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Showtime!

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Showtime!

By: Judy Nunn
Narrated by: Judy Nunn, John Derum
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About this listen

 From the cotton mills of England to the magnificent theatres of Melbourne - a scintillating journey through the golden age of Australian showbusiness.
GOLD RUSH ENTERTAINERS
‘So, Will, are you going to come with me and my team of merry performers to the sunny climes of Australia, where the crowds are already queuing and the streets are paved with gold?’

In the second half of the 19th century, Melbourne is a veritable boom town, as hopefuls from every corner of the globe flock to the gold fields of Victoria.

And where people crave gold, they also crave entertainment.

RIVALS OF THE STAGE
Enter stage right: brothers Will and Max Worthing and their wives Mabel and Gertie. The family arrives from England in the 1880s with little else but the masterful talents that will see them rise from simple travelling performers to sophisticated entrepreneurs.

Enter stage left: their rivals, Carlo and Rube. Childhood friends since meeting in a London orphanage, the two men have literally fought their way to the top and are now producers of the bawdy but hugely popular ‘Big Show Bonanza’. The fight for supremacy begins.

STRUGGLE BEYOND THE SPOTLIGHT
Waiting in the wings: Comedy, tragedy, passion and betrayal; economic depression, the Black Death and the horrors of World War One…

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'Mistress of the ripping yarn.' SUN-HERALD
'500 pages of perfect reading.' AUSTRALIAN WOMEN'S WEEKLY
'Perfect summer reading.' SYDNEY MORNING HERALD
'A master of what she does.' WEEKLY TIMES
'A stunning blockbuster.' WOMAN'S DAY
'A prolific writer of bestsellers.' THE AGE©2021 Judy Nunn (P)2021 Penguin Random House Australia 20th Century Historical Fiction World War I England Fiction
All stars
Most relevant  
not my sort of story struggled at first but when I got into it ok

personal taste

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took me a little bit to get into this book not being able to relate in any way to the characters in the early chapters and never having had a thearter experience. but as the story and characters developed, i couldn't stop listening.

Intergenerational character development

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I almost gave up at about chapter 4. Very slow start but improved from about half way. I found some of the accents in the reading to be quite irritating and over exaggerated. Not sure that I would recommend this one.

not what I expected

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Far too drawn out....struggled to persevere. Have enjoyed others by this author but would not recommend this one.

Disappointed.

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In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.