Category: Events

Cabaret, Events, Festivals, Performances, Whats On

THE RISE & FALL OF KITTY BANG: Melbourne Comedy Festival

Hello Kitty!

Let the fur and feathers fly!

After a sell-out preview season, the indefatigible and hilarious Kitty Bang is bringing her show back for the Melbourne International Comedy Festival.   With Rowland Brache at the keyboard, Andy Allardice on guitar, and burlesque comedian Kate Boston-Smith at her wonderful quirky best, The Rise and Fall of Kitty Bang will be sequining up the stage at the aptly named Tony Starr’s Kitten Club!

We’re looking forward to another season of full houses, fan-dancing, and feathery fun – aren’t we, Kitty?

Tony Starr’s Kitten Club
267 Little Collins St

8.00pm Wed   24 March
8.00pm Thurs 25 March
8.00pm Sun   28 March

6:30pm Tues  6 April
6:30pm Wed   7 April

Order of Melbourne
401 Swanston St

6:30pm Thurs 8 April

Final Show:

Open Studio
204 High St, Northcote

8.00pm Fri  16 April

ALL TICKETS $15/$12 at the door or Ticketmaster 1300 660 013

Check out Kitty on Facebook

Cabaret, Events, Festivals, Performances, Whats On

GRADUATE GOSSIP: March News

Hey Baby!

Our favourite yummy mummy of cabaret, the beautiful Lizzie Matjacic, has just become a mum again!   She gave birth last month to a gorgeous baby girl called Isobel, and little Benjamin (the inspiration for Lizzie’s cabaret From Here To Maternity) now has a new sister.   While we’ll be missing her treading the boards for a little while, Lizzie has always said her greatest role is being a mum – and we know she’s a star at that too!

In the Winner’s Circle

Stunning young singer/songwriter Tom Dickins continues to go from strength to strength!   From winning the Encouragement Award for Short+Sweet Cabaret 2008 and completing the Creating Solo cabaret course, Tom created his cabaret show “Where Was I?” that enjoyed several Melbourne seasons including headlining at The Butterfly Club for the Fringe Festival in 2009.  

 This was followed by a tour in the US with fellow artist Jennifer Kingwell, their formation of The Jane Austen Argument that has been performing recently as the support act for gigs with Amanda Palmer, and culminated with a season in Adelaide Fringe.   Where was I? – oh yes, Tom and Jennifer promptly won the award for Best Cabaret at Adelaide Fringe 2010!   Congrats, Tom!

Chickening Out…

Stand-up comedian and recent cabaret course graduate Christine Moffat will be making feathers fly for the Melbourne Comedy festival this week.   She’s playing a romantic hen in the Australia premiere of the weird and wonderful Serenade by award-winning Polish playwright Slawomir Mrozek.   In the tradition of Theatre of the Absurd, this parable about today’s cannibalistic social order is sure to see Christine really – well, playing chicken!

Cabaret, Events, Festivals, Performances, Whats On

St Kilda Laugh Festival presents THE RISE AND FALL OF KITTY BANG

Start your 2010 comedy festival with a bang!

A new comedy burlesque artist is exploding onto the Melbourne cabaret scene this month – and she’s going to be calling all the shots when her quirky new show opens next week.   Come meet Kitty Bang – the culmination of misguided post-puberty and a squandered decade of decadence, all done on a beer budget…

When the burlesque fan is dropped, what will the world really see?!

Kitty is the hilarious creation of comedian-singer Kate Boston Smith who graduated from the Creating Solo Cabaret course in 2009 and launched herself into the comedy circuit.   Six months later, she has written and produced her own show that is debuting with the St Kilda Laughs festival, and Kitty Bang is set to conquer the world with song and dance, tantrums and sequins – and just maybe a disco anthem or two!

Here Kitty, Kitty…!

You can befriend Kitty Bang in all her glory on Facebook, and with her first two shows selling fast already, you’ll want to book now for her second week of fabulous fan-dancing, fri-enemies and full-on fun:

Venue: The Butterfly Club,
                    204 Bank St, Sth Melbourne

Dates: 4 shows only, Tues 9 & Wed 10 Feb
                    Tues 23 & Wed 24 Feb

Tickets: $22.00 Full, $17.00 Conc
                    (beer budget price…)

Time: 8.00pm

Bookings: www.thebutterflyclub.com

 

(And – there will be feathers.   Oh yes.   There will be feathers…!)

 

Cabaret, Events, Performances, Whats On

THE LITTLE RED DRESS: Waiting By The Wireless

In war time, love, laughter and loss are all the fashion…

A colourful new cabaret debuts at The Butterfly Club this month – and it all began with a little red dress.

Young dynamic Melbourne artist Jenny Patrone is still tapping her toes after winning the Popular Choice award for Short+Sweet Dance 2009 recently, but is now taking a walk in someone’s shoes with her own cabaret show of WWII-style songs, based on amazing real-life stories of women in wartimes.

littlereddress

When Jenny started the Creating Solo Cabaret course earlier this year, she began investigating a period of history and music that had always fascinated her.   She soon uncovered real letters and private stories from the lives of British girls whose fun-loving, light-hearted teen years changed abruptly when their sweethearts, neighbours and brothers were called to enlist.

The Little Red Dress marks the moment when the world went back to war, and dance, song and laughter were needed to get daughters, sisters and lovers through long weeks of waiting by the wireless – hoping their boys come home soon, and fearing the worst every time a telegram arrived.   Starring Jenny Partrone, accompanied by Adrian Portell, guest-starring Adam Nunn and directed by Kim Edwards, The Little Red Dress opens at The Butterfly Club on Thursday November 26 until November 29.

JennyPatrone

 

The Little Red Dress

Tickets www.thebutterflyclub.com $17/22

Thurs-Sat 7pm, Sun 6pm

The Butterfly Club, 204 Bank St, Sth Melbourne

Enquiries 9690 2000

Cabaret, Events, Performances, Whats On

Mum’s The Word: FROM HERE TO MATERNITY

This long weekend, how about celebrating with something a bit different?

Why not treat yourself to a fun night out with the girls for the return season of this hilarious show?!

Here’s what the lovely lady herself has to say about it…

2

Dear Mums,

My name is Lizzie Matjacic and I’d like to tell you about my cabaret show!  

It’s a fun look at the trials and tribulations of being a mum, right from pregnancy through to mothering a toddler and beyond – with some great show tunes thrown in!   I am a mum with a 4 year-old son and am about to do it all again in February with my second, so this is my personal story and something I am hoping you will enjoy and relate to as a mother’s group.   So, grab your girlfriends and a babysitter for the night and come and have a relaxed and fun night of entertainment with me!

Love, Lizzie xxx

7

From Here To Maternity is a funny and nostalgic look at the joys of motherhood – from pregnancy tests and parenting tips to teething toddlers and tipsy teddy bears…

Lizzie has learnt that Mother doesn’t always know best, but it can sometimes be fun finding out!

Mum’s the word!

Written and performed by Lizzie Matjacic
Accompanied by Adeline Han
Directed by Kim Edwards

Thur-Sat 7pm 29-31 Oct, Sun 6pm 1 Nov

The Butterfly Club
204 Bank St, South Melbourne

Tickets $22/17
Bookings: www.thebutterflyclub.com
Enquiries: 03 9690 2000

On Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home#/event.php?eid=162777573072&index=1

Cabaret, Events, Performances, Whats On

A Remarkable True Story: THE PRICE OF GENIUS

A cabaret of Beethoven music?

You’re kidding, right?

The Price of Genius: A Daughter of the Revolution is the brainchild of Melbourne music academic Sally Collyer, and unites two of her passions: classical music, and an extraordinary untold story of a remarkable woman.

 Price of Genius MW

In an era of Beethoven’s music and Shelley’s poetry, and a time of great upheaval and revolt, Mary Wollstonecraft changed the world forever when she wrote A Vindication of the Rights of Women.  She married an anarchist, demanded sexual equality, and gave birth to both feminism and the famous Mary Shelley who wrote Frankenstein.

But …

Mary Wollstonecraft had another daughter.

This is her story.

 Price of Genius IC

The Price of Genius: A Daughter of the Revolution opens Thursday October 22 and runs until Sunday October 25 at The Butterfly Club in South Melbourne.   It stars the beautiful Ilsa Cook in the role written specifically for her, with renowned pianist Katherine Gillon at the piano, and is the most innovative and unusual cabaret you’re likely to see this year.

And the end of this story is guaranteed to stay with you long after the final chord has died away…

 

Ticket prices: $22 full / $17 concession or groups of 8 or more

Bookings: www.thebutterflyclub.com

Enquiries: 9690 2000

Performed by Ilsa Cook
Accompanied by Katherine Gillon
Directed by Kim Edwards

Music by Ludwig van Beethoven
Book and lyrics by Sally Collyer

Cabaret, Events, Festivals, Opportunities, Whats On

SHORT SWEET+CABARET: Submissions Close Soon

Only 10 minutes to perform a complete cabaret piece: are you up for the challenge?!

After its inaugural success last year, the Melbourne Short Sweet+Cabaret returns for November 2009, and submissions are closing soon for this cabaret version of the world’s most successful showcase event, Short And Sweet.

This is your last opportunity to participate in this ever-growing performance festival, and win exciting prizes, critical acclaim from an expert judging panel, and your audiences’ hearts!  

ShortSweetCabaret_web
*2008 winner Elenor Jane Adams, photo by Rory Fink

The deadline for entries is Monday September 7, and the event runs from Thursday-Sunday November 12-22 at Chapel Off Chapel in Prahan.

All forms of cabaret are welcome, but the genre itself emphasises innovation and imagination, so festival director David Read is particularly looking for “fresh but well thought-out ideas”.   He explains that, “aside from great prizes, Short Sweet+Cabaret provides performers with the opportunity to showcase their latest work, and acts as a launching pad to recognition and further opportunities.”

SS+Cabaret_logo

Venue, technical requirements and piano accompaniment (if required) are provided, and individuals or groups can apply.

So what are you waiting for?   That fantastic idea you had for a cabaret show would be perfect for a ten-minute performance, and Melbourne’s Short Sweet+Cabaret festival is the ideal opportunity  for you to make it happen!

To enter a submission, simply email a 100 word or less description of your 10 minute cabaret concept to david@shortandsweet.org together with your name, telephone number and a list of any props, technical and musical accompaniment requirements.

On Twitter: http://twitter.com/shortsweetcab

On Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=13830328820