Tag: The Butterfly Club

Cabaret, Cabaret Review, Events, Performances February 10, 2014February 10, 2014

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.

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

Cabaret, Cabaret Review, Festivals, Music, Performances February 3, 2014February 3, 2014

REVIEW: Ginger and Tonic are 50 SHADES OF GAY

Just bought their CD…

By Narelle Wood

The a cappella group Ginger and Tonic’s 50 Shades of Gay is more than just good singing of songs by gay composers, iconic gay songs and a song from Marvin Gaye: it provides a whole lot of sass and a whole lot of laughs through the group’s comedic styling and homosexual humour.

Emma, Jane, Carena and Sheona have amazing voices and not only an incredible ability to harmonize but to construct musical arrangements that segue seamlessly from one song to another: 4-non-blondes and Sophie B Hawkins, a Ricky Martin tribute, and a medley from the big six Divas of our time, among some of the best.

For most groups an ability to sing would probably enough to sustain an hour’s worth of good entertainment, but on this musical trip through every colour of the rainbow, the girls also test the knowledge of the audience in some Spicks-and-Specks style gaymes: musical trivia with a gay twist.

On the lighter side of the 50 shades are songs such as “The Love Shack”, a Lesley Gore tribute, and a Minogue sister battle, that showcases the humour with which this performance had been put together. This is mostly accomplished through the part-clichéd, part-sassy, part-sexual dance moves, some wild gesticulations and animated facial expressions.

But it isn’t all fun and games. Ginger and Tonic through their performance of Rufus Wainwright’s “Natasha” demonstrate that they can sing with the stillness of the most seasoned performers and this highlights just how good their voices are.

The night, for me, ended far too soon as I would have been happy to continue counting down (or counting up in this case) well past the 50 songs and well in to the hundreds. It’s okay though because I’ve since found their CD on I-tunes.

I would like to describe Ginger and Tonic as Pitch Perfect meets the Spice Girls, but the comparison just isn’t fair. Ginger and Tonic are definitely in a league of their own.

50 Shades of Gay was performed for the 2014 Midsumma Festival at The Butterfly Club. For more information, visit http://www.gingerandtonic.com.au/

Cabaret, Cabaret Review, Festivals, Whats On January 23, 2014January 23, 2014

REVIEW: Drew Downing is REBEL

Gay icons, Hollywood heroes and rock-star charm

By Myron My

Drew Downing returns to The Butterfly Club as part of this year’s Midsumma Festival with his new cabaret show Rebel. Our eponymous rock star recounts his life growing up homosexual in the 60s, the era of ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’.

Despite being the preview performance, Downing was very relaxed, confident and charming on stage. His quips and interaction with the audience, although not a common occurrence, are used effectively in creating an intimate environment for him to share his stories. He remains committed to his character and is highly convincing as Rebel.

I was also very impressed by Downing’s voice and the original songs he performed. Supported by his three-man band (and at one point, jumping on a piano himself), his songs show an intimacy and poignant emotional level that is not often seen or heard. It is evident a lot of time went into perfecting the lyrics, especially with the ballads. Downing does not overplay this emotion but rather, remains very true to it.

However, I feel the narrative in Rebel gets lost at times, with one too many sub-plots preventing us really getting into the nuts and bolts of the story. The show sells itself as an expose of the character’s love affairs with classic screen stars Rock Hudson and James Dean, yet he does little more than gossip about his one-night stands and then moves on to other stories, giving the impression that interactions with these momentous gay icons have had no actual effect on him.

That said, the subsequent contrast of his stories revolving around his relationship with his closeted Uncle Randy and family back home work well in subtly exploring the ignorance and intolerance of that era when it came to homosexuality.

Downing’s acting, stage presence and most importantly, rock-star voice make Rebel well worth seeing, and I will be keen to see what he comes up with next.

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

Season: Until 26 January 9:00pm, Sun 8:00pm.

Tickets: $28 Full | $25 Conc

Bookings: http://www.thebutterflyclub.com

Cabaret, Cabaret Review, Performances, Whats On October 26, 2013October 26, 2013

REVIEW: Ruth Wilkin’s TRUE STORY

Truth is stranger than cabaret

By Myron My

Living up to its name, True Story begins with just that. Projected on the wall in the performance space are numerous headlines of strange events that have actually happened. Some are pop-culture references, some seem a little weird, and some are just plain bizarre, such as the man who jumped in a puddle and died (I really need to google this to find out how exactly)…

Cabaret performer and songwriter Ruth Wilkin is highly personable on stage and possesses a natural presence that garners your attention. She does very well with the different vocal demands of each song and really pushes the various emotions required from them, from sadness to joy and all the ones in between. However, I feel the lyrics to some songs are a letdown at times and seem a little awkward, including her piece about Tokyo Disneyland support for marriage equality.

Accompanying Wilkin on piano is Barney Reiter (Short + Sweet Cabaret 2012 and Suitcases, Baggage and Other Synonyms) and yet again, he does not disappoint. The blending in of some better-known tunes into the original music is seamless and the ease with which Reiter plays is always impressive to watch.

Wilkin does well to keep the pace interesting and fun throughout True Story. Between songs, she shares some anecdotes from her life or other interesting true stories, some of which are a little spooky. Wilkin also includes a few hilarious real customer review segments on random household items, such as a banana slicer that changes lives and a male hair-removal cream that should not be used on just any part of the body…

Yet, I would have liked to see some more linking within the show as a whole. The tales did not seem to flow from one to the other with some stories mentioned and then immediately forgotten abou,t and in other cases, a song being performed with the story behind it not being very clear.

I really like the concept of Wilkin’s show and she has a strong appealing voice and the skill and charisma to create entertaining shows. Despite its small flaws, True Story is an enjoyable hour of lighthearted cabaret fun.

Venue: The Butterfly Club, 256 Collins St (entry via Carson Place), Melbourne
Season: Until 27 October | Sat 7:00pm, Sun 6:00pm
Tickets: $23 Full | $20 Conc
Bookings: http://www.thebutterflyclub.com

Cabaret, Cabaret Review, Opera, Whats On October 12, 2013October 13, 2013

REVIEW: Jamie Way is THE GREAT PIZZAROTTI

Operatic tragedy was never so funny!

By Jessica Cornish

Opera and music theatre performer Jamie Way stars as the larger-than-life character The Great Pizzarotti in this 70 minute comical cabaret woven around famous operatic numbers such as “Nessun Dorma”, “The Toreador Song” and “La Donna Mobile” anddirected by Peter Cox.

To open the show, the great man sang condensed versions of a couple of arias – not being a devoted opera follower, I didn’t know all the songs and initially felt a little lost on the content matter – but Way certainly has an amazingly rich and beautiful voice. So if nothing else, I thought to myself at the time I may not have a clue about what is going on if the performance continues to be sung in Italian- but it felt like a privilege simply listening to this man sing at one of my favourite venues in town!

After the first few minutes however, the witty banter began and it became clear that the audience were in for a night of hilarity, as Way joked about everything opera, classical composers, wines, and even the odd Beethoven classic spun in to a Elvis-style tune. Plus his constant fascination and flirtation with the ladies of the room was pretty damn amusing.

The woman next to me got presented with a rose, in slow-motion while Pizzarotti simultaneourly belted out a tune of huge and romantic proportions in to her face – ah, if only it had been me…

A highlight moment was the epic one-man re-enactment of The Magic Flute, the famous opera composed by Mozart who according to popular art (and Pizzarotti) is merely a head sitting on a pair of shoulders.

Watching Way playing multiple characters including the leading man, lady and wicked father, and (as morbid as it sounds) performing the tragic attempted death scene with the damsel stabbing at herself continuously under a veil of red light was simply brilliant and ridiculously funny.

It’s satisfying to say The Great Pizzarotti was indeed as great as its title proclaimed. I feel certain that both opera lovers and newbies like me will love the show because it’s hilarious, well-crafted, and Jamie Way is an extremely talented vocalist and performer.

You can catch his final cabaret performance at The Butterfly Club at Carson place in the CBD, tonight at 8pm. For tickets go to www.thebutterflyclub,com.

Cabaret, Cabaret Review, Events, Whats On July 31, 2013

REVIEW: Nick Hedger in CRAP I FOUND IN MY ROOM

Promising cabaret just needs a little tidying

By Christine Moffat

Crap I Found In My Room is a cabaret about a young man leaving home: or more precisely, a young man being asked nicely by his parents to move out. Writer/performer Nick Hedger presents an idea that seems to be a very personal story, but gives it a wide appeal. Many people have lived through the slightly traumatic move from childhood home into ‘the world’ – or have at least considered it…

Hedger has transformed the small theatre at The Butterfly Club into (this reviewer guesses) a stage version of his actual bedroom. The space (including the seats) is strewn with laundry, boxes, laptops etc, plus countless toys. It looks like Gen-Y beat up Toys’R’Us.

These objects really gave the show a sense of place, but Hedger only interacted with a few objects. To make ‘his stuff’ and the show’s title more meaningful perhaps he needed to use a few more of them more as props, and not just as set pieces. The same feeling may have been achieved by having a few less objects visible and using more packing boxes: pulling things out of boxes suggests volume, without creating audience expectations that visible props be used.

However, a great moment of meaningful use of props was a funny segment involving a Magic 8 ball. Hedger’s interaction with the audience and the Magic 8 ball really worked because cabaret is essentially about connection, and Hedger gave the audience something immediate and unique.

The writing is a great strength of this show. It is written as a combination of universal experience and personal testimony. However, for this reviewer, overall the script feels a bit too obvious. The mood changes and corresponding tone of songs are too defined when moving through a fairly straightforward narrative. Mixing upbeat and sombre songs more elegantly and breaking out of the predictable flow would have given the finale a nice sense of discovery and surprise, as the finish felt a little soft and unresolved. That being said, Hedger did still close the show with pathos and depth, suggesting real growth in his character.

Hedger has a great voice and in such a small venue can safely throw away his microphone. Some of the songs involved rather too much prior music-theatre knowledge to truly get the jokes, but Hedger’s original songs and some of his pop interpretations were fabulous. This show has a great premise, and Hedger has an engaging stage presence. If you aren’t currently trying to gently shuck your own teenager from their room like an oyster from its shell, this show will definitely entertain you. If you are, it’ll be great therapy!

Aug 1st – 4th, Fri-Sat 9pm / Sun 8pm

The Butterfly Club: Carson Place (just off Little Collins Street in CBD)

www.thebutterflyclub.com

A Magnetic Hand production

Directed by Jon Stephens

Cabaret, Cabaret Review, Musical Theatre, Whats On July 24, 2013July 24, 2013

REVIEW: Jemma Rix with David Young in THE RANDOM VARIETY

Wicked star braves the cabaret stage

By Bradley Storer

Introduced by her accompanist David Young, Jemma Rix, the recently-announced Elphaba for the new Australian production of Wicked, took to the stage of The Butterfly Club with a shy but toothy grin. Here she launched into a wonderful original song investigating the meaning behind the title of the show and ending in a medley of countless tunes shouted out on the spot by Young.

A misstep was following this rollicking song with the Eagles’ sombre ‘Hotel California’, an odd choice which drained the energy she’d built up in her first tune. For the first part of the evening Rix was clearly nervous and had trouble maintaining eye contact with her audience – not such a big problem for musical theatre but difficult for the intimacy of cabaret. She asked the audience’s forgiveness for her understandable nerves in her first outing as a cabaret performer.

After seeming a little unsure of herself through the first few pop songs on the set list, resorting to a few stock pop-singer stage moves at some points, one could almost feel her give an internal sigh of relief when she reached the first show tunes of the night – a winning combination of Stephen Schwartz’s ‘Beautiful City’ and Sondheim’s ‘Another Hundred People’, with Schwartz’s idealistic vision of a ‘city of men’ bringing out a surprising beauty in Sondheim’s bleak landscape of urban alienation.

The first moment where it felt Rix truly connected with her audience was with the song ‘With You’ from the musical Ghost – here her inhibitions melted away and I felt transported as Rix brought us into the heartbreaking grief of losing a loved one, and from here on out she was on solid ground. Once her nerves were gone, Rix revealed herself as a charming and engaging performer, along with her voice of startling power and floating delicacy.

The later half of the evening brought some surprising and rewarding choices in repertoire. Rix informed us of her uproarious idea of a Romeo and Juliet juke-box musical based around the music of Rihanna (the only thing lacking were some daggy dance moves!). Her banter about the plight faced by youth today in an environment pervaded by cyber-bullying led into a brilliant fusion of ‘Quiet’ from Tim Minchin’s Matilda with David Guetta’s ‘Titanium’ that held the entire audience spell-bound.

A promising first show from an established music-theatre performer which assures us of great things for her cabaret future!

Venue: The Butterfly Club, 256 Collins St (enter off 5 Carson Place), Melbourne City

Dates & Times: 23^rd, 24^th, 28^th at 8pm, 25^th, 26^th, 27^th at 9pm.

Tickets: Full $28, Concession $25, Group $23, Tightarse Tuesday $20.

Bookings: www.thebutterflyclub.com , 9663 8107 or at the door.

Cabaret, Cabaret Review, Festivals, Whats On July 6, 2013July 6, 2013

REVIEW: Jessamae St James is TIED UP

Bending and bonding over cabaret

By Myron My

It’s always a risky move when a performer takes an unsuspecting audience member on stage and makes him get down on all fours so she can sit on him. But when that audience member is your reviewer, you better damn well hope you have a great show to move on with!

Fortunately, burlesque performer Jessamae St James does have just that, and in the context of her show my participation was quite – er – tame… As part of this year’s Melbourne Cabaret Festival, Tied Up looks at fetishes and BDSM, including ‘forniphilia’ – a form of bondage and sexual objectification in which a person’s body (namely mine) is incorporated into a piece of furniture.

Wearing a black, body-hugging corset, St James easily captures the audience’s attention as she talks and sings her way through some more lesser-known but just as intriguing fetishes. Once the sometimes lengthy monologue describing each fetish is completed St James breaks into a song and this is where she truly does shine.

Her voice is sultry and seductive, and appropriately, she nails each and every number she sings. Moreover, St James is joined on stage by an amazing four-piece jazz band whose skill and talent take the musical aspect of this show to a whole new level.

St James does create a highly intimate and sensual environment overall, but considering the obvious impact of the music and her vocal ability, I feel less talking and more songs would have kept the enjoyment level of this show at a maximum.

I must als0 admit I would have liked to have been confronted even more with Tied Up. St James is discussing some highly sexual and often taboo themes and it would have been great to see her push some of those boundaries herself on stage, which I am sure she would be capable of doing, given her exciting performance history.

Having said that, Tied Up is still a highly entertaining show, I made a particularly fine stage seat, and I’m certainly keen to see where St James dares to go from here…

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

Season: Until 7 July | Sat 7:00pm, Sun 6:00pm.

Tickets: $28 Full | $25 Conc

Bookings: http://melbournecabaret.com

Cabaret July 5, 2013July 5, 2013

REVIEW: Alex Roe in HERE COMES YOUR MAN

Getting ready for a hit

By Myron My

In Here Comes Your Man for the 2013 Melbourne Cabaret Festival, Alex Roe plays a hit man – a very successful hit man who has a slight career crisis when he meets the beautiful Abigail.

Roe has some good storytelling abilities and the twists and turns in his story were highly engaging without any lulls in this cabaret tale full of crime, death and love. Roe incorporates a nice level of dry humour and drama and seems very relaxed with his delivery and interaction with the audience.

Photo by Shoot at Everyone Imaging

As a performer, when you start to involve audience members in your act you do run the risk of inadvertently breaking character but watching Roe on stage, I did not feel as if he was an actor remembering his lines but found myself quite invested that this man really was a conflicted contract killer!

Here Comes Your Man has a good variety of songs but some of them did slow down the proceedings and cause Roe to lose the intensity he had built up, especially in the middle of the show. It seemed sometimes that either the song was not well-matched to Roe’s voice or it did not add to the story. However the songs where this was definitely not the case and were show highlights included Fairground Attraction’s ‘Perfect’ and (aptly) The Pixies’ ‘Here Comes Your Man’.

Roe is joined on staged by accompanist Tom Pitts and I honestly have never seen a pianist get so wonderfully involved into the music he is playing – his performance was flawless and fluid from beginning to end.

On this occasion, Here Comes Your Man was performed as a workshop season with Attic Erratic with plans of a full season run at the Melbourne Fringe Festival later this year. The concept is unique and interesting and Roe has the skill and charisma to eventually turn this show into the cabaret ‘hit’ it deserves to be.

This production took place on July 3 and 4 at The Butterfly Club as part of the Melbourne Cabaret Festival.

Cabaret, Cabaret Review, Festivals, Performances, Whats On July 3, 2013July 3, 2013

REVIEW: Belinda Raisin in CONFESSIONS OF A CONTROL FREAK

Cabaret efficiency at maximum

By Vikki Doig

Confessions of a Control Freak is a cleverly-crafted, highly energetic tale all too familiar to the modern woman – the seemingly never-ending pursuit for perfection, control and balance in an unforgiving and sleepless society.

Channelling her alter-ego, the ultra-efficient Frances, Belinda Raisin invites the audience into her descent into disarray, one confession at a time. From the moment she pitter-pattered onto the stage on full ballet-pointe, we could tell that this was a woman on a mission. Her dance, though precise, determined and controlled to begin with soon became manic and chaotic.

Frances crooned about her lust for lists, got side-tracked and served wine to the audience whilst on roller blades, tore her clothes off in an ode to bikram yoga (it’s getting hot in here) and delivered an evangelical advocacy for procrastination which made me want to holler “Hallelujah sister!”

Raisin’s command of the stage was excellent and her energy unflappable. But just as I thought it was all getting too much, we were reined back in with a confession which was delivered with such sincerity and poignancy it made all of the confusion of the previous 50 minutes make sense. I had goosebumps as Raisin belted out a gorgeous rendition of Jessie J’s “Who You Are”, giving us a moment of stillness to reflect and give ourselves permission to be imperfect.

Frances may have been a caricature, but Raisin created a depth and honesty to her character which made the show a real joy to be a part of. And as we left The Butterfly Club, my partner said to me “there were parts of that show where she could have been talking about you.” I guess there’s a bit of Frances in all of us.

I would also like to make special mention of Raisin’s sensational accompanist, Jamie Teh, who, although completely blind, never missed a beat through Raisin’s well-chosen (and highly choreographed) playlist of rewritten pop gems.

Confessions of a Control Freak appears at The Butterfly Club for a very concise 3-show run for this year’s Melbourne Cabaret Festival, with its final performance tomorrow night (July 4) at 7pm. Procrastination not recommended – get your tickets now!

Tickets: $25 Full, $23 Conc , $20 Group (8+)

Bookings: www.thebutterflyclub.com