Tauranga's Tarnished Frocks and Divas show gets feature-length documentary

Annie Crummer singing in the 2019 Tarnished Frocks and Divas show. Still from the movie Frocks and Divas.

"We shouldn't be put in a corner once we're 40 – we are more able to be ourselves at this age than we were at 25."

Those words from Jackie Clarke encompass the spirit of Tarnished Frocks and Divas, a biennial variety show in Tauranga that is the subject of a new, feature-length documentary in which Clarke spoke.

The event, which was started in 2005 by a group of women who had lost a close friend, has become a cultural institution in Tauranga.

The Frocks and Divas documentary follows the 2019 show, from the audition stages through rehearsals and on to showtime.

Film poster for the Frocks and Divas documentary.

The Bay of Plenty Times sat down with the directors, married couple Sass and Paul Innes, to discuss the film.

The pair moved to Tauranga from Melbourne in 2013 and wanted to be involved in the creative scene.

They approached Creative Tauranga and asked what was on, and were told about the show.

They created graphic design screens for the show and helped with the digital stage design for the shows since.

"We really got to know the [show creators] and the women involved with it," said Sass, "and we just felt like it was a story that should be told."

Models walking in the 2019 Tarnished Frocks and Divas show. Still from the movie Frocks and Divas.

Sass described the documentary as "a really feel-good, uplifting story about women and how beautiful they can be".

Paul said he was impressed by "the camaraderie" of the crew and cast "and how the women all banded together".

Sass said people are "hanging out to be involved" in the show - "these women get on stage, they feel empowered, they do this huge thing that they wouldn't have had the opportunity to do otherwise".

She said the show provides "the chance to step outside of everyday life and reconnect with your beauty and vivaciousness".

While Paul had to miss the documentary's premiere due to illness, Sass said it was "an amazing night".

Models walking in the 2019 Tarnished Frocks and Divas show. Still from the movie Frocks and Divas.

"It was just so cool to see everyone again, and to see a crowd sitting in the cinema.

"We've been sort of, like everyone else, holing up in our home studio riding out the pandemic, so it was like day and night going from that to actually seeing it out."

"We're just happy that it's out," said Paul. "We're really proud of it, it's just nice that we can share it with people."

Anne Pankhurst, chairwoman of the Tarnished Frocks and Divas Trust and an executive producer of the documentary, said watching it "makes [her] cry every time".

"It's just a lovely, lovely way of telling our story and showing...[the] huge amount that goes on behind [the scenes].

"They [the viewer] get to really understand the size and scale of this thing."

Frocks and Divas executive producer Anne Pankhurst.

As the show has grown in scale, Pankhurst said the creators have "never strayed far from what [their kaupapa, principle] means and how important it is to the show".

"It gives the women that are involved the opportunity to be on stage or involved in something that they would never normally get."

She said since the film was released, people have expressed their pride in having the show as part of Tauranga's culture.

"It's easy to compare it to other things that are happening around the country, but we just see it as an expression of us here in the Bay. We're really proud of that."

While the show is currently on hiatus due to Covid-19, Pankhurst said they are hopeful it could return next year.