Photo Credit: Claude Raschella
Photo Credit: Claude Raschella
After a record Adelaide Cabaret Festival, Barry Humphries has announced that he will be passing on his role to two new artistic directors and bidding Adelaide a fond farewell.
On the final night of Adelaide Cabaret Festival 2015, Artistic Director Barry Humphries took to the stage to announce he is handing over the role of Artistic Director to the creative talents of Ali McGregor and Eddie Perfect, who will be co-Artistic Directors for the Festival in 2016 and 2017.
This year’s Adelaide Cabaret Festival had more than 350 artists performing with 46 sold out shows and was the highest grossing festival in its 15 year history.
With Barry Humphries at the helm the Festival has seen a 12% increase in box office from the previous year, highlighting the Festival’s continued and growing popularity.
Barry Humphries commented “My time as Artistic Director of the Adelaide Cabaret Festival has been the climax of my love affair with Adelaide! Sitting in the audience night after night and hearing the response of packed audiences from all over Australia, I have become convinced that there is no other city in the land that could deliver such an orgy of entertainment night after night…”
With many years of Cabaret Festival history between them and a strong working relationship, Ali McGregor and Eddie Perfect are two cabaret connoisseurs perfectly paired to take on the curation of one of Adelaide’s favourite winter Festivals.
As the new co-Artistic Directors charge headlong into planning for the Festival, Adelaide Festival Centre CEO & Artistic Director Douglas Gautier said; “We are absolutely delighted to welcome Ali McGregor and Eddie Perfect as our joint Artistic Directors for Adelaide Cabaret Festivals 2016 and 2017. They are well qualified as cabaret professionals to take the mantle from Barry Humphries who has given us such a memorable and successful Festival this year.”
Ali McGregor was recently awarded a Green Room Award for her contribution to cabaret and last year was nominated for an Aria award. Ali has a long standing love affair with the Adelaide Cabaret Festival, having first performed in 2009 with ‘Jazz Cigarette’, ‘Late Night Variety’ in 2011, ‘Alchemy’ in 2013 and kids cabaret in 2014 with ‘Jazzamattazz’. This show enabled the festival to grow and develop its young cabaret audience, an important area for the festival’s future.
Helpmann Award winner Eddie Perfect is one of Australia’s most diverse, respected and prolific writer/composer/performers. Eddie is no stranger to the Cabaret Festival having performed in the 2003, 2004, 2007, 2012 – 2015 Festivals. Eddie first appeared in Julia Holt’s Adelaide Cabaret Festival in 2003 with ‘Cliff Hanger: Catch a Falling Star’, in 2004 with ‘Angry Eddie’, he presented ‘Shane Warne The Musical’ in development in 2007,’Misanthropology’ in 2012, ‘Shane Warne The Musical’ in 2013 and collaborated with Tripod in 2014 with ‘Perfect Tripod’.
The 2016 Adelaide Cabaret Festival will run from 10 – 25 June.
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