Annie gets intimate | Auckland Entertainment | Events, Movies and TV Guide for Auckland

Pop icon Annie Crummer has a new show with a more personal approach than ever, and a family connection. Sharu Delilkan writes.

Annie Crummer and Tama Waipara recently finished working on the Rent musical. Now they're in a more intimate setting, at Sale St, in a one-off show, Intimate with Annie Crummer. This also guest stars her dad, Will Crummer, with Leon Wharekura, Mana Farrell and Henry Taripo.

Annie is she's pleased Waipara will be "warming the stage for me with his opening solo set".

He's also looking forward to playing with the rest of the musicians in the second half.

Waipara says he sometimes struggles to stay focused in rehearsals because they're so much fun. But playful is hardly the word for Annie's work ethic during rehearsals. "She comes fully prepared, all homework done, three times over," he says. "And the thing I love the most is that She would never ask someone to do what she's not prepared to do herself."

Crummer and Waipara are excited about performing classic, warm songs of the past plus their originals, which they work on constantly. "I tell our backup singers, 'Think of yourself as being here as a lead vocalist'," says Crummer. "You need to bring your own flavour."

For Waipara, Annie's arrangements are the big draw. "They are so rich, like having a whole horn section on stage. Basically, the vocalists become the instruments in the band."

Above all, Crummer is thrilled to be working with her jazz musician father whom Waipara describes as the consummate performer. "He delivers the song from beginning to end. He makes every sound, every nuance and every movement count." 

Intimate with Annie Crummer, Sale St, 7 Sale St, Freemans Bay, Sept 9, 7.30pm Tickets: see www.eventfinder.co.nz/2010/sep/freemans-bay/intimate-with-annie-crummer