androgeny – Theatre Press

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.

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

“Discovered in a bedsit over a gin-joint in London…”

While Victor Victoria hugs his/her piano accordian lovingly and begins to play another darkly funny pop song-cum-polka, the luscious Bernadette Byrne flutters her outrageous eyelashes at us, concedes to put down the gin, and unleashes her wonderful voice in chanteuse parody.

EastEnd Cabaret is what two Aussie artists have brought back from a performing sejourn in London, and while the opening night show was a little haphazard and uneven in places, the two characters demonstrated impressive musicanship and delicious comic potential.

EastEnd_Cabaret_Bagel_Envy — Photo courtesy of Laura Oliver

Jennifer Bryne‘s immersion into her alter-ego as bawdy Russian femme fatale is beguiling: her repartee with the audience and improvised witticisms are excellent, and her voice has a lovely mix of rich warmth and brash character sound to keep her blackly comedic songs in real cabaret style. As her androgenous multi-intrumentalist, Vicky Falconer-Prichard‘s Victor Victoria is a talented musician and a funny man-lady in her own right, though her delivery is often too low and apologetic for all the audience to appreciate the cutsy comic one-liners.

While there is some taut, clever writing in places, the real strength of the show lies in the reworked songs: Madonna, Right Said Fred and Devo make for sensational neo-cabaret fodder, and the satirical rewrites and arrangements were hilarious. The opening night audience adored recognising the introductory riffs, but the suggestive proved more popular than the blatant when they were more reserved about the original songs where the broad ribald humour tended to only get nervous laughs.

A few elements were not entirely successful: the ‘divide and conquer’ approach to audience interaction where the characters regularly began separate conversations or spoke over each other’s songs served to distract and pull focus rather than complement the other’s comedy and performance, while a more deadpan style of humour from Victor would perhaps be a better foil to Bernie’s energy and animation. The pseudo-communist interludes felt clumsy: some context or preamble in introducing them and flagging their connection to the characters and relevance to the show would also have been worthwhile.

EastEnd_Cabaret_Finding_Gin — Photo courtesy of Laura Oliver

Nonetheless, EastEnd Cabaret will clearly continue to flourish and evolve, the mis-matched characters are adapt at exploring the shadowy regions of creepy, comic and cute, and hopefully these two very talented artists will become regulars in the Melbourne cabaret scene where their edgy eccentric style is in the process of becoming just what our audiences love.

Venue: The Butterfly Club
Dates: 10th – 13th February, 2011
Tickets: $27/ $24 (con)
Times: Thurs – Sat: 9pm, Sun: 8pm
Bookings: www.thebutterflyclub.com