Category: Performances

Cabaret, Performances, Review

Jude Perl is PART OF THIS COMPLETE BREAKFAST

Saccharine satire at its best

 By Joana Simmons

She’s smart, she’s sweet and she’s a really talented treat. Jude Perl: Part of This Complete Breakfast is a musical comedy that’s going to be stuck in my memory for all the right reasons. Having won a Green Room Award at MICF in 2015, sold out shows at two consecutive MICFs and has just released an album “Modern Times” with a Grammy-Award winning producer, Jude Perl is delighting audiences all over the shop with her deliciously original truthful songs and candid banter.

TBC-Jude-Perl-Part-of-This-Complete-Breakfast.jpg

Beginning with a song about having 10 seconds to convince us we need this product, it only takes about 30 seconds for me to realise this woman has got something worth listening to. Her rad vocals and clever lyrics make it even easier. From the get go, she opens up her head and lets us into her tasty, colourful and weird world. Through song, voice-over and breaking-down-the-fourth-wall casual conversation about her journey from writing jingles for “Sugar O’s” to making her own album, we see her views on advertising, equality, sexualisation of the music industry, ethics and race, which are current and topical without being in your face. She darts between conversation with music biz agents voice-overs, songs and honest thoughts and theories (“loneliness equals comedy”). The voice-over’s absurd dialogue provides a loose thread throughout. She shows us, not tells us, what it’s like to have dreams, be told to follow them and realise that “following your dreams” isn’t always the best advice; rather it’s a vague message that is dangerously put out into the world for the next cult leader to pick up and follow, much to the detriment of the greater good.

Jude has the almost capacity audience singing back to her when asked and cackling and cheering throughout. Her clever play on irony to helps us realise reality; stark truths, like how having a career as a female popstar means you won’t be judged by your looks and you are able to write songs that have meaning, not ones about watermelons and sadness (right?) The song styles are as varied as a tasting platter where you like every item on it. Accompanying herself on the piano, her voice is bright and soulful, mastering runs, full belt and some gravelly heartfelt quality during her heartbreak ballad. It all comes to a climax when she sings about looking back on who she was, if she was a good person, how we can’t please everyone and sometimes you have to buy a dress that costs $5.99 even though you know “it’s made by a five year old in a five story building with no fire exit.” We are all thinking it, our laughter is genuine and uncomfortable, as we are guilty too. That’s what good artists do. They open up about something in themselves that we have somewhere in us too, and put their special sparkle on it so we can laugh and sigh about it.

It’s not easy to keep a solo show with piano, pop, voice-overs and stand-up seamlessly structured and able to make complete sense at the same time, but when it is, it’s magical. Her voice overs show real characterisation, I could imagine what the character who the voice belonged to looked like, and Jude’s interaction with them made it feel like they were onstage with her. We believed they were there because she did. Her clever creative command of the juicy content was so well delivered I want to see it all over again.

Sunday was her last performance of a killer run. I can’t wait till I have the next opportunity to experience Jude’s perls of wisdom and melodic magic. Look out for her, buy her album, go crazy before her career gets crazy successful. Jude Perl: Part of This Complete Breakfast is authentic, witty and wonderful.

Jude Pearl: Part of This Complete Breakfast was performed at The Butterfly Club, 6th – 11th of September, 2016. For upcoming performances, visit: http://www.judeperl.com/

 

Cabaret, Performances, Whats On

Ellis Productions Presents AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS

Frantic and frivolous fun

By Rebecca Waese

Adapted from Jules Verne’s 1873 novel, this production of Around the World in 80 Days (reinvented for the stage by Toby Hulse and directed by Terence O’Connell) is light-hearted, silly, and farcical fun. While the tone is inescapably dated in its colonial attitudes of English superiority, it has much to offer viewers who like slapstick comedy and don’t take stereotypes too seriously.

Around the World in 80 Days.jpg

The play is self-aware, tongue-in-cheek and colludes with the audience at the impossibilities and the joys of staging such a massive production with just three actors playing 39 parts. Full of frenetic adventures and running gags, the play transports you back to the Great Victorian Age where Englishman Phileaus Fogg, (Ian Stenlake) wagers a fortune that he can circumnavigate the globe in just 80 days with his servant Passepartout (Pia Miranda) by his side. They are pursued throughout the adventure by Inspector Fix from Scotland Yard (Grant Piro) who is convinced that Fogg is a bank robber on the run.

Pia Miranda, as Passepartout, brings animated energy to the role and shows a knack for physical comedy. Grant Piro, is a stand-out as the obsessive Inspector Fix but even more captivating in his role as the storyteller with an illuminated map hat who guides the audience to imagine the journey through time and space, conjuring up so much with so little. Stenlake is a steady Fogg who may have been overshadowed on the night by the zeal and energy of the other outrageous characters but conveys a sense of the importance of order convincingly.

Merinda Backway’s set design is inventive and versatile using only a few crates and railings to create the elaborate transcontinental train, a ship, and one particularly delightful and wild hidden surprise. Lauren Richie’s gorgeous hats are worth a mention, adorned by miniature trains, binoculars, and other intricate symbols of the Victorian age.

Undoubtedly, Fogg’s Orientalist view of the world is outdated in 2016, and the Indian and Chinese accents rely on age-old wince-worthy stereotypes that reflect the time in which the novel was written. However, the scene in which Grant Piro plays the Indian Princess in drag at the end of the play is, unexpectedly, one of the finest moments of the show. Pico’s Indian Princess and Stenlake’s Fogg carry the audience’s hopes up in the air with them as Fogg leaves behind some of his earlier inhibitions and enjoys, with some subversive self-reflexivity, a bit of romance that has the audience rallying for him and his masculine princess.

The play is suitable for older children and fans of slapstick and physical humour but one scene may not be appropriate for young children, where the Indian princess widow is drugged and just about to burn on her husband’s funeral pyre before Passepartout performs a dramatic rescue. If old-fashioned farce is your cup of tea, this is fun physical humour from a simpler time of storytelling.

Around the World in 80 Days is playing at Alex Theatre in St. Kilda, Tues Aug 23- Sept 4 at 7:30 with matinees on Sat (2 pm) and Sun (3 pm).

Tickets: http://premier.ticketek.com.au/shows/show.aspx?sh=AROUNDTH16

Image by James Terry

Rebecca Waese is a Lecturer in Creative Arts and English at La Trobe University.

Music, Performances, Whats On

Finn and Porter’s THE FIERY MAZE

Sink into the music

By Leeor Adar

Twenty years later and the unburied treasure of Tim Finn and Dorothy Porter surfaces into a smoky, enchanted space at the Malthouse’s Beckett Theatre. It’s a minimalist space with a ring of lights surrounding the performing trio, Tim Finn, Brett Adams, and Abi Tucker.

The Fiery Maze.jpg

Tucker howls and serenades us with Porter’s visceral and haunting words, as if the very spirit of Porter possesses Tucker. Tucker’s performance is moody and earthy, and she breathes life with her voice into the stories of the stormy, moon-gazing kind of love that evokes something forgotten in her audience. Like quicksand, we are enveloped into the private world of Porter.

Finn’s music is gorgeous, and we expected it. Brett Adams on guitar is a revelation, and a perfect suitor for the music. The real core shakers, This World, My Magic Friend and Black Water are interspersed with the jagged energy of New Friends, Bride Doll and Making You Happy. Each song delivers a truth behind the kind of love that we remember and carry even if it’s not in our very present. Porter’s words are utterly relatable, even if we can’t admit it. Like in January, we hope for a tomorrow that may bring us something new, something better. Understandably, even decades later, Tucker asked after Black Water, wanting to revisit the music and words that never left her from that recording in 1995.

As an audience we feel no different. With Black Water still swimming in my veins, I too want to return to the balmy darkness of The Fiery Maze.

It’s a real treat for those seeking a soulful experience with this unique blend of poetry and music by world-class artists.

The Fiery Maze continues until 4 September at the Malthouse Theatre: http://malthousetheatre.com.au/whats-on/the-fiery-maze

Image by Pia Johnson

Cabaret, Events, Performances, Review

Metanoia Theatre Presents MILK BARS

Engaging and evocative nostalgia

By Narelle Wood

Just as the title suggests, Milk Bars explores that iconic Australian fixture of the milk bar, its place in Australia’s past and its potentially questionable future.

Milk Bars

This is not your average theatre show though; it’s performance art. Over the course of an hour and a half, the audience are guided from room to room to witness different performances and art installations that all, in some way, explore the idea of the milk bar.

The performances range from Elnaz Sheshgelani’s exploration of pre-Islamic Persian storytelling to Janette Hoe’s movement and mime pieces to a heart-felt talk presented by Domenic Greco, the executive Director of CAMBA. Each performance adds another perspective to the milk bar experience. Hoe transforms herself into a milk-bar owner, contrasting the talkative and perky behind-the-counter persona with the personal struggles that occur behind the scenes. Shane Grant’s monologue, beginning with advertising catchphrases that he and Zayn Ulfan shout at each other from across the room, documents the sacrifice and hard work of milk bar owners especially in a time of modernisation.

The theme across all performances is definitely this hard work and sacrifice in the face of an unknown future, thanks to globalisation and giant supermarket chains. But amidst this are stories of new immigrants finding their place in new communities and the sense of community and belonging that a milkbar can provide.

Each of the performances in themselves were fantastic, and as an ensemble, left me profoundly nostalgic for the local corner store where you could buy a massive bag of mixed lollies for 20 cents and buy your mum a packet of ciggies because the shop lady knew you. This is in no small way due to the setting of Milkbars, which under the artistic direction of Gorkem Acaroglu, transports you back to what appears to an authentic  1970’s milk bar. There are Big M calendar ads on the wall, an obligatory Chico Roll ad, Tarax pineapple soda in the fridge, and you can also purchase your very own bag of mixed lollies.

This isn’t the sort of show I’d normally gravitate towards, but the mixture of art installations, performances and movement between spaces was a really fascinating way of reflecting upon what the milk bar means to you personally, as well as to the performances and Australia culture.

 Milk Bars was performed at The Mechanics Institute, 270 Sydney Rd, Brunswick, from July 27 – August 6, 2016

Performances, Theatre, Whats On

Anthony Weigh’s EDWARD II

Tender chaos

By Leeor Adar

For all the chaos of Christopher Marlowe’s brief life, I’m sure he would have sat in the Merlyn Theatre last night with a wicked smile on his face to see the tender chaos Matthew Lutton and his team resurrected.

Edward II.jpg

But let’s be honest, with Anthony Weigh’s writing and Marg Horwell’s impressive set design, this work is a beast of its own glory.

The play is broken into the fragments of the artefacts the boy prince (Julian Mineo/Nicholas Ross) inspects from his father’s reign. The noble handle of a sword and handkerchief descends to a bag of faeces left at the palace gates. The frames of the scenes marked by the flint and steel of the lighter, signify the brief candle of these moments leading towards Edward II’s fall.

Edward II is a museum to the hypocrisy of the people’s love for their monarch. It’s a cold world, but despite the blood and pulp of the people within it, at the core of this rotten apple of yet another kingdom, is the most tender love story between two men I have ever witnessed on stage. Johnny Carr (Ned) and Paul Ashcroft (Piers) capture the heady, shaking, vulnerability of the impossible-to-bottle kind of love. Their energy was marvellous on stage.

Ned’s brutality and unpredictability at first drove this production, but even the bubbling inner-workings of an unstable prince could not quash the ambitions of the likes of Mortimer, played with mastery by Marco Chiappi. When Chiappi got going on Weigh’s words, it became Mortimer I. For all the sweat and passion of Carr and Ashcroft, Chiappi’s delivery drew the masses into the palm of his hand – audience and peasant alike. Even as Mortimer lulled a sensually delusional Ned towards death, we could not help but accept the sensibility of this decision. Because tomorrow, we will have another king.

The woman’s role in Edward II is to nurture the next king, but Sib (Belinda McClory) laments the loss of her potential in this world. Although Sib plays the role of the queen-to-be, there is ambition pulsing through her sinewy body for a surge of control. McClory’s voice is hollow and powerful as she pushes her lover aside and walks with purpose across the stage. But at the close of this play, she’s exhausted, calling out, unanswered, into the kingdom she birthed but could not rein.

The Malthouse Theatre has always been the Marlowe-esque bad boy of the Melbourne theatre world, challenging the dimensions of theatre and immersing its audiences in treacherous and thought-provoking terrain. This one such terrain was bold, decadent and ultimately heartbreaking.

Malthouse Theatre until August 21

http://malthousetheatre.com.au/whats-on/edward-ii

Cabaret, Performances, Whats On

The Butterfly Club Presents SIMON TAYLOR DOES A WHOLE BUNCH OF COOL STUFF

He sure does

By Joana Simmons

He’s suave, he’s stellar, he’s spellbinding. He’s Simon Taylor and he is an abundance of talent and charm in his one-man show- Simon Taylor Does a Whole Bunch of Cool Stuff. Let me just say here, the title lives up to and exceeds its name in this well-structured, well-timed and well-isn’t-he-lovely show.

Simon Taylor

Opening with an epic escape act, he lights up the stage and the faces in the audience (quite a few, considering it’s a cold Tuesday night.) Simon is charming and charismatic, warming us up with some great banter, tales of his life in his new home, Los Angeles, and a trick he learned at The Magic Castle. I was the lucky one who was escorted onto the stage to pick the card, and I couldn’t believe how the magic unfolded. Card tricks aside; Simon Taylor is the Jack-of-all-trades. The things that come out of his mouth, some magic, some musical, are all delivered with skill and energy.  It’s showmanship at its best.

By about 20 minutes in, the audience is thoroughly on board and joining in the sing-a-long to Amy Winehouse’s “Valerie”, providing backing vocals, and whooping and gasping for all of Simon’s moves in all the right places. In a show like this, it’s hard not to be won over, with our host’s honest funny anecdotes and obvious enjoyment of what he’s doing. We have fun because he does. He tells us how he’s excited to be back at The Butterfly Club as it’s where he made his debut seven years ago, and the first stage he sang upon – and he’s been having lessons since. Simon was accompanied by Louise Goh and even played himsel:, vocally the notes were there, though I can’t wait to hear the resonance and fullness as his voice continues to develop.

The US is extremely lucky to have an export who is the whole package. With magic, music, stories and funnies; Simon Taylor Does A Whole Bunch of Cool Stuff is a show you could take anyone to and they will love it. Hell, you can even go by yourself because by the end of it you’ll feel like you, Simon and the audience are a bunch of mates, sharing this incredible experience that’s a live entertainment extravaganza. It’s on till Sunday, book today.

Date: 7th of August, 2016

Time:8:30pm

Location: The Butterfly Club, Carson Place, Off Little Collins Street, Melbourne

Price: From $25­

Bookings: TheButterflyClub.com

Cabaret, Performances, Review

The Butterfly Club Presents DAVE AND THE PLUSHIES

Cuddly comedy unites stunning talent and stuffed toys

By Joana Simmons

If your face is sore from smiling when you walk out of the theatre, it’s a sure sign you have seen a good show. I am lucky enough to have caught Dave and the Plushies at The Butterfly Club in his “On the Road to 2nd” show:  a bunch of his songs from his first album (1st) and a few from his second. Dave, and his band, the Plushies- a cute collection of nostalgic stuffed toys- make real talk romantic, with songs about love, dreams, pick-up lines and Lord of the Rings.

Dave and The Plushies.jpg

Opening with a comical and well-produced music video projected on the back screen – the saga of “Superhero Asian” – I am caught up at once in the clever lyrics and smart storytelling. Dave emerges “(W)apping in slow motion” and immediately puts the audience at ease by connecting with them through his catchy chorus and relaxed command of the stage. Dave introduces his band, the Plushies, which don’t really serve any purpose except making the stage look good. Any band that makes a singer look good without doing anything is a great thing: not that Dave needs it.

This man’s imagination for song concepts is as grand and admirable as his vocal range. The audience is quickly tapping their toes, making monkey noises, and sighing through each song. His guitar-playing and musicality makes perfect accompaniment for this intimate evening, I loved how his audience banter was the right amount of witty and quick and the audience loved it too, participating at the right times and one even yelled out to him, “All your friends are here!”

It’s easy for a show of this genre- one man singing funny songs and playing his guitar- to get monotonous. Dave breaks it up with an animated video clip, this time a love story. Just when I think my ‘warm and fuzzy tank ‘ is full, it’s topped up with light and honesty from the heart. The energy in the room is evident, raised by moments of physical comedy and more songs with choruses that get stuck in your head. Finishing with an energetic dance number “I Wanna Dance with You, Davey”, the audience and I need no prompting to burst into applause and begs for an encore.

When a second season is announced, wait no longer and get to this show. It’s clever, honest, romantic and fun for all ages. With skillful playing, a delightful voice and vocal range, and great comic timing, it’s fair to say talent wise; Dave is a Royal Plush.

Dave & The Plushies: On The Road to 2nd was performed Tuesday 28th of June – Sunday 3rd of July, 2016 at The Butterfly Club. For more information: https://www.facebook.com/daveandtheplushies/?fref=nf

Image by Davidoff Hoanganova

Cabaret, Performances, Review

Vince Milesi in LET DINKY DIE

Battlefield cabaret is farcical fun

By Myron My

Friends, cobbers and diggers, Dinky Di is here to tell you a story: a story about war and patriotism and conviction. From his flamboyant foxhole, Dinky opens up to the audience through comedy, cabaret and some interesting dance moves.

Let Dinky Die.jpg

Vince Milesi, co-founder of award-winning comedy duo Backwards Anorak, wrote and performs in Let Dinky Die and he clearly has a knack for the absurd and the farcical. While this type of humour can be hit or miss, Milesi hits all the right marks with his audience, including me. His ease and comfort in playing Dinky is evident, and with that confidence comes the pleasing element of surprise for the audience, as we never quite know what Dinky is going to say or do next. 

While there are plenty of laughs, the story being told seems to waver at times, with things happening or being mentioned that often don’t lead anywhere, such as when Dinky starts rifling through an audience member’s handbag: why, I wondered, are we as an audience being shown this? Furthermore, I feel there is not enough reflection from Dinky and his thoughts on the purpose of this war. If his dilemma is to decide if he should wait for reinforcements or fight a battle he is bound to lose, then that needs to be explored in more detail.

However, there are times when Let Dinky Die does move beyond the ‘just-for-laughs’ moment and brings to the surface the more serious effects of war. The letter he pens to his mother is not only funny, but also raises the issue of innocent civilians being killed and how they are manipulated or regarded as collateral damage in a war in which they have no say.

As a first-season run, Let Dinky Die is a great comedy show, but if it wants to challenge preconceived ideas of patriotism, duty and war as Milesi states, then it needs to dig a little deeper into this digger’s psyche.

Let Dinky Die was performed at The Butterfly Club, 5 Carson Place, Melbourne from June 29 until July 3, 2016

Performances, Review, Whats On

Arts House Presents TRILOGY

An incredible exploration of modern feminisms

By Myron My

Before Trilogy begins, Nic Green appears on stage to inform us that due to unforeseen circumstances, her co-performer Laura Bradshaw would not be participating this evening. Rather than cancel it, Green has fortunately decided to make some changes to allow the show to work. I say fortunately because Trilogy ends up being a brilliant feminist performance art piece on women reclaiming their bodies and their rights, and it would have been an absolutely shame to miss out on this experience.

Trilogy

The first part of Trilogy examines how women’s bodies are presented in the public eye and how women view their own bodies. Green begins with a humorous cheer-leading routine that eventually turns into a group of about thirty Melbourne women performing a dance with a freer choreography. However, these volunteers are naked and cover all shapes, sizes, ages and race. They dance joyfully and connect with each other, allowing all their body parts to move along to the music uninhibited. These women are proud and will not conform to the expectations that they must be quiet and passive. It is a physical celebration of women and their bodies, of being a woman and of what it means to be a woman.

Part two focuses on the historical context of feminism with use of the documentary Town Bloody Hall, a debate on women’s liberation that took place in 1971 and was moderated by Neil Mailer. The panel of feminists included Germaine Greer and Jill Johnston and excerpts of their speeches are projected onto the screen. Joining Green on stage are Murray Wason, Bron Batten and Candy Bowers, and together they share their own experiences of gender roles and expectations and how these moments shape how society forms. What is revealed is the stark realisation of how much further we’ve got to go for equality and representation, despite how far we have seemingly come.

The third section, which appears to be most affected by Bradshaw’s absence, has Green giving a lecture on women creating their own “herstory”. Using the English hymn Jerusalem by William Blake, which was the official song of the suffragette movement, Green encourages women to reconnect, reclaim and re-frame their gender, which culminates in an empowering and liberating moment.

It is virtually impossible to walk out of Trilogy and not be determined to want to create change in society, regardless of what your sex or gender may be. But Green is specifically encouraging women to unite and explore their feminism, to make a stand, to fight for what they want, what they deserve, and as she declares at one point, “to start your own fucking movement”. Perhaps this is when the next revolution finally begins. 

Venue: Arts House, 521 Queensberry St, North Melbourne, 3051

Season: Until 26 June | Thurs – Sat 8.30pm, Sun 2pm 

Tickets: $45 Full | $35 Conc | $30 Student

Bookings: Arts House

Image by Bryony Jackson

Dance, Performances, Review

Melbourne Ballet Company Presents EMPYREAN

Be transfixed

By Joana Simmons

Melbourne Ballet Company brings us the second chapter of their 2016 trilogy season: Intention and Desire. Empyrean is taken from the Ancient Greek meaning ‘highest form of heaven’, and described in the program as an intellectual light full of love. The show comprises of three separate works created by three distinctly different Australian choreographers – Timothy Harbour, Simon Hoy and Rani Luther – who have created individually fantastic works that bring life to this lofty idea.

Empyrean.jpeg

The first piece “Illuminate”, by Rani Luther with music by Philip Glass, explores the idea that heaven is there to be found in all of us on multiple levels. The beginning is breathtaking. Three male and female couples beautifully weave in and out, using choreographic devices, technical lifts and turns to create a world that is mesmerizing to watch. There is a great variety of movement, the partner work was solid and innovative and the dancers’ musicality and timing was en pointe (pun intended). Set on the backdrop of a projection focusing on the woman holding the lamp in Picasso’s masterpiece Guernica (which represents a world reigned over by harmony and light amid suffering and destruction) each dancer had a moment to shine, lead by principals Kirsty Donovan and Alex Bayden Boyce. You know a dance work is good when you feel the audience let out a breath when the sweating athletes stand still at the completion of the 30-minute piece.

“Zealots”, by Timothy Harbour and with music by John Adams, is a dynamic contrast to the previous piece: the dancers in their yellow high neck costumes, black socks and shoes do not touch or manipulate each others’ bodies, yet still are rarely apart. There are moments of strong company unison, because they were separate you could appreciate the tricky choreography, with its quirky hip placement and arm lines. The music is electronic and choppy, and the powerful sharp movements blended it to make it bounce off the stage. I loved how you could see each dancer’s unique contribution to the work, and how the women and men were dancing the same, powerful steps. Samuel Harlett’s incredible, almost rubber-limbed movements show impeccable control. “Zealotry” is defined in the program as “fanatical commitment and belief” and you can definitely see the dancer’s full commitment to this hard-hitting sharp movement. The 15 minutes feels like longer as it is dense with complex dance.

The final work hit the nail on the head. In “Lucidity”, by company director Simon Hoy and music by Olafur Arnalds, Max Richter captivatingly combines complex floor work and sharp technical movement. The projections on the giant backdrop synchronised with the electronic beats and hard-hitting movement making it a full physical sensory experience. The thing that stood out for me was how there was real connection between the dancers, making me feel them, not just watch them and it was – dare I say it – sexy.

Hoy and Alisa Finney have put together a delightfully varied and high quality production. Lighting designed by Craig Boyes and costumes by Santha King add so much to make this show memorable. There’s a lot of sad things happening in the world at the moment; this is why we are lucky to have the theatre, where we can escape and be mesmerized by stories and talent. Make the most of it, and look out for the Melbourne Ballet Company‘s upcoming productions.

Empyrean was performed at the Alex Theatre from June 17-18, 2016.