Given this was the first time she had performed it, it wasn’t bad at all, but some improvements in its structure and a better mix between singing and anecdotes would help immeasurably.

Singing is clearly what she did best and other songs included The Beatles tune ‘All My Life’ and ‘Too Damn Hot’ from Ella Fitzgerald.  These again highlighted how much of an impact these had on her and how moving to different continents exposed to her to different music.  It was fascinating hearing about this evolution, which helped in her own career when she performed in an all-girl troupe in the early 70’s.  Supporting bands such as Billy Thorpe and the Aztecs and Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention, she told how the reaction her group received made her more determined to succeed in a then male dominated industry.  This in turn led her to forming Stiletto which would become a cult group and saw her appear on Countdown several times.  During this time acting became a passion which led into her becoming a part of ‘Prisoner’ which cemented her fame.  She talked briefly about her time in the show and said ‘I played that role for 4 years and I spent the next 30 talking about it!’.  She seemed a bit over it, but still held affection for it and actually sang a song about that era.  While she did some photos from her ‘Prisoner’ days came up on screen – to the applause of some of the audience who were clearly fans!

Running a little over time, the show ended after 75 minutes to huge applause.   Afterwards I met Jane and got her to sign a copy of her book which I will eagerly read to compliment her stage production.   While the concept still needed a little work in terms of style and presentation, it mostly entertained and showed Jane Clifton’s diverse and interesting upbringing has made her the great performer she has become.