Move over Imelda Marcos !

Lang Hancock

Our favorite local Filipino gal made good Rose Hancock Porteous is about to be immortalised in song and on stage with the gala premiere of  Prix D’Amour (The Price of Love) a musical based upon the life of the former nurse and maid who snared the heart of her billionaire patient.

Prix D’Amour was written by  Paul Dion of Merimbula.and is to be presented at the local Twyford Hall  with a show that promises laughter, tears, singing and dancing. No mention yet if the beloved Rose's drug conviction for forging a script for sleeping pills features. Surely the incident is an ideal moment for a dreamtime sequence or a dramatic interlude, perhaps just at the end of the first half. 

The musical is based upon the book "Rose" by Robert Wainwright.

It poses the question : was Rose a gold-digger or was she a woman misunderstood by the values of two vastly different cultures?. The mind boggles.

This is the story of a woman who began life as a small town girl but became one of Australia's wealthiest and most eccentric socialites.

the Prix D'Amour cast

Rose was born in Silay City in the Philippines and was the granddaughter of a Philippine Revolution war hero. Her father was a friend of Ferdinand Marcos.

It has been claimed that loved blossomed between Rose and the ailing Hancock when she was watching TV reports of the dramatic fall of the Marcos regime that was broadcast live. At one stage after  the Marcos clan had scrambled aboard a US helicopter to flee to Hawaii, with a dozen Louis Vuitton suitcases crammed with US dollars- Imelda turning to her tearful and loyal servants proclaiming  "I leave with nothing but your love" diamond bracelets cascading down her wrist-.a camera crossed to the then Australian Foreign Minister Gareth Evans who was one of the first visitors to the former presidential palace. 

Evans described for the cameras the chaos he found as he toured the palace and his puzzlement on coming across Imelda's bedroom where he opened a chest and discovered a variety of brightly coloured objects, holding one one up for the viewers to reveal a very large purple veined dildo. Evans feigned ignorance as to the dildo's use wondering  aloud what Imelda could possibly do with such a strange object.. (Rose also has a collection of shoes just like Imelda).

Ms Hancock nee Lacson  flew in to a rage, issuing Filipino curses and hurled a vase at the telly.

Startled from his oxygen tent , the West Australian mining magnate Land Hancock shot up to see the fiery dark haired downstairs maid with eyes flashing in anger- love was borne and the rest is history.

In his later years Lang languished in the same bedroom  whilst his loving bride /nurse entertained Perth's elite in the downstairs ballroom of their love nest, Prix L'Amour, occasionally ushering a few into his bedroom like a tour group. Will all these wonderful moments be put to song and dance in Prix D'Amour ?.

Sadly Rose will not be attending the world premier. She is still recovering from a stroke late last year. Prix D'Amour opens on July 30th.

We bring you again some clips of our Rose in action and , click here to hear one of the wonderful toons from Prix D'Amour !