Category: Cabaret

Cabaret, Events, Musical Theatre, Review, Whats On

REVIEW: The Production Company’s GUYS AND DOLLS

High-rolling fun

By Narelle Wood

What more can you ask for in a musical than gangsters, gambling, broads and the promise of salvation? Guys and Dolls, this year’s first of The Production Company’s annual three-show season, delivers all the cheek, humour and charm that this musical needs and a whole lot more.

The premise of the story is that Nathan Detroit (Adam Murphy) needs find a place and some funds in order to hold his ‘oldest established, permanent floating crap game’. Opportunist Detroit takes advantage of Sky Masterson’s (Martin Crewes) gambling nature and bets Masterson that he cannot persuade Sarah Brown (Verity Hunt-Ballard), the sergeant of the Save-A-Soul Mission, to go with him to Havana, Cuba.

Chelsea Plumley and Adam Murphy in Guys and Dolls

While Masterson’s in pursuit of Sarah, Sarah’s in pursuit of souls to save her mission, and Detroit is trying to save himself from getting married to his long-term fiancée, Miss Adelaide (Chelsea Plumley).

The casting is superb. I did find it initially difficult to see Hunt-Ballard as Sarah Brown rather than Mary Poppins, mainly due to both characters having similar attributes of refinement. However once Sarah and Masterson meet, the Poppins-ness completely dissolves. The character of Miss Adelaide has some of the best material of the show, including iconic songs such as “A Bushel and A Peck”, “Adelaide’s Lament”, and “Marry the Man Today”. It is Plumley’s ability to pull off the unique intonation of the Miss Adelaide character in both dialogue and song, along with the embodiment of a desperate doll in love, which makes Plumley’s performance a show-stealer.

Supporting the main cast is an equally strong chorus and production team, including stunning costume design by Tim Chappel and musical direction by Guy Simpson. The dancing throughout the instrumental version of “Luck Be Our Lady”, provided by the male members of the chorus, is exceptional, as is the performance of “Sit Down, You’re Rocking the Boat” which also showcases how effectively director Gale Edwards and choreographer Nathan M. Wright utilise the space.

The Production Company‘s shows are always a treat, and this production of Guys and Dolls is simply delicious.

Venue: State Theatre, Arts Centre, Melbourne
Season: 23rd to 26th July 7.30pm, 23rd July 1pm, 26th July 2pm, and 27th July 3pm.
Tickets: Full $48-$119 | Conc $24-$105
Bookings: http://artscentremelbourne.com.au/whats-on

Cabaret, Cabaret Review, Festivals, Performances, Whats On

REVIEW: Melbourne Cabaret Festival Presents I, DIVINE

Ambitious and exquisite art

By Bradley Storer

Out of the darkness in the Kew Court House came a delicate and lustrous four-part choral song, a ravishingly beautiful and mysterious ode that instantly enchanted the audience and transported us into the enigmatic world created by composer Caity Fowler and collaborator Emma Clair Ford in their new work, I, Divine. Two seemingly disparate figures, an ancient Grecian demi-goddess and a modern cyber-nerd, are drawn together through the medium of an internet chat room and forced to grapple with timeless ideas of fate, identity and the struggle to create your own destiny.

I Divine

The piece is less like traditional cabaret and more of an experimental chamber musical written for four voices (two unnamed singers sit side of stage and contribute further vocals to Fowler’s compositions). Fowler’s entirely a capella score is wonderfully wispy, throbbingly earthy, and exquisitely fluid as needed, the four voices combining and layering in continuously exciting ways.

Ford as the demi-goddess Otrera, a lost woman in search of meaning to her existence, is poised and graceful whilst being entirely charming, her wonderful singing voice remaining grounded and solid throughout. Fowler’s cross-gender turn as the nerdy Brett exquisitely captures the outward shell of adolescent obnoxiousness that the no longer-adolescent Brett has never really outgrown, softening slowly to reveal the pain and fear that prevent him from maturing. Her lighter, more delicate vocal tone gorgeously combines with Ford in several of the show’s songs.

I, Divine skilfully intertwines Brett’s comic book stories with the ancient myths of Otrera’s upbringing to reveal the threads of the meta-narrative, the archetypal hero’s journey, in both their own tales and the show itself. One of the great joys of the piece is slowly watching the two characters, who seem to be the most dissimilar people in the world, realise their own similarities – captured beautifully in one duet comparing the Grecian goddess Artemis to a high school physics teacher.

This wonderfully ambitious work deploys a fantastically original premise that, although could have run thin eventually, never overreaches or overstays its welcome. I, Divine gently explores the human drive for self-determination and meaning, ending with the optimistic and uplifting message that change and triumph over adversity is always possible, but only if a person is willing to fight for it.

Venue: Kew Court House, 188 High St, Kew
Dates: Thursday 26 to Sunday 29 June
Time: 7.00pm
Duration: 60 minutes approx
Ticket prices: $30, $27 conc, $24 ‘Friends of the Festival’ card ($5 extra on the door)
Booking: http://www.melbournecabaret.com, http://www.hawthornartscentre.com.au or at the door.

Cabaret, Comedy, Review, Theatre, Whats On

REVIEW: Lulu McClatchy is SUPERGIRLY

Sassy celebrity satire

By Myron My

I first saw Lulu McClatchy and Lyall Brooks on stage together last year in Neil LaBute’s play Fat Pig, and their chemistry back then was obvious. Now in Supergirly they are given more freedom to experiment and play and the outcome is even better than I could have anticipated: McClatchy and Brooks nail it.

McClatchy portrays our slightly (or extremely) delusional eponymous starlet who has relegated herself to staying indoors and reminiscing about her celebrity life, including her relationship with ex-boyfriend Robbie Williams. She has hired manservant Bradley Cooper (but not really Bradley Cooper) played by Brooks, who (for reasons of his own) humours and entertains Supergirly by dressing up as a number of celebrity visitors to her house. Brooks is clearly having a ball with the characters, including Bradley, and creates some highly memorable moments in his impersonations and dance routines.

Supergirly

The set design adds so much to the atmosphere of Supergirly: it’s reminiscent in equal parts of a bordello with its huge red curtains and ostentatious sofa, and of “Grey Gardens”, the home of famous eccentric mother/daughter pair Big Edie and Little Edie (from whom Supergirly herself seems to draw some inspiration).

McClatchy belts out her own interpretations of well-known songs by Katie Perry, One Direction, The Pussycat Dolls and the Spice Girls to name a few. She particularly lets rip with her Lady Gaga tunes where her mannerisms and facial expressions are beyond brilliant, but the highlights of the evening were still her Pet Shop Boys and Doris Day numbers.

At just over two hours long, I feel there was a need to cut some songs as the old adage of too much of a good thing does ring true here. Credit to McClatchy and Brooks though, their energy does not wane at all and each song they perform is treated like it’s the first of the evening.

Supergirly is an extremely fun show and no-one is safe when two seasoned performers like McClatchy and Brooks let loose their sparkling satire on the cult of celebrity and its followers. Even the audience gets a talking-to, but it’s all done in such a fun way that you end up really wanting to join the party on stage.

Venue: Chapel Off Chapel, 12 Little Chapel St, Prahran
Season: Until 8 June | Tues-Sat 8:00pm, Sat-Sun 4pm
Tickets: $39 Full | $30 Conc
Bookings: www.chapeloffchapel.com.au or 8290 7000

Cabaret, Cabaret Review, Events, Whats On

REVIEW: Hannah Day’s WEILL CREATURES

Into the dark…

By Jessica Cornish

In the appropriately atmospheric Butterfly Club, twenty-something-year-old songstress Hannah Day is currently staring in the one-woman cabaret Weill Creatures, composed from a tapestry of Weill’s musical creations.

Weill Creatures

The hour-long performance features the music of Kurt Weill, and dramatist Bertolt Brecht, and if you’re not familiar, the pair were notoriously known as the founding fathers of Episches Theater (the epic theatre movement) established in twentieth-century Germany. The majority of the numbers Day utilises are from well-known musicals such as The Threepenny Opera and Happy End, which were popular musicals of their day that appealed to the masses whilst retaining their literary and musical integrity.

Weill Creatures is sung in a mixture of French and English, which was an interesting decision as the original pieces were actually composed in German. Due to the Franglish, it was sometimes slightly difficult to grasp the story line, especially for those less familiar with the works of Weill and Brecht. This confusion was further deepened due to the various segueing monologues introducing and entering different characters’ lives.

Many of the characters portrayed are heartbroken women tormented by unrequited love, women who are suffering in the knowledge that their husbands have returned to a life of crime, women who are themselves swindlers and women forced to live a life of prostitution. It is quite an intense and serious hour of cabaret, which draws its audience dramatically and musically into the bleak reality of these women.

Similar to the plot, the lighting was ultimately a tad too dark for my liking: the performance could have benefited from a little more light and shade, rather than just the enduring darkness. Indeed, the big mystery of the evening, as articulated by my Weill enthusiast companion, was where was the “Mack the Knife” rendition went? With its blackly humorous lyrics and jazz-standard fame,  this Threepenny Opera delight could have added some needed upbeat relief and engaging familiarity in an otherwise grim and sombre performance.

Vocally, Day is impressive. Her words were well-articulated and notes, particularly in the higher register, were all well-executed. She had great projection and vibrato was added appropriately to colour the songs, nicely emulating the singing style of the 1930’s. She is clearly a confident young performer, with a strong support network and a definite future in the Australian musical theatre scene. Weill Creatures is definitely not for the faint-hearted, and I warmly applaud Hannah for exposing the daring and dramatic works of Weill to a new generation.

The Butterfly Club: Carson Place, off Little Collins St (between Swanston & Elizabeth) in the Melbourne CBD.

Tuesday 20 May 2014 8:00pm
Wednesday 21 May 2014 8:00pm
Thursday 22 May 2014 9:00pm
Friday 23 May 2014 9:00pm
Saturday 24 May 2014 9:00pm
Sunday 25 May 2014 8:00pm

Full $23
Concession $20
Groups (8+) $18

http://www.thebutterflyclub.com/show/weill-creatures

Cabaret, Events, Performances, Theatre, Whats On

REVIEW: The Lepidopters: A Space Opera at ARTS HOUSE

Wonderfully weird!

By Margaret Wieringa

Aliens, in the form of moths, have invaded and are breeding with humans to create human-moth hybrids to take over the Earth starting in Jakarta. Wow.

This bizarre collaborative work has been created by Slave Pianos, Punkasila and The Astra Choir, based on a comic book commissioned from science-fiction writer Max von Schlegell.

The_Lepidopters

When the audience enters the main hall at Arts House, they are immediately confronted by what appear to be two giant, deconstructed grand pianos dominating the central space. On a closer look, these are intertwined wooden structures containing a variety of gongs, and other percussion instruments, and they appear to be playing themselves.

These it turns out, are the Sedulur Gamelan or Gamelan Sisters, made up of a variety of redesigned traditional Javanese instruments. A little internet research reveals that this amazing contraption does indeed play itself. Even before the performance begins, Slave Pianos are creating ambient music. During the performance, they play a wide range of pieces both on their own and with the other performers, and this alone would have been enough to make attending this event worthwhile, but there was so much more!

Far from a traditional narrative structure, the performance is strung together over two hours with short spoken-word sections from Richard Piper who is playing a mysterious character reporting back on the events in Indonesia. The events of the story also play out in a disjointed series of videos, mostly strange animations, that run on large screens at either end of the hall. The audience is strung along the length of the room in an unusual pattern and, during the two brief intervals, is encouraged to change chairs and experience the event from a different angle.

The stunning work from the Astra Choir begins with some extreme discordant 32-part singing, and then journeys through far more traditional choral works. In the second act, we are introduced to Punkaslia from Yogyakarta, working with singer-dancer Rachel Saraswati to create their interpretation of the Lepidopters beginning the breeding process. We also get some jazz (not trad jazz, but a sort of post-modern insane style so appropriate to this performance) from pianist Michael Kieran Harvey.

The Lepidopters: A Space Opera is definitely not for everyone as this mysterious and remarkably busy show is extremely experimental and strange. In fact, a number of patrons clearly weren’t coping and left early… but it inspired a standing ovation from those who willingly remained to embrace the weird.

Venue: Arts House, North Melbourne Town Hall
Dates: Sat 12 3pm and 7:30pm and Sun 13 April 5pm
Tickets: $25 full/$20 conc/$15 student
Bookings: artshouse.com.au or 9322 3713

Cabaret, Festivals, Musical Theatre, Theatre, Whats On

REVIEW: Backwards Anorak Presents WINTER IS COMING

When you play a game of thrones, you sing or you lose…

By Margaret Wieringa

In hopes of getting work on the popular HBO series, a group of musical theatre graduates stage a musical interpretation of the television series Game of Thrones. Is that the plot or is that what is actually happening? Both, perhaps?

Crated and performed by Michelle Brasier, Vince Milesi, James Baker, Laura Frew and Leo Miles, Winter is Coming for this year’s MICF opens, appropriately, with the television theme played and sung with intense and hilarious gusto. We the audience are included as ensemble, though the real casting battle is between the five on stage. Who will be Ned Stark, Jon Snow, Hodor, though most importantly: who will be Khaleesi?

Winter is Coming

The war is being waged between the performers: the quietly spoken musician, James, (spending his off-time in the performance catching up on his Game of Thrones reading) and the understudies, Laura and Leo, but ultimately it is the two leads who must contest the final battle; Vince vs Michelle, and the winner will be the mother of dragons.

The show seems to break so many rules; but in breaking them, the humour flows. Often, the five actors talk over each other, and the hilarity comes in when a single line or even a single word is distinguished. There are “in” jokes galore, yet as someone not in the know, I felt included. I found myself laughing at comments without really knowing what was funny. Throughout the show the focus was split, sometimes up to five different ways. That shouldn’t work; but here it does.

And, don’t forget, it is a musical. The Music Room at Trades Hall is small, but these adorable performers fill up every space with their ridiculous antics, including some pretty impressive dance routines. The choices for the songs were at times unpredictable, including the duet of Khaleesi and Samwell.

Highlights? So many. The baby in the blanket, the dragons, the totally cringe-worthy yet magnificent representation of Tyrion, the foray into Narnia, the swordfight… If you have seen Game of Thrones, and especially if you love it, then you must get yourself to this show.

Venue: Trades Hall (The Music Room)
Season: Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays from March 27-April 19 at 10:45pm
Tickets: $22/$17

Bookings: http://www.ticketmaster.com.au/ or call 1300 660 0131300 660 013

Cabaret

REVIEW: Danielle Matthews in WHERE DO I BEGIN? – The Voice of Shirley Bassey

Divas are forever

By Margaret Wieringa

The Las Vegas showroom was dark. The band was ready. Then Shirley Bassey walked onstage, greeted the crowd like old friends, and a night of musical magic commenced. In truth, it wasn’t actually Vegas, and it wasn’t actually Shirley Bassey, but it sure felt like it was.

Where Do I Begin

Our Shirley for the night was Danielle Matthews, a diva in a magnificently sparkly red dress. Her wit and banter was perfectly timed, but it was when she sang that she took my breath away. What a voice!

In Where Do I Begin?, writer Matthew Robinson matched stories of Bassey’s life with many of her classic songs. Telling of the loss of her daughter led into the tragic “If You Go Away”, a rendition that had both Matthews and the audience in tears. And whilst the songs were amazing, I felt there could have been even more of the story of her life.

The musicians for the evening were the Footscray-Yarraville City Band, led by band musical director Phillipa Edwards and musical director Adam Przewlocki. The band were tight throughout, but it was like a fire was lit when “History Repeating” started. Bam! When I could draw my eyes away from Ms. Matthews, I saw a group of musicians who could match the power of the singer without overwhelming her. There were also lots of lovely little moments where band members had solos. It was a shame that their big moment was overshadowed by the powerful front lady, but the layers created only added to the overall fabulousness of the performance.

Waiting in anticipation for an encore, the band played and the lights flashed. A quick note about this – lights onto the audience can be awful. Especially in a small venue with quite bright, blinding lights… Luckily Bassey/Matthews returned, resplendent in another, magnificent red dress with a fabulous boa and stunning jewelry. By this stage, I was getting terribly concerned that, somehow, “Goldfinger” was going to be missed. Thank goodness, no.

If there is any chance you can get to this show, do. And keep the name Danielle Matthews in mind; surely, she has greatness ahead of her.

Manilla Street Productions presents Where Do I Begin? – The Voice of Shirley Bassey

Venue: Chapel off Chapel, 12 Little Chapel Street, Prahran

Dates: 23-24, 30-31 March, 8pm

Price:  $45 /$40 Conc

Tickets: (03) 8290 7000(03) 8290 7000(03) 8290 7000(03) 8290 7000 or www.chapeloffchapel.com.au

Cabaret, Cabaret Review, Music, Whats On

REVIEW: Will Packvance’s ANATOMY OF THE PIANO

Dramatic musical dissection in harmony with delicate endearing dialogue

By Myron My

Will Pickvance has brought his critically acclaimed and sell-out show from the 2013 Edinburgh Fringe Festival to Australia, and all I can say is how fortunate I feel to have been able to see this brilliant performance.

Anatomy of The Piano

In Anatomy of The Piano, Pickvance presents the physical, emotional and spiritual inner workings of the piano in a whimsical and ethereal way. His presence on stage is so relaxed and serene that you are instantly swept up for the ride as he tells his stories and sings his songs around the dissection of a piano. We begin with the skin of the piano: its largest “organ”, and how it protects the piano from “toddler invasion, curiosity blunders and drunken burns”. As we delve further into the dissection, descriptions become more and more detailed until it feels like we are, in fact, taking apart a living thing – a real character.

Throughout the show, Pickvance uses a projector on the other side of the stage to display various diagrams, charts and drawings of pianos. It creates the didactic feeling of being a child again and the simple black and white drawings bring a level of innocence and open-eyed wonder to the possibility of what can be – and now I can admit I finally know the actual difference between a grand piano and an upright piano…

The finale had audience members shouting out for an encore: Pickvance kindly obliged and took us out with a highly impressive final play on the upright piano (see what I did there?) Anatomy of The Piano is not a show where a lot happens but the eloquence and poetry of Pickvance’s words combined with his spectacular piano skills ensured that his audience and I remained highly enthralled by this performance.

Venue: The Butterfly Club, 256 Collins St (entry via Carson Place), Melbourne

Season: Until 23 January 7:00pm, Sun 6:00pm.

Tickets: $28 Full | $25 Conc

Bookings: http://www.thebutterflyclub.com

Cabaret, Cabaret Review, Performances, Whats On

REVIEW: Greg Peterson’s SONGS IN THE KEY OF ME

A stage cast and songbook of significant talent

By Narelle Wood

Songs in the Key of Me does not just have an awesome title: it also has a selection of songs with music and lyrics by a very talented Greg Peterson. In just over one hour we were given a taste of a variety of musical genres from Peterson’s repertoire, including heart-break ballads, Broadway tunes and even a little bit of self-proclaimed lame country and western that demonstrates just how ridiculous country and western lyrics can be.

Songs in the Key of Me

Providing the vocals for this show are Adam Bianco and Samantha Du Rennes. Bianco starts the show with the title song, “Songs in the Key of Me”: a brilliantly-orchestrated Broadway number that explores the glitz and glamour of the stage and how easy it is for a performer to become lost in the moment. Bianco is a clear embodiment of this sentiment throughout the show, giving his all to every song no matter what the genre or performance style is required.

Du Rennes has an amazing vocal range, and the power with which she sings the James Bond-esque espionage song, “A Secret to Die For”, would make Shirley Bassey proud. Whilst Du Rennes has a strong voice, she sometimes lacks the charisma of Bianco and their relationship seems a little more brother-and-sisterly than the intimate relationship required by the stronger love ballads. Du Rennes’ strongest performance by far is “The Things I Left Behind”, which clearly has personal meaning for her.

Danny Forward provides accompaniment on the keyboard and deals deftly with some of the very complicated, fast-paced and intricate orchestrations required by Peterson’s songs. At times the intricacy of the orchestrations do seem to be competing with the vocal performances, although this may be due to the acoustics of the room and the gusto with which Bianco, Du Rennes and Forward perform. It is great to see Bianco and Du Rennes playfully interacting with Forward throughout the show. This provides some cohesiveness to a cabaret that does sometimes feel a little disjointed with Bianco and Du Rennes coming on and off the stage.

I would have liked the show to have finished with a full encore of “Songs in the Key of Me” as this was by far my favourite number of the night along with Peterson’s ‘coming out song’; both these pieces have clear similarities to some of the great Broadway musical numbers of the past which is especially evident in Peterson’s clever use of word play. Songs in the Key of Me hits just the right note and is well worth a look.

Venue: The Butterfly Club, Carson Place, CBD

Times: Until 16th Feb, Wednesday and Sunday 8pm, Thursday, Friday and Saturday 9pm

Bookings: http://www.thebutterflyclub.com/shows

Cabaret, Cabaret Review, Events, Performances

REVIEW: Sophie Miller in TIT ON A PLATE

Award-winning cabaret show isn’t for everyone

By Jessica Cornish

Last night I ventured through the ridiculous heat down to my beloved Butterfly Club, to see people’s choice award winner of the 2012 Short & Sweet Cabaret Festival, Sophie Miller. Miss Miller starred in the one-woman 40-minute cabaret, accompanied only by her keyboard and two glasses of wine.

Sophie Miller Photo Credit: Michelle Dunn

I always admire people who put in the extraordinary effort to create their own cabaret shows- and have the guts and drive to perform the piece to the public. And as much as I admire that, I hate to say it but Tit On A Plate just didn’t do it for me. I mean I can have a laugh at the misfortunes of others just as well as the next person- but some material just made me a bit too uncomfortable to enjoy. For instance, comparing Channing Tatum to someone who reminds you of a person with Down Syndrome, and other remarks about ‘handicapped’ members of our society, was frankly too much for me.

Apart from feeling awkward for most of the show, I’m happy to say I did get to enjoy a couple of comic and creative snippets: I certainly laughed at some of the twitter statuses she compiled into the #fml song when accompanying herself on a i-pad version of a keyboard. There was also a fun guided meditation that asked its audience to float off into their imagination at some beautiful seaside- just as long as it wasn’t St Kilda beach, which was pretty amusing for the locals.

Sophie had a strong and appealing speaking voice, and engaged her audience well through her short monologues, but this same presence was lost in her songs. Her singing voice seemed quite weak and lacked strength and control. The overall show also seemed like a random scrapbook of different ideas that had been cut and pasted together. I feel that I didn’t really come away with any understanding of her life as a person, or her experiences. Nor was there a any type of storyline or theme woven through the songs or mildly linking everything together. Even the title of the show Tit On A Plate had absolutely no relevance to the performance as Miller admitted herself in the opening couple of minutes.

However, there were a couple of girls sitting across the aisle from me, and were in stitches the entire show. In fact they were enjoying it so much, I sometimes found it hard not to watch them instead of Sophie. So clearly it just wasn’t a show for me – but for some, as her people’s choice award would also attest, Tit on a Plate was clearly beyond hilarious.

Ticket Price:
$20 Full
$18 Concession
$18 Group (8 or more)
Dates: Tues 4th to Sunday 9th Feb
Time: Thurs, Fri, Sat at 9pm, Tues,Weds,Sun at 8pm
Venue: www.thebutterflyclub.com