Mark Heller and Rebecca Robinson tell the story of the Carpenters’ meteoric rise to fame and Karen’s untimely death.

Karen Carpenter show comes to Hastings

Fans of the Carpenters are in for a treat when the Karen Carpenter show Yesterday Once More comes to the Opus Theatre in Hastings on 2 June. Nick Terdre reports.

For music fans everywhere, the Carpenters music was the soundtrack to the 1970s. Hauntingly beautiful songs like Close to You and We’ve Only Just Begun made Richard and Karen Carpenter international superstars.

Kent-based soprano Rebecca Robinson and pianist Mark Heller chart the meteoric rise to fame of the brother and sister duo in a show which takes its title from another of their classic numbers, Yesterday Once More.

Featuring many much-loved Carpenters songs, the show charts Karen’s extraordinary musical achievements, reveals the turbulent lives that lay behind the glamour and success, and tells the story of her long battle with anorexia which eventually led to her untimely death in 1983 at the age of 32.

Preparing for the show.

Yesterday Once More pays tribute to Karen Carpenter through song, story and video footage. Intimate piano and vocal arrangements showcase the Carpenters’ songs in all their poignant beauty.

A classically trained soprano, Rebecca Robinson has headlined at high-profile military events such as the Birmingham International Tattoo, the Deal Royal Marines Memorial Service and the Band of Liberation in Holland, as well as at many fundraising events.

She is regularly engaged to perform popular classical arias, songs from West End shows, wartime tunes, and a variety of jazz, country, contemporary and Disney songs.

Mark Heller, a classically trained pianist who took up piano at the age of five, is the driving force behind the Karen Carpenter story, and has been working to bring the stage show to audiences for the last five years.
Yesterday Once More: The Story of Karen and Richard Carpenter Saturday 2 June, 7.30pm at Opus Theatre, 24–25 Cambridge Street, Hastings TN34 1DS (opposite ESK). Tickets £12 plus booking fee from TicketSource or £15 on the door.

Also in: Music & Sound