Tag: 2015 Melbourne Fringe Festival

Cabaret, Festivals, Whats On

REVIEW: Anya Anastasia in TORTE E MORT

Treat yourself

By Bradley Storer

Bedecked in a gorgeous 18th-century aristocratic French court gown topped by an appropriately extravagant wig, cabaret performer Anya Anastasia swanned elegantly through the audience at the Melba Spiegeltent, her entourage (comprised of one drummer and one back up singer) strewing her path with rose petals while she blew kisses and flirted with the crowd.

Torte e Mort

From this decadent entrance, Anastasia took the audience on a wild ride loosely inspired by the cautionary life of Marie Antoinette – under the direction of Sarah Ward (AKA cabaret provocateur Yana Alana) the journey spins delightfully towards the grave and beyond, bouncing with dark glee from musical tales of Antoinette’s extravagance to doom-riddled warnings from a certain ‘post-apocalyptic auctioneer’ who sells off the French queen’s post-mortem possessions.

Anastasia exudes an ecstatic sense of anarchy, whether it’s contorting her body to ridiculous lengths all the while still plucking out a melody on the piano, or executing a striptease that shifts compellingly between burlesque and a contemporary movement piece. The titular songs of cake and death, with drummer Bec Matthews expertly accompanying, run the gamut from manic and adrenaline-crazed elegies to the parties of the French aristocracy, black-hearted and jaunty tunes that recall Tom Waits at his most bleak, all the way to a simple and chilling ukulele tune about inevitable mortality. However, a section which pays visit to the devil and an ode to the advantages of self loathing, while entertaining, spins so far from the central topic of the show for reasons that are unclear that it almost seems unnecessary.

Overall Torte e Mort is a wildly inventive show that bursts with ferocious creative energy, drawing laughs one moment before chilling the blood the next – a delicious and bloody treat for lovers of cabaret!

Dates: Wednesday 16th September – Sunday 20th September
Venue: Melba Spiegeltent, 35 Johnston St, Collingwood
Time: 8:30pm (Wednesday 7:45pm)
Price: Full $25, Preview $15
Bookings: www.melbournefringe.com.au, 03 9660 9666, at the door.

Circus, Festivals, Whats On

REVIEW: Jessica Watson Miller’s LUMINOUS

Visually glorious but missed some marks

By Myron My

Created by champion body painter Jessica Watson Miller, Luminous is circus with a twist. The show is performed under black lights with the performers covered head to toe in various glow-in-the-dark coloured body paints and costumes that create a truly singular viewing experience.

Luminous

The performers appear on stage, reminding me of wild animals in the jungle as they slowly slither, slide and stalk into the space. At various points throughout the night, the body painters (themselves dressed head to toe in black so they are almost invisible) rub the paints on one of the performers, thus gradually bringing him to life. It’s a visual feat that is exciting and intriguing to watch.

There is always a risk with any live performance, and especially with circus, that things will not always go according to plan. Unfortunately, many of the tricks did not go to plan on the night I attended, and perhaps we can put this down to opening night nerves. Juggling items were dropped, hoops not caught and there were some wobbly moments during the adagio routine. To the performers’ credit, they always persevered and continued with the routines but I did feel the show was not as smooth and polished as it should have been. Furthermore, there were technical issues that occurred on the night with noises coming from backstage and, at times, issues with the sound and lights.

However, moments like the juggling of the orange UV balls did manage hit the right mark. The juggler incorporated bouncing the five balls on the floor and back into the cycle and the speeds which he reached and the variety to the act was very impressive. The partnered aerial silk routine (often a favourite of mine) was also one of the stronger showings in Luminous. Meanwhile, the soundtrack throughout the show was used well and helped enhance the primal environment we were witnessing.

While the idea of a circus show performed in glow-in-the-dark paint is unique, overall Luminous did not leave me with a yearning for more. Yes, the aesthetics were absolutely captivating and engrossing but the acts themselves need some more work to really create something memorable.

Venue: Gasworks Arts Park, 21 Graham St, Albert Park, 3206

Season: Until 3 October | 22, 24-26 Sept, 10.30pm | 19, 29 Sept – 3 Oct, 9.20pm

Tickets: Melbourne Fringe Festival 2015

Cabaret, Festivals, Whats On

REVIEW: Cougar Morrison’s RAWWR!

Stunning vocals in which to lose yourself

By Myron My

New Orleans native Cougar Morrison debuts his cabaret show RAWWR! at this year’s Melbourne Fringe, in which he recounts stories of beauty, love, gender and modernity with some re-imagined classic songs.

Rawwr!

There is a huge variety to the songs and the styles in which Morrison performs them. While “Somewhere Over The Rainbow” has become a staple of the cabaret scene and generally not that exciting to watch or hear, Morrison’s rendition is perfectly suited to him and he manages to make it something quite personal and ultimately, his own.

However, the highlight of the evening is the mash-up of “Dream A Little Dream”, and “Sweet Dreams” by the Eurythmics. It was an experience I’ve rarely had with cabaret where I was just enveloped by the performance and everything around me disappeared. The musical arrangement of this piece is expertly delivered and works perfectly with Morrison’s voice.

Between songs, Morrison shares some personal moments about his life in New Orleans, from his dead-beat boyfriend and the sense of loneliness once a relationship ends, to his developing self-acceptance.  Unfortunately, this is where I struggled to remain connected to the show. I found the humour in these anecdotes didn’t always quite hit the mark and their delivery was not always effective in creating the right mood for the song to follow. More time given to developing the comic style and pace of these narratives would put this aspect of the show on par with the extremely impressive voice talent Morrison possesses.

Morrison is supported on stage by two muscled back-up dancers whose costumes are just as revealing and androgynous as his. They subtly enhance Morrison’s own self-confessed “unusual appearance” and add a level of vulnerability and fragility to him.  The costume changes, including some brilliant hats, are fun, sexy and imaginative. While some of the choreography was not as smooth and fluid as it could be at this performance, the duo play the part of the sexy eye candy well.

Cougar Morrison’s RAWWR! is bound to warrant your attention with the artist’s strong stage presence and amazing voice that can take on any song. Ultimately RAWWR! Is an enjoyable Fringe 2015 show that deals with sexuality and contemporary life with a classic-songs twist.

Venue: The Butterfly Club, 5 Carson Place, Melbourne

Season: Until 20 September | 10pm

Tickets: $20 Full

Bookings: Melbourne Fringe Festival

Performances, Review, Whats On

REVIEW: James McLean’s BIG ENOUGH AND UGLY ENOUGH

Assorted anecdotes told with disarming charm

By Jessica Cornish

Big Enough and Ugly Enough follows James McLean’s move from the picturesque Adelaide Hills to the thriving metropolis of Melbourne. Armed with a collection of pieces of junk he dragged down in a box bestowed upon him by his dead grandmother (whose recounted voice somewhat reminded me of Aussie legend Dame Edna!), he tells us witty short stories of his encounters and misdeeds in his new life in Melbourne.

Big Enough and Ugly Enough

It seems that when you’re a newcomer to the streets of Melbourne you can easily fall into all sorts of adventures: fathering a feline, being robbed by men with a preoccupation with their navels, and landing a depressing job in the hospo industry. At least he could afford to live in an apartment alone near a tramline; being in a share house could have bought a whole other series of dramas.

James put on a great hour show: although initially starting out a little wooden and seemingly uncomfortable, he soon eased comfortably into the performance. His depiction of himself is played in a charming ‘no-frills’ way, and felt authentically like the same guy I might then encounter myself on a Melbournian street. Despite seeming a little flustered before starting at the piano, the few songs included were slick and strongly performed with well-articulated lyrics that even the oldies in the very back wooden pews could understand. Similarly his show was well-written and evidently well-rehearsed, as the smoothness of the audio cues and scene transitions relied on his carefully constructed script. I particularly enjoyed the sophisticated use of voice-overs, subtle light changes and multi-character personas adopted in each story snippet. All these elements combined to add more layers to the performance, and worked intelligently in keeping up the pace of the performance and engaging the audience throughout – a challenge which can sometimes prove difficult in one-man shows.

This show however was quirky, funny and charismatic, and his words painted pictures of some great characters you can find milling around the streets of Melbourne, and talked familiarly of iconic Melbourne hot spots such as Fitzroy and St Kilda. James is a loveable guy on stage, and you can’t help but be on his side throughout the whole night: in fact, even my male date for the evening managed to develop a bit of a crush…

Big Enough and Ugly Enough will be performed as part of the 2015 Melbourne Fringe Festival until September 13 at The Butterfly Club, in the prime time-slot of 8:30pm.

Tickets: https://thebutterflyclub.com/show/big-enough-and-ugly-enough