By Mandy Oakham
Mark Holden is hoping to score a “touchdown” with the story of his family’s travelling circus in a colourful show at Drysdale’s Potato Shed tonight, Friday 24 March.
The original Holden Brothers, all 10 of them, played instruments and travelled with the circus all over Australia, but always returned to their own patch around Drysdale/St Leonards for the winter.
“I have developed this story from its roots in the beautiful Bellarine and I want to plant it back out there at the Potato Shed,” Holden said.
“And what is amazing about this story is that my family were entertaining the people through the circus from 1892 and here, more than 125 years later, there are still Holdens living in areas like Barwon Heads and Ocean Grove, still entertaining people with their music.”
The show, which is of course called The Greatest Show on Earth, is still in development as Holden continues to research the amazing adventures of this huge circus family.
“I will be singing songs on Friday night and showing pictures and I also want to reconnect with people who are still living in the area as I am sure there are people out there who will have stories to tell me,” Holden said.
“The thing that I love about my family is that they were all musicians and I’ve inherited that. It’s something that has lasted in our family for as long as there have been people in Victoria.”
The show will eventually feature characters such as a one-legged trapeze artist and circus founder Adolphus Holden.
Holden hopes to bring the completed show back to the Potato Shed later in the year.
One of the more poignant aspects of Friday night’s show will be the chance to hear the voices of the local Wathaurong people who were the original owners of lands around the Bellarine and who were dispossessed by the farming developments of families like the Holdens. A member of that community Mick Ryan will be performing alongside Holden on the night. The two have worked together on recording a song called Kill Parties which tells the story of the kill parties used to intercept the Wathaurong peoples as they travelled towards the coast.
Holden made his name in the mid-1970s as the good-looking, carnation-carrying pop star with hits like Never Gonna Fall in Love Again and Last Romance.
He would later gain fame – and notoriety – as a judge on Australian Idol and a contestant on Dancing with the Stars.
As well as telling his family’s story through pictures and songs, the 62 year old will spend the day conducting song writing workshops with students from local secondary colleges.
For details about the show contact 5251 1998.
